It’s Time To Get Rid Of The Old Guys

BY ADAM GREENE

Thursday Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan discovered the same secret the New York Giants stumbled into in 2015; Tom Coughlin has no business in the NFL.

That’s not to say he never deserved to be there. He certainly did. His coaching record is fine, 182-157. He was 12-7 in the postseason and hoisted the Lombardi trophy twice in Super Bowl XLII and XLVI. The first ended a perfect season from the New England Patriots and is still my second favorite Super Bowl memory of all time.

But that was a while ago and while the NFL has adapted to the soon-to-be 2020s, Coughlin did not. The Jaguars hired him to bring some stability, and more importantly wins to their moribund franchise. Instead, after three seasons of mediocrity and trading off their best player, Jacksonville is in full reboot mode.

It’s not Coughlin’s fault the game passed him by. The man’s 73 years old. You won’t find humans that old in any other profession other than coaching or politics and, frankly, that should be a disqualifier for both.

Adapt or die, that’s how evolution works and the NFL is at the forefront of that leap forward right now. Old guys that can, Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick (with or without a little help outside the rules) can flourish. But they’re the outliers. Most of the oldsters, owners, general managers and guys in the front office, are dragging their franchises into to the ground. There needs to be a new “Rooney Rule” for hiring anyone to run your team and it should begin with the question, “Did this guy vote for Nixon?”

Consider Mike Brown, owner and general manager of the pathetic Cincinnati Bengals. He’s 84, and while the league probably can’t (and wouldn’t considering his dad was Paul Brown) force him to sell the team, there should be some serious pressure from somebody, somewhere to hire an actual GM that didn’t watch the Moon Landing happen in real time.

Brown took over as GM in 1991. The team hasn’t won a postseason game since in seven tries. Is there any reason to believe he, at 84 for God’s sake, is going to figure it out now?

In fact, if you look at the worst franchises in the league this season, they’re nearly all run by men who would have been tossed out on the ice flow by now if they had any other profession.

Take a look:

• NEW YORK GIANTS: DAVE GETTLEMAN, 68
• CAROLINA PANTHERS: MARTY HURNEY, 63
• OAKLAND RAIDERS: MIKE MAYOCK, 61
• CLEVELAND BROWNS: JOHN DORSEY, 59
• WASHINGTON REDSKINS: BRUCE ALLEN, 63
• DALLAS COWBOYS: JERRY JONES, 77
• CINCINNATI BENGALS: MIKE BROWN, 84
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (UNTIL THURSDAY): TOM COUGHLIN, 73

Look at the coaching hires. Look at the personnel decisions these men have made. Look at the years and years of losing associated with these men and heir teams with no end in sight.

Of the eight teams with GMs 59 or older, not a one has a winning record this season. Only one, the Dallas Cowboys, is in any danger of making the postseason and that has more to do with the garbage NFC East than Jones’ ability to build a team.

Jones and Brown should fire themselves. And these NFL teams should all clean house, looking for fresh, smart guys to run their front offices who didn’t all own betamax players at one point in their lives.

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