😀😀 Ron fired days ago. Mission Accomplished.😀😄

[Conn]

11 minutes ago, Commander Adama said:

Like I said, as a coach, he was horrible. What you are talking about is from a coaching stand point. I am talking about the changes made throughout the facility to where it used to be a cesspool to something that was resembling an organization. I believe he was involved on the business side along with Jason Wright. Was he not?

No, he was not. His deal is on the football side of the franchise. Rivera has nothing to do with the business side other than whatever input they gave him about the new name/branding (which is a joke also). 
 

Rivera did nothing to change the culture other than be a respectable face of the franchise while Snyder imploded and then snuck out the back door. He had to answer a lot of tough questions that he didn’t know he was signing up for, I respect him for that if nothing else. But he did know he was making a deal with the Devil when he accepted full football control from Snyder. So my empathy is limited. 

 

But this idea that he changed the culture is a joke imo. Look at the parts of this franchise that have his fingerprints all over it. They’re worse than they were under Gruden. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Conn

[Skinsinparadise]

ON THE PLANE ride back to Washington following the Commanders' Thanksgiving Day drubbing at the hands of the Cowboys, Rivera watched and graded the game film, focusing on a critical stretch late in the first half.

Washington had cut the Dallas lead to 14-10 just inside the two-minute warning, with a chance to carry the momentum into halftime if the Commanders' defense could hold its ground.

But on back-to-back plays, it allowed a 24-yard gain on a deflected pass from Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott to receiver Jalen Brooks, followed by a 31-yard pass to Jalen Tolbert that came as a result of a Washington coverage breakdown. Now inside the 10-yard line, the Cowboys scored on the next play to move ahead 20-10. The Commanders never got back in it.

As he reviewed the film, and reflected on the game and season, Rivera considered whether to fire Del Rio, a team source said.

Del Rio was a two-time NFL head coach who a year ago had led one of the league's top defenses in Washington. The jettisoning of Sweat and Young, predictably, had done Del Rio's defense few favors.

But the Commanders' defense had struggled even before those trades and, by Thanksgiving, had cratered to last place in points allowed (29.2 per game) and 29th in total defense (377.7 yards per game).

Rivera pondered the impact of moving on. If he fired Del Rio, how would he divide up his tasks? By the time he arrived home, Rivera's mind was racing. He got to sleep around 3 a.m. but woke up a little more than two hours later. As he drove to the team facility, he knew the move needed to be made.

Rivera waited until around 8 a.m. to call Harris, spending his time mapping out the new structure and each coach's responsibilities. When he called, a source said, the owner asked why he wanted to make the move, as well as the plan moving forward. Harris, who generally believes staff changes should be made at the head coach's discretion, approved the move.

Rivera visited Del Rio's office to deliver the news, an interaction coaching staff sources characterized as professional but less than warm. Rivera then exited Del Rio's office, took a few steps into the office of defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer and delivered another blunt message: Vies, we have to let you go.

"They knew this was ending eventually," a team source said. "They just got it early."

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39033706/washington-commanders-crossroads-ron-rivera-eric-bieniemy-josh-harris-next

But the boss would have to weigh in before any moves occurred, and no one at Commanders Park knew exactly what that boss -- a little more than three months into his tenure -- was thinking. New owner Josh Harris, meeting remotely with his football brain trust, faced his first big football decision since he'd been approved as owner on July 20. Harris emphasized he was open to acquiring future draft capital on the trade market, particularly with Sweat and Young, according to front-office and team sources.

Harris didn't "roll in as a sheriff," as the source put it, in line with the owner's philosophy of leaning on staff to make recommendations before major decisions are made. "He gave his opinion, everyone was heard, and we landed in a fair spot."

But when you're calling the shots, a suggestion can often be taken as an edict. Sweat and Young were gone within hours of the meeting, dealt to Chicago and San Francisco for second- and third-round picks, respectively. Within league circles, the terms of the trades were viewed as favorable to the Commanders. But that didn't mean it felt like a win for Mayhew, Hurney or Rivera.

"Today ... has not been a good day," a personnel source said in a text to ESPN on the evening of Oct. 30.

