Friday, former Washington running back Brian Mitchell had some strong words for some current NFL coaches.
Mitchell was asked a question about Washington’s scouting not finding some great players out there as Bobby Beathard did in the 1980s.
I attempted to follow Mitchell’s reasoning, but honestly, he lost me to some degree. When suddenly, Mitchell was stating he doesn’t believe coaches are as strong emotionally as the coaches were when he played in the NFL.
Here is the exchange.
“I am going to say this, and I don’t care if the coaches get mad or not. Coaches in my era didn’t take things personally.”
“The coaches back then were able to have an argument with a player, and it was over with, just like you have an argument with your brother. Coaches today seem to be afraid of someone who is not afraid of them. And I think when it comes down to scouting, sometimes social media helps us find things that is very beneficial. But everybody that once made a mistake is not always going to be that person.”
“I played with a lot of guys who had made some mistakes, but they were no longer that (same) guy. A lot of coaches were able to look past that, or they put you with someone whom they felt could guide you.”
“I think coaches today are not as strong as the men who were leading men back in the day. A lot of these dudes (coaches) play this little political game and they want to promote themselves and present themselves in a certain way, but they are not the leaders they claim they are.”
Mitchell has many times praised Joe Gibbs for being humble, yet internally a very strong man. On this day, Mitchell did not clarify by naming any coaches in particular by name.
The previous day, Mitchell had been rather direct in criticism of current Washington head coach Ron Rivera, saying sometimes Rivera talked too much.