Any chance GM....... and Jeff Fisher..???

Well...

I think the person MOST responsible for that was Floyd Reese. First for destroying the team (salary dump) and then not securing the most important position on the team. Bringing in Kerry Collins that late and Volek not being able to deal with it was a huge problem and cost us some winnable games (Jets/Miami). Could any other coach (with the rest of OUR staff) have changed the outcome much? Probably not.

However, you can argue for Fisher or against Fisher and it comes down to what you want to believe and who you want to give credit/blame too.

For example, the anti-Fisher contingent will say Fisher's responsible for our 0-5 start. He only started VY because Bud made him do it and VY's the one who won all those games for us. And Fisher's to blame for the terrible D...afterall, he hired Schwartz and keeps him despite a terrible D rating (after a serious upgrade in personel).

I blame Fisher for not having FIRED Schwartz YEARS ago and for not forcing positive personel changes (ie...benching Lamont and Hill and giving Finnegan a real shot on the outside while Fuller, Lowry, and Woolfolk shots at FS), not firing Schwartz this season, and forcing a more creative defense.

The pro-Fisher contingent will say...Fisher's not responsible for the terrible start because Reese waited too long to sign KC which created a huge controversy 2 weeks before opening day...blame Floyd. And give Fisher credit for handling the off the field football incidents and keeping them from really hurting the team in the long run). And give Fisher credit for starting VY and making sure the playcalls allowed him to develop without putting too much pressure on him. And to that end, a re-shuffled OL and a resurgent Travis Henry (Fisher's call on who starts) gave us an excellent run game...a QB's best friend. And Fisher's the one who once again has led the team from the abyss of a losing record to the light of respectability and a shot at the playoffs.

The truth lies somewhere in between.

Gut

 

The salary cap dump was a team decision, not a Floyd Reese decision. That has been officially established.

The Kerry Collins pickup (along with Volek's benching) was a Jeff Fisher decision that Floyd Reese did not want. He only did it when Underwood became president and made him.

 

Huh?

What exactly does that mean? What role did Floyd Reese (the GM) have in deciding whom to cut? And the situation about Kerry Collins below quite clearly illustrates that Fisher can't make Reese do anything he doesn't want to do....

That doesn't change anything other than Fisher wanted Collins earlier (when he might have been able to digest the playbook) and Reese gave him KC too late...which is what I said happened. The result of that is we lost 2 winnable games we would have had a much better chance of winning if we'd gotten Collins earlier. Did Floyd make any comments how he thought Volek should be the starter and that Collins was unnecessary??? Where did you get this from?

How do you know this? I'm sorry if I missed a news blurb...can you point to where you got this info from?

Gut

 

If you blame Reese for not getting Fisher good players when it goes bad, then obviously it's also Reese's credit for giving Fisher good players when it goes well.

But you, like most others, absolve Fisher of any wrongdoings when things were bad, instead pointing to Reese and the FO, yet when things turn around, you immediately give all the credit to Fisher. The flipside to that is that Fisher couldn't coach up a team with less talent and only succeeds when he has great talent.....

 

Presumably Reese decided who to cut. But their cap plan was not up to him. So who he cut or retained was based on their cap plans.

Part came from Underwood's press conference after Reese resigned. Part came from simple logic. Collins only signed after Volek got benched because of his fight with Chow and Fisher. And it happened almost immediately after Underwood accepted the promotion.

Reese never wanted Collins in the first place. Fisher was the one who wanted him. Reese wanted to stick with Volek as the starter until Vince was ready.

 

Yes and no...

There is no way to extricate Reese from the winning years of this franchise when he was GM. I never said we won despite Reese. I have given him credit for making some picks and bashed him for making others. I have similary given Fisher when I think he deserves credit and also knock him when I feel he is at least partially to blame (like for keeping Schwartz and not making changes to defensive personel).

So how have I absolved Fisher of any wrongdoing if I have repeatedly pointed out his flaws of keeping bad coordinators after they have proven to be bad (and aren't really getting better). I have repeatedly said this organization needs the word ACCOUNTABILITY tatooed to all facets of the organization and mentioned my hope that our new GM would be able to hold that (and have the power to back it up) over Fisher's head (so if Fisher doesn't make a change, they can force him to make a change).

The flipside of the coin is if you're taking the 3rd player in the draft and the player PLAYS like the 3rd player chosen in the draft...do you give the GM a ton of credit for not messing up a pick he SHOULDN'T by all rights mess up? If you sign a Pro Bowl player (for Pro Bowl money) and he plays like a Pro Bowl player, you don't get as much credit as signing a guy who's never had a breakout season nor expected to...but then breaks out BIG TIME. One of his best players he aquired cheaply was Frank Wychek. He's also drafted us some star talent in the mid-rnds (like a Derrick Mason) which he deserves a ton of credit for. However, there have been a lot of quality picks in which he's messed up on...like drafting us a 3rd TE (who should barely see the field if ever) instead of a nickel back who'll play 50% of the snaps. Drafting players who don't suit our systems (like drafting man to man CB's when we play predominantly zone coverage). Not drafting an OT for years despite the fact that Hopkins' expiration date was over due and Miller made too much money. Given our salary cap context, he should have done more (at least tried to) fix that situation which also would have helped out our cap situation. He did neither.

I understand that he should get a ton of credit for helping to build this team into a powerhouse for awhile...but he also gets blame for helping to close the window of opportunity.

How many stories were written about Polian after the Colts won the Super Bowl? Not a lot. But how many times did Polian have to defend 'his' roster and his D's lack of run stuffing?

Gut

 

Huh?

If all the cap stuff was Underwood and all the decisions (except who to cut) were other people's (like forcing Reese to sign KC when they did), what exactly did Reese do? Apparently nothing except when he was told to?

And how could Reese sign anyone to a contract if he had no say in the Cap plan? If it all was someone else, why wasn't THAT poerson the GM?

You've said that Bud forced the cap situation on Reese. Now you're saying it was Underwood who forced him to sign KC (too late). Funny how Reese gets credit for signing 'good' free agents but negatively perceived ones were forced on him by others???

So Reese had NO power? What was he hired for then?

Exactly the point. KC was gotten too late to be a help (as a potential starter) and threw Volek into a tizzy (which ended him as a Titan) leading us to not be ready at the QB position on opening day.

Gut

 

First off, we know Reese was generally the decision maker in terms of personnel, be it in the draft or deciding who to go after in free agency. He could sign or cut people based on whether they were trying to slash the roster to get under the cap, renegotiate guys to free up money, or whatever the situation called for. He didn't have to be the deciding factor in the overall cap plan to be able to manage personnel.

Underwood said he was behind the overall cap planning and apparently had a large role in the cap side of the contracts. No doubt Reese had an input, but he wasn't the final decision maker there. And Bud is the guy who signs the checks. So if Bud says keep the team together to win now and renegotiate contracts to make it happen, that's what they do.

As for Collins, they didn't get him too late. Reese didn't want him at all. Fisher just forced the issue at the last minute by bailing on Volek. Collins had no impact on Volek in the slightest. They didn't even sign him until after they had washed their hands of Volek...