Rivera, in his fourth season as head coach and without a winning season in Washington, understood the business realities but had hoped to keep enough pieces to salvage the season, team sources said. Coaches, including Rivera and since-fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, especially, wanted to keep Sweat. It would be difficult for any objective observer to argue the Commanders had gotten closer to the 2023 playoffs with their work at the deadline.

The front office, meanwhile, has found it difficult to celebrate the acquisition of draft picks someone else will probably be making. If Harris cleans house in January -- or earlier -- those five selections in the top 100 of the 2024 NFL draft, along with $87 million in estimated cap space, would make the head coach and general manager jobs plenty attractive.

The team's decision to fire Del Rio after a 45-10 Thanksgiving beatdown by the Dallas Cowboys was likely just the beginning. The future of all the organization's remaining prominent figures, including Rivera and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, is in doubt. What's to come in Washington will remain among the biggest storylines -- and uncertainties -- of the 2024 offseason.

"It feels like a new direction is coming across the board," a front-office source said.

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39033706/washington-commanders-crossroads-ron-rivera-eric-bieniemy-josh-harris-next

[Fan since a Fetus]

55 minutes ago, Conn said:

I don’t want to hire someone that you have to make excuses for when it comes to player relations, for me that’s that on Flores. We’ve had too much of that with our star players, contentious relationships and weird politicking. I don’t care about the rest of the stuff with tampering and Ross and the lawsuit. That’s all a separate topic for me. Flores isn’t a villain to me. I just don’t want someone who failed so spectacularly to connect with and nurture his relationship with the most important young player in the franchise. It’s disqualifying for me and shows the dinosaur mindset that I’m done with. He wasn’t adaptable. 
 

That isn’t even getting into the fact that he’s a Defensive coach. Not even on my list for HC because of that, personally. But the Tua stuff the last time he was trusted to lead a franchise was egregious enough to be worth mentioning when I originally responded. 

Im not trying to make excuses for the guy. I said what he did wasn’t in the best interests of Tua. From what we know, he had two failed relationships on that team. Tua and Stephen Ross who is a piece of crap dickwad. Plenty of coaches have had bad relationships with players. 
 

I’m not avoiding hiring a coach because of a bad relationship with one guy on the team. Especially a guy that has gotten good results everywhere he has been. The players must not have hated him too much if they won 7 out of 8 his last year with the Dolphins. We are seeing currently how players react to coaching when they are not thrilled. Same thing with Josh McDaniels. He’s a dick, but he doesn’t get results so players don’t play hard for him when he’s a HC. The same can’t be said of Brian Flores. He got results and he still does. 
 

As for the beat reporters saying bad things about Flores, did their reports come out after the supposed not so secret QB meeting that he stood up Ross for? That makes a huge difference. Or were they before? 
 

As for him being the villain, I didn’t mean that part specifically for you. A few people had replied to me and it was a general reply to all of you. Trying to give everyone a small perspective on what I was thinking.

 

im fine with a DC as a HC. I think you have to be sure you got the right guy though with a solid offensive foundation. Thats why I suggested Reich.  Is Flores the right guy is the question. He has to be brought in and ran through the ringer. I think it would behoove the team to do so. Same with Reich and how he feels about Howell. 
 

one thing is for certain is that Flores knows the Xs and Os and he is willing to adapt. You can’t say that for everyone out there. The main question is his people skills i guess and really that comes down to people skills with a lone player at this point. 
 

 

Edit: Also Conn, I’m tired of agreeing with you 90% of the time. I usually just like your posts and move on. But as I told my wife, someone is wrong on the internet. 🤨🤪😂 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Fan since a Fetus

[Conn]

Lmao that first article HAS to be Rivera as the only source. It contains his damn inner thoughts! 

 

He’s grown into exactly the sort of political animal he was supposed to be better than. Snyder really did ruin everyone who walked through his doors. 
 

I’ll be glad to see him go. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

17 minutes ago, Redwards said:

This really shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone who could take off the rose-colored glasses for a moment.   This defense has proved for the past three years it was a paper tiger.  Whenever they had to play anyone of merit, they just looked much worse and ineffective most of the time.  

 

Heck, I've been saying for over two years that this defense was a fraud, and I said before the season started that no one should be surprised to see this defense be the weak link of the team while the offense steps up a bit.  

