After last week’s “Fiasco by the Bay”, in which what was thought to be a rather competent franchise tried to “trade” their highly successful head coach to Cleveland Browns, I thought I’d weigh in. Now, whether this is a reflection of Jim Harbaugh’s inability to get along with management, a reputation that’s been earned since his earliest days in the college ranks, or not, he has still taken the 49er’s to three straight NFC Championship games and a berth in the Superbowl. This in turn sparked a debate on local sports radio of which is more important; the GM or the head coach. And who would you rather trade, Ted Thompson or Mike McCarthy?
I’d like to begin by starting with my recollections of the arrival of these two men to the Green Bay Packer’s franchise. When Ted Thompson was hired, the divide between those who were in favor and those who were not was sharp and very deep. Even though he had helped put together a Superbowl worthy team in Seattle, and was a Ron Wolf protégé, many were still unhappy with his hire. Many were backers of the man that he replaced as GM, Mike Sherman, and in retrospect, it would seem some of the anger could even be traced back to his perceived sexual orientation.
When Mike McCarthy was hired, not only did he receive the additional wrath of the Mike Sherman fans, but he was coming from San Francisco as the Offensive Coordinator of the worst offense in the league. All of this also combined to give more ammo to the Ted Thompson haters. Of course, the only thing the two of them have done since then is deliver a 15-1 season, several Division titles and a fourth Lombardi Trophy to Green Bay. Now, neither man has been perfect. From Ted’s numerous first round strike outs to Mike’s home playoff losses, there is still some room for criticism. But then again, we are not the aforementioned Cleveland Browns.
So, who would I rather trade away, or conversely, keep? Ted Thompson. I have always been in the school of thought that successful franchises are run from the top down. The GM hires the Head Coach that he wants, and then provides him with the best players possible. It is much easier for a mediocre coach to be successful with top end talent than it is for a great coach to succeed with middle of the road players. And one needs look no further than Ted Thompson’s former employer, the reigning Superbowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Even with all of the recent praise being heaped on Pete Carroll, you can not deny that his NFL career up to this point has been at best mediocre. You can even argue that his success at the college level only came with a significant bending of the rules.
What Seahawks General Manager John Schneider did was supply Carroll with some of the best players at their position in the league. Through the draft and savvy use of the free agent market, he put together a championship caliber team. In particular a defense that even in the hands of a less than stellar coach, went out and dominated one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history in the biggest game of the season.
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