The Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl and that makes general manager John Schneider hot shit. He’s especially hot with the Green Bay boys hanging out at the scouting combine this week.
That’s because Schneider is a Green Bay boy himself. He’s from the area and worked in the Green Bay Packers personnel department before getting the gig in Seattle.
So naturally, because they have nothing better to do, the local beat guys are asking Schneider about the Packers. Specifically, how do they get a bomb-ass defense like you have?
“It wouldn’t be very hard, I don’t think,” Schneider said. “Just [get] more speed. It’s just about having guys that are willing to teach and play young players, and [the Packers] have that. They have a young team. They have good teachers.”
So let’s dissect that. One, Schneider praises the Packers coaching staff saying they can teach and that they’re willing and also good at doing so. Two, it isn’t stated implicitly, but the implication is the Packers haven’t been getting the right kind of players. Three, it’s not very hard to get the right kind of players, unless, apparently, you’re Packers general manager Ted Thompson.
First of all, let’s just get this out of the way. Schneider is correct and it’s not debatable — the Packers haven’t been getting the right kind of players on defense. If they were, their defense wouldn’t be the reason they lose in the playoffs every year.
Although we doubt it was intended that way, the statement is more or less a shot at Thompson.
Basically, you’ve got everything except the right players. And who’s job is it to get the right players? The general manager.
This brings us back around to a couple points.
First, we’ve posed the question before. Has Thompson’s perceived success as a general manager been largely due to his team? We’re talking about guys like Schneider, John Dorsey and Reggie McKenzie. Dorsey is now the GM in Kansas City and McKenzie holds the same job in Oakland.
Second, those three guys we just mentioned are often referred to as Ted Thompson protégés. In fact, like Thompson himself, they’re Ron Wolf protégés.
We’re going to take it back to Sesame Street for a moment. Three of these things belong together. Three of these things are kind of the same.
Do you know which? It’s Schneider, Dorsey and McKenzie, who build their teams like Wolf built the 1990s Packers powerhouse — through every means possible. Yes, we’re talking about free agency and trades, not just the draft. Those first two things are foreign concepts in Green Bay.
It’s odd because Thompson came up under Wolf too. For some reason, he doesn’t operate like his mentor. Or any of his contemporaries, for that matter.
Live by the draft, die by the draft!