Is It More Important For The Head Coach Of A Football Team To Have A Big Brain Or Big Balls? You Be The Judge
The Philadelphia Eagles narrowly avoided another catastrophic loss last night in which Nick Sirianni crucial points off the board. It happened in week 2 against the Falcons, and then we almost had a carbon copy happen yesterday against the Jaguars. The Eagles had failed 4th down conversions when they should have just kicked a field goal, they had failed 2-point conversions when there was literally no need to go for 2 (although you could argue the first one definitely crossed the line), and then they ultimately missed a 57-yard field goal because the coach finally decided to throw an ice cold kicker out there. If not for Nakobe Dean's interception, this could have been an all-time botch job by Nick Sirianni and his supposedly massive balls.
After the game, Sirianni credited those testicles as the reason he opts to be such a gigantic dipshit when it comes to decision making out there. He doesn't have to call plays on offense, he doesn't have to call plays on defense, he just needs to make decisions at critical moments of the game. Some people make decisions with their brains, others just go with their nuts.
Now here's the thing--I will never discredit the significance of having a massive sack on you. I think having balls is an important aspect of the game. If you have that confidence in your guys to get the job done, then you roll with that. You prepare all week for those moments, and it's important to show your guys that you have faith in them. But it's all about picking and choosing those times. It's all about having a feel for your team, an understanding of the moment, and making an educated decision on when to go with your balls over your brain. It can't just be every single time because you're hiding under the guise of being "aggressive".
When I think about great head coaches in all sports, I feel like 70% brain, 30% balls is a solid ratio. You can fluctuate anywhere to 60-40 if you want, but then you're starting to run into some trouble. You can't just be all balls all the time. That's just a crutch for stupidity. It reaches a certain point where sometimes it takes more balls to use your brain for a change.
Anybody can just go for it every time and use "having the balls" as an excuse. You, me, ol' man Jenkins down the street, anybody. But a great coach is going to be able to look and assess every situation individually. They're going to feel the way the game is going, understand the situation, take into consideration the risk vs rewards of the decision, and make the right call. Sometimes that call comes from the balls, sometimes from the brain, sometimes it meets in the middle at the gut. But the great coaches aren't dead set on being totally aggressive or totally conservative.
Moral of the story here is that Nick Sirianni is not a great coach as far as decision making goes. I'm sure he's a great guy who is able to get his team to play for him. Maybe an above average motivator. But he's a guy who has just enough talent on his roster and a long enough leash to be overly aggressive all the time. Not because he's some genius or anything, but because he's too stubborn and stupid to change his ways. He gets bailed out by great players, and thankfully has an owner and general manager who hate to admit when they are wrong about guys. He has a great record as a head coach, but if you sit back and really go through the games I think you'd be hard pressed to find many where the team won BECAUSE of Nick Sirianni and not in spite of him.