Inside the mind of saintsfan

[Saintsfan]

For some reason, coaches and manages fascinate me, in all sports, so here are a few things that occur to me about US sports coaches and managers

1. Football is one of the few sports in the world where some form of top level experience of playing is not essential to becoming a coach at the top level.

2. This is changing though, more and more of the younger coaches coming through have been players, (Tice, Del Rio, Mularkey etc.)

3. Why do a lot of the NFL player turned coaches seem to be tight ends (Wasnt Ditka a tight end? then you have Tice and Mularkey)?

4. What exactly other than decide on pitching changes and pinch hitters do Baseball Managers do? They seem to have a very cushy job!!

5. Interesting that the best Basketball players sometimes do not make great coaches. Magic had a go, Isaiah seems more suited to the front office, Larry Bird did a good job though.

6. i prefered it when some NFL coaches wore coats and ties on the sideline. Admit it Cowboy fans you still miss Tom Landry and his hat!!!!! I suppose clothing manufacturers pay big money for coaches to be wearing there clothes nowadays though.

7. I think it is a shame that not too many of todays coaches have had a long tenure with there current team in almost any sport. People like Bill Cowher and Jeff Fisher are a rarity nowadays.

[Phil]

7. I think it is a shame that not too many of todays coaches have had a long tenure with there current team in almost any sport. People like Bill Cowher and Jeff Fisher are a rarity nowadays.

This is because in most sports, the coach has more influence than any single player, so the impact/number of change ratio is biggest when you change the coach... it's too bad too, lots of good coaches get dumped despite having very little to work with.

[slapshot]

4. What exactly other than decide on pitching changes and pinch hitters do Baseball Managers do? They seem to have a very cushy job!!

Where to begin with this one?

Managers put together the best lineup possible for each game, putting factors into consideration such as: pitching matchups, stadium dimensions, stadium surfaces, weather, injuries, and recent performance.

Managers analyze the other team. They (and a pitching coach) will give info to the pitcher about a batter's strengths & weaknesses, and tell the pitcher the best location and type of pitch to throw to the batter.

Managers decide where to position the fielders so an out is likely to be made.

Managers make on-field substitutions.

Managers communicate with the umpires for explanations and discussions over plays.

Managers have to leave the best pitcher in the game even though he is obviously losing his "stuff" and a relief pitcher will almost guarantee a win and a trip to the World Series (hear that Grady Little?)

Managers have to answer questions from the media after ballgames about the stupid decisions made during the game.

Managers try to keep control of 24 players and let them gel into one superego, not 24 individual ones.

Yes, there are other coaches too. The Pitching coach works mainly on mechanics with the pitchers, and talks them through times when their pitches are not up to snuff.  The bench coach maintains order on the bench during the game. Batting coaches and bullpen coaches are self-explanatory. And we know what the base coaches do.

[See Red]

That's still a walk in the park in comparison to other coaching jobs.  Especially football.  And the importance of molding all the players into one isn't nearly as important as the effect one player has doing something doesn't affect everything quite so much because it's more of an individuals sport (if that makes any sense)

1. Well, top level experience isn't needed to get the job as a head coach... but it seems to be very important towards success in the NFL.  (example - Pete Carroll and Steve Spurrier)

The lowest down the list of coaches I'd hire is an Offensive or Defensive Coordinators.  I wouldn't be prepared to give such a big role to a positions coach.

2. Oh, you meant playing OR coaching at the top level?  my bad.

3. My High School coach was a Tight End.  And I have noticed that trend.  I would think that a large number of QB's would become coaches because of their ability to see what's going on and make changes on the fly -- the way they see the game is amazing to me.

4. Already answered by jpslapshot22.  In fact, I had wondered what exactly they do to, but figured they must have some affect on a team considering the Marlins turn around after they hired a new coach.  I wish they'd quit wearing godd*** uniforms though.

5. Yup.  I agree.

6. Not me, I like the coaches to look like individuals, and wear maybe a sweater, jacket, or shirt of their teams and some nice pants.  As long as they look presentable, I think it's alright.

7. SyPhi got it dead-on.

[NJTank]

1. That is true, but it usually the role player who become the best coaches in teh 3 other sports any way, best example of that is Phil Jackson.

2. Well there have always been coaches who had brief careers in the NFL, and end uo becoming assitnats rather quickly after their careers are over. Which is the key to getting a job.

