I always find it interesting when coaches verbally bash their team to the media.
Now, I’m not talking about a coach who hammers a squad after they just got waxed 41-0, nor am I referring to the coach who is trying to light a fire under his team at halftime to play better. I am specifically talking about the coach who airs his frustrations out to the public when it’s in the middle of the week and his squad is trying to get ready for a game on Sunday.
Take for example, Dennis Green of the Arizona Cardinals. On his own radio show that airs on Tuesday nights, Green called out his offensive line. He made comments about how they should stop “whining” and how they should “get off their butts and start doing the job.”
Now, of course those comments aren’t really out of bounds coming from a coach who wants his offensive line to stop making the signing for Edgerrin James look like the single worst move by a team this offseason. However, Green went on to say that the reason the offensive line needs stop whining is because they each make an average of over $3 million so, what’s there to whine about?
To me, that comment makes no sense and it doesn’t hold any water as far as trying to motivate your team. The point should be that they should work harder, stop whining and just get the job done – not, they shouldn’t complain because they make a lot of money. If you’re a player in the NFL, how does that motivate you? What, do they not know they make a lot of money? Threaten to take their job away, replace them with their hungrier backup – just don’t make useless comments like that, because to me you come off weak.
These comments come a week after Green did an about-face with his quarterback situation. He virtually led the media to believe that Matt Leinart would start last Sunday against the Falcons early last week, but then changed his mind and went back to Kurt Warner. Green then stated that he “made a decision based off emotion” and didn’t think the decision all the way through.
Personally, I think Green has made a lot of comments recently based off of his emotion and is quickly losing this team. He had all the answers when he was hired in Arizona after several successful years in Minnesota. Now, the Cardinals are off to a 1-3 start with a brand new stadium and Green is out of answers.
Soon he’ll be out of a job too.
