Future With Lynn?

[Guest]

Hi Posters! .. I am confused on how much the coaching has taken a bashing?? The ultra talented Herbert came out of the college ranks as being one of the more polarizing QBs to come out in some time. I liked the pick at the time, but I have to admit I was also going back and forth between Tua and Justin. Herbert had some serious concerns before the draft of which were Tua’s perceived strengths, which included decisiveness and sound fundamentals. It is well documented that Herbert spent some time with John Beck I believe to help with mechanics, but I am surprised that coaching has not been given more credit as well with Herbert’s development?? And I admit, with my busier than normal work schedule, I might have missed some things here.

Although the Chargers are 1-3, they play hard and they compete, even with the plethora of injuries in very key areas. I understand that this is not a perfect coaching staff, but so few really are.. Herbert already went through 3 different head coaches and 4 different OC if I remember correctly at Oregon. Do you really want to change all that on him again this early on? It is obvious to me that the coaching staff utilizes Herbert’s strengths and regardless of the state of the offensive line, the coaching staff puts him in solid position for him to succeed. Herbert has certainly grown under this coaching staff.. If anyone doubts this, please go back and look at some of those college tapes, which do show some flaws.

I remember the bashing of Herbert when he first got drafted, at least until some Ducks fans gave more insight of Herbert’s experiences at Oregon. Again, there is probably a lot to not like about the coaching staff overall.. but I have a seriously tough time with not crediting at least some, if not most, of Herbert’s development to them.

I can only speak for myself. My issues with the coaching are as follows.

I have no issues with Steichen for the most part, though I think we could have played a little bit quicker on our final scoring drive against Carolina before the last drive we did not finish. I always think that it is dangerous to play deliberately when trailing by multiple scores into the 4th quarter. The team is kind of assuming that there will be an early defensive stop and that is often not the case. That said, I applaud Steichen for going pass heavy with Herbert when the running game was not working consistently against Carolina. He was not afraid to put the game in Herbert's hands. That was a good in game adjustment.

As for Bradley, I am not a huge fan of his scheme. I have always preferred attacking 3-4 defenses. In particular, I believe that Bradley consistently miscalculates situations when he plays prevent or the third down picket fence and it has cost us games on more than one occasion over the years. The defense generally plays too soft, leaving too much space underneath, but also cannot seem to sustain playing more aggressively in the shorter passing game when called upon to do so. Hayward's inability to defend a one-legged pass catcher last weekend was particularly troubling. The defense is also too predictable, does not blitz enough (especially through the A gap against 43-year-old QBs) or blitz particularly effectively.

Regarding Lynn, I think he has been treated fairly. His arc with the team is fairly similar to McCoy's so far with two winning seasons, one playoff appearance and one playoff win. This season looks like it may well be a second losing season just as McCoy experienced. That was enough to get McCoy fired, so I see no reason to treat Lynn any differently. Also, I think a pretty strong argument could be made that after Telesco gutted the team of a lot of veteran talent in 2013 that was getting longer in the tooth, McCoy accomplished as much as Lynn and did so with less talent on his roster.

Further, I think the whole "leader of men" thought is overplayed, especially as it concerns Lynn. I would much rather have a good in game tactician (Payton, Reid, John Harbaugh) and/or a better head coach with an eye toward catching small details in practice and coaching the team up for gameday (like M. Schottenheimer). I do not see Lynn as being particularly adept at any of that.

Moreover, it borders on being unbelievable to me that with the cameras on for Hard Knocks, Lynn emphasized in this year of Covid-19 that it will be the team that focuses best (on football) that is able to win it all. And then, and to be clear, this is not a comment on the political merits of the action taken which we are all free to agree or disagree with not on this forum, Lynn failed to keep his team focused on football when the issue of social justice presented itself and caused his team to miss practice time at the stadium. And the way that this team has played, it definitely looks like more practice time would have been a team benefit.

Finally, Lynn has completely mismanaged the current QB situation with Taylor and Herbert, which, in my view, is the final straw. He has shown bias in favor of one player that has clouded his judgment and has caused him to make unwise comments in the media, even publicly criticizing another organization in that other organization's starting player choices, which has historically been somewhat taboo in NFL circles. I consider being objective and maximizing the team's chances of winning to be a critical trait of any head coach. I am no longer confident that Lynn can do that. Given a track record trending in the wrong direction and no indication that Lynn is a good off field technique coach (as evidenced by the way his team has played), a good in game tactician (two blown second half leads and nearly three in just four games this season plus frequent issues in one score games), or a good leader of men, I have seen enough to know that it is time to move on from Lynn whether that is now or at the end of the season.

