Jerry Glanville-Brett Favre

[Bryan]

I was watching a couple NFL Network shows (one on Favre, the other on the early 90's Falcons), and I was amazed at the contempt Jerry Glanville had for Brett Favre when both were with the Falcons. Glanville had Chris Miller at QB, who was average at best and the main reason why the Falcons drafted Favre in the first place, and also had Billy Joe Tolliver at QB, who was below average at best. Yet these two QBs kept Favre shackled to the bench, and Glanville pushed for Favre's trade to Green Bay the following season. Perhaps the Falcon franchise direction would have been different had they not hired Glanville at all and simply held on to Favre after drafting him.

Glanville was unsurprisingly fired after posting consecutive 6-10 seasons post-Favre, but it got me to thinking about how great of a HC career Jerry Glanville could have had. He basically lucked into the opportunity to coach two HOF QBs in their prime (Moon & Favre), with only giving up in total a 2nd round draft choice (the pick for Favre).

[JohnBowen]

Favre wasn't exactly a model young player. Missed team photo among other things that there is no need to bring up here.

[conace21]

I was watching a couple NFL Network shows (one on Favre, the other on the early 90's Falcons), and I was amazed at the contempt Jerry Glanville had for Brett Favre when both were with the Falcons. Glanville had Chris Miller at QB, who was average at best and the main reason why the Falcons drafted Favre in the first place, and also had Billy Joe Tolliver at QB, who was below average at best. Yet these two QBs kept Favre shackled to the bench, and Glanville pushed for Favre's trade to Green Bay the following season. Perhaps the Falcon franchise direction would have been different had they not hired Glanville at all and simply held on to Favre after drafting him.

Glanville was unsurprisingly fired after posting consecutive 6-10 seasons post-Favre, but it got me to thinking about how great of a HC career Jerry Glanville could have had. He basically lucked into the opportunity to coach two HOF QBs in their prime (Moon & Favre), with only giving up in total a 2nd round draft choice (the pick for Favre).

Miller made the Pro Bowl in 1991, deservedly so. He was better than "average at best," but he was frequently injured. As mentioned, Favre was hardly a model young player, more closely resembling Ryan Leaf than the later Favre.
To be fair, Favre' s attitude wasn't helped by the fact that the Falcons had traded for Tolliver right before the season, and Glanville promptly promoted him to #2. As the #3 QB, Favre lost interest and partied constantly that year.

[Bryan]

Miller made the Pro Bowl in 1991, deservedly so. He was better than "average at best," but he was frequently injured.

But it was Miller's lack of development from 1987-1990 (ratings of 26.4, 67.3, 76.1, 78.7) that led the Falcons to draft Favre in the first place. When Miller wasn't hurt and played 10+ games, his Rate+ was 91, 101,103, 106, 94 and 97...I would describe that as 'average at best'. Career passer rating of 74.9 not exactly remarkable, either. I'm not really seeing any excellence during Miller's NFL tenure.

As for the 1991 Pro Bowl, I think the only reason Miller made it was due to injury. The only notable achievement of Miller's 1991 season is his high TD total (26, Atlanta had only 6 rushing TDs for the season), which was offset by his high INT total (18, 3rd most in NFL). Miller finished 12th in passer rating. The obvious NFC QB selections would have been Aikman and Rypien, who both went to the Pro Bowl, with the 3rd QB being Steve Young who led the NFL with a 101.8 passer rating (Rate+ of 135). Young was injured in Week 11, and I assume he wasn't on the Pro Bowl ballot, but its remarkable how good he was in 1991. Not only was his passing efficiency significantly better than any other QB, he also rushed for 415 yards and 4 TDs in just 10 starts.

