**** MacPherson high on Dolphins new defense

[JoeSixPat]

well, at least the Dolphin's Defensive Coordinator - Fin Fans have to be feeling pretty good if **** McPherson's giving his endorsement!

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2008/07/04/dolphinsweb0704.html

Don't get me wrong - I think McPherson's a standup guy and think the team would have sucked with Belichick as head coach in '92 - but I'm not sure I'm getting too pumped up by this if I'm a Dolphins Fan

 

[RayClay]

Re: **** McPherson high on Dolphins new defense

God bless him, I thought he had passed. He was the Umass coach when I went there eons ago. Yeah the Pats sucked then, but he was the most positive enthusiastic guy you can imagine.

Sometimes teams just suck.

 

[BigMike]

same reaction - I thought he had passed on.

 

[jmt57]

Wow, McPherson was pretty old when he came to the Pats from Syracuse, and that was about twenty years ago. I just assumed he had passed away too. Yeah, he was the most energetic and positive guy I can ever remember on the sidelines. Too bad it was just a bandaid for major problems, so glad that era is in the past.

 

[fnordcircle]

Ok, Jon Vaughn returning a kick for a TD and getting a huge hug from Mac was one of the highlights of the 92 season for me.

 

[fair catch fryar]

well, at least the Dolphin's Defensive Coordinator - Fin Fans have to be feeling pretty good if **** McPherson's giving his endorsement!

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2008/07/04/dolphinsweb0704.html

Don't get me wrong - I think McPherson's a standup guy and think the team would have sucked with Belichick as head coach in '92 - but I'm not sure I'm getting too pumped up by this if I'm a Dolphins Fan

Although ****ie Mac is a homeboy being from Maine, I'm not getting too frightened of the 'Fin's D with his endorsement.

Speaking of MacPherson memories, my first Patriot's game was one where Hugh Millen hit Greg McMurtry for a 20 yard TD pass with seconds left on the clock to beat the Houston Oilers and MacPherson was running out there like they had just made the playoffs! If I'm not mistaken, I think the Pats went 6-10 that year and looked to Millen as their QB of the future! Oh my, how far we've come.

 

[PromisedLand]

I remember him as more of a cheerleader than a coach. He was overmatched by the demands of coaching a pro team, but he seemed like a really nice guy. Just not the right guy for the job.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I remember him as more of a cheerleader than a coach. He was overmatched by the demands of coaching a pro team, but he seemed like a really nice guy. Just not the right guy for the job.

Funny - I thought he was (and still do) the perfect guy for the job to me.

It didn't seem to me that the '92 team was going to be a playoff contender with Tommy Hodson or Hugh Millen at QB and once we rattled off a string of losses it quickly became apparent that the goal that season was the worst record in the NFL.

Thank goodness MacPherson wasn't just a tiny bit "better" or else I don't think having the #2 pick (or worse) in the draft intrigues a coach named Bill Parcells enough to return from his retirement and take the "last coaching job of his career."

And of course, no Bill Parcells could well mean no Bob Kraft and certainly no Bill Belichick and no NFL Dynasty. And of course given the #2 pick and Rick Mirer at the helm, I'm not so sure the Patriots become the contender that Bledsoe helped them become - which of course served as a foundation for the Dynasty of the 21st Century.

So I truly hold a warm place in my heart for MacPherson and what his tenure here meant for the team and think he was the exactly the right guy at the right time for this franchise!

 

[FirstAndGoal]

Coach Mac is around and is still involved with Syracuse.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Coach Mac is around and is still involved with Syracuse.

It's very interesting that even in a miserable losing season - perhaps the worst in Patriots history, and among the worst in NFL history - I don't think I've ever come across one person who didn't recognize the tremendous quality of MacPherson's character.

 

[PromisedLand]

Funny - I thought he was (and still do) the perfect guy for the job to me.

It didn't seem to me that the '92 team was going to be a playoff contender with Tommy Hodson or Hugh Millen at QB and once we rattled off a string of losses it quickly became apparent that the goal that season was the worst record in the NFL.

