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How To Succeed in the NFL Without Yelling
Townhall.com ^ | January 23, 2011 | Steve Chapman

Posted on 01/23/2011 9:32:06 AM PST by Kaslin

Several years ago, when my younger son was playing high school football, the players' dads would organize a team breakfast before Saturday home games. I remember one father in particular.

He was quiet and unassuming. He would mingle a little, eat eggs alongside his son, listen to remarks by the head coach and leave with everyone else when it was over. You'd hardly have noticed him, except that he was the head coach of the Chicago Bears, a guy named Lovie Smith.

If it had been Rex Ryan, I think things would have gone differently.

The Jets coach brings to mind what Alice Roosevelt Longworth said of her father, Theodore Roosevelt: "He wants to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral, and the baby at every christening."

Ryan's press conferences are great fodder for SportsCenter. He gets more headlines than Sarah Palin. He became a full-fledged media phenomenon when he let HBO into the Jets training camp, giving viewers weekly blasts of his profane, trash-talking persona.

I could appreciate Ryan -- if the problem with our society were a shortage of loud, obnoxious attention seekers. But in a nation blessed with Glenn Beck, Joan Rivers, Rahm Emanuel and Dick Vitale, we have a surplus.

Smith is the sort of coach who, when his team is losing, gets roasted for being dull, passive, uninspiring and clueless. He doesn't raise his voice, throw clipboards or needle rivals. Some people find this behavior strange. In the aftermath of an embarrassing defeat, they think his calm demeanor indicates he is unable to grasp the depth of his failure.

Maybe the real incomprehension lies in thinking that noisy, abrasive coaches are needed for success. Among the four coaches left in the playoffs, three are about as colorful as an Ikea store.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: chat; sports

1 posted on 01/23/2011 9:32:07 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
To know a Ryan coach is to undestand their public comments are chosen to reinforce a whole agenda at the players level. Ask Chris Carter sometime about Buddy? The Ryans do this to take the bad media focus away from their players.

The whol foot fetish thing is custom scripted for a Ryan coached team. The coach takes point and draws all the enemy fire he can.

It's a Ryan tradition.

2 posted on 01/23/2011 9:40:46 AM PST by blackdog
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To: blackdog

Yeah. Sure.

They aren’t idiots...it is all part of some carefully crafted plan.

I happen to have been watching football long enough to remember Buddy Ryan as a coach.

Diarrhea of the mouth is a genetic trait in that family.


3 posted on 01/23/2011 9:50:30 AM PST by rlmorel ("If this doesn't light your fire, Men, the pilot light's out!"...Coach Ed Bolin)
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To: rlmorel

Well they must have overlooked your NFL coaching skills during the interviews. BTW, the Bears will be hiring in 2011. You may want to get that resume over there soon. That is if we can tear you away from your humble, quiet roots.


4 posted on 01/23/2011 9:54:56 AM PST by blackdog
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To: rlmorel

Part of it is genetics, certainly the Ryan family knows how to talk crap. But part of it is also plan, just look at Ryan this week, he knows there’s nothing to gain angering the Steelers so all the bluster and crazy is gone. He’s Mr Calm this week.

And let’s face it, the Ryans know their way around football strategy too, a lot of pretty impressive wins from all of them.


5 posted on 01/23/2011 9:58:17 AM PST by discostu (this is defninitely not my confused face)
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To: discostu
Rex Ryan got into the heads of the patriots players. Did you see Brady come unglued? They all did.

A ryan team however can not sustain it's theatrical wins thru it's drama. It's like they are in a room full of strippers with only one game to unload if ya know..........

Any Ryan coached team will have the best highs and the lowest lows. They will run at a 70/30 ratio. Not enough to win the superbowl, but they sure can drop a turd in the elite's puchbowl.

6 posted on 01/23/2011 10:04:45 AM PST by blackdog
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To: Kaslin

And yet Lovie Smith proclaims strong support for Barack Obama.


7 posted on 01/23/2011 10:17:09 AM PST by Carley (IDEOLOGY TRUMPS FACTS IN THE LEFT'S QUEST FOR POWER)
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To: discostu

I am not saying they aren’t good at football. I happen to think Rex is a pretty damn good defensive coach and his record speaks for itself. I just think people who think his blather is part of a master plan are deluding themselves.


8 posted on 01/23/2011 10:20:46 AM PST by rlmorel ("If this doesn't light your fire, Men, the pilot light's out!"...Coach Ed Bolin)
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To: Carley

Hmm. That was a fairly random comment on a sports thread.


