If anyone wants, here’s my notes on the presser.
Talked to Eric 3-4 weeks ago, likely after Patriots
Led league in giving up big leads in 4th quarter
Underperforming in playoff seeding
Great players making mistakes in postseason uncommon in regular season
Talked to veterans about decision. Lamar is not confrontational but Lamar knew we needed to make changes but Lamar did not influence his decision.
Steve gets a financial offset if John takes a HC gig
John will go somewhere that they have a QB.
I didn’t realize Billick got us a SB in 2 years. Kinda similar to how Billick and Harbaugh both fired due to talented roster that underperformed.
EDC wants to do a deal with Lamar to go after big ticket items but it sounds like that isn’t necessarily preventing us.
Retread HC who were previously hot OC & DC 6-7 years ago in their cycles who went to non competitive teams without QBs. They will not be disqualified just because they had a losing record but they will look at the reason why. They will be “keen to those circumstances and not be influenced by their first shot in this one”. There is no need for a DC HC or an OC HC preference.
No changes to HC reporting structure. Also shows that there’s not as much ego at the top
Steve will do the final interviews after the initial Zoom screening. It will also include Lamar at that point. Eric is texting Lamar after every interview. Some of these interviews aren’t exclusively over Zoom and some are in person. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is to satisfy the Rooney rule before it reaches Steve.
College coaches are asking to come here
Sounds like coaches must go through Zoom interview to reach Steve (implied but never directly stated)
Won’t talk specifics about Madubuike. Awaiting more info.
Eric blames roster failure on not playing consistently game to game (Defense, Offense, etc) and must do better to create pressure on Defense to help the secondary, affecting QB & pocket. OL was inconsistent but we have pieces despite narrative that it was bad. OL just didn’t gel great this year. Not one specific thing. Steve blamed the coaches for the roster failure. He mentioned OL and pass rush too but showed how we did well last year at those weaknesses but not this year despite the narrative being the same. Madubuike loss blamed for KVN reduced numbers. Teams doubled Travis without Madubuike (implying need for another interior DL pressure) and called out the OL for not improving (implying Warhop is to blame). Many guys on this team didn’t take the next step who should have and we will look at that for scouting and coaching failures.
Eric said they were prepared for new coach and want best leader they can find who holds players accountable, relatable to players but firm, continue culture and know X & Os.
Steve isn’t afraid to use void years to handle the Lamar extension if needed. They’re working out an alternative that mirrors the last deal with a higher annual number but with a structure similar to the last contract. Don’t want this to drag out again
I love how these rich billionaires are just like us whose wives will give them shit for not doing stuff or meeting their promises lol
Steve said he wants the person to be picked by Eric, Sashi and Ozzie. Steve will give his opinions and reservations. Sounds like there will be a top 5 list at the end of the day that they use, similar to how Eric does his draft board.
Steve put his foot in his mouth with the Tucker comment about making the kick and Eric saved him by saying “how do you know” to talk up Tyler and minimise the miss.
Sounds like they expect to be done in 3 weeks. They will be done 9 interviews by Sunday and some more after then will go through the candidates to bring it down to 4-5 to bring them back in. They’re asking candidates about assistant coaches, what their staff will look like, etc. They’re very focused on the coordinators and position coaches and that combo more than a single HC.
HC sounds like they want someone who holds people accountable and continue their current culture. They won’t be swayed by people who have knowledge of our org like Weaver and will handicap that accordingly.
They don’t believe in the mindset of being one player away. They won’t trade the farm for a player and eat cap as it’s prohibitive but it has to be right player right price. They will look at elite gamewreckers. Sounds like Eric is more emphasising current players vs draft players, since he emphasizes paying them and paying the draft picks too.
Steve stopped State of the Ravens because of a question when they asked how close he was to firing Harbaugh after making the divisional round. So whoever did that caused him to just stop it.
John seems like he was going to get rid of both coordinators and that pushed Steve over the edge to decide his gut was right. That there were plans to move on and Steve said he may as well drop Harbaugh too since we may as well at this point. I think it’s strategic direction and knowing the players and John may not have the same relationship if both coordinators are gone and John is still there
