Packers fire Slocum

[7thFloorRA]

I was intrigued at Ohio State's STC but he is like 65 yrs old. Not happening either. I think dirty Urban really runs those special teams anyways.

 

[7thFloorRA]

Here is an interesting one. Daric Riley. He was the UAB special teams coordinator. They were the #1 kick return unit and #10 punt return unit. Young looking guy who apparently has no job as his team ceases to exist. I would be all over interviewing him.

Here is a story about him when he was hired on at UAB this time last year. I like what I hear. This cat is young and whatever he does has worked wherever he has been.http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/02/uab_confirms_additions_of_jody.html

 

[ARPackFan]

I think there is enough young, aggressive, and upcoming talent out there to find a good ST coordinator. IMO, the Packers coaching staff needs a transfusion of outside talent, ideas, & methods.

 

[PackerDNA]

For me, it'll be informative on how things are done differently or not with the team next season with this hire.
Go outside for the hire, or just promote Zook?

 

[7thFloorRA]

Here is Daric Riley and his UAB profile. I love this guy the more I read about him. His schools are not high profile but damn has he been effective at them. He made Jax State the top special teams unit in 1 year and he just about did the same thing with UAB in 1 year.

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http://www.uabsports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/daric_riley_885974.html

 

[SoonerPack]

"Coach Mike is stubborn and will not make any moves or changes this off-season"
-Too Many People to Count

Well, other than this move and a few more I would guess before the dust settles. I have nothing but respect for Slocum as a man but this is a performance based industry and it was time for him to go. The amount of talent we have on this roster should equate to a formidable ST unit and too many years we have ended the season much lower than we should have in ST rankings. ST's is the unit you don't think about or pay much attention to until something bad happens and unfortunately we were forced to discuss this unit more than we should have over the last few years. I understand that the players have to execute but at some point the guy leading the troops has to be help accountable and today was that day for SS. I pray he and his family nothing but the best in the future and thank him for his services and from all accounts he was a positive member of the community. I hope to get some fresh blood in and that Zook does not get the gig. I honestly don't want anyone who had anything to do with this unit running this unit next year but time will tell I suppose. G P G!

 

[paulska]

This is half the right move. Letting someone who isn't getting it done on an extended basis is the first half. Getting someone who can take the resources on hand in terms of talent and schemes and get a consistently improved unit contributing to victories is the other.

I am seriously relieved to see MM make this move- I was beginning to worry that our ability to innovate and progress was calcifying with him entrenched for the long term, but this is at least a heads up to our collective staff that regression and underwhelming performance will not be overshadowed by personal connection and loyal service.

One of the hallmarks of Pete Carroll's time and success with the Hawks has been the mantra that everyone competes every day, and that competition raises the bar for everyone. I think that goes for coaches too. It's interesting that top minds in the game spend a ton of time in the headspace of people who are doing new, effective and hard to stop things (think Belichick constantly on campus with Meyer, Saban, Kelly, etc), and their teams constantly have new looks and ripples that keep opponents off rhythm. We need some of this. Here's hoping this is the first step towards that dynamic for the people who plan and vision how we do what we do on the field...

 

[jaybadger82]

"Coach Mike is stubborn and will not make any moves or changes this off-season"
-Too Many People to Count

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[ezzy]

Glad! All those blocked kicks were atrocious.

 

[rodell330]

I was intrigued at Ohio State's STC but he is like 65 yrs old. Not happening either. I think dirty Urban really runs those special teams anyways.

Yep and "dirty " urban ran them right into a national championship. Keep hating sir

 

[TomBrownFan40]

I've never been a "fire da bums" kind of guy but, this one makes total sense. The Special Teams have underachieved for several seasons not, just the last one. In the past, injuries were a legit excuse but, this was a relatively healthy unit in 2014.

 

[El Guapo]

First of all, I think that all of this "promote from within" vs "look outside" is nonsense. You can bring in someone from outside who runs the same schemes, and find someone within that has a completely different approach they've wanted to implement. The true key is just finding the right person for the job, who works well within the coaching staff, runs good schemes, and can quickly gain the trust and confidence of the team.

