Lou’s Future in the Jungle

[MileHighGrowler]

(01-13-2023, 09:55 AM)Bengalitis Wrote: I think Lou can run a team better and hire the right coaches and stratagize better. As for play calling, I don't like Zac making the calls. Remember, nobody wanted to work for Zac until Lou came and created the best bengals D ever and he's done way better with his side than Zac and Callahan put together.

You're kind of answering your question here.  Lou is great at running his side of the ball, playcalling, schemes, coaching guys up and working with the talent he has to get a solid product in return.  That's been the exact gripe on ZT the past few years, is whether his playcalling has done those same things.  That's what makes a great coordinator.  

On the other side of this, is someone who is a leader, who can drive the culture combining all three sets of teams out there, has the public persona and ability to bring everyone together under one common goal.  That's what a great HC, and those are the things Zac has brought that are hard to argue (and always have been, even when some of us have griped about his shortcomings).  

I've never understood anyone's argument that the best coordinators should be HCs.  It's a completely different skill set.  Every year when the openings are announced and people look at candidates, there's always so much focus on what they did as coordinators or specialists and how that will benefit the team in need.  But those skills don't always translate to HC, and they don't have the same time/ability to focus on just that one area when the entire team is their job.  I want a guy who's primary skillset is soft skills and game management acting as HC.  Let the OC and DC do their thing and focus on that. 

I like Lou, I don't want to lose him.  I'm not getting into a Lou vs Zim conversation, but I think Lou has done what this team needed and stepped up in a big way.  But I don't think we've had any clarity into whether he possesses the skills that make a difference between a coordinator and HC.  And quite frankly, he may not even want to pursue that route.  Sometimes the top isn't everyone's goal. He may love his role focusing on his specialty and not getting caught up in the rest of it.