You cannot win without great defense. Bates is a great defensive coordinator. Remember, if you make him head coach of the Packers he won't be the defensive coordinator.
Here is the truth about GB. This team is in dire straights. We lack talent in a lot of areas. We're poorly coaches and by and large, poorly prepared. We've had way too many injuries, but take all those injuries away and I'm not sure we're that much better.
Having said that, Thompson has some big time decisions to make. Does he feel this team is in good hands with Sherman? Does he believe we're on the right track? Can he draft enough quality players to turn this team around next year?
If I were in Thompson's shoes I would have fired Sherman already and would have elevated Bates to head coach and audition him and see what he can do. Instead he holds on to Sherman and now he has Bates possibly looking at Detroit and may end up losing out on Marriucci. I loved it when Wolf came in and canned Infante and turned the team over to a young coach who had the heart of a lion.