No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, I think you’d agree that Chuck Todd is not impressive in his work as an NBC-TV political analyst. He simply doesn’t get much right.
But his work as a pro football analyst – and, more specifically, a pro football historical analyst – is even less impressive.
Todd was the guest writer for the vacationing Peter King for Monday’s edition of the Monday Morning Quarterback column onsportsillustrated.com. In the popular “Ten Things I Think I Think” part of the column, he had the following as No. 5:
“I think this is my Mount Rushmore of NFL coaches: Vince Lombardi, Bill Belichick, Jimmy Johnson and Don Shula.
I’m guessing most readers will agree with two of these four—Lombardi and Belichick—while quibbling with the other two. But I wanted to use my time leasing column space from Peter King to suck up to my favorite coach of all time: Jimmy Johnson. I have Johnson in there because he was Belichick before Belichick; He mastered the player development and roster management aspect of the job like no one before him, and there was no one as good as he on that front until, well, Belichick. I read once that Belichick makes an annual pilgrimage to the Florida Keys to talk football and fish with Jimmy. Another item on my bucket list: somehow getting a chance to interview the two of them while fishing off the Keys. As for Shula, despite his longevity and success, I’m amazed at how often football writers and analysts gloss over his achievements in these coaching G.O.A.T discussions. More than any other coach of his generation, Shula was the first who seemed to be comfortable changing his style to fit his team, rather than the other way around. Shula’s teams in the 1970s were ground-and-pound. In the ’80s he adapted earlier than most and went with the aggressive passing approach. It seems obvious in hindsight, but as most long-time football fans know: most coaches (even really good ones) stick to one style their whole careers. Only the G.O.A.T coaches have the smarts and humility to adapt.”
Think about what you just read and catch my next post.
