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To quote Bob Dylan, “The times they are a-changin.”
I missed this story recently, but, wow, it’s kind of a big deal.
After Tennessee fired coach Mike Vrabel, former Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan, tweeted, “Loved him as a coach (except 2018) loved his coaching staff (besides Keith Carter).”
Jets running back Breece Hall reposted Lewan’s comment with some laughing emojis. Mekhi Becton retweeted this.
Can you imagine going on social media and re-posting something like that about one of your bosses at work? That is what I mean by “the times they are a-changin.”
Now it probably doesn’t matter much that Becton retweeted this because he’s not likely going to be re-signed. And if there was a slight chance at him coming back, this retweet probably ended it. How could you bring Becton back after he made is feeling clear on social media about how he feels about his position coach. Becton also had some issues in pass protection this year.
But why would Hall go there? He’s not even his position coach. Perhaps he didn’t like some of the blocking schemes used by Carter in a season where the run game struggled at times. But the run game struggles were probably more related to O-Line injuries, than Carter’s schemes. Though Hall and the run game finished on a strong note with runner putting up good numbers in the last three games. Carter must have had something to do with that.
I’m not here to defend Carter. The proof is in the pudding. The offensive line wasn’t great this past year. Yes there were injuries, but Cleveland had a lot of O-Line injuries also.
But clearly there was some kind of disconnect between the offensive coordinator and the O-line coach, who never worked together. You could see that right out of the gate on Aaron Rodgers one and only series this season.
There were too many issues throughout the course of the season related to picking up stunts and blitzes.
Were Carter on Nate Hackett on the same page all the time? It’s hard to tell if you aren’t in the meeting or on the headset, but it certainly didn’t seem that way. Sometimes these arranged marriages aren’t ideal.
Lewan has a podcast, so he’s clearly trying to bring attention to that, and a tweet like that about Carter will do that.
Here is the problem, and it’s societal more than Carter-related:
Society has become softer, and you are seeing harder-edged coaches like Carter, becoming less in-style.
All you gotta do is look at what the Atlanta Falcons just did, deciding not to hire Bill Belichick, and instead going with Raheem Morris.
Hard-ass coach Vrabel is having a hard time getting a job.
Players are a lot more sensitive now than they used to be. I can tell you that first hand, because I’ve have to change how I ask questions to avoid issues. It is what it is.
But it remains to be seen if taking a kindler, gentler approach in a sport like football is going to work. Football is a different bird. It’s unbelievably violent. You need to keep the players fired up, especially the big guys in the trenches.
Carter was the Titans’ offensive line coach when Derrick Henry ran for over 2,000 yards, so clearly he was doing something right in Tennessee, even if Lewan didn’t like him.
The Jets have kept Carter so far, but now that James Campen is available, who knows. Campen, who was just let go in Carolina three days ago with a new head coach coming in, worked with Hackett and Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.
I’m not calling for anybody to be fired, but we have seen Robert Saleh act slow with staff changes, and we are still just in late January, so who knows what is going to happen here.
But to me, Carter is a victim of a changing society, more than being a bad coach.
January 29, 2024
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