[L.C. Greenwood]

I was watching a couple NFL Network shows (one on Favre, the other on the early 90's Falcons), and I was amazed at the contempt Jerry Glanville had for Brett Favre when both were with the Falcons. Glanville had Chris Miller at QB, who was average at best and the main reason why the Falcons drafted Favre in the first place, and also had Billy Joe Tolliver at QB, who was below average at best. Yet these two QBs kept Favre shackled to the bench, and Glanville pushed for Favre's trade to Green Bay the following season. Perhaps the Falcon franchise direction would have been different had they not hired Glanville at all and simply held on to Favre after drafting him.

Glanville was unsurprisingly fired after posting consecutive 6-10 seasons post-Favre, but it got me to thinking about how great of a HC career Jerry Glanville could have had. He basically lucked into the opportunity to coach two HOF QBs in their prime (Moon & Favre), with only giving up in total a 2nd round draft choice (the pick for Favre).

Just a classic case of a head coach disagreeing with management's draft strategy. Glanville either wasn't that impressed with Favre as a prospect, or felt a second round pick could have been used in another area. The head coach is often focused on the short term, while the front office tends to have more of a longer term outlook. Favre was a very unpolished QB entering the NFL that year.

[Bryan]

Just a classic case of a head coach disagreeing with management's draft strategy. Glanville either wasn't that impressed with Favre as a prospect, or felt a second round pick could have been used in another area. The head coach is often focused on the short term, while the front office tends to have more of a longer term outlook. Favre was a very unpolished QB entering the NFL that year.

Seems strange that this would be a 'classic case' since Glanville was brought in to rebuild a struggling Atlanta franchise. I thought it was the opposite...its atypical for a team that's rebuilding to draft a QB high in the 2nd round, not give him any opportunity to play, then ship him off the next season. The Falcons were 11-31 with Miller as their QB from 1987-90.

I don't understand the logic of Favre being very unpolished...he seemed to hit the ground running the next year in Green Bay (112 Rate+, pro bowl, etc.), and if it was known that Favre was very unpolished entering the NFL, then it would make even less sense to trade him away due to his "unpolishedness", so to speak.

I guess my point with all of this is that Glanville missed an opportunity to have a long, successful HC career when it was basically dropped into his lap.

[7DnBrnc53]

Miller made the Pro Bowl in 1991, deservedly so. He was better than "average at best," but he was frequently injured.

But it was Miller's lack of development from 1987-1990 (ratings of 26.4, 67.3, 76.1, 78.7) that led the Falcons to draft Favre in the first place. When Miller wasn't hurt and played 10+ games, his Rate+ was 91, 101,103, 106, 94 and 97...I would describe that as 'average at best'. Career passer rating of 74.9 not exactly remarkable, either. I'm not really seeing any excellence during Miller's NFL tenure.

As for the 1991 Pro Bowl, I think the only reason Miller made it was due to injury. The only notable achievement of Miller's 1991 season is his high TD total (26, Atlanta had only 6 rushing TDs for the season), which was offset by his high INT total (18, 3rd most in NFL). Miller finished 12th in passer rating. The obvious NFC QB selections would have been Aikman and Rypien, who both went to the Pro Bowl, with the 3rd QB being Steve Young who led the NFL with a 101.8 passer rating (Rate+ of 135). Young was injured in Week 11, and I assume he wasn't on the Pro Bowl ballot, but its remarkable how good he was in 1991. Not only was his passing efficiency significantly better than any other QB, he also rushed for 415 yards and 4 TDs in just 10 starts.

Miller started his career with a team that didn't have much talent. And, in 91, Young had a higher rating because he was in a dink and dunk system, while Chris was in an offense that looked more for the big play (Glanville doesn't like Walsh's West Coast Offense).

[L.C. Greenwood]

Just a classic case of a head coach disagreeing with management's draft strategy. Glanville either wasn't that impressed with Favre as a prospect, or felt a second round pick could have been used in another area. The head coach is often focused on the short term, while the front office tends to have more of a longer term outlook. Favre was a very unpolished QB entering the NFL that year.

