The Firing Jeff Fisher Debate Verdict

February 8, 2011

Read the opposing arguments from Sports Geek and Optimist Prime.

Just when we thought the annual NFL coaching carousel was finished, the Tennessee Titans threw us all for a loop when the organization announced the sudden departure of long time head coach Jeff Fisher. I’ve always been someone who has been in Jeff Fisher’s corner. He comes across as a hard nosed guy, having served under the likes of Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan – two hard nosed guys themselves. He also comes across as a nice guy, which, judging by the full-page ad he placed in the Nashville Tennesean, he apparently is. But, enough of that emotional stuff. Save that for Valentine’s Day next Monday. Did the guy deserve to get the heave ho?

We can all agree that the timing of this move was dreadful… even Al Davis made a move before the Titans did. What Jeff Fisher did in between the end of the regular season in early January and his dismissal in late January to cause his ouster is beyond me. Nonetheless, we’ll be seeing him on a T.V. network in all likelihood this fall, provided there is a season.

Sports Geek felt that Fisher went wrong by giving owner Bud Adams too much say so. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mr. Adams, feel free to take a peek at this clip… makes me laugh every time!) Adams is the guy who essentially gave the keys to the car to Vince Young. Unfortunately, it was Jeff Fisher’s car before Young got there. Fisher and Steve McNair nearly won a Super Bowl in that car, and that caused friction right off the bat between the two. Fisher lost his authority and therefore was possibly undermined in the locker room.

Optimist Prime places a lot of the blame on the organization’s handling of the Vince Young saga. Adams continuously said that Young was his guy, and his persistence lead to a lot of uncertainty regarding Fisher’s future. The firing also brings an uncertain future as it has been a long time since a guy not named Jeff Fisher has been roaming the sidelines in Nashville. Besides, as Prime points out, the Titans did post double digit wins in 2007 and 2008.

Here’s where I decided to go with this verdict. Optimist Prime states in his argument that, “… the whole Young/Fisher saga makes me wonder what kind of organizational leadership the Titans have these days.” Hmm… isn’t Jeff Fisher part of that organizational leadership? He is the head coach after all. It is ultimately his responsibility to get those 53 guys ready to play for 16 games every season.

Unfortunately, something had to give. Adams has decided to move on from both Young AND Fisher, and it’s the right move. Besides, for all the hoopla surrounding Fisher, look at his overall record as a head coach. It’s not like we’re talking about Vince Lombardi. He’s 146-120, made it to ONE Super Bowl (and lost), made it to the post-season six times in 17 seasons, and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2003! Someone besides fantasy football owners need to take advantage of having Chris Johnson on a team.

Maybe Tennessee takes a step back this year with new coach Mike Munchak. But perhaps he will also provide some stability. This year, at least, you really could see Fisher lost that team, and it was obvious a change was necessary.

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Posted by Loyal Homer

The Terrelle Pryor Growth Debate – It’s the Coaching!

October 29, 2009

Read the debate intro and Sports Geek’s argument that the struggles of Terrelle Pryor are due to his underperformance.

Have you ever tried running with a left shoe on your right foot? Sure, you can still accomplish the basic goal of getting from here to there, and the shoe will protect your foot from sharp steps along the road. The problem, though, is that it prevents you from maximizing your true potential. Ideally, you would like to find a shoe that fits properly, which enables you to truly perform at the highest possible levels.

When you do find that shoe that fits comfortably magic starts to happen. The right fit brings comfort, and with comfort comes reliability and consistency of performance. Instead of pain, tension, and stress you are able to move more naturally, and focus on improving the finer points of performance.

Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor must know exactly how that feels.

After being very heavily recruited out of high school, Pryor came into Ohio State amidst very high expectations. At 6 feet 6 inches, weighing 227 pounds, Pryor was compared to Vince Young. Like Young, Pryor has the raw athletic ability of a “dual-threat” quarterback who can run for 20 yards just as easily as he could can throw for it.

