Leslie Frazier, Alex Smith, and the Golden Handcuffs

[Long Suffering Fan]

So, I posted this in February after the Leslie Frazier non-firing.  It was quickly taken down in the plethora of Frazier threads that came out.  The mod was kind enough to send me a copy so I could repost it later.  Now, it is later.  🙂

 

*****

 

In other threads there has been a segment of people that are annoyed (or even angry) at people like me who are glad that Frazier won't be the DC here next year.  I think the framing of their argument is wrong.

 

- No one is disputing that Frazier is a good and classy guy.  He would probably be someone I wanted as a friend.

- No one is celebrating him not doing the thing he loves.  I have no ill will against him.

- We are not becoming Pats fans (I mean, that's a bad insult around here).  Pats fans have championships.  We are not criticizing people who got us championships like the Pats fans do, we are criticizing those who have failed to.  That is a big difference.

 

I am ecstatic that Frazier will not be the DC here next year.  While I recognize his skill, I also recognize 13 seconds and the Cincy game.  I am not ecstatic that he is gone because he was incompetent.  I am ecstatic because I have come to the opinion that he would hurt us in big playoff moments and make it very difficult for us to win the big one.  I don't care if the Bills are a dominant defense against bad teams.  I need them to be a good defense that limits the best teams.

 

It is the golden handcuff syndrome and I want to take them off.

 

Alex Smith was QB of the Chiefs and, under Andy Reid, he took the Chiefs to the playoffs for three straight years (2015-17).  He was a good QB.  In his last year, his QB rating was 104.7, which was the highest in the league.  Yet the Chiefs moved off of him.  Why?  Because they didn't think that they could win the Super Bowl with him.  I'm sure Alex was a good and classy guy.  I'm sure that there were those who pointed out that he had a better QB rating than Tom Brady.  The fact is they were not going to win a championship with him.  Those celebrating moving on from him realized that he was better than a lot of QBs.  They weren't mean spirited.  They, for whatever reason, just realized that he wasn't going to get it done.....and they were right.  Does anyone think they get 2 SBs without making the switch?

 

That is EXACTLY how I feel about Leslie Frazier.

 

You know, our defense could be worse next year, especially with the looming player departures.  I realize that Frazier moving on is not a guarantee of improvement, but its a chance. 

 

Bonus Point:  How good is Andy Reid?  When comparing Mahomes to Allen, we have to remember that Pat (who is great) has a guy calling and designing plays for him that had Alex Smith sitting atop the league statistically.  Could Dorsey have done that?  Not likely at this stage of his career.

 

*****

 

It is funny looking back how I mentioned the looming player departures.  Edmunds turned out to be the only one and we got better with him leaving.  Miami's offense is still really good and we held them to 20 points.  That is what I am talking about.  I don't expect you to shut them down completely, but you have to make it hard on them and limit them.  I know we have had decent defensive performances against the Chiefs in the regular season, but the defense feels different.  I know that the blitz percentage isn't that different, but they somehow seem more aggressive even when not blitzing.

 

Love ya, Leslie.  Enjoy this stage of your life.  Thank you for all you did to help the team, but I'm glad the handcuffs are off.

[BuffaloBillyG]

From the title of the thread...I expect a much different topic.

[SoMAn]

5 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

From the title of the thread...I expect a much different topic.

You were skimming through topics and thought it said ‘Golden Shower’, admit it. 

[WhoTom]

16 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

From the title of the thread...I expect a much different topic.

 

Well, the OP isn't using the Golden Handcuffs metaphor correctly.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_handcuffs

Quote

Golden handcuffs, a phrase first recorded in 1976,[1] refers to financial allurements and benefits that have the objective to encourage highly compensated employees to remain within a company or organization instead of moving from company to company (or organization to organization) (opposite of a golden parachute). Golden handcuffs come in different forms, such as employee stock options or restricted stock, which endow only when the employee has been with the company or organization for a certain number of years, and contractual agreements, consisting of bonuses or other forms of benefits which must be repaid to the company if the employee leaves before the date agreed on.[2] Golden handcuffs are frequently used for jobs that require rare and specialised skills or in a "tight labor market", where jobs are more common than workers. In any case, although they are very expensive, they are usually less expensive than the cost to replace a particular employee. Golden handcuffs often receive scrutiny from shareholders and directors.[3]

 

 

 

[zow2]

A better example of a coaching change, not a QB, will always be the Buccaneers firing of coach Tony Dungy back in 2001 for his inability to get a talented club to the Super Bowl, even though they had a very talented D for several years.   Chucky was hired in 2002 and in his first season they went 12-4 and a Super Bowl Championship.