Seems strange that this would be a 'classic case' since Glanville was brought in to rebuild a struggling Atlanta franchise. I thought it was the opposite...its atypical for a team that's rebuilding to draft a QB high in the 2nd round, not give him any opportunity to play, then ship him off the next season. The Falcons were 11-31 with Miller as their QB from 1987-90.

I don't understand the logic of Favre being very unpolished...he seemed to hit the ground running the next year in Green Bay (112 Rate+, pro bowl, etc.), and if it was known that Favre was very unpolished entering the NFL, then it would make even less sense to trade him away due to his "unpolishedness", so to speak.

I guess my point with all of this is that Glanville missed an opportunity to have a long, successful HC career when it was basically dropped into his lap.

If a head coach wasn't a fan of a player in college, and said player doesn't take a professional approach once he's in the NFL, playing time will be scarce. Brett Favre was indeed a surprise to many being drafted so high out of Southern Miss, he was far from considered a sure thing in the pros. Favre has admitted he matured as a Packer, taking the game more seriously. I'd be willing to bet many head coaches wouldn't draft the exact same way as their GMs do, but what you want is a general agreement . And head coaches inherit players all the time from a previous regime they are eager to get rid of.

One of many examples of a serious disagreement between the HC and GM was the drafting of Tony Eason by the Pats in 1983. Ron Meyer wasn't a fan, and didn't feel Eason was sturdy enough for the NFL.

[conace21]

Miller made the Pro Bowl in 1991, deservedly so. He was better than "average at best," but he was frequently injured.

But it was Miller's lack of development from 1987-1990 (ratings of 26.4, 67.3, 76.1, 78.7) that led the Falcons to draft Favre in the first place. When Miller wasn't hurt and played 10+ games, his Rate+ was 91, 101,103, 106, 94 and 97...I would describe that as 'average at best'. Career passer rating of 74.9 not exactly remarkable, either. I'm not really seeing any excellence during Miller's NFL tenure.

As for the 1991 Pro Bowl, I think the only reason Miller made it was due to injury. The only notable achievement of Miller's 1991 season is his high TD total (26, Atlanta had only 6 rushing TDs for the season), which was offset by his high INT total (18, 3rd most in NFL). Miller finished 12th in passer rating. The obvious NFC QB selections would have been Aikman and Rypien, who both went to the Pro Bowl, with the 3rd QB being Steve Young who led the NFL with a 101.8 passer rating (Rate+ of 135). Young was injured in Week 11, and I assume he wasn't on the Pro Bowl ballot, but its remarkable how good he was in 1991. Not only was his passing efficiency significantly better than any other QB, he also rushed for 415 yards and 4 TDs in just 10 starts.

Miller wasn't an injury replacement for the Pro Bowl. Rypien was the only NFC QB with a higher passer rating to start more than 12 games. Aikman missed 4 games (but they were the last 4 so he wasn't as penalized in the Pro Bowl voting) and actually lost his job to Steve Beurelin in the playoffs.
Miller continued his strong play for the first half of 1992, though the Falcons certainly didn't. But he suffered a severe knee injury, and the injuries just piled up, especially concussions with the Rams.

Favre was unpolished coming into the NFL, and the Falcons traded his away because he didn't seem like he would allow himself to be polished up. He admitted to gaining weight and being out if playing shape due to beer and pizza. He didn't put in any extra work, knowing he wasn't going to play anyways.

When he got to Green Bay, he got to learn in a more structured, stable environment, from a great QB teacher in Holmgren. Still, in Favre's first extended action, against the Bengals, he was wild at first; he fumbled four or five times, but redeemed himself at the end.

[Bryan]

Miller started his career with a team that didn't have much talent. And, in 91, Young had a higher rating because he was in a dink and dunk system, while Chris was in an offense that looked more for the big play (Glanville doesn't like Walsh's West Coast Offense).

I think Steve Young was better than Chris Miller.