Thank goodness MacPherson wasn't just a tiny bit "better" or else I don't think having the #2 pick (or worse) in the draft intrigues a coach named Bill Parcells enough to return from his retirement and take the "last coaching job of his career."

And of course, no Bill Parcells could well mean no Bob Kraft and certainly no Bill Belichick and no NFL Dynasty. And of course given the #2 pick and Rick Mirer at the helm, I'm not so sure the Patriots become the contender that Bledsoe helped them become - which of course served as a foundation for the Dynasty of the 21st Century.

So I truly hold a warm place in my heart for MacPherson and what his tenure here meant for the team and think he was the exactly the right guy at the right time for this franchise!

Well that's certainly the most positive possible spin. I was not a UMass grad and so had no rooting interest in the man; my take was simply based on what I saw on the field. I grant you he didn't have a lot to work with.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Well that's certainly the most positive possible spin.

You really consider that spin?

I have some pretty strong doubts that Parcells (and Belichick in turn) is interested in coming out of retirement to rebuild a an 8-8 team with a mediocre draft pick.

And heck - if Parcells and the #1 pick isn't here who's to say that the Patriots are as intriguing an investment for Bob Kraft?

If not for Coach MacPherson we could well be talking about the St. Louis Patriots (as well as a fabricated story about the New England Rams taping their Super Bowl walkthrough!)

 

[PromisedLand]

You really consider that spin?

I have some pretty strong doubts that Parcells (and Belichick in turn) is interested in coming out of retirement to rebuild a an 8-8 team with a mediocre draft pick.

And heck - if Parcells and the #1 pick isn't here who's to say that the Patriots are as intriguing an investment for Bob Kraft?

If not for Coach MacPherson we could well be talking about the St. Louis Patriots (as well as a fabricated story about the New England Rams taping their Super Bowl walkthrough!)

I'm not saying you're wrong about what might have happened if the 1992 Pats had been a little better - we'll never know, of course. It's one of those 'flap of a butterfly's wings' things - would history have been different? Absolutely. Would it have been worse for Pats fans? Quite possibly.

However, when you say that MacPherson was a good coach because his team didn't suck less - yes, I think that is spin!

 

[JoeSixPat]

I'm not saying you're wrong about what might have happened if the 1992 Pats had been a little better - we'll never know, of course. It's one of those 'flap of a butterfly's wings' things - would history have been different? Absolutely. Would it have been worse for Pats fans? Quite possibly.

However, when you say that MacPherson was a good coach because his team didn't suck less - yes, I think that is spin!

No - not a good coach - just the right man for the "job" at the time.

I did think that 6-10 the year before was about as good as it got for that team with the QBs they had. I'm not saying MacPherson tanked every game but I think he was smart enough to know that with a #1 pick the team had a good chance in the future, and therefore might have, shall we say, looked at 1992 as a developmental year.

Ben Coates, Irving Fryer, Marv Cook, Greg McMurtry, and Michael Timpson all seemed like good WRs - just no one good to throw to them. Even had Bruce Armstrong in the fold to protect the QB of the future!

Kevin Turner was a rookie that year and clearly had potential. Sam Gash was on the team too though hadn't really done much to show any potential if I recall. Lots of other good players on that team - Andre Tipppett, Vincent "The Undertaker" Brown, Mo Hurst, Ray Agnew, Todd Collins, Dwayne Sabb. Both the existing and potential talent on the team was significant - college coaches can sometimes be good at helping young players develop (especially when the focus is on development and not winning - or rather losing!)

So perhaps a decent QB might have actually been able to do something with those players around him - but I still don't see Parcells coming here without having that strong foundation plus a #1 pick - and it wouldn't surprise me if Kraft didn't make his move without Parcells in the fold etc...

Who knows - I'm just glad it all worked out well!

 

[PromisedLand]

Who knows - I'm just glad it all worked out well!

I think we can all agree on that!