Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Further thoughts on Gilbride, Troy Bell update

Earlier I said I am against the Gilbride hire (based on the Globe mention). My gut reaction was really based on two things: the Buddy Ryan Punch and his failed stint with the Chargers. Digging a little deeper, I think IF he gets hired, I would have to give him a chance. I think the Ryan thing, his age, and being out of the college game are major 'Cons' in his column. But there are a few 'Pros': NFL experience, very creative and flexible offenses (everything from Run and Shoot to power games), the Coughlin endorsement (which still means a lot) and the fact that he would talk to us after getting burned 10 years ago (he thought he was going to get the job only to see TOB waltz in). But the biggest shift in my thinking was looking at his record as a College Head Coach. For five season in the early '80s Gilbride coached his alma mater Southern Conneticut State to winning and consistent football.
Gilbride at SCS
1980 -- 5-4-1
1981 -- 6-3-1
1982 -- 9-1
1983 -- 8-3
1984 -- 7-3

Now given it was DII, it was his first head gig and how young he was, I think that is a pretty impressive run. Plus he parlayed it into something better.

All that said, I want Whipple, Jags, Kragthorpe and even Clawson before Gilbride. But if he is hired, I don't think Gilbride would be a Henning-like mistake.

On a basketball note, SI.com ran a nice feature on Troy Bell and his struggles to make the NBA. I loved watching Troy play and hope he gets back in the league.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

the link for the troy bell article is wrongg. it goes to a boston.com article about the coaching search instead of to SI.com. thought you should know.

ATL_eagle said...

Fixed. Thanks Joe.