People always talk about coaches being stubborn and having huge egos. Dumb coaches are stubborn. Bad coaches are stubborn. Good coaches who have self-respect and respect for their employers and supporters always adapt and stay on the cutting edge.
Look at the best in the business (Sabag). He used to feature 380 pound DTs and overweight LBs on his D and run an ultra-conservative offense. Then, uptempo teams like Old **** embarrassed him. So he immediately started recruiting more speed and emphasized size less. On offense, he broke away from what he did his entire career and is now wide open.
Would you call a surgeon using outdated equipment and techniques stubborn? Or would you call him a malpractizing idiot who should be jailed?
I understand football isn’t life and death to most sissies these days. But, at the very least, if you’re paying someone a lot more money than most surgeons make, then you, as the entity forking out the $4+M per, think football is incredibly important to your operation.
When the guy you’re paying all that money tells you he’s running the plays he ran 30 years ago and that explosive plays don’t matter and that it’s painfully obvious to everyone who has watched more than 2 football games that his system is antiquated basic garbage that clearly isn’t working, then shouldn’t that chump be subjected to immediate, swift and unequivocal consequences and mandates? Like any other incredibly highly-paid professional who admits to malpractice like Rick has?
Why should a coach making more money than 99% of the population have his malpractice excused away with “oh coach is just stubborn and has an ego?” If he had a legit ego he’d be embarrassed and humiliated by his own public persistent failure. And he’d fix the problem immediately to save his own legacy and reputation if nothing else.
It’s not ego; it’s outright lack of care or lack of the ability or willingness to make tough decisions. Either should be a terminal condition for a professional making over $4M per.