 

I think people like Keim, Finlay, etc., as smart as they are, are just way too close to this team to view them objectively enough.  It's understandable when you are always around the team, but damn.  NO ONE should be surprised with what has happened to this defense.  

Jack’s best defensive efforts have come against bad teams and QBs. 
 

But hats off to you if you predicted the defense would be this bad in 2023.  Even knowing that the high overall defensive ranking from last year was flimsy, I never expected what we got this season.  I’ve said this too many times in my fandom, but this looks like the worst defense I’ve ever witnessed.  We’ve seen plenty of bad defenses in the past, but they generally had little resources allocated to them and bad coordinators to boot.  This defense has a bazillion dollars locked up on two tackles, it had two high draft picks on each end, and numerous other draft resources allotted to it.  It’s still unbelievable to me just how god awful the defense has been and I’ve never been a believer in Jack.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

7 minutes ago, Conn said:

Lmao that first article HAS to be Rivera as the only source. It contains his damn inner thoughts! 

 

He’s grown into exactly the sort of political animal he was supposed to be better than. Snyder really did ruin everyone who walked through his doors. 
 

I’ll be glad to see him go. 

I’m not sure that I’ve ever read an article under the guise of ‘sources’ where it was so obvious it was coming from the guy the article is actually about.

[dyst]

9 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

Jack’s best defensive efforts have come against bad teams and QBs. 
 

But hats off to you if you predicted the defense would be this bad in 2023.  Even knowing that the high overall defensive ranking from last year was flimsy, I never expected what we got this season.  I’ve said this too many times in my fandom, but this looks like the worst defense I’ve ever witnessed.  We’ve seen plenty of bad defenses in the past, but they generally had little resources allocated to them and bad coordinators to boot.  This defense has a bazillion dollars locked up on two tackles, it had two high draft picks on each end, and numerous other draft resources allotted to it.  It’s still unbelievable to me just how god awful the defense has been and I’ve never been a believer in Jack.

Sadly many people were saying that even back in 2020 when we made the playoffs at 7 games, that we played weak teams and bad QBs.

[Conn]

4 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I’m not sure that I’ve ever read an article under the guise of ‘sources’ where it was so obvious it was coming from the guy the article is actually about.

So funny. Contains his inner monologue from scene to scene and everything. 

[Riggo#44]

33 days until January 8th.

[Chris 44]

1 hour ago, Skinsinparadise said:

The future of all the organization's remaining prominent figures, including Rivera and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, is in doubt.

Im of the mind set that its not in doubt in the least bit.

[Idaho fan]

Just need Ron to keep on doing what he's been doing.  He needs to do us a solid on his way out and continue to lose.  Need to keep that 4th overall.

 

[Skinsinparadise]

There was some on Bieniemy too.  He came off more positive in that article than Keim usually describes things so am guessing that was Fowler's input on the article.  Some negative in that mix though, too on him but more positive.  I am guessing that was Rivera's spin because I get the vibe that he thought bringing Bieineimy was a master stroke in the off season.

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[Simmsy]

I'm starting to wonder if that earlier indication of our players being being too soft was more on the money than we all thought.

[88Comrade2000]

2 hours ago, Fan since a Fetus said:

 

i saw your posts and i mainly responded to Conn, but if you read that you’ll understand how I feel.

 

i get the wanting an OC. But there have and are great defensive coaches and players that have been and are currently doing well in the NFL. Look at how DeMeco Ryans and Kevin Stefanski (has been an offensive coach but played as a dback. Look throughout history and you’ll see some great ones. I almost forgot Mike Tomlin, a guy who had never had a losing season.
 

In fact, Id be on board because a defensive coach will most likely run the ball a lot more than we do currently. With the way the NFL  is currently mapped. It could bode well for a running team with a very solid and not overpaid qb. 

I think Conn said it perfectly. Flores botched the relationship with the qb , that the Dolphins drafted at #5 in the first round.  That alone disqualifies him from consideration; especially how Tua has performed under Mcdaniel.

 

Yes, Brian didn’t get a fair shake in Miami but he botched the most important relationship in football. I wouldn’t trust anywhere near a young qb.

