10-25-2021, 07:06 PM
(10-25-2021, 05:13 PM)Stewy Wrote: I'm trying not to be negative or repetitive here, as we have individually spoken about this subject in regard to Geno, WJ3, AJ and Dunlap. Most of the angst is toward Dunlap and WJ3 and to a lesser extent AJ. But that's not really what this thread is about.
Regime changes (not just in sports, but any industry) can cause mental and emotional issues. Especially if the regime has been in place a long long time. There has been a way of doing things. It isn't JUST about manning up and being a professional, it can be devastating mentally to have that much change at once. Especially in the case of a sports team where every one if your bosses could get replaced at the same time.
My parallel is that my 2nd and 3rd lvl bosses both just changed out, which means people making decisions about my performance do not know me at all. We are a performance based industry so it is stressful to change bosses often (every 3 years in my company), that then have to get to know you and your performance, strengths and needs for improvement. Luckily in my case, my first level boss has stayed the same AND with the regime change no one is asking me to do my job in a different way. But it is still stressful.
Now parallel that to the Bengals situation. You were drafted by a person that is gone, asked to play a particular way and you excelled in that environment. Now EVERY person who valued you is gone. You are then asked to play in a different way, that may or may not play to your strengths, but certainly is entirely different. So much change, not only in environment but in how you are asked to do your job (especially when you have played at a pro-bowl level in that job), can be emotionally and mentally draining.
I'm not making excuses for any of them. I think it was clear that several of them behaved unprofessionally or like children. The bottom line is that sometimes, change is good for all. Carlos just couldn't get beyond the affects of the regime change and he needed to go for his good and the good of the team. WJ3 was an idiot that became toxic. AJ may or may not have quit last year. Geno behaved with professionalism.
Bottom line as I see it, the regime change is complete, and there are few to none that are left to dwell on the past. But the emotional and mental cost of the regime change on the players shouldn't be overlooked when compared to their actions. Some could have just conducted themselves better.
p.s. - Huber doesn't count as leftover from the previous regime because Simmons is still here.
I just see one flaw in nthis argument.
Many times regime change results in immediate and dramatic improvement. So there is nothing really toxic about regime change.
In the case of the Bengals things got much worse when the new regime arrived. It is hard to blame players who care about winning for being upset with the new regime. It wasn't like any of the coaches had any record of success that would give the players hope or give the coaches something to point to when trying to convince these players that they knew what they were doing.