[21&500]

IMHO, I think you’re reaching there on some of your points chainy.
it’s awkward for me to find myself defending Lynn
and while I can agree with many of your criticisms
most fall under the category of “things you would do differently”
but by no means make them invalid as HC intervention to prepare his team.
element of hindsight too.
and we know we have differing definitions of the term “hater” but I’d say there is a strong element of that too.

sincerely

[richpjr]

Bottom line on Lynn - is the team trending upward or downward? Are we learning from our mistakes and getting better? Are the players responding to what he wants done? Are we playing smart football? Are our game plans creative and effective? Is he improving as a game manager? Are our in game adjustments effective?

Injuries have clearly affect a lot of things on the team that cloud the decision, but we are definitely not trending in the right direction and the answer to most of these questions is no.

Honestly, outside of Herbert, there is very little to get excited about with this team.

[21&500]

Bottom line on Lynn - is the team trending upward or downward? Are we learning from our mistakes and getting better? Are the players responding to what he wants done? Are we playing smart football? Are our game plans creative and effective? Is he improving as a game manager? Are our in game adjustments effective?

Injuries have clearly affect a lot of things on the team that cloud the decision, but we are definitely not trending in the right direction and the answer to most of these questions is no.

Honestly, outside of Herbert, there is very little to get excited about with this team.

Very important questions
to be fair, we have to include
”who else is an available and obvious and significant upgrade?”

I expect a lot of “Sudden” interest from retread candidates and aspiring coordinators

[Biggestfan]

Bottom line on Lynn - is the team trending upward or downward? Are we learning from our mistakes and getting better? Are the players responding to what he wants done? Are we playing smart football? Are our game plans creative and effective? Is he improving as a game manager? Are our in game adjustments effective?

Injuries have clearly affect a lot of things on the team that cloud the decision, but we are definitely not trending in the right direction and the answer to most of these questions is no.

Honestly, outside of Herbert, there is very little to get excited about with this team.

I think injuries have hurt. Are the back up players well coached and prepared? I'd say its a no to all the questions you stated..this team does not learn from its mistakes. And that is one of the most glaring examples of a poorly coached team.

[Critty]

Crusher, i just cant buy your narrative. Sorry.

You applaud Steichen for going pass heavy.
Even though Lynn must allow it and gameplan to allow it. If he want to go run heavy. He is the HC he just has to tell his OC to do it. So that take is simply nonsense, imo.

And you think leadership is overplayed.
Think again.
And perhaps read this. It might shift your thinking.
Bill Walsh "The Score Takes Care of Itself. My Philosophy of Leadership" with foward by Joe Montana.

Lynn believes If they do the right things the right way the score will take care of itself. This is the culture that will be great for Justin Herbert.

[Guest]

IMHO, I think you’re reaching there on some of your points chainy.
it’s awkward for me to find myself defending Lynn
and while I can agree with many of your criticisms
most fall under the category of “things you would do differently”
but by no means make them invalid as HC intervention to prepare his team.
element of hindsight too.
and we know we have differing definitions of the term “hater” but I’d say there is a strong element of that too.

sincerely

I agree that there are many things that I think he has done that are wrong and that because I think they are wrong, I would have them done differently if it were up to me.

But that does not take away from Lynn being a McCoy clone in terms of success and/or lack thereof. That is just the truth of the matter.

I think "hater" in this instance is strong as I believe I have based my opinion on various facts. I simply am now of the mind that Lynn, after some early success, is taking the team in the wrong direction. I do not see him as being all that accomplished in any coaching phase at this point. And I think we would have seen that by now if it were there to be seen. At this point, barrring a change in our team's course, Lynn is just McCoy 2.0. And my opinion is that Lynn has had more talent to work with than McCoy did. I think four years is enough time to come to a conclusion.

If our team's trajectory were reversed, I might be more forgiving with what I perceive to be Lynn's mistakes, but any early positive view that he may have banked with me has been wiped away with the team's recent lack of success and questionable decisions he has made. I think it is fair to scrutinize him more carefully at this point and ask ourselves what he is really providing for the team.

[Guest]

Crusher, i just cant buy your narrative. Sorry.

You applaud Steichen for going pass heavy.
Even though Lynn must allow it and gameplan to allow it. If he want to go run heavy. He is the HC he just has to tell his OC to do it. So that take is simply nonsense, imo.