 

If he gets another shot, it would be on team that is looking to fix their defensive side and already has a seasoned/stable veterans qb on the team.

 

As for Reich, he’s done and he’s a twice fired retread.

2 hours ago, Commander Adama said:

I know I am probably way off base, but I would love for Ron Rivera to stay on in the Front Office. Not as a GM, but in terms of turning the culture around, he has done that in spades. As a coach, he has been awful. Players have checked out, but in terms of getting rid of the malignancy that was Dan Snyder, I think he has really turned the organization around.

You can arguably say he made the team worse.

[Warhead36]

21 minutes ago, Simmsy said:

I'm starting to wonder if that earlier indication of our players being being too soft was more on the money than we all thought.

I'm sure there is some truth to it. But it doesn't mean EB still isn't terrible.

[Conn]

31 minutes ago, Simmsy said:

I'm starting to wonder if that earlier indication of our players being being too soft was more on the money than we all thought.

I think so, just because there’s never been a standard worth living up to in the building. Not since college have these guys been around that. 
 

I don’t think that’s why Bieniemy is failing, though. People are doing a disservice to the conversation when they focus only on the surface level toughness/yelling stuff. And that’s what the national media will talk about when discussing his merits as a coach to hire this offseason—his personality, instead of his schematic faults and his lack of intuition in play sequencing, his failure to disguise looks and attack weaknesses. There’s a ton to be disappointed about with EB’s offense and it mostly has nothing to do with him being an asshole. 

[Fan since a Fetus]

16 minutes ago, 88Comrade2000 said:

I think Conn said it perfectly. Flores botched the relationship with the qb , that the Dolphins drafted at #5 in the first round.  That alone disqualifies him from consideration; especially how Tua has performed under Mcdaniel.

 

Yes, Brian didn’t get a fair shake in Miami but he botched the most important relationship in football. I wouldn’t trust anywhere near a young qb.

 

If he gets another shot, it would be on team that is looking to fix their defensive side and already has a seasoned/stable veterans qb on the team.

 

As for Reich, he’s done and he’s a twice fired retread.

You can arguably say he made the team worse.

I’m talking Reich for OC under Flores. Reich would be a solid offensive mind along with stability. As long as he’s healthy and doing well, he would stay with the team. 
 

i know he’s not getting another HC job. That’s why I’m really interested. Plus Reich will be the guy working the most with Howell or a young qb.

 

 Of you cannot get someone in the vein of Reich to lead the offense for years, then the Flores option is less viable in my opinion. 
 

I wouldn’t want a DC that brings in a great OC mind who leaves after a year or two of coaching well.

 

 All of y’all are against Flores, but are up for OCs that don’t have a long track record of higher coaching positions.

 

Ben Johnson is looking good, but he’s had a year and a half of calling plays. It’s not that Dan Campbell was really bad at it. He had a few rough games and gave up the play calling. Yeah. Ben Johnson is an excellent play caller. 
 

Almost nobody knew who Frank Smith was a week ago until he was emotional on camera. But how much of that offense is McDaniels doing? He got that job for a reason, 

 

This is Bobby Slowiks first time as an OC. Suddenly his name is starting to come up he has worked for some great coaches, but how’s he going to handle being the main guy.

 

 It’s a crapshoot a to who is going to be that next generational guy. You could fail on the OC for HC how and set any quarterback you have back for a few years or a career. Plenty of these up and coming youngsters are getting their butts handed to them in the NFL. 
 

Flores has been in the fire. I think too much emphasis is being put on him not dealing with one player appropriately.

 

 Yeah that one player was a young QB. But should one mistake keep a man away from getting any kind of HC jobs? Can a man not grow and learn from his mistakes? 
 

Every coach out there makes mistakes with players. you just heard about this one. 99% of the time you won’t hear it. 

 

i think it would be smart to bring him in and talk. 

[Fan since a Fetus]

On EB: it’s hard to be a successful asshole when you are more of a problem than the players you are coaching. If you’re yelling at players and yet can’t call a game with even a surface of level of competence, yeah players aren’t going to like you at all

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

48 minutes ago, Simmsy said:

I'm starting to wonder if that earlier indication of our players being being too soft was more on the money than we all thought.

