From the vantage point of a career military man, Al Golden's leadership skills appear to be a cross between the old Soviet military-style and the fictional Major Frank Burns of M*A*S*H. He has a rigid set of rules based on his life experiences and expects people from varying backgrounds and circumstances to adhere to them in an unquestioned manner. Look, I had a troop in Iraq who I had a devil of a time adhering to military "standards" and in no uncertain terms I attempted to correct his deficiencies. However, being an old dog in the fight, I realized he had unique skills and talents which would and DID increase our unit's effectivness at accomplishing the military mission we were charged to do; spit and polish be #$%&+@*!
Golden is stuck in the 20th century Paterno mode. He is using recent ugly behavior by NFL'ers as an excuse to clamp down even harder. Instead of making the effort to get to know his players, their dreams, aspirations, families, ala Thursday Nights with Jimmy Johnson, Golden is a technocrat going by his binders, his pillars and his believe in psychological management theories. Chad Thomas may be but the latest example of Golden's lazy leadership style, one which dooms this team no matter how football talented it is on paper.