Quote:
Originally Posted by chuck
That's a nice narrative but it's not true. McNair has inserted himself again and again into the football side of things invariably with disastrous consequences.
I'll choose one instance for your enjoyment. He extended David Carr (never mind drafted him...) in 2005 and insisted that any new head coach accept Carr as the starter. As a result we were a) stuck with Carr for one more pointless year b) stuck with the dead money after the team inevitably released him c) limited in head coaching candidates to people who would accept a job knowing i) the owner would force his will onto football operations ii) David Carr would be his starting quarterback.
So we end up with palm licker and eight more years of beautiful futility.
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Standard Operating Procedure in the NFL. Same thing happened with Locker last year and many others. When a 1st round QB is hanging around it is normal for the new coach to take his shot at him for a year.
But you mistake my post. I don't think McNair is a good owner. I think he is useless like about 25 other NFL owners. They don't help or hurt to any real degree. There are a few meddlers who screw things up, a few great owners who add something culture wise, and a whole bunch of rich idiots who get to print money because they joined the right rich toy club (and the government enables them by paying for stadiums and offering tax exemptions).
The Ravens owner mishandled the Ray Rice thing as bad as he could and he's got a super bowl. Stupid owners win championships all the time as long as they get lucky once and make the right hire. The 49ers ownership group has been trying to get rid of Jim Harbaugh since they stumbled onto him because he doesn't kiss up right, and they've been rewarded with a great 3 year run for their arrogance. Owners are pointless when it comes to the NFL. The business runs itself and the football has nothing to do with the business.
Nothing McNair has done has scared candidates away. O'Brien was amongst the top coaching targets of the last 3 years (up there with Kelly). McNair got him to sign and ponied up to buy him out of PSU. Now Bob will sit in an office and employ 29 executives (friends and kids mostly) who do nothing. If O'Brien can coach then they all get to pat themselves on the back. If O'Brien can't, then they still get richer and get to play BMOC while hosting super bowls. I don't think Bob McNair really cares that much either way. But I also don't think he influences the outcome on the field by even 1%.