For a player who has been compared to one of the most exciting and successful college quarterbacks of this decade, Pryor’s career has not started out so great for Pryor at Ohio State. Pryor, who has shown glimpses of the superstar that he can be, has been responsible for several very costly errors, most of which appeared to be the result of poor decision making. And if you play football in Ohio, errors are very quickly followed by criticism.

Critics seem to forget that Vince Young was not always the quarterback pictured in a cloud of confetti after having just upset the favored Southern Cal Trojans in the BCS National Championship. In fact, during Young’s first season at the helm for the Texas Longhorns he threw almost as many interceptions (11) as he did touchdowns (12), and only accounted for 1,848 passing yards. It took time for Young, who was 21-years-old when he took his first snaps as a starter in Texas, to develop with his team into a quarterback capable of national success.

Now compare Young to Pryor, who was thrust into the limelight at age 18 and asked to lead a national contender into the BCS before he had even finished his first semester of college! Yes, Pryor made mistakes, but many of those mistakes were the result of poor strategy on the field.

What makes Pryor most dangerous is his running ability. Like Young, or former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, Pryor has an amazing ability to extend plays because he is elusive and possesses amazing speed (despite his larger frame). The difference for Pryor is that he does not have the same supporting cast around him as Young and Smith had. Consider Young’s offensive teammates. Names like Selvin Young, Bo Scaife, Cedric Benson, and Limas Sweed come to mind. For Smith, names like Chris “Beanie” Wells, Teddy Ginn Jr., and Anthony Gonzalez come to mind. Both rosters were LOADED with NFL caliber talent, and both rosters required opposing defenses to split their focus, freeing up Young and Smith respectively to take advantage of their natural play-making abilities.

Who does Terrelle Pryor have? Beanie Wells was injured for some of the 2008 season with Pryor, so his play cannot be weighted very heavily. Instead, Pryor has a supporting cast of Daniel Herron, Dane Sanzenbacher, Brandon Saine, and Brian Hartline – all of whom are good players, but not quite the same caliber of his predecessor’s supporting cast. Opposing defenses are now able to use one of Pryor’s biggest strengths against him. The primary reason that Pryor was so highly recruited out of high school was because of his improvisational style and ability to make plays under pressure. That style can be very easy when the opponent is a bunch of 15 and 16 year-olds from Anywhere-Pennsylvania High. When an 18-year-old boy is being pressured by the defenses of USC, Penn State, or Texas… improvisation is a little more difficult to pull off.

Pryor’s mistakes have all come at times where he has tried to improvise or extend a play – every single one of them. The problem is that he cannot be expected to do it all by himself. I am not criticizing the rest of the Buckeye’s, but the offense around Pryor is not designed to support a quarterback with his unique talents. It is that simple. Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel coaches in a style that prizes special teams and field position play. Tressel’s coaching style would have him classified as a game manager, taking few chances and relying heavily on solid defense and consistent play to dominate the game by the clock (something the Buckeyes have not been able to do lately). What Pryor needs is an explosive running back that draws all of the attention up front, combined with speedy wide receivers to help him stretch the field. Most importantly, he needs the time to let plays develop. If his wide receivers are unable to get open downfield, it does not matter how long he extends the play, success will never come.

There has to be allowance for a learning curve, not only for Terrelle Pryor but for the whole Ohio State Buckeyes program. The aforementioned Troy Smith (who won the Heisman Trophy his senior year) was actually BENCHED in 2004 because he was unable to succeed under the Buckeye’s game plan. Once the team (and the coach) was able to develop an offense that complemented Smith’s style the coaches could finally maximize Smith’s talents, and saw wild success. If Pryor is going to have that same success then Tressel and the Buckeyes are going to have to figure out a way to truly maximize his talents.

