SMART COACHES USING DUMB TACTICS, ON THE NEXT OPRAH

Some years back, the guys at Coca Cola decided they should go with a new formula.  Shortly thereafter, “New Coke” was born, and the Coca Cola that had for years tasted like watered down battery acid suddenly tasted instead like watered down Pepsi.  Heavy advertising followed as the old - supposedly inferior – product was pulled from the shelves.  Even pitchman Bill Cosby was trotted out to tell the public that he liked the new version better (and look embarrassed while doing it).

That particular incident is now remembered as one of the stupidest marketing moves in history.

In short order, fans were clamoring for the old Coke and wanted nothing to do with the new stuff. To stave off the public outcry and give the new formula time to take hold, the company repackaged the old formula as "Classic" and began selling the two side by side.  It didn’t help the new formula one bit, just the opposite.  With the real Coca Cola back on the shelves, fans ignored the aberration. Eventually, company executives saw the writing on the wall and dumped the new formula. The old Coke came back, and whether you liked Coke or not, things were back where they should have been.

Of course, no one else would do something that goofy, right?

Right?

IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT

How much sense does it make to take what has made a quarterback successful and try to coach it out of him?

If you’re on the coaching staff of the Falcons or the Panthers, apparently, a lot.

Since day one, Jake Delhomme has operated with a gunslinger mentality and the guts of a riverboat gambler.  Over the past few weeks though, Delhomme has opted for a safer mode of play and has lain aside the gunslinger ways.  The gambler was gone.  From here on out “Safe Jake” would be the man in charge.

It first became obvious when the Panthers played the Bucs.  Unfortunately, you can chalk that up to a great moment in bad timing.  Conservative quarterback play is tailor made for a unit like the Tampa defense. The Buc defense has been the old Jake Delhomme's whipping boy for a couple of seasons now.  However, Safe Jake would rather distribute the ball than get it to Steve Smith.  Safe Jake looks for the safe pass rather than going full speed ahead for the other team's jugular.  Safe Jake only converted two third downs in that game when the team had been one of the best third down teams in the league up to then.

That guy didn't scare the Bucs at all.

The Bucs game, and the games played since, have galvanized many fans to adopt a “let Jake be Jake” mantra, asking for the coaching staff to take the bit out of Delhomme’s mouth and let him be the kind of player he used to be.  More specifically, fans want the guy that used to actually win games instead of just trying really hard not to lose them.

THIS SOUNDS SOMEHOW…FAMILIAR

If the rhythm of that mantra sounds familiar though, it’s because something similar has been chanted a little ways down I-85 for a while now.

When Jim Mora Jr. and Greg Knapp took over in Atlanta, they let it be known that they were bringing the west coast offense with them.  Observers questioned whether Michael Vick was the sort of quarterback that could work in such a system.  The braintrust advised patience, and said that with some time to learn this system would make Vick the absolute best he could be.  This would be “Pocket Passer Vick”, the greatest weapon the NFL had ever seen.

A few years later, and calling the results “mixed” would be a compliment.

Atlanta fans have complained loudly that their offense has suffered because the coaches have pulled back the reins on Michael Vick's running.  Vick has improved as a passer, but not to the point where his passing can be considered as effective a weapon as his running.  The book on Atlanta is still the same as it’s been for a while now.  Control the run.  Force Vick to pass.  That’s been known for some time.  The issue is whether or not teams have the personnel needed to accomplish it.  Some do.  Some don’t.

If Falcon fans want a sympathetic ear, they could always turn to the folks in Philly.  Eagle fans have had the same complaint in years past about Donovan McNabb.  Watching his first NFC championship some years back, it was obvious that he was trying hard not to run, even when running would have been the best thing.  These days, “Pocket Passer Vick” shows a lot of the same symptoms, leading some falcon fans to diagnose a case of “McNabbitis”.

SQUARE PEGS (NO, NOT THE OLD TV SHOW)

Are pocket quarterbacks better than running quarterbacks? Yes.  A quick read and release still trumps a guy who can get around fast.  Honestly though, that’s a different debate.  Regardless of what type of quarterback you have, making him play outside of his natural style is a colossal mistake.  If the quarterback you have doesn’t have the skill set to run the kind of offense you’d like, you’d be better served to swap him for one who does.  To be fair, cap concerns make it difficult to trade or release Delhomme and impossible to do either with Vick.  Thus, the logical thing to do would be to adapt the offenses to suit their skills, right?

Apparently not.

The Falcon and Panther coaches would rather try to force a square peg into a round hole.  And the results?  Delhomme has cut down on his interceptions, Vick has padded his passing stats, and both teams have seen their offensive effectiveness take a nosedive.  The coaching staffs are getting what they wanted as far as style, but the results leave a bit to be desired, especially when you look at the win-loss columns.

A smart coach alters his system to fit his personnel rather than trying to change players into something they aren’t.  Men who are generally agreed to be smart coaches lead both coaching staffs, but they certainly seem to be doing some dumb things with their teams.  When you try to take any player and make him into something else, what you end up with instead is a watered down version of a diluted sample of a lesser specimen of something in-between what you had and what you wanted.

Whether a team can win with who they have, that’s a debate all it’s own.

Forcing the guy you have to pretend to be someone else though, that’s not a debate.  It’s just a flat out mistake. 

To be clear, I’m one of Vick’s biggest doubters.  It isn’t so much him personally as it is the style.  “Run first” is a good offensive philosophy, but it’s a negative when that description is applied to your quarterback.  Even with this in mind though, I can’t agree with trying to make him something he isn’t.  Ask the average Falcon fan and they’ll tell you they’d rather win or lose with Vick doing what he does best than to watch the team die a slow painful death while Vick does an imitation of Chad Pennington.   

Ditto Panther fans and Delhomme.  Jake can certainly make things exciting.  John Fox doesn’t like exciting.  He prefers safe quarterbacks like Rodney Peete.  In his last days in Carolina, Peete was the ultimate safe quarterback.  Both the Panther offense and the opposing defense could breathe easy while he was on the field.  Not so with Delhomme.  The offense under Delhomme bears more resemblance to a roller coaster than a well-oiled machine.  On this particular ride, up is way up, and down can be way, way down.

Bottom line though, both teams won more games than they lost letting their quarterbacks be who they were.  Any fan will take an ugly victory over a nicely played loss.  That’s why the fans are asking the coaching staffs of these two NFC South teams to let their quarterbacks play within themselves.  Maybe Fox and Mora should be reminded of what happened when they trotted out New Coke before they spend much more time trying to craft “Safe Jake” and “Pocket Passer Vick”.

My advice:

Let Jake be Jake.

Let Vick be Vick.

And while you’re at it, have a Coke (Classic, not that "new" stuff).