StumpHunter wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:21 am
IIsweet wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:33 am
I feel that he was so handcuffed with Zimmer that we had a QB who is a great thrower of the football, but had tight reins on him. He never got to showcase his ability without it being a calculated risk that favored heavily in our favor. Makes me wonder if the sideline altercation between Cousins and Zim was Kirk saying, "I told you that if you let us do this and that, we would score" !!!
I think that KOC says, cut it loose, sling it, we are going to find the mismatches and exploit them. it is time to look for that big play, and hit it! Prior regime was, do not lose the game. Hold onto the ball. Get a 1st down. Run out the clock. It is the same philosophy as Kirk Ferentz at Iowa. If we can run the clock and not make mistakes, it will be a close game in the end. Then if we continue to execute the offense, the other team will make a mistake and we will capitalize. The coaches live by the following quote:
“The secret of success is to do the common things; Uncommonly well” (John D. Rockefeller)
Every quote from last year on this topic was Zimmer saying he wanted Kirk to be more aggressive and we even have quotes of Kirk saying he was "too aggressive" and wanted to take fewer risks.
Kirk's best years were with Zimmer and not Sean McVay or KOC himslef. That is a fact, and going back to McVay's disciple isn't suddenly going to change everything.
Zimmer and Cousins had a relationship that, by the sounds of it, was toxic. Let's not sit here and act like Zim was all buddy buddy with Cousins. Zimmer just started meeting with Cousins weekly for the first time THIS year. And it was Cousins himself that initiated that. What does that say about Zimmer as a coach? Any time someone goes after Zimmer, you immediately flip script and say it was Cousins this and Cousins that. Mike Zimmer was indeed a big problem. Period.
It doesnt take just Cousins to show that. Eric Kendricks and Brian Oneill literally came out and said how the environment was not good, how rookies were treated, the whole fear-based thing (which in this case, fingers point at Zim), etc. Let me remind you, this was ZIMMER'S team. Not Cousins'. I've coached multiple sports for a lot of years. Environments start with the coach. And when players not named Kirk Cousins come out and bash the previous regime saying everything but Mike Zimmer's name, that's a big problem. It could be exactly why someone like Cousins calls this meeting. Because he probably feels like he actually has a voice now. And trust me, that's an actual thing. I can tell you that from personal experience.
Quick story, my junior year, I had a football coach who was a successful coach and a hard as#. He had his favorites and was often a dic#head to anyone that didnt fall in that category. You felt like you were always walking on broken egg shells. He was very "by the book" when it came to how he ran things overall. Everything was his way or the highway.
Anyways, I was the starting X WR. However, he only ever kept me out there when we ran the ball. When we were going to pass, I'd come off and a senior would go out there. It drove me nuts because I knew I was better than that kid. I worked my as# off every day and still was only out there during the running plays. Mid season I even ended a practice with a one handed catch over the middle that my coach was ecstatic about. I thought to myself "okay that has to get me on the field on passing downs". Nope. Not a thing changed the rest of the season. I nearly quit because I didnt know what else I could do to show this guy I was better than the senior. My confidence started to go right in the tank.
Sure enough, my senior year comes along and our football coach retires. The new coach was a guy I knew very well (sound familiar) and was a successful coach at another district. That summer he had us in a passing league and my confidence was through the roof because he wanted me out there and wanted to feed me the ball often. That fall, the season comes along and I flourish. Flourish so much that I ended up getting team captain, 1st team league all star, 1st team All-North and tied for 1st in all of Section 3 for touchdowns.
This, by no means, is to toot my own horn. This simply shows that new coaches that come in and completely change the environment for the greater good, will often have a huge effect on players. More than one would think. More than just "yeah we have a new coach now, not much personnel change". The familiarity and comfortableness Cousins has around KOC could be exactly whats sparking this. Because he actually feels like he has a voice now. Because he knows KOC will actually let him take the reigns and take control. That they will collaborate together EVERY DAY and figure out what works and what doesnt. Not having to deal with someone that's so stuck in their ways that it doesnt matter what you say. Not having someone that will put their defense first over you. This stuff MATTERS. My junior year coach didnt care or want to care how good or bad I was. He knew who he wanted in there and when he wanted them in there. Those were "his guys". Nothing else mattered to him. My senior year coach allowed me to be a leader, instilled confidence, was someone I was comfortable around and found any way he could to get me the ball. The more I tell this the more I realize how eerily similar this is to Cousins and Zimmer.
Again, this stuff MATTERS. By no means am I saying this was all Mike Zimmer and nobody else did anything wrong. But Mike Zimmer was no longer good for Kirk Cousins (if ever), he was no longer good for the rest of the guys in this locker room, he was no longer good for the GM, he was no longer good for this team. Say what you want, tell me about some press conference he bullshi#ted his way through to make it sound like he was the right guy for this team, and so on. I dont care. He wasnt. That's a fact. And if KOC turns this culture around which I think he already has, it's going to show on the field (wins) and off the field (meetings like this one).