You are the owner. How do you rebuild?

[geezer]

Do you fire everyone in the front office and trade/release all the players and start from scratch, or do you keep putting band aids on it thinking you just need a couple playmakers?

 

[broncosmitty]

Id hire a scouting department focused on building talent from the lines out, on both sides of the ball. A general manger who understands that defense wins championships more than offense. And then Id get with my GM and other respected minds to find a coach who will be on the same page. Once the head coach is in place, he'd have the opportunity to find his own assistants and coordinators.(once Ive signed off on them.) IMO teams all too often try and force different mindsets into one system. Offense, defense and Special Teams need to all be be focused on winning in the same way. Best way to do that is by allowing a HC to create his own staff.

If I could deal skill position players for picks, I would. High priced FA RBs and WRs would not be happening. But I wouldn't release players all willy nilly. Gotta work with what you have until you have something better.

Then Id go about building a training facility which was fan friendly. No better way to build a strong fan base (other than winning) than getting kids involved at a young age. A place where people can spend an entire summer afternoon watching their favorite players do what they do. At a minimal fee.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Everyone must go if I was in charge of the rebuild. New front office & new coaches. Hire the team Pres, then the Pres hires the GM, then the GM hires the HC & scouting dept, & finally the coach fills out his staff. Then you let the GM & HC take a look at the talent & try to figure out what that current talent may look like in 3 years. You have to be looking at the roster in terms that you are 3 years away from seriously competing. Trade older talent with some value, cut overpaid players or useless older players, & then hope the next great QB falls into your lap. After that, it's about drafting talent, signing young talent, keeping your young talented players, & believing in your system.

While his is going on, it would be a priority to be honest with the fans. Explain the process & be transparent. Maybe reduce prices across the board during the initial transition.

 

[geezer]

Id hire a scouting department focused on building talent from the lines out, on both sides of the ball.

When a team sucks bad enough the coach gets fired and sometimes the general manager. But we never hear about the scouting dept. Is there league rules as to how many staff you can have in that dept? I don't think I have ever heard of teams steeling each others scouts but it must not be overlooked.

When rebuilding a team, you are only going to be as good as your ability to assess talent. And with every team it has proven to be a crap shoot. Find a diamond in the rough, and then draft a first round bust.

 

[Davis_Mike]

The scouting department is often overlooked. I am willing to bet that a large percentage of GMs have worked in the scouting department at some point early in their careers.

 

[geezer]

While his is going on, it would be a priority to be honest with the fans. Explain the process & be transparent. Maybe reduce prices across the board during the initial transition.[/QUOTE]

Good idea, maybe get the fan base feeling better about the potential future instead of complaining when a popular player is traded.

 

[broncosmitty]

Id do what the Packers do with scouting. Then Id do more.(I have no idea if there are limits in spending or staffing. But there would be within a few seasons of me going absolutely overboard on talent evaluation.) The advantage of having players brought up thru the system and staying in the system is immeasurable IMO.

Id also promote competition for spots. Never have understood why teams feel the need to hand young players the keys to the car along with the title, while still paying the insurance. (Im looking at my Lions right now.)

 

[broncosmitty]

I agree on being transparent with fans. Fake optimism is far worse long term than honesty. Let a fanbase know what your longterm goals are, and what your reasonably optimistic goals are for the upcoming season.

Even with a modern NFL setup for parody, atleast a third of teams know they are not SB contenders coming into the season. But that doesn't mean they can't be in 2-3 seasons.

 

[Davis_Mike]

In AZ after the Whisenhunt/Graves era, our new GM, former head of scouting for the Cardinals, said “I truly believe this is a retool and not a rebuild,”. Which has turned out to be true. He had 2 very successful drafts & his HC & FA signings have been outstanding. But the key to everything is that he has been transparent & honest. The same thing can be said about Arians.

The fans will stay with you through the bad times if you have a foreseeable light at the end of the tunnel & great leaders leading you through the darkness. The last half of the Whiz./Graves regime was pretty bad here, yet AZ has sold every game since 2007 when the new stadium opened.

 

[Davis_Mike]

I agree on being transparent with fans. Fake optimism is far worse long term than honesty. Let a fanbase know what your longterm goals are, and what your reasonably optimistic goals are for the upcoming season.

Even with a modern NFL setup for parody, atleast a third of teams know they are not SB contenders coming into the season. But that doesn't mean they can't be in 2-3 seasons.

Between free agency & the draft, even the worst teams in the league can turn it around fast. You just have to have the right people in place to do it & the stones to stay out of the way & see it through.

I am not so sure why GB gets so much credit for their scouting department. Other than a few stars, that team has been pretty barren of drafted talent on the defensive side. If I had to chose a scouting department other than my own team, it would be either SF or Seattle.

 

[broncosmitty]

When Schwartz, Cunningham and Linehan got the axe this winter out front office called a presser. And straight up lied to us. I bought it for a couple weeks.

As a fan that went thru an all defeated season, it's difficult to get angry at a franchise more than ever. But I did. Other than Whisenhunt (who stood the franchise up at the altar, and I dont blame him.)and my Avy, there were no other viable candidates. Which is far, far from the picture painted immediately following last seasons second half collapse.