Edited October 4, 2023 by zow2

[DaggersEOD]

12 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

 

Well, the OP isn't using the Golden Handcuffs metaphor correctly.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_handcuffs

 

 

 

I always used it to mean that you’re in a situation that is just so comfortable, it’s hard to move on, even if you know you should. 
 

Like a job you hated, but just couldn’t quit because the work was easy and the pay was good. You’re stuck and can’t move on. 

[Long Suffering Fan]

19 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

Well, the OP isn't using the Golden Handcuffs metaphor correctly.

 

Close enough.  When I worked for a fortune 500 company, we used the term in a much broader sense.  The company gave us just enough to try to keep us there.  People could honestly say that it was pretty good pay, etc.  In the same way Frasier gave us just enough that there were a lot of people who could honestly defend keeping him and they wouldn't be wrong.  If he was terrible, he would have been gone, just like if the job was terrible we would have all left.  Instead, he was just good enough to make us keep him.

 

10 minutes ago, zow2 said:

A better example of a coaching change, not a QB, will always be the Buccaneers firing of coach Tony Dungy back in 2001 for his inability to get a talented club to the Super Bowl, even though they had a very talented D for several years.   Chucky was hired in 2002 and in his first season they went 12-4 and a Super Bowl Championship.

 

I chose the Alex Smith example because of the stats.  Frazier's defense has been statistically dominant the last couple of years.  Alex Smith was the best QB in football, statistically.

 

Edit:  I cross posted Daggers and he said it better.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Long Suffering Fan

[WhoTom]

1 minute ago, DaggersEOD said:

I always used it to mean that you’re in a situation that is just so comfortable, it’s hard to move on, even if you know you should. 
 

Like a job you hated, but just couldn’t quit because the work was easy and the pay was good. You’re stuck and can’t move on. 

 

That's what it means. If Frazier had been offered a HC position with a crappy team and decided to stay in Buffalo because it's a better gig, then the Golden Handcuffs metaphor would apply. It's about the employee being unwilling to move on, not the employer being unwilling to let go of an employee because he's "adequate" or they couldn't find a suitable replacement.  McD always knew he could take over the DC role himself, so he didn't need to make Frazier an offer he couldn't refuse.

 

[GerstAusGosheim]

50 minutes ago, Long Suffering Fan said:

I also recognize 13 seconds and the Cincy game.  I am not ecstatic that he is gone because he was incompetent. 

Sean called the D during 13 seconds after he overruled the squibb kick. Are you saying Sean is incompetent?

[Long Suffering Fan]

5 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

 

That's what it means. If Frazier had been offered a HC position with a crappy team and decided to stay in Buffalo because it's a better gig, then the Golden Handcuffs metaphor would apply. It's about the employee being unwilling to move on, not the employer being unwilling to let go of an employee because he's "adequate" or they couldn't find a suitable replacement.  McD always knew he could take over the DC role himself, so he didn't need to make Frazier an offer he couldn't refuse.

 

 

You are correct.  I will yield to you the dictionary definition of the term.  However, the way I always heard of it used in Fortune 500 workplaces was what Daggers said - a situation that is just comfortable enough to make you not move on.  Regardless of whether it is Employer or Employee, that is what I meant.

1 minute ago, GerstAusGosheim said:

Sean called the D during 13 seconds after he overruled the squibb kick. Are you saying Sean is incompetent?

 

We don't really know what happened there - at the time, there were those who pointed out that Bass was not in the ST huddle before the kick and that the way our guys covered the kick, it looked like they expected a squib.  McD will always take ownership.

 

Regardless, if McD did make those calls, he was incompetent at that moment.

[PBF81]

I'd pump the brakes a little bit on McD being better.  He may very well turn out to be, but so far through 4 games, contrasted with the first four games of last season, we've allowed 55 points (58 last season), but over 100 more yards-per-game.  That's a lot and on the season over 1,700 yards.  

 

The difference last season between the 1st and 32nd total yardage rankings was 1,564 yards.  

 

Our opponents have been similar as were or losses in those sets of four games, both tight games vs. divisional opponents.  

 

Also, let's not forget, McD's defense is new and teams will increasingly have more video to draw from in planning.  

 

We'll know more by the bye.  

 

 

We've also had a tendency over the past few seasons to start out much stronger than we finish and things have turned to level out after the first bunch of games.  We'll see whether that pattern holds or not.  

