25 Semi Finalists

[Rupert Patrick]

Jimmy Johnson deserving of HOF. He built those Cowboys' teams of the 1990s and would have won at least one more SB, had he not resigned after Jerry Jones insulting him. Tom Flores not deserving. Basically inheriting Maddon's team. Did not do anything to improve the Seahawks. Coryell no. Did not even get to a SB and basically expanded on Sid Gilman's passing oriented offense.

I say Jimmy comes up short. The fact he failed to do anything more with Miami than what Shula did in his later years is a mark against him. Marino's one and only 1000 yard rusher (Karim Abdul Jabbar in 1996) happened on Jimmy's watch, but Johnson should have de-emphasized the passing game to a degree and put together a better rushing game to compliment Marino and defenses wouldn't just key on him like they always have. Abdul-Jabbar wasn't a very good RB in retrospect, he ran for over 800 yards each year from 1996-98, but with YPC of 3.6, 3.2 and 3.6 respectively. If Jimmy Johnson was such a draft genius, why didn't he work his magic in Miami like he did in Dallas by trading up to get a top five draft pick or two during his run? Sure, he brought in Patrick Surtain, Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas and Sam Madison, all very good defensive players, but his offense was virtually indistinguishable from what Shula had done in his later years there.

I also have to disagree about Flores to a degree. Sure, he failed to do anything in Seattle, but in Oakland/LA he took some of the aging remains of Maddon's teams and added to them Howie Long, Marcus Allen, Mike Haynes, Jim Plunkett, Matt Millen, Todd Christensen, Lyle Alzado, and Bo Jackson to name a few. His work with the Raiders was very impressive.

[sluggermatt15]

Yeah, but do you think he's one of the best coaches of all-time? I don't think Flores is Top 25. He didn't even win 100 regular season games.

[sheajets]

Jimmy Johnson deserving of HOF. He built those Cowboys' teams of the 1990s and would have won at least one more SB, had he not resigned after Jerry Jones insulting him. Tom Flores not deserving. Basically inheriting Maddon's team. Did not do anything to improve the Seahawks. Coryell no. Did not even get to a SB and basically expanded on Sid Gilman's passing oriented offense.

I agree. Barry Switzer pretty much put Johnsons team on cruise control and still won a Super Bowl (and went to the NFC Championship Game in 94)j

His performance in Miami wasn't as good, but it was far from a George Seifert in Carolina meltdown. He was 36-28 and won two playoff games

Wish he returned to professional coaching one final time though I guess the FOX job was too cushy to walk away from

[conace21]

Jimmy Johnson deserving of HOF. He built those Cowboys' teams of the 1990s and would have won at least one more SB, had he not resigned after Jerry Jones insulting him. Tom Flores not deserving. Basically inheriting Maddon's team. Did not do anything to improve the Seahawks. Coryell no. Did not even get to a SB and basically expanded on Sid Gilman's passing oriented offense.

I agree. Barry Switzer pretty much put Johnsons team on cruise control and still won a Super Bowl (and went to the NFC Championship Game in 94)j

His performance in Miami wasn't as good, but it was far from a George Seifert in Carolina meltdown. He was 36-28 and won two playoff games

Wish he returned to professional coaching one final time though I guess the FOX job was too cushy to walk away from

Switzer was handicapped by two things:

1- The advent of free agency. The JJ's had built a speedy defense with few real stars (Charles Haley- who actually didn't make a Pro Bowl in Dallas until Switzer arrived) but filled with good fast players who rotated in and out. A lot of these good players were played like elite ones in free agency: Russell Maryland, Tony Casillas, Jimmie Jones, Dixon Edwards, Vinson Smith, Ken Norton, Robert Jones, Larry Brown, James Washington.

2- Dallas started drafting poorly. Jerry and Jimmy had battled for credit over the successful Cowboys drafts. As soon as Jimmy left, the quality of the Cowboys drafts took a sudden downturn. So Dallas started losing their starters and they weren't filling the spots with quality replacements.