Nobody likes getting yelled at by an egomaniac with little reason to have an ego.

 

Generally speaking, I think most players take well to tough coaching when they see the benefits - increased targets/touches, production, wins, etc.

 

But when you are a hardass and have nothing of substance to offer, nobody is trying to hear that.

[Conn]

1 hour ago, Fan since a Fetus said:

I’m talking Reich for OC under Flores. Reich would be a solid offensive mind along with stability. As long as he’s healthy and doing well, he would stay with the team. 
 

i know he’s not getting another HC job. That’s why I’m really interested. Plus Reich will be the guy working the most with Howell or a young qb.

 

 Of you cannot get someone in the vein of Reich to lead the offense for years, then the Flores option is less viable in my opinion. 
 

I wouldn’t want a DC that brings in a great OC mind who leaves after a year or two of coaching well.

 

 All of y’all are against Flores, but are up for OCs that don’t have a long track record of higher coaching positions.

 

Ben Johnson is looking good, but he’s had a year and a half of calling plays. It’s not that Dan Campbell was really bad at it. He had a few rough games and gave up the play calling. Yeah. Ben Johnson is an excellent play caller. 
 

Almost nobody knew who Frank Smith was a week ago until he was emotional on camera. But how much of that offense is McDaniels doing? He got that job for a reason, 

 

This is Bobby Slowiks first time as an OC. Suddenly his name is starting to come up he has worked for some great coaches, but how’s he going to handle being the main guy.

 

 It’s a crapshoot a to who is going to be that next generational guy. You could fail on the OC for HC how and set any quarterback you have back for a few years or a career. Plenty of these up and coming youngsters are getting their butts handed to them in the NFL. 
 

Flores has been in the fire. I think too much emphasis is being put on him not dealing with one player appropriately.

 

 Yeah that one player was a young QB. But should one mistake keep a man away from getting any kind of HC jobs? Can a man not grow and learn from his mistakes? 
 

Every coach out there makes mistakes with players. you just heard about this one. 99% of the time you won’t hear it. 

 

i think it would be smart to bring him in and talk. 

Listen I respect the thought put into it but I find your point of view so funny.

 

Any of these young OC’s could fail and set a young QB back a few years or derail their career…so let’s hire the guy who we know for sure has done exactly that with a talented young QB

 

How do you reconcile that? You’d rather hire a guy who has already made that horrendous mistake and hope and pray that he’s learned from it, rather than just try to hire somebody who may never make the mistake at all? Flores has literally done what you’re afraid an inexperienced young OC would do in the head role. Not all experience is good experience, some guys just need to be coordinators. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Conn

[NickyJ]

Brian Flores is still suing the league at this very moment. I don't care what upside Flores has (he doesn't have much), I don't care how justified he was in his lawsuit. I wouldn't want a league-wide sideshow to be our head coach, especially after the entire team has been a league-wide sideshow for 5+ years.

Edited December 6, 2023 by NickyJ

[Fan since a Fetus]

2 hours ago, Conn said:

Listen I respect the thought put into it but I find your point of view so funny.

 

”Any of these young OC’s could fail and set a young QB back a few years or derail their career…so let’s hire the guy who we know for sure has done exactly that with a talented young QB”

 

How do you reconcile that? You’d rather hire a guy who has already made that horrendous mistake and hope and pray that he’s learned from it, rather than just try to hire somebody who may never make the mistake at all? Flores has literally done what you’re afraid an inexperienced young OC would do in the head role. Not all experience is good experience, some guys just need to be coordinators. 

i get your point on that. Noted.
 

We’ve seen plenty of coaches go head to head with their star QBs. Usually things work out ok. Not everything has been rosy between Brady and Bill or Rodger’s and basically anybody that’s coached him. 

 

Flores used a tactic that didn’t work. Yeah, I think he has heard the complaints and I think he will improve, but I don’t know  that for certain. Smart people evolve for the better and a smart person will change their mind if presented with new evidence that contradicts their own judgements or feelings. I hope he is that guy.