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The Best Team Not to Win it all Debate, College Edition – The 2006 Buckeyes

September 1, 2009

Read Sports Geek and Loyal Homer’s arguments about which college football teams of the past decade were the best that did NOT win a championship.



It all started in 2005.

On Saturday, September 10th in Columbus, Ohio, The Ohio State Buckeyes were on the verge of defeating the Texas Longhorns, led by quarterback Vince Young. Despite a dropped touchdown pass by Buckeyes tight end Ryan Hamby in the third quarter, and a missed field goal late in the fourth quarter by Buckeyes kicker Josh Huston, Ohio State still carried a six-point lead into the final five minutes of the game. What followed became the prelude to a story that would conclude months later in one of the most exciting college football games in history.

With less than five minutes on the clock, Young led Texas downfield to a game-winning score that officially put Texas on the map as being a BCS contender that year. Young and his Longhorns would go on to an undefeated season, a Big 12 Championship, and a national championship against the reigning 2004 champions, the favored USC Trojans.

But what about the Buckeyes?

After the loss against Texas, they finished 2005 with a record of 10-2 – including a 34-20 victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl – ending the season ranked fourth in the nation. Many programs would consider that a WILDLY successful year, but that was not the case for the Buckeyes. What started as a year with championship expectations ended with the Buckeyes watching from home as a team they SHOULD HAVE beaten hoisted the trophy above their heads.

Many fans (and I am sure many players) watched the ’05 national championship and thought “It should’ve been us.”

When the 2006 preseason rankings came out, and Ohio State was ranked number one, the Buckeyes realized they had an opportunity for redemption. Many talented players returned on offense, including quarterback Troy Smith, wide receivers Ted Ginn, Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez, and running back Antonio Pittman. Their defense was led by defensive end Vernon Gholston and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. They also had some exciting young talent on their team in running back Chris (Beanie) Wells and linebacker James Laurinaitis.

Smith and Ginn were both considered Heisman favorites, and Ohio State, a team normally lauded for its dominant defense, was actually favored because of their explosive offensive potential.

Their schedule in 2006 was no cakewalk. Early in the season they would have to travel into Austin for a rematch against Texas (preseason #3). Also on the horizon were games against Penn State (preseason #19), Iowa (preseason #16), and Michigan (preseason #14). Despite that schedule, the Buckeyes were riding high on talent and expectations.

Following the first week of the season, Texas leapt ahead of Notre Dame in the national rankings, which set the stage for an early-season #1 vs #2 matchup. Ohio State, with bad memories of the 2005 season still on their minds, traveled to Texas for their first test as the top team in the nation, and they left Texas with a 24-7 victory.

Two weeks later, the Buckeyes trounced #24 Penn State by a score of 28-6, and the following week travelled to Iowa, where they handed the #13 Hawkeyes their first loss of the season 38-17. Over the next six games, Ohio State outscored their opponents 232-37, and were rolling toward a BCS Title invitation.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Wolverines had managed to climb their way up the rankings thanks to an 11-0 season, setting the stage for one of the biggest rivalry games ever to be played. When Ohio State hosted Michigan on November 18th, it became the first time in the storied history of the greatest rivalry in college football that both teams would take the field undefeated, ranked as #1 and #2 in the country. This would also be the second time that the Buckeyes had to put their record on the line against the number two ranked team. In a game which lived up to all of the pre-game hype, Ohio State emerged victorious by a score of 42-39.

In the weeks that followed, Florida emerged as the team that would compete against Ohio State for the BCS crown, but most discussion about the game centered on how much the Buckeyes would win by, rather than IF they would win (except in Florida, of course). Expectations increased once again when quarterback Troy Smith was named the Heisman winner for 2006.

Then came the kickoff for the championship. Ted Ginn, Jr. ran the kickoff all the way downfield for a touchdown, which appeared to seal the deal on the inevitable outcome of the game. But, during the touchdown celebration, Ginn injured his ankle and was unable to finish. Without Ginn at receiver, the previously explosive Buckeye offense suddenly became impotent. The end result was a devastating 27-point Florida victory. Since the Gators no longer had to worry about the threat of speedy Ginn, their defense was able to hold a team that averaged more than 35 points per game over the season to only one touchdown in the entire game.

