If Liewieke = Armstrong, Armstrong didn’t do so badly last year. He helped hire a good coach and (against popular opinion) held onto Washburn, which turned out to be a good idea for the Mariners. Lashing out at a guy like this is like a a child throwing a tantrum – just trying to take out frustration on someone regardless of their actual blame.

Pioli already has a GM job (1st year.) I hear Parcells might be looking for a new gig now that he thinks he may have righted the Dolphins ship.

I have defended Ruskell a lot on the past because of the above, and will continue to do so on specific points.

But now it’s pretty clear it’s not injuries or circumstance. It’s coaching and/or talent. And, as Ruskell is now personally responsible for both, the buck has to stop there.

I hear ya! I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it, I’d love to see a 3-4 defense with a big 350 NT installed here (Terrence Cody?). I want to see Curry and Tapp rushing the QB from stand-up OLB positions and scaring QBs. I want to see four LBs on the field since that’s the talent Ruskell has drafted. And I’d like to see a running back with power for a change.

Fire, personally, I’d love Holmgren to be the guy who selects our next QB. I’d love to have him as the QB Coach or Offensive Coordinator. But I’m pretty certain he doesn’t want that.

Holmgren as GM? Remember what happened last time: Four drafts and every defensive player Holmgren selected was a BUST, except for Ken Lucas and Rocky Bernard. After four years as Coach and GM, Holmgren’s defense in 2002 was a worse unit than either our defensive or offensive units are today. Holmy did a terrible job as GM with the D and the GM job had to be taken away from him and the whole defense had to be rebuilt.

Holmy was a great offensive coach, a poor GM.

But the guy sure could develop QBs. No doubt about that. He’s a genius in that area. (though remember that even Holmy whiffed on his only high draft pick QB in Seattle – Brock Huard)

Here is my opinion:

1) GM: Ron Hughes, Current College Scouting Coordinator since 2003. Let me give you his background. He served as the college scouting dept in 1982. 1984, he was promoted to Director of Pro Personnel of the Lions. 1990, he was promoted to Director of Player Personnel of the Lions. 1996, he was named the VP of Player Personnel (or GM). Then he was swept aside from Matt Millen in 2001. He was hired as a draft consultant for the Steelers in 2001. Then was offered his current position in 2003.

He made a big splash with drafting Barry Sanders in 1989, although he wasn’t the “chief” GM.

Hughes has been around in the league for awhile and if he comes from a winning team – the Steelers (ughhh, who I hate as well), he can bring a lot to the table. He knows his scouting – Look at the players who are making an impact for the Steelers.

2) I would want the whole personnel team to be squashed. This personnel team was built for a fast/cover 2 defense.

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I’m off the wagon for a West Coast Offense and Cover 2/Zone Defense. These schemes have become obsolete. The successful WCO has migrated into a Vertical WCO (look at Philly and Minn, Indy). All the current WCO trees don’t have a job (Gruden, Shanahan, Jauron, Holmgren, Mooch, etc.)

It’s time for a change. Give me a team that is feared, that controls the clock and runs a SMASHMOUTH/Vertical scheme.

Yeah, it definitely feels true now. If we had a do-over, I’d probably take Oher. Maybe it’s the injury – but Locklear has looked weak to me in the two games he’s been back. As another poster put it, our O-line is a train wreck.

Ruskell’s calling card is that he allegedly helped construct Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl defense. He’s come here, been given FULL REIGN to draft whatever the hell he wants and sign anyone he likes, and we still have one of the NFL’s worst defenses. Don’t let the numbers deceive you, they just benefited from some lopsided wins against the Rams and Jaguars.

And in the process of creating this steaming pile of crap defense, he’s sucked the soul out of the offense.

HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED RIGHT AFTER HUTCH