How did Paul Alexander Keep His Job Through The 90's???

[Whatever]

(09-26-2017, 01:52 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: For those that don't know...Paul Alexander was hired while Dave Shula was coach here. While we have't won a playoff game in 26+ years...Paul Alexander was here for 23 of them. (He started here in 1994.)

They actually promoted him to Assistant Head Coach in 2004.

We had arguably the worst offensive line in the NFL through the 1990's. How did Paul Alexander keep his job?

Well, at least two other Bengals' assistant coaches from the lost decade(Ken Anderson, Dick LeBeau) went on to win SB rings with other teams, so simply being on those staffs doesn't necessarily mean that they're a bad coach.

Plus, we all know that MB put little emphasis on OL personnel throughout the '90's.  Our OL did suck, but you can definitely argue that Alexander was asked to make chicken salad out of chicken shxt during that period.  

For the talent evaluation part of his job, he was a double edged sword.  He nailed the premium picks he got for a long time. If you were doing the Bengals All Time team, no doubt Whit, Willie, and Levi Jones would be your T's, along with Munoz.  Plus Willie and Levi were largely thought to be reaches where we drafted them. He had two different G's, Steinbach and Zeitler, get record setting contracts for their position.  But, he was terrible with mid-late round picks, aside from Anthony Collins and Scott Kooistra, either taking bust project players or below average starters that he seemed reticent to draft over.  However, with both Og and Fisher looking like busts, you can't really say he nails the top picks anymore.

As a coach, I would still say he is above average based on one criteria.  How many Bengals OL have you seen sign elsewhere and maintain or improve their level of play?  Only Evan Mathis comes to mind as a guy who really stepped up once he left.  Now, how many have you seen leave and completely fall apart or suffer a massive backslide?  Lots.  Steinbach wasn't the same player in Cleveland, Collins was a disaster in Tampa, Stacy Andrews bombed in Philly, Zeitler has regressed in Cleveland, and Whit has fallen off in LA.  If he was a bad coach, I'd expect more Mathis's than Collins's, but the reverse is true.

Ultimately, this team needs a major housecleaning and culture change, and PA needs to go, along with the rest of the coaching staff.  With Two big misses thrown on top of a mediocre top 10 pick in Andre, it's just clear that he doesn't have the knack he used to for hitting early, and he's never hit in the mid-late rounds.  I think he would be ok in an organization where he didn't have a role in personnel decisions, but his misses are really adding up here.