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Mike Maccagnan faces a 'huge' learning curve, per former boss; Cimini


Ken Schroy

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There's more to being a successful general manager than picking talented players. It's about building a good team. There's a difference, so there's no guarantee an experienced evaluator (hello, Mike Maccagnan) can make the jump. Much like the players they scout, it's wait and see.

"It's not an easy transition," said Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith, who was Maccagnan's boss for nine years. "As much as you think about it and prepare for it, when you get into the position, there's still a huge learning curve. That's just the reality of the position. From that standpoint, there will be a learning curve [for Maccagnan]. There will be things he will be responsible for and skills he will have to develop that he didn't have to do. But the aptitude is there for him to develop those skills in order to be successful."

Smith was speaking at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, where scouting reports are created on the players. Smith gave his scouting report on Maccagnan, whom the New York Jets hired last month to replace John Idzik.

"Thorough. Detailed. A great evaluator. Thoughtful," Smith said. "I think he's going to do a fantastic job. ... He's a heck of a talent evaluator. He's talented."

Of course, Maccagnan hasn't drafted a single player yet and he hasn't spent any of Woody Johnson's money. There will be plenty of time to do that over the next couple of months, and then we'll get a sense of Maccagnan's philosophy. Even Smith, who knows Maccagnan's football acumen better than anyone in the league, doesn't know what kind of general manager his former protege will be -- i.e. aggressive, conservative, reactive, etc. Too early to tell, he said.

"I gave him a lot of advice, but I'm going to keep it between us," Smith said, laughing. "He has deserved this opportunity. He's very loyal, he's a hard-working guy. He loves football. He has earned this opportunity."

 

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/49423/mike-maccagnan-faces-a-huge-learning-curve-per-former-boss?ex_cid=espnapi_public

 

 

To me, Cimini focused on a single quote and made it appear that Mac was going to be a question mark. But if you read the whole article, its quite different. Typical Cimini.
 

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 I assume this "huge learning curve" is why they kept Graves around.  Graves was