And you think leadership is overplayed.
Think again.
And perhaps read this. It might shift your thinking.
Bill Walsh "The Score Takes Care of Itself. My Philosophy of Leadership" with foward by Joe Montana.

Lynn believes If they do the right things the right way the score will take care of itself. This is the culture that will be great for Justin Herbert.

Lynn does not call the plays, Steichen does. The team changed its approach successfully mid game and Steichen gets the credit for that.

Seriously, from Lynn's emphasis on the running game and all of Lynn's hogwash about how he wants to protect Herbert and make sure he is not placed in an unfair situation from a mental standpoint and his emphasis on multiple occasions on how well it worked for Mahomes to wait a year before taking over, you think the guy that did not have the play calling sheet was somehow the one calling the plays to enhance Herbert's role. That is absolute crap.

Bill Walsh and Anthony Lynn are nothing alike. Walsh had the very game tactician and attention to detail traits that Lynn lacks. Walsh is an example of why Lynn is wrong for the team, not why he is right for the team.

Moreover, I am not saying that leadership does not count. It does, but it is not the only important factor. Also, I am saying that the notion of being a "leader of men" is overplayed as applied to Lynn. He is not some sort of great leader of men. Comparatively speaking, since he lacks great attention to technical coaching detail and in game tactical ability, leadership is his best trait, but I see him as only being average in that category among head coaches and below average in the other important categories that I have identified. He is not the second coming of Vince Lombardi from a leadership standpoint.

[Colts-17]

Lynn is no "leader of men". His defenders just say he is a great leader because he became a head coach. No one really knows how or why he got the job. So he must be a great leader, since he lacks any other visible credentials. He was not suited to coach the team that he was given. It was a pass-oriented high scoring offense. Lynn's philosophy was exactly the opposite. Run the ball, score a touchdown and then do your best to run out the clock until the game is over. You won't win many games like that anymore

[Critty]

Read the book Crusher.

Walsh broke down sobbing early in his HC career with 49ers after 7 straight losses. He was getting trashed in the media and by fans and he thought he was going to be fired. But he relied on his Philosophy of Leadership to get him though. That you must fail to succeed and you must stand up after failure and fight. The prime directive is not victory, the focus needs to be developing skills and a strong culture and improving team performance.

Walsh said himself quote: He had No great plan or timetable for winning a championship, but instead had a plan of installing a standard of competecy and proficiency. So the score and record did not mean much to him throughout the season because he was immersed in building skills, both attitudinal and physical which would lead to better execution. That was his key.

It wasn't about Xs and Os for Walsh.
It was about detailed execution of the play.
What made him great wasn't play design or some offensive genuis.
The details oriented all around execution.
It was about if the route was 10yd hook, then it needed to be exactly 10 yards. Not 10 yards and 5inches. Not 9yards and 10inches. 10 yards exactly.

And he talked about how Joe Montana and Jerry Rice worked extremely hard to execute the play exactly how it should be. How they spent extra hours of their own time mastering the craft.

Finally. Walsh told us....."the big plays don't occur out of thin air. They are a result from very hard work and painstaking attention over years to all the details related to your Leadership"

So there you have it. Leadership style of Walsh was his key. But feel free to think the championships Walsh won was because he was that much better at Xs & Os.

I can guarentee you Lynn read the book and thinks the same way. That the Win will take care of themself.

Crusher, You are banned from Jumping on the Lynn bandwagon. You have already decided he isn't a good HC and leadership is overrated.

[Critty]

Lynn is no "leader of men". His defenders just say he is a great leader because he became a head coach. No one really knows how or why he got the job. So he must be a great leader, since he lacks any other visible credentials. He was not suited to coach the team that he was given. It was a pass-oriented high scoring offense. Lynn's philosophy was exactly the opposite. Run the ball, score a touchdown and then do your best to run out the clock until the game is over. You won't win many games like that anymore

Trolling again.
No one knows how or why. Really?
The man has been immersed in football his whole life. He been around great football minds. He was on coaching staffs under Shanahan, Parcell, Ryan, Del Rio. He was assistant head coach for 3 years.
His next step of progression was to finally get a head coaching job.

2020 Chargers offense has 129 rush attempts and 137 pass attempts. Lynn wants a balanced attack.
GTFOOH with that BS he just wants to run and kill the clock.

Honestly think people like you don't read, and don't research, dont look at the big picture and go very low IQ with their take, like so low you are talking out your ass.

[BearWithJetpack]

"He's a leader of men" is what you say when you need to dig up some praise for a coach but you can't actually think of anything praiseworthy about the way he performs his job. Not quantifiable; not real.