 

i guess my bottom line is he’s a young 42, coach. He was younger at the time the Tua situation came to be. A ton of people learn from their mistakes. We just haven’t heard or maybe I’m missing it where he has been an ass to everyone else and ruined their careers.

 

 Everyone that has played for him outside of Tua has praised him from what I can tell. Players have said they’ve learned a lot from him. 
 

We know his track record. he’s been successful in every position he’s been put in.  If he was such an ass and players disliked him, he wouldn’t have had those two winning seasons with a subpar roster. 
 

He’s a young coach and I don’t know if he can learn from his mistake, you can only figure that out by talking to him, but I haven’t seen anything that says he couldn’t. 

Tua complained and people listened. People took Tua’s side. Flores said Tua didn’t work hard, but nobody listens to Flores. Although, fitz corroborating that Flores affected Tua is a sign that obviously something happened there. 

 

No matter how you slice it, Flores is a great NFL coach, he’ll get another shot. I like to see us bring him in because we are legitimately interested.

 

I do feel Shen would have valuable insight on the guy being on they worked together for 3 years. If we absolutely do not bring in Flores for an interview, I think that will tell you what kind of leader Flores may or  may not be. 
 

i know Shen does not have the final say, but I imagine with his experience and being around the league he has insight on coaches. 
 

unfortunately, Shen coupled with the Rooney Rule should get Flores in the door at minimum. That is unless Shen is like “No! At all costs do not bring this guy in!” Of course the Romney Rule is what’s allowed him to bring his complaint to the league.
 

Even after his experience as a HC and low key blackballed (I know he was a Steeler) last year, he returned with a great defense again this year.

 

 He absolutely should be in the conversation. Actually, the more I talk about him the more I buy into him which means you should be happy, he probably will not get hired. They never hire the guy I’m interested in 😂

 

 Edit: just want to add one more thing. your quotes aren’t cool because it makes it look like I said that word for word. Not mad about it, I just don’t want someone to read your post and think that’s exactly what I said.

 

Edit 2: Thank you for changing the quotes Conn

Edited December 6, 2023 by Fan since a Fetus

[BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen]

1 hour ago, Warhead36 said:

I'm sure there is some truth to it. But it doesn't mean EB still isn't terrible.

 

It's beginning to look a lot like...EB was only successful when paired with Andy "Walrus" Reid. On his own? Not so much... Kind of like a decent guitarist leaving a rock supergroup to strike out on his own...then finds out no one likes his music on his own, so he returns to the band with his tail between his legs. Lyndsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac, I'm looking at you.

 

And I agree that players will tune him out if he's yelling at them all the time but doesn't have his own sh!t together as far as calling a game. No one respects a hypocritical leader.

Edited December 6, 2023 by BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen

[Fan since a Fetus]

1 hour ago, BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen said:

 

It's beginning to look a lot like...EB was only successful when paired with Andy "Walrus" Reid. On his own? Not so much... Kind of like a decent guitarist leaving a rock supergroup to strike out on his own...then finds out no one likes his music on his own, so he returns to the band with his tail between his legs. Lyndsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac, I'm looking at you.

 

And I agree that players will tune him out if he's yelling at them all the time but doesn't have his own sh!t together as far as calling a game. No one respects a hypocritical leader.

For some reason I feel personally attacked by this 🤪😂

 

Nah, I’ve been having a discussion with someone the last couple of weeks and they are defending EB to the max. Basically nothing is his fault. He should be the HC here. It’s not his fault that he has crappy whiny players. They’re overpaid babies who need to grow up. Eeeekkk!!!

 

They also brought up the correlation that Kansas City’s offense has sucked without him. 😂😂😂 That’s all Andy Reid there and the lack of one decent wide receiver. I don’t think EB learned too much from the guy. Ron Rivera didn’t, although to be fair he worked with Reid early in his coaching career.

[88Comrade2000]

Flores may get interview but probably for only Rooney rule compliance. I think his Miami experience will be used against him. Why should we hire you when you failed with your qb but your successor is having success with same qb.

 

EB may get an interview also for Same reason but Chicago seems genuinely interested in him.

 

That is if they interview at all. Just being a compliance interview, they may say no.

 

We’ll just have to disagree.  We did the defensive route and that failed miserably. To rebuild, we need an offensive guy.