3. Allot of coaches were also on defense as well.The 3 high profile skill positions like QB, RB, WR, are kinda iloated form the rest of teh etam, while TE and Line man and defensive polayers become more well rounded in every accpect of the game.

4. JP did cover Managers very well

5. Its true in all sports as I said. Its hard to name many coaches in any sport that were Hall of Fmae players who became good coaches.

In Basektball Lenny Wikens was a HOF player and Coach.

But there are not many others who were good, other then Bird.

I can't name any Hall of Fame Hockey players who ahd good coaching careers. Most recently Brian Trottier was a miserable failure and fired midway through last season his first season as coach.

In Football Ditka was a Hall of Fame player, and a faily good Coach same with Art Shell, but others ike Bart Starr failed.

In Baseball its the same Yogi Berra and Frank Robinson had limited success as Managers, but Eddie Matthews was afilaure. In fact few HOF baseball players have become Manager sin the last 40 years.

6. The suited coach on the sideline is a thing of the past. I guess its just anothe ravenue to sell merchandise and teh coaches get free gear and problly money for wearing the licensed gear.

7. Coaches are in a win now situation, and if they dont have any success in a certain amount of time they are gone. Which with high salaries has to be expected, and I cant blame anyone for the quick turnover.

[paynomind]

Where to begin with this one?

For the fun of it, I'm gonna rip this apart.

Managers put together the best lineup possible for each game, putting factors into consideration such as: pitching matchups, stadium dimensions, stadium surfaces, weather, injuries, and recent performance.

Yeah, hard work there... same line up most days. Put your best 9 on the field. Hard work. I dunno about your home team, but mine has the same 9 guys almost every single game. Injuries, then you play your back up guy at that position.

Managers analyze the other team. They (and a pitching coach) will give info to the pitcher about a batter's strengths & weaknesses, and tell the pitcher the best location and type of pitch to throw to the batter.

Yeah, not so much. Thats what the pitching coach does. Or the pitcher himself, since he has 4 days off to study his next match up.

Managers decide where to position the fielders so an out is likely to be made.

Six feet left, 3 feet back? Not a huge aspect of the game. Plus, this research is done by scouts, who watch tape of other team's batters. The manager has a chart. "Bonds - shift right" Real difficult to READ, then wave at fielders to move.

Managers make on-field substitutions.

Hardly EVER do real in-game subs happen until it is a blowout and doesn't matter, or late in the game whne all they want is a right handed / left handed match up. They dont have too many guys on the bench who can play too many places. Subs dont happen much,a nd when they do, they are pretty easy to see coming.

Managers communicate with the umpires for explanations and discussions over plays.

You mean they scream and cuss at umps when they miss a call? Hell, *I* do that form the crowd all the time

Managers have to leave the best pitcher in the game even though he is obviously losing his "stuff" and a relief pitcher will almost guarantee a win and a trip to the World Series (hear that Grady Little?)

Effin' Grady

Managers have to answer questions from the media after ballgames about the stupid decisions made during the game.

Agreed. Only because they haven't trained a monkey to say, "We tried some stuff and it didn't work. We just try to do what is best to put us in a position to win the game" ...yet.

Managers try to keep control of 24 players and let them gel into one superego, not 24 individual ones.

Losing battle - Free-agency ruined the idea of this ever, ever happening again.

SO, In summary, yes, baseball managers have an easy on the field job, and get roasted in the media for their bad decisions.

Overall, a manager is like the President of the USA... he doesn't really, actually, do much at all himself.. it is his supporting cast that does everything, and most times, he can't really change all that much even with his cast. But, he is a figurehead who is easy to blame.

[Saintsfan]

I was being a bit tongue in cheek with number 4!! I guess the kind of money they get they must have a pretty important role.

I have always thought the reason QBs, and for that matter RBs and WRs dont go into coaching generally is that the good ones at least get a stack of money when they are playing and enough name recognition to live on endorsements and local car salesman type ads for a while, so why bother. I guess as far as tiight ends are concerned they don't get paid a fortune and have a good all around idea of the game, as they can be used to block, receive etc.

I still think it is a pity than in the NFL coaches generally seem to have lost some of there personality, the suit thing was just part of that I guess. Now they just look like clothes models on the sidelines. (Okay not all of them look like models but you get the point!!!)