The 2006 Ohio State Buckeyes were the best team in college football. They defeated four top-25 teams, including Texas and Michigan both of which were ranked second in the nation at one time. They were led by a Heisman winning quarterback, and 18 players on that roster have since gone on to the NFL. The performance during that game left little doubt that Florida played the better game, but Ohio State in 2006 was still the better team. Who knows what would have transpired if Ginn had not injured his ankle, but the 2006 Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team of the past decade to not win a championship.

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Posted by Bleacher Fan

The Best Team Not To Win It All Debate, College Football Edition – Dominance Did Not Dominate For One Day

September 1, 2009

Read Bleacher Fan’s argument that the 2006 Ohio State Buckeyes were the best team not to win a championship this decade. Read Sports Geek’s argument that the 2004 Auburn Tigers were the best team not to win a championship this decade.



Winning means everything, right? The realistic goal for most teams in college football is to win enough games to reach one of the numerous bowl games on the docket. However, for some teams, the ultimate goal for the season is to not only win the conference, but also compete in and win the BCS national championship game. One team that did not reach the top of the mountain this decade was the 2005 USC Trojans.

The Trojans came into the 2005 season absolutely loaded. They returned reigning Heisman trophy winner and quarterback Matt Leinart along with running back Reggie Bush, who would win the Heisman trophy at the end of 2005. The Trojans won the national title the previous season, and they returned 14 starters from the 2004 team including running back LenDale White, wide receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith, and linebacker Darnell Bing. They came into the season on a 22 game winning streak. It should also be noted that while they had no impact on the team that year, the recruiting class for that season featured future NFL draft picks quarterback Mark Sanchez, and linebackers Brian Cushing and Ray Maualuga.

The coaching staff, in addition to head coach Pete Carroll, featured future college football head coaches in current Tennessee Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin and current Washington Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Southern Cal totally dominated the regular season. Before playing Texas in the national championship game, there was talk that USC belonged in the discussion of the greatest college football teams of all time. Why wouldn’t they be? USC won nine games by at least 17 points. They scored over 50 points an eye-popping seven times during the regular season.

The 2006 Rose Bowl promised to be one of the best college football games we would ever see. The Texas Longhorns had a fine season in their own right. Led by Heisman trophy runner-up and quarterback Vince Young, the Longhorns had run through their schedule with relative ease as they also scored over 50 points on seven different occasions. That included an absolute 70-3 annihilation of Colorado in the Big 12 championship game.

Most pundits, though taking nothing away from Texas, expected the Trojans to cap off an undefeated season with a victory over the ‘Horns. But Young had other plans, essentially putting his team on his back and willing them to a 41-38 victory. He accounted for 467 total yards in the game. I vividly remember watching the game in my living room with buddies and thinking during the game that we were watching something special. As a fan of high scoring games, it is, without a doubt, the best college football game I have ever watched.

Looking back, I still am not sure how that USC team lost. It was loaded. So many stars on one team. They just happened to play against Texas when Young had the game of his life. It seems impossible to not name the 2005 USC Trojans as the greatest college football team of the decade not to win a title.

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Posted by Loyal Homer

The Definition of Great Debate, College Football Edition – Made From the Best Stuff on Earth

July 9, 2009

Read Loyal Homer’s argument that swagger defines great and Sports Geek’s argument that statistical dominance defines great.



Recently, our friend Andrea Adelson at the Orlando Sentinel posed a question to her readers: Which college football team in the last nine years would currently ranks as the “Team of the Decade?”

There have been some outstanding teams over the past nine years, including the 2005 Texas Longhorns, the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes, the 2004 USC Trojans, and Adelson’s pick, the 2001 Miami Hurricanes.

