12-17-2020, 08:37 PM
(12-17-2020, 07:53 PM)SuperBowlBound! Wrote: What exactly would you like him to say?
"Uh, I am over my head and I don't know what I am doing or if we ever are going to have a winning season."
"We have had so many injuries this year it has really side tracked what we were hoping to accomplish this year and it has possibly set us back a year"
"I am really disappointed in the effort we got out of Atkins, Dunlap, AJ Green and John Ross this year. I thought those guys were professionals and leaders on this team. Apparently I was wrong depending on them"
I am sure he would rather not even have to do the interview. He has not used injuries as an excuse, he has not thrown any players/coaches under the bus, nor has he complained about the roster. He just keeps working and sticking to his plan. He does not need to be an open book to the fans and let everyone know the plan.
The only person Zak Taylor has to account to is probably Mike Brown. I am sure he laid out a 2 or 3 year rebuild plan when he was interviewed. I doubt that anyone on this board was in that meeting but I am sure MB/Tobin will decide at the end of this year if things are still going by ZT's plan. If so he will be our coach next year if not he will be let go.
Here's what I think would be a reasonable quote:
"It's been a tough year, there's no doubt about that. But our goal moving forward is the same as it was to start the year, to win balls games.
We're going to get ready for Pittsburgh, and my job is to make sure that our guys are going to give the effort we demand here. And if they don't then we'll find someone who will.
Even with the playoffs out of reach, this team still has the opportunity to pick up a couple of division wins, which is something we desperately need. We've failed in that department thus far and we have no intention of packing it in, or getting down on ourselves. We need to do better. Now is another opportunity.
Look, guys. It's real simple. This team has to get better. I have to get better. We all need to get better. We're going to have to find a way to find some success to close out the year. It's imperative to see results to build off of moving forward.
I'm not going to sit here and make excuses. Neither are our guys. None of us are happy right now, as I'm sure none of our fans are either. But the best thing we can right now is to go out there on Sunday and leave it all out on the field. That's the best answer I can give right now.
This isn't an excuse, or an answer meant to explain our woes. But we have one focus right now. Until the season is up, I can't allow myself to think of anything beyond this slate of games ahead of us.
We need to win. Period."
I'm not writing this and believing this exact quote needs to be said, it's just a typical coach speak repsonse that I think hits on a couple key things:
-Acknowledging the season has been a failure
-Stating the results/effort is not acceptable
-Preaching accountability (for coaches and players)
-Not looking forward (saying things will be great in the future), and simply focusing on the present task
That's really it. He doesn't need to hit on all of these things, or come anywhere close to the wording I used. That's not really all that important.
What is important however, is not coming out (for the umpteeth time) and giving a quote where speaks down the road when everything is going to be hunky dory. No one wants to hear that right now. And people see better than the here.
Show them. Show them something. Show them anything.
Until then, shut the hell up with this snake oil bs and give a typical response like the one I just took the time to give to you. It's not that hard to read a room, and spare everyone with this nonsense that no one is in the mood to hear.