This isn't a plug for the ST coach yet, but it would be interesting to see if the Packers try to flip Jarrett Bush. He's still a great athlete and special teams player, but his salary may make it hard to bring him back. They could convince him to becoming an assistant special teams coach to whomever they hire. Heart in a coach can mean a lot. I think that's what the Packers had in Kevin Greene.

 

[TJV]

First of all, I think that all of this "promote from within" vs "look outside" is nonsense. You can bring in someone from outside who runs the same schemes, and find someone within that has a completely different approach they've wanted to implement. The true key is just finding the right person for the job, who works well within the coaching staff, runs good schemes, and can quickly gain the trust and confidence of the team.

I don't think promote from within vs. look outside is nonsense.

 

[SoonerPack]

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Cute

 

[El Guapo]

So I favor bringing in a new comer.

...and that's exactly what McCarthy did per this year-old story: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...s-on-special-teams-b99200631z1-244490201.html

McCarthy stopped short of firing special teams coach Shawn Slocum, but he may have put him on notice by firing assistant special teams coach Chad Morton and reassigning John Rushing, who spent time working with special teams in addition to assisting the offense the past three seasons. He replaced Morton with Ron Zook, a special teams coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1996-'98 and head coach at the University of Florida (2002-'04) and University of Illinois (2005-'11). Zook was out of football in 2012 and '13, but he is not a novice trying to work his way up the ladder as Morton was. He's 59 years old and has been coaching for 34 seasons. It's hard to imagine McCarthy not viewing him as someone who could take over the special teams coordinator job if needed.

Maybe he's not new enough for you?

 

[TJV]

Maybe he's not new enough for you?

It’s hard to say because I don’t know that much about him.

 

[El Guapo]

I don't know a thing about him, except that he appears to have been brought in from outside the organization as heir apparent to being the ST coach. I don't have an opinion on who they should hire, otherwise I would have voiced it. All I know is that most of us know next to nothing about the assistant coaches, so calling for promotion from within or bringing in an unknown quantity appears uniformed. We don't know what we've got and don't know how outsiders will fit in. Therefore I'm inclined to trust the HC who has done this before. That's all.

 

[Mondio]

I have no idea who should be a special teams coach, but it became apparent that anyone that can say, "stay in your lanes" and "block someone " could do as good of a job as Slocum had done. We were unprepared on special teams, horrible at self scouting, and just adequate at times for the past 4-5+ years Even the year we won the Super Bowl our special teams were a liability most of the year.

 

[TJV]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...cial-teams-top-job-b99438674z1-290711531.html

 

[ExpatPacker]

Looks like it's Zook: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...cial-teams-top-job-b99438674z1-290711531.html

And as the article says, STs in Pittsburgh under Zook ranked 23rd, 12rd, and 23rd. That's not what I would call a ringing endorsement.

Promotion from within is good when you are successful. Zook was part of Slocum's team, and although we cannot know the degree to which his coaching contributed to the poor showing this year, frankly I am not hopeful. Zook was brought in last year to improve STs after Morton was fired, and STs went from bad to worse.

If Zook is indeed going to be the new ST coordinator, I will not get my hopes up for a significant improvement next year.

And it's funny that in that entire JSOnline article nobody calls Zook a great STs coach. They use words like "full of energy", "ambitious", "brings a lot of passion", etc. etc. etc. Nothing about his quality as a coach.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Looks like it's Zook: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...cial-teams-top-job-b99438674z1-290711531.html

Don´t like the move at all. Zook was part of the coaching staff on special teams last year which were dreadful, I really don´t get why McCarthy wants to promote from inside.

 

[yooperpackfan]

Don´t like the move at all. Zook was part of the coaching staff on special teams last year which were dreadful, I really don´t get why McCarthy wants to promote from inside.

Hiring someone who was part of the problem doesn't inspire confidence.

 

[Mondio]

I agree, not too excited about Zook. But I guess we'll find out how good he is.

 

[7thFloorRA]

This is not what I was hoping to hear. What exactly did he do last year that makes him deserving of this job? He sure as hell didn't fix anything that Slocum was doing wrong. I am hoping that his only job was to be a rah-rah cheerleader for the players while evaluating Slocum. Otherwise I can't see how he is solution when he was part of the problem.

 

[TJV]

I haven't seen Zook's promotion announced on the Packers website.