[Rupert Patrick]

Switzer was handicapped by two things:

1- The advent of free agency. The JJ's had built a speedy defense with few real stars (Charles Haley- who actually didn't make a Pro Bowl in Dallas until Switzer arrived) but filled with good fast players who rotated in and out. A lot of these good players were played like elite ones in free agency: Russell Maryland, Tony Casillas, Jimmie Jones, Dixon Edwards, Vinson Smith, Ken Norton, Robert Jones, Larry Brown, James Washington.

2- Dallas started drafting poorly. Jerry and Jimmy had battled for credit over the successful Cowboys drafts. As soon as Jimmy left, the quality of the Cowboys drafts took a sudden downturn. So Dallas started losing their starters and they weren't filling the spots with quality replacements.

Switzer also ran the Cowboys the same way he did the Oklahoma Sooners, by letting the inmates run the asylum and enforcing little or no discipline. When he was in charge, the whole "White House" scandal cropped up, but I don't know whether Jimmy was coach when a number of the players opened the White House. I could be wrong, but I just don't see the White House happening under Jimmy Johnson's nose, Jimmy Johnson was consumed with winning, and anything that might distract his player's collective focus from winning was something he simply would not tolerate. Jimmy seems the kind of guy if he knew there was such a thing as the White House, he would have taken a gas can and a lighter over there and burned it to the ground. Jerry Jones was also consumed with winning, but he always struck me as more an old-school "boys will be boys" guy and what they did on their own time was their business as long as they performed on game day. Barry Switzer was the same type of guy as Jones was in this respect, I think.

Switzer practically ran the University of Oklahoma when he coached there, and he gave the players free rein to do whatever they wanted as long as they won and if they got caught, the players usually got a slap on the wrist if anything. There were stories about players shooting guns out of dorm windows, a player shooting another player, drug and criminal issues among his team, and he left the Sooners just after they were slapped with a three-year NCAA probation for all the bad stuff that went on while he ran the football program. When he moved to Dallas, the Cowboys players were well aware of his reputation and (it seems clear to me) a number of them decided to put together a quasi-dorm house near the Cowboys practice facility that was filled with all kinds of illegal things.

[74_75_78_79_]

I wonder how Switzer would have done taking over a bad NFL team and building it from scratch? That's not to imply that he wouldn't have done well, just that we'll never know for certain. I would have been curious to see how he'd do if he, say, would have been given such an opportunity elsewhere after Jerry let him go. I wonder if he did have any interest in trying his hat elsewhere as a HC in the NFL and/or if any other owner would have been interested in hiring him to rebuild.

[Bryan]

I also have to disagree about Flores to a degree. Sure, he failed to do anything in Seattle, but in Oakland/LA he took some of the aging remains of Maddon's teams and added to them Howie Long, Marcus Allen, Mike Haynes, Jim Plunkett, Matt Millen, Todd Christensen, Lyle Alzado, and Bo Jackson to name a few. His work with the Raiders was very impressive.

The Raiders acquiring All-Pro Mike Haynes constitutes Flores' work with the Raiders being very impressive? If that's the case, then I think George Wilson should be a Seniors Candidate next year.

[rewing84]

whats everyones op on boselli i know hes worthy but he just didnt do enough in my mind am i crazy

[bachslunch]

whats everyones op on boselli i know hes worthy but he just didnt do enough in my mind am i crazy

Depends on how much you like short-career, high peak guys. You’ve got to consider him essentially the Gale Sayers of OTs or not far off that. I’m okay with Boselli getting in, actually, though I think his short career makes him a second-tier HoFer.

[rewing84]

whats everyones op on boselli i know hes worthy but he just didnt do enough in my mind am i crazy

Depends on how much you like short-career, high peak guys. You’ve got to consider him essentially the Gale Sayers of OTs or not far off that. I’m okay with Boselli getting in, actually, though I think his short career makes him a second-tier HoFer.

im on the same wavelength as you bachs