9 posted on 01/23/2011 10:23:44 AM PST by tenger (It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for. -Will Rogers)
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To: blackdog

Why the personal attack, blackdog? Did I say something derogatory about a hero of yours? You can express your opinion, that’s fine. I didn’t attack you personally, even though I happen to think it is pretty stupid to believe it is all part of a master plan. Do me a favor and keep it to the subject.

But, since the subject is so dear to you, I am curious. Let me get this straight...do you think the foot-fetish stupidity is an indicator of his judgement, or part of his master coaching plan?


10 posted on 01/23/2011 10:26:37 AM PST by rlmorel ("If this doesn't light your fire, Men, the pilot light's out!"...Coach Ed Bolin)
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To: rlmorel
I was just trying to Ryan him.............

Fortunately people here on FR are smarter than patriots and da bears.

11 posted on 01/23/2011 10:34:06 AM PST by blackdog
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To: blackdog

Not sure what you mean. “Ryan him”? Kaslin? Perhaps I misunderstood you.


12 posted on 01/23/2011 10:48:46 AM PST by rlmorel ("If this doesn't light your fire, Men, the pilot light's out!"...Coach Ed Bolin)
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To: Kaslin
Among the four coaches left in the playoffs, three are about as colorful as an Ikea store.

Most professionals prefer to work in an environment where they are treated like professionals. It's probably easier for these guys to recruit good players, and get the best out of them.

13 posted on 01/23/2011 10:51:53 AM PST by 3niner (When Obama succeeds, America fails.)
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To: rlmorel
I lived most of my life in Philadelphia. I savored the Tose owned team as a kid. I enjoyed a happy-fest during the Dick Vermeil years amd the hell of the "Swamp Fox" Campbell years. I came back to life in the Buddy-Ball era and then suffered enough with Rich Kotite to move out of town and go join the Packer fans along with Reggie White.

One thing that never left me was the admiration and frustration with Buddy Ryan. I'm seeing it in Rex Ryan all over again. I'm not sure if I'm reliving a dream or a nightmare.

I used to listen to Monday Night Football just to hear Dan Deirdorf carry on about Buddy Ryan and Andre Waters, and that was when the Eagles weren't even playing! I just love anything that Dan Deirdorf hates.

Most NFL coaches are big o'l bags of ego. Ryan(s), Capers, Vermeil, and yes....Lovie Smith are exceptions. But as a packer fan I cannot and will not give one spec of decency to Smith until the season is over. Until the season is over, Smith is a deer in the headlights. He can be as humble and all "quiet man" as he wants.

14 posted on 01/23/2011 10:55:27 AM PST by blackdog
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To: blackdog

Ya, that Buddy Ryan. Up 14 to nothing against the Jets punches Kevin Gilbride, the offensive coordinator. Obviously he was trying to get into Gilbride’s head. I’m sure it was a genius coaching move carefully planned to make the Jets overconfident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPK3cDl7Ftw


15 posted on 01/23/2011 10:58:30 AM PST by Lost Highway (I don't know what the world may need but a V8 engines a good start for me)
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To: Lost Highway

LOLOL!!!!


16 posted on 01/23/2011 11:08:27 AM PST by blackdog
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To: Lost Highway

You ever work with someone you’d like to just punch in the face? Buddy does / did have some self control issues, granted. But isn’t there a guy in your workplace you’d just love to deck?


17 posted on 01/23/2011 11:23:36 AM PST by blackdog
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To: blackdog

I am rooting for the Packers...as we speak.


18 posted on 01/23/2011 2:10:27 PM PST by rlmorel ("If this doesn't light your fire, Men, the pilot light's out!"...Coach Ed Bolin)
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To: Kaslin

I was standing on the sideline within about 20 feet of where Buddy Ryan took a poke at Kevin Gilbride at a Houston Oiler game...

The comments leading up to the poke were pretty typical of a foul mouthed bully like Ryan...

Even though I agree with his assessment of Gilbrides’ ability to screw up a good thing, it was still inappropriate and not something kids should have seen, much less heard at the game or on TV...

The cool coaches are the ones that get results through a “stern” gaze, and the players understanding without a word being said that they had better get it together if they want to continue to play that game...

My favorite coach (Pro) is still Tom Landry...


19 posted on 01/23/2011 4:34:28 PM PST by stevie_d_64 (I'm jus' sayin')
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