 

 

[benderbender]

Frazier deserved the Chicago Bears HC job. He was exactly what they needed. It is a crime against the football gods that he didn't. Bears ownership is reaping what they have sewn and it doesn't even make me happy. 

[Beck Water]

40 minutes ago, DaggersEOD said:

I always used it to mean that you’re in a situation that is just so comfortable, it’s hard to move on, even if you know you should. 
 

Like a job you hated, but just couldn’t quit because the work was easy and the pay was good. You’re stuck and can’t move on. 

 

That's actually more along the lines of what "golden handcuffs" actually means,but it's less about "job  is so comfortable" or "work is easy" (both may not be true) and more about financial incentive, in the traditional meaning.  Like you are offered big stock options at certain time intervals if you stay, but the options you already have aren't fully vested and you'll lose most of them if you go.  So you stay even if you're expected to work 60 hrs a week and the work is crazy hard.

[Buffalo ill]

44 minutes ago, DaggersEOD said:

I always used it to mean that you’re in a situation that is just so comfortable, it’s hard to move on, even if you know you should. 
 

Like a job you hated, but just couldn’t quit because the work was easy and the pay was good. You’re stuck and can’t move on. 

This perfectly sums up my employer for 99% of it's workforce (paper mill in a small town).

[Long Suffering Fan]

17 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

Also, let's not forget, McD's defense is new and teams will increasingly have more video to draw from in planning.  

 

This is very true.

 

But I wrote this 7 months ago.  Regardless of whether or not McD is better, I was glad that Frazier was let go because I had come to believe that he wasn't good enough to get us a SB and that the switch to McD gave us a chance to be better.  We won't know for sure if we hit on that chance or not until the playoffs.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

32 minutes ago, Long Suffering Fan said:

 

You are correct.  I will yield to you the dictionary definition of the term.  However, the way I always heard of it used in Fortune 500 workplaces was what Daggers said - a situation that is just comfortable enough to make you not move on.  Regardless of whether it is Employer or Employee, that is what I meant.

 

We don't really know what happened there - at the time, there were those who pointed out that Bass was not in the ST huddle before the kick and that the way our guys covered the kick, it looked like they expected a squib.  McD will always take ownership.

 

Regardless, if McD did make those calls, he was incompetent at that moment.

 

Whatever the call is - the DB needs to be... near the boundary receiver.  While i'm sure we can somewhat blame coaching - as a player you can't just line up over no one.  

[WhoTom]

26 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

Also, let's not forget, McD's defense is new and teams will increasingly have more video to draw from in planning.  

 

What we've seen so far suggests that McD tailors the game plan to the opponent. The Jags can watch the film from the Miami game but the plan for this week will be different because their offense is very different from Miami's. The Hoodie did the same thing and confounded opposing coaches for years.

 

[MJS]

49 minutes ago, GerstAusGosheim said:

Sean called the D during 13 seconds after he overruled the squibb kick. Are you saying Sean is incompetent?

Overruled the squib kick? Everything I have seen and heard is that everyone, including McDermott, was expecting the squib kick, but Bass did not get the word from the coaches.

 

And we don't know for sure that McDermott called the D. That's a logical assumption, but he could have also trusted Frazier to do it and got seriously burned by that decision. We don't know because they've been tight lipped about it.

Edited October 4, 2023 by MJS

[Low Positive]

It's interesting that you bring up Alex Smith. People forget how good of a year he had statistically in 2017. It was a really bold move to trade a guy that just threw for over 4,000 yards and 26 TDs with only 5 INTs to start an unproven Mahomes who was for all intents and purposes a rookie. It has obviously worked out, but it took stones at the time.

[Doc]

40 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

I'd pump the brakes a little bit on McD being better.  He may very well turn out to be, but so far through 4 games, contrasted with the first four games of last season, we've allowed 55 points (58 last season), but over 100 more yards-per-game.  That's a lot and on the season over 1,700 yards.  

 

The difference last season between the 1st and 32nd total yardage rankings was 1,564 yards.  

 

Our opponents have been similar as were or losses in those sets of four games, both tight games vs. divisional opponents.  

 

Also, let's not forget, McD's defense is new and teams will increasingly have more video to draw from in planning.  

 

We'll know more by the bye.  

 

 

We've also had a tendency over the past few seasons to start out much stronger than we finish and things have turned to level out after the first bunch of games.  We'll see whether that pattern holds or not. 

 

Limiting points is the most important thing.  Most of those extra yards were probably surrendered during garbage time.