Question #83: Best skippers in the city?
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- October
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Sam and I had this discussion on our web chat, and I’m just wondering what you think.
Out of the six pro teams in New York—or you can count those who go by “New Jersey” and play in Long Island if you want, how would you rank the coaches/managers?
It’s remarkable, really, how many of those guys have only been here for five minutes and still have so much to prove.
Here’s my list in order.
1. Tom Coughlin. He has the ring.
2. Tom Renney. The brightest of any of them.
3. Lawrence Frank. At least has a track record.
4. Mike D’Antoni. All on rep at this point.
5. Jerry Manuel. Let’s see him duplicate his half season.
6. Joe Girardi. Has a lot to prove after missing playoffs.
7. Eric Mangini.. Has even more to prove.
8. Brent Sutter. The Devils coach-of-the-moment.
9. Scott Gordon. Who? Exactly.
I’m not up on all these coaches so I’ll defer to your expertise. Coughlin is a no brainer, but I still am not a fan of his management style. He just got lucky that Manning found himself before he got fired. If I recall correctly, he was on the hot seat before going all the way, so crowning him king IMO seems a little soon but like you said, he has the ring. Girardi on the other hand, I’d place right above Gordon (who? indeed). IMO, he totally mismanaged the players, the coaches (Meachum – gawd awful 3rd base coach), the media, and injuries. I’m sure some of it learning a new team, but at the same time, he also should have been a little more flexible on learning what it takes to manage this team of rooks and vets and superstars. Man-semi-genius, however seems to be doing better with better players. Last year he had no OL, and hence no offense. You’re correct that he has a lot to prove, but he seems to be doing well. The jury is out on him still. I’d however probably put him above Manuel – who like Randolph before him – failed to get his team into the playoffs. Manuel did nothing (IMO) that warrants a better position than Girardi or Mangini. He still failed to lead a team that was in first place into the playoffs. To me, that’s actually worse than poorly managing a team that was never in first place all year – see Girardi, Joe-Nincompoop.