The One Benefit of the "Year of Mayo"

[borg]

Vrabel also spent his "off year" learning a ton about front office mechanics and analytics.

Mayo too learned a "ton" about business........................................................ as a celebrity intern at a healthcare company.

 

[PancakeBlockPaul]

Well said.

I hope you are correct. My fear is that the Krafts will respond by thinking 'we let Bill handle everything for two decades; he is gone, so we need to become far more involved in the football operations, more hands on'. People who are not experts deciding to micro-manage an enterprise never ends well.

@Force Zero Boomer wrote in another thread about Jerod Mayo being the epitome of the Dunning-Kruger effect. I am concerned that something similar will happen with the Krafts. Specifically, that they may respond by believing that their wealth means they are the smartest people in the room, and that because they are the smartest people in the room, they should therefore increase the number of football-related decisions that they make - decisions that would otherwise be made by a President of Football Operations or even a General Manager.


There have been some people here that hope that the Patriots hire Ray Agnew, the Lions assistant general manager. Now look at Detroit's front office, and see how many people are above Agnew, just on the football side of operations. The family owners stay in their lane on the business side of operations, and let the many experienced football people run the football operations.

Detroit Lions Admin | Detroit Lions - DetroitLions.com

The polar opposite is the Carolina Panthers, where owner David Tepper's wife, who has the title of 'Chief Administrative Officer', was actively participating in the team's player selection while in the club's war room on draft day, after he asked for her input.

https://athlonsports.com/nfl/fans-in-disbelief-over-video-of-nfl-owners-wife-assisting-with-draft-picks

So which route are the Krafts going to take?
Are they smart enough to know when to step aside and let the experts do their thing?
Or do they think they are smarter than everybody else?

@jmt57 Not to **** on your great post but I think that most billionaires feel/think they are already smarter than everyone else. It’s probably thought/said daily even. The egos and sense of grandiose these people must have…almost as if they’re on another planet….which they are. And add in RK’s age?

 

[Pape]

@jmt57 Not to **** on your great post but I think that most billionaires feel/think they are already smarter than everyone else. It’s probably thought/said daily even. The egos and sense of grandiose these people must have…almost as if they’re on another planet….which they are. And add in RK’s age?

truth... the one billionaire i know is a douchebag

 

[Grogan1980]

Vrabel also spent his "off year" learning a ton about front office mechanics and analytics.

This is one thing I really like about Vrabel - He didn't whine or moan about his situation, he went out and learned more about what he could do to be a better coach. Seems like a super diligent person, who will have high standards, and hold others to them. At the same time, putting in the time & effort and not just expecting everyone else to prop him up.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I see comment after comment pissing on the guy. Most made by schmucks who couldn't even comprehend the number of factors that have gone into each of the major successful decisions Kraft has made in his lifetime, never mind place those factors in perspective.

I whine about Kraft because I think he makes a lot of mistakes and is shortsighted by his success, which many of us can be. But then I take a step back and ask myself who I’d rather have as an owner among the billionaire club. It’s a very small list. For all of Kraft’s warts, he’s in the top tier of owners so I’m happy about that.

 

[signbabybrady]

Robert Kraft is human, he's made mistakes and some have been painfully public. That said it is nothing short of astounding how many people forget or refuse to acknowledge the amazing amount of success he has had in most endeavors he has put his hand to. For the newspaper boy son of a dressmaker ol' Krafyy Bob has done alright for himself

Kraft's legacy is one of adaptability and honest self examination. We could do a lot worse for a steward of our team.

I Maust say this is one excellent post. Thanks for the excellent perspective.

 

[maust]

I Maust say this is one excellent post. Thanks for the excellent perspective.

I think too many people fail to look at Kraft and his ownership in their totality. As @Hammer of Thor and @Steve102 have pointed out, we could do a hell of a lot worse. I'd put Kraft up there with Clark Hunt and Steve Bisciotti as the best owners in the NFL. That doesn't mean they are perfect by any means but honestly among the current crop of owners who else would you rather have than one of those three?

 

[signbabybrady]

I think too many people fail to look at Kraft and his ownership in their totality. As @Hammer of Thor and @Steve102 have pointed out, we could do a hell of a lot worse. I'd put Kraft up there with Clark Hunt and Steve Bisciotti the best owners in the NFL. That doesn't mean they are perfect by any means but honestly among the current crop of owners who else would you rather have than one of those three?

Keeping the team here and his role in 6 is more than anyone could expect back in 93.

Whatever issues someone might have my first sentence is still undeniable fact.

 

[maust]

Keeping the team here and his role in 6 is more than anyone could expect back in 93.

Whatever issues someone might have my first sentence is still undeniable fact.

There's an entire generation of Pats fans (hell, starting on two now) who are woefully ignorant of both the import and validity of your statement. From their inception until the moment Kraft bought the team, the Pats almost always had one foot out the door when it came to leaving town.

 

[n1997y]

Well yeah. The media only reports the bad stuff and none of the good stuff.

It's why people think things are bad all the time. Bad stuff gets clicks. Good stuff doesn't so it's rarely reported on.

Media 101: If it bleeds, it leads.

Got to give viewers and readers the quickest hardest dopamine fix possible. Constant outrage is the ideal.

 

[n1997y]

There's a higher likelihood that Vrabel makes a joke about Bob having 1 foot in the grave in his intro press conference than giving him a cute nickname.

So, zero and less than zero.

 

[Ross12]

So, zero and less than zero.

I wanna see Vrabel come out and chest-bump Bob, knocking him over, and then give Jonathan a smack on the butt.

 

[n1997y]

To be fair, Kraft had known Mayo for over a decade at that point. Hell, he even had a plan (which went sideways) for Mayo to be mentored by Belichick for two years when he put that clause in.

That plan went sideways when it was concocted, unless Bob included Bill in creating it. But it seems pretty clear that by the time Bill heard anything about it Kraft had already written it into Mayo’s contract. Upshot was Bill felt (rightly, I’d say) that he was being pushed out before his time, and that Mayo was greasing the skids for his involuntary departure. We’ve seen the results. Major gaffe by RKK.

 

[NormZauchin]

Many posters seem to think that an interview, by itself, establishes the desirability of the applicant. When I was hiring, a good interview was a necessary, but not a sufficient condition to be offered the position. I always weighted previous experience, things like quality of work, goodness of fit with the opening, length of time at the job, etc., as heavily.

 

[maust]

Many posters seem to think that an interview, by itself, establishes the desirability of the applicant. When I was hiring, a good interview was a necessary, but not a sufficient condition to be offered the position. I always weighted previous experience, things like quality of work, goodness of fit with the opening, length of time at the job, etc., as heavily.

From my standpoint 'previous experience, things like quality of work, goodness of fit with the opening, length of time at the job, etc.' along with a decent resume got a candidate through the door but interviews were the ultimate key to the hire. OFC that was long ago and you had to be sharp with the interview skills, the dinosaurs were great and all but they were a fairly lively bunch to interview

 

[JohnJH]

My guess is that Bob is going to go back to a Belichickian model with the HC running the show, but with Vrabel in the role, and with a larger front office.

And hopefully a highly competent and larger coaching staff. As much as a team needs to keep its supply of player talent going, the same holds true regarding its coaching talent.

 

[NormZauchin]

From my standpoint 'previous experience, things like quality of work, goodness of fit with the opening, length of time at the job, etc.' along with a decent resume got a candidate through the door but interviews were the ultimate key to the hire. OFC that was long ago and you had to be sharp with the interview skills, the dinosaurs were great and all but they were a fairly lively bunch to interview

I don't think we disagree, in that I would not invite for an interview anyone who failed to meet certain requirements dictated by experience. The best interviewee would then be picked. (In one case, no one interviewed impressed, and we had to reopen the job search.) It's just that from some of these head coach interview comments, the backgrounds of the candidates hardly seem to matter. Vrabel's experience is a major reason why I hope the Pats pick him.

 

[mgcolby]

I didn't read the thread so this may have already been said. But IMO, the biggest benefit from the Mayo year is that the next coach won't be following BB. Mayo slayed that dragon and that shadow is no longer lingering around Gillette.

 

[Ross12]

I didn't read the thread so this may have already been said. But IMO, the biggest benefit from the Mayo year is that the next coach won't be following BB. Mayo slayed that dragon and that shadow is no longer lingering around Gillette.

I said the same thing on page 1 lol. Agreed

 

[signbabybrady]

I said the same thing on page 1 lol. Agreed

Bill is no Wally Pip