Id also forbids my GM and Prez(who would be me) from restructuring deals to bring in FA's. there job would be to find and draft talent. If that doesn't happen, well, there's no shortage of people who want the job.

 

[geezer]

The Packers are one of those teams that is always in the mix. They don't make the playoffs every season but more than their share and then anything can happen. Seattle got their general manager from Green Bay right after hiring Pete and they did clean house is a major way. Now that they got their superbowl, how many seasons do they try to get back with this core of players?
The Giants got there and won and then struggled a few years and got back and won again. They did this twice with a lot of years in between.

Chicago has become a real case where I would say it time to completely start over. A lot of good players to pile up picks for and just take the cap hits and suck for a few seasons. Can't be any worse. I do think a fan base would get behind ownership if as has been said, be honest about the plan and transparent.

 

[LambeauLegs]

Are we talking about the Bears here?

 

[broncosmitty]

Between free agency & the draft, even the worst teams in the league can turn it around fast. You just have to have the right people in place to do it & the stones to stay out of the way & see it through.

I am not so sure why GB gets so much credit for their scouting department. Other than a few stars, that team has been pretty barren of drafted talent on the defensive side. If I had to chose a scouting department other than my own team, it would be either SF or Seattle.

Seatle I agree, San Fran IMO is a sinking ship.

GB has been over .500 nearly every year since the early-mid 90's. and while they do go after high end FAs, they are pros pros, who want to win. I respect that franchise and that fanbase above all others.

 

[geezer]

Between free agency & the draft, even the worst teams in the league can turn it around fast. You just have to have the right people in place to do it & the stones to stay out of the way & see it through.

I am not so sure why GB gets so much credit for their scouting department. Other than a few stars, that team has been pretty barren of drafted talent on the defensive side. If I had to chose a scouting department other than my own team, it would be either SF or Seattle.

Seattle did a great job of drafting with Pete and John but they made some mistakes too! The draft is not perfect. And I am done with trying to pick up WR's in trades.

Every team has the same problem of keeping high paid veterans in multiple positions vs waiting on younger prospects that don't hurt the cap .

 

[geezer]

Are we talking about the Bears here?

We could be talking about several teams.

 

[Davis_Mike]

When Schwartz, Cunningham and Linehan got the axe this winter out front office called a presser. And straight up lied to us. I bought it for a couple weeks.

As a fan that went thru an all defeated season, it's difficult to get angry at a franchise more than ever. But I did. Other than Whisenhunt (who stood the franchise up at the altar, and I dont blame him.)and my Avy, there were no other viable candidates. Which is far, far from the picture painted immediately following last seasons second half collapse.

Id also forbids my GM and Prez(who would be me) from restructuring deals to bring in FA's. there job would be to find and draft talent. If that doesn't happen, well, there's no shortage of people who want the job.

I am not sold on Whiz as a anything other than an average HC. He is a great OC but just average as a HC. He rode the success of Warner & the talent of Denny Green to the SB early on in AZ & didn't anything since Warner.

I would be more hands-off when it comes to the on the field talent. I'd try to hire the right guys to handle that & fire them if they can't get it done. No JJ or Al Davis coming from me. No bs pulling the puppet strings from behind the scenes.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Seatle I agree, San Fran IMO is a sinking ship.

GB has been over .500 nearly every year since the early-mid 90's. and while they do go after high end FAs, they are pros pros, who want to win. I respect that franchise and that fanbase above all others.

The last 2 drafts in my opinion, have been misses for both Sea & SF. That is why Arizona has been able to close the talent gap recently. But over the 5 seasons, those 2 teams have drafted very well. Not only has it translated to lasting talent on the field & wins, but has also translated to more draft picks every draft because they left go of decent but not great who are getting paydays with other teams. Which results in draft pick compensation. They can let those guys go because they are constantly drafting well & the cupboards are full to replace them.

 

[broncosmitty]

I am not sold on Whiz as a anything other than an average HC. He is a great OC but just average as a HC. He rode the success of Warner & the talent of Denny Green to the SB early on in AZ & didn't anything since Warner.

I would be more hands-off when it comes to the on the field talent. I'd try to hire the right guys to handle that & fire them if they can't get it done. No JJ or Al Davis coming from me. No bs pulling the puppet strings from behind the scenes.

Yeah, Id be willing to spend and spend s'more of scouting and talent evaluation. But I wouldn't draft a single player I hadn't spoken to personally and signed off on. Ryan Leaf comes to mind. Charles Rogers too. But there would be men in positions to say "Shut up Smitty! This guy you're gushing over is not good enough."

I would not want anyone in my organization that I don't trust. But Im not qualified to evaluate talent at the professional level.

 

[Clayton]

-Tank one year for a top QB prospect. Likely if you're new, this isnt needed
-Hire an offensive minded head coach
-Draft an offensive nucleus around the QB prospect
-Run the 3-4 if not already in 3-4.

While defense is more important, its less of an immediate priority. The adage of offense wins games, defense wins championships mostly holds up. A team without an offense is just going to get their defense gassed. Work on the defense in year 2 and year 3.