During our production meeting last week we here at TSD discussed the merits of her list, and out of that discussion came an interesting debate topic for us…

What is the best criteria by which to measure the success of a college football team?

Sports Geek will argue that statistical dominance is the key (big surprise), and Loyal Homer will argue that swagger and attitude are what separates the men from the boys.

For me the answer is much simpler than stats or attitude. It all boils down to talent and success of the players at the next level, the NFL.

Keep in mind, we’re not debating what it takes to be a good college player, we are talking about choosing the “BEST” team, and just like gourmet meals are made from the best ingredients, the best team is made up of the best players.

Statistics and swagger are good, but they are merely by-products of talent, and they don’t always tell a true story. For example, the 2004 National Champion USC Trojans didn’t even crack the top-10 in total offense. You know who did? The Toledo Rockets and the Bowling Green Falcons, both out of the Mid-American Conference. Does that mean that the MAC actually had two schools that were better than USC that year? I don’t think so.

As another example, who was the best running back from the class of 2005? I bet you said Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, didn’t you? (That’s okay, so did I.) But, he wasn’t statistically the top rusher of the year. He was actually third behind DeAngelo Williams of Memphis and Jerome Harrison of Washington State.

Surely, then, he was at least the top scorer of 2005, right?! Wrong again. In this little statistic, he doesn’t show up until eighth on the list. In fact, he wasn’t even the top scoring running back for his own school! That title actually belonged to LenDale White.

My point here is that statistics can be misleading, or that quality is more important than quantity. What is not misleading is the ability for a player (or a group of players) to consistently do what needs to be done in order to remain competitive for extended periods of time, at ANY level of competition.

Think about the teams I mentioned above as some of the best from the past decade. What made them all great was the fact that they were populated by the best players of that time. The 2001 Hurricanes had Ed Reed, Jeremy Shockey, Andre Johnson, Clinton Portis, and Kellen Winslow Jr. The 2002 Buckeyes had Maurice Clarett (ahh, what could have been), A.J. Hawk, Michael Jenkins, Chris Gamble, Mike Doss, and Will Smith. The 2004 Trojans had Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Lofa Tatupu, LenDale White, and Eric Wright. The 2005 Longhorns had Vince Young, Selvin Young, Limas Sweed, Brian Orakpo, and Justin Blalock.

These players dominated in college, and (with the exception of Clarett) moved on to successful NFL careers as well, and those names only make up a fraction of the total number of NFL caliber players who contributed to the success of those respective teams. In fact, as Adelson point, the ’01 Hurricanes actually sent 38 players from the roster to the NFL, including 17 first-round picks! It’s no accident that this team became National Champions.

It isn’t about blowing out an opponent by 50 points, dominating total passing yardage, or having the flashiest plays. The one common thread that each of these teams shared is TALENT. They had the best players in the right positions to make the plays needed to win.

Think about the Texas vs. Ohio State game of 2005. In that game, The Ohio State Buckeyes were driving late in the game and were ready to go ahead by 10 points. Unfortunately for the Buckeye faithful, Tight End Ryan Hamby (who?) ended up dropping a sure touchdown pass from Quarterback Justin Zwick (who?) in the endzone, and the Buckeyes had to settle for a field goal, giving them only a six point lead.

In response, the Longhorns (led by the superior talent named above) were able to march down the field and take the lead from Ohio State with only 2 minutes left in the game, thanks to a TD pass from Vince Young to Limas Sweed. That touchdown ended up being the difference maker as the Longhorns would close out that game and go on to defeat the USC Trojans in the National Championship game later that year.

What made the difference? The Longhorn talent was able to execute under pressure where the Buckeye players could not. Texas didn’t dominate the game statistically, they just did enough to win the game, and at the end of the day, that’s ALL that matters.

The best teams are the ones that are made up of the best players… end of debate!

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Posted by Bleacher Fan

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