Leo Mazzone- Best position coach ever

[HomerJSimpson]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=mazzone

[weinstein7]

I think calling someone the best assistant coach ever is kind of damning with faint praise, since it means the guy was stuck as an assistant his whole career.

Not to mention.....EVER? Come on. Does anybody at ESPN have a memory of more than 15 years?

[korme]

backhanded compliment

[sterlingice]

I dunno. Some people are just meant to be assistant coaches- best in the world at drawing up a good defense but doesn't have the people skills or head for personnel that they make an awful head coach. By the same token, there are head coaches that have the latter but couldn't draw up a good defense to save their lives, so does that make him so much better than the best coordinator from the previous sentence? If you're paid like a head coach, like many assistants are, who cares?

SI

[HomerJSimpson]

I dunno. Some people are just meant to be assistant coaches- best in the world at drawing up a good defense but doesn't have the people skills or head for personnel that they make an awful head coach. By the same token, there are head coaches that have the latter but couldn't draw up a good defense to save their lives, so does that make him so much better than the best coordinator from the previous sentence? If you're paid like a head coach, like many assistants are, who cares?

SI


I agree. He is the best at a valuable position. Why exactly is that a "backhanded compliment?"

[HomerJSimpson]

dola: It is like saying being the best closer is a "backhanded compliment" because he is not a starter. Or the NBA 6th man is an insult of some sort.

[JimboJ]

I'll never get why people automatically assume that every great assistant coach, coordinator, etc. will automatically make a great head coach. They are two different jobs with different qualifications.

[miami_fan]

I dunno. Some people are just meant to be assistant coaches- best in the world at drawing up a good defense but doesn't have the people skills or head for personnel that they make an awful head coach. By the same token, there are head coaches that have the latter but couldn't draw up a good defense to save their lives, so does that make him so much better than the best coordinator from the previous sentence? If you're paid like a head coach, like many assistants are, who cares?

SI

You know if more people understood this, the Bears, the Dolphins, and now the Pitt Panthers would have all been better off!

[Wolfpack]

I had to do a double-take for a second. I thought the thread title referred to Noel Mazzone. People at Auburn, NC State, and now Ole Miss know whence I speak.