NFL: Bad Coach and Good Team or Good Coach and Bad Team?

As the NFL lockout seems to be winding down, all of the fun offseason action that should have been taking place over the last couple weeks will now take place in what I call a "mad offseason." Free agent signings, player releases, and trades will be happening left and right.

Perhaps an NFL team's most important employee, the head coaches will have their work cut out for them. Some of these coaches, however, should have been hacked before the lockout started, according to many fans. 

One coach who was not so lucky to retain his job was ex-Tennesse Titans coach Jeff Fisher, who was fired in February after 16 years of ringleading the squad. 

Fisher held an enormous amount of respect from fellow coaches, critics, and players (minus Vince Young), and for a decent stretch, boasted a squad with a top-five defense. Still though, Fisher went to only one Super Bowl with Tennessee, which it lost. It's fair to say he fell "one yard short." 

Fisher's firing was still shocking to many, as he was not considered one of the coaches who was the problem with their team. When is it reasonable to make this distinction though? How can we really tell if the coach is failing the team or the coach just has nothing to work with? There are a few factors.

One of these is wasted potential. Look at the starting lineup on paper and take note of how many of these players are Pro Bowlers, how many of these guys were top draft picks, and how many of these guys are under 32. If there are a lot of players who fit that criteria, perhaps the coach is to blame.

Case in point would be the Houston Texans. Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, and Andre Johnson should be a top-three offense. Brian Cushing and Mario Williams are top defensive players. Kareem Jackson and Glover Quin are talented young cornerbacks, yet all of these aforementioned players combined to lead the Texans to a 6-10 record.

Hence, Gary Kubiak is a bad coach with a good team. 

Now look at Tom Cable. The Raiders, with a rotating quarterback tandem of Bruce Gradkowski and Jason Campbell (neither very impressive) went 8-8 and had their first non-losing season since their 2002-03 Super Bowl season.

To add to their props, they swept their division! Darren McFadden was a star running back for them, but besides that, the Raiders boast no players of notoriety besides cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. This is a prime example of a young team playing well as a unit and, no doubt, becoming a better team. 

Hence, Tom Cable was a good coach with an "up and coming" team.

Now the strange part. Gary Kubiak has a job, and Tom Cable was fired. Of course, Al Davis is wack-job, but this really leads one to wonder why some coaches are viewed as the problem and why some are not.

At the end of the day, a coach is only as good as what he has to work with. The coaches who take what they have to work with and turn it into something more are great coaches. Before coaches are viewed as scapegoats, one should ask if they even CAN be anything but. 

Other Coaches Who Are Wasting Their Teams Potential:

• Tom Coughlin (Giants)
• Andy Reid (Eagles)
• Jack del Rio (Jaguars)
• Whoever the 49ers have hired in the past seven years

Other Coaches Who Are Growing With Their Improving Teams:

• Steve Spagnuolo (Rams)
• Chan Gailey (Bills)
• Jason Garrett (Cowboys)