JOURNAL SPORTS
It’s Week 10, end of the high school football regular season, but it’s the middle of the NFL schedule.
Nobody rooting for New Orleans or Dallas is remotely happy. After Sunday’s losses, an obvious Shreveport-Bossier Journal Coaches’ Roundtable topic arose.
We asked: “as a coach (and/or as a fan), what do you say to fans of the Saints and Cowboys who are calling to fire their coaches immediately?”
A day later, the Saints did can Dennis Allen. Mike McCarthy remains in Dallas.
Local coaches who responded provided a range of interesting takes.
THEDRICK HARRIS, Woodlawn – “As a coach, dealing with criticism from fans is all part of the job. As a coach you can only do the best job you can, and be honest with yourself as to whether or not the criticism is warranted. If it is, update your resume.”
RODNEY GUIN, Calvary – “As a coach, I’ve learned whether you win or lose someone will always criticize or complain. You just learn to deal with it and do your job the best you can.”
GARY COOPER, Booker T. Washington – “It’s a 17-game season. Obviously everyone thinks their team should go 17-0, but that’s highly unlikely. Let the coaches make the necessary adjustments, roster moves, etc. and see what happens.”
COY BROTHERTON, Parkway – “It’s tough. Those guys know way more football than 100% of the people calling for their job. But at the end of the day those guys are making millions of dollars to win and they aren’t. So I do understand the business side of it and I think we can all agree that sometimes organizations do need a change, football knowledge aside.”
JEREMY WILBURN, Captain Shreve – “That’s a different business from a financial perspective. The head coaches at the NFL level are typically set for life financially on one good contract. Particularly if they’ve got good agents ensuring the guaranteed money is built into the contract. I believe Dennis Allen was the lowest paid HC in the league at $3.5M and (Mike) McCarthy is reportedly in the $4-$7M range annually.
“They need to win and win now. They get to draft players they want, trade for players they need, and sign free agents to fill voids they feel their current roster contains. As high school coaches, most of us have to coach the kids that come to our school and have no options to fill any areas of our teams that we feel are not sufficient from a personnel standpoint.
“I think fans are justified in wanting coaches in the NFL to win, particularly if that coach has been in charge of the organization for multiple seasons already. I do not believe a coach should be let go any time prior to completing his second year as changing the culture of an organization is not an overnight process. It takes some time to get that process completed.”
JAMES BRADFORD JR., Green Oaks – “This is a tough one. Obviously now the Saints have made a change with their coach but as a fan everybody wants to see their team win. However as a coach you look at many aspects that go into why a team may not have success. Both teams have had very key injuries at multiple positions which has tremendously affected the outcome. To answer your question: Saints/Cowboys fans are both crazy so I don’t tell them nothing, because they don’t listen anyway (LOL!).”
JUSTIN SCOGIN, Airline – “I think at each level the importance of coaching goes down. The NFL guys are getting paid tons of money and the importance of being a good teammate and playing together is much lower.
“College has turned into more of an individualized game as well with the NIL era but there is still a level where the kids want to go to the playoffs and achieve that team success, and make some great memories — but not nearly as much as before.
“High school is really the only level left that coaches really can make an impact on kids. So in a really long roundabout way, I think coaching in the NFL is highly overrated and more about the players.”
STEPHEN DENNIS, Huntington – “I am a huge Cowboys fan myself. While this year has been frustrating to say the least, I think it is a good policy to not judge from a distance. The only ones that truly know if there needs to be change are the folks within those walls, the ones working side by side with staff and players.”
AUSTIN BROWN, Northwood – “McCarthy ain’t a bad football mind. But he’s probably a guy that was ‘meant’ for being a coordinator.
“Hopefully he finds his truth and does that like Chip Kelly and ol’ boy at the Washington Redskins did (or whatever their mascot is – LOL!)”
REYNOLDS MOORE, Benton – “Man, I don’t like it when people call for coaches to be fired. Especially when it’s the first or second year of their tenure. I try not to even question calls as much as I can because I’m not at their practice. I don’t know what injuries or issues they might be dealing with.
“As a coach, I know that many times when fans are upset, they don’t have a clue what’s really going on. But, at the same time, I can appreciate a fan who is passionate about the game, but not when they’re fickle.
“When Coach O got paid all that money to leave, my wife joked with me that I wasn’t making that much to keep my job!! Seriously though, I think it’s a little different when a coach is making millions of dollars and they’re held to a different standard, but I still think you have to give them a chance to build things their way. Then coaches don’t feel the need to take shortcuts or stray from their vision.”