Yesterday, in the course of a discussion about football generally, my advisor Tam O'Flannell asked me this question: "This is a legit question ... not breaking balls at all ... why do you like Norv so much?"I thought about the question for a few minutes and then sent him a response. Here, in full, is the response I sent:
It's not that I like him so much as I don't dislike him. I think he's a reasonably good coach who also happens to be an offensive genius. I tend to prefer offensive teams (as opposed to say, Stillers and Bears fans, who I think would mostly say they prefer strong defensive teams) and he can deliver that. The guy hasn't convinced me he can't get the team to the promised land.
His negatives all apparently have to do with motivating players which I think is mostly bs. Professional football players shouldn't need a loud fool like Rexy Ryan or a dirty cheat like Jeff Fisher to get them motivated to play. For that reason, I blame the slow starts each season on the players. The other part of his reputation as a bad coach were his stints with the Redskins and Raiders. Seriously, it was the Redskins and Raiders. Those teams are never good.
Also, other than last season's home loss to the Jets (which was fluky ... Norv can't teach Kaeding how to kick) they've had good success under Norv in the playoffs. They've beat the Colts twice, and beat the Titans, and their only other losses are on the road to eventual Super Bowl champions.
Finally, I think a lot of people don't like him because of his face, which is a bullying attitude that upsets me. Bullies are fools and deserve to get their comeuppance. I'll root for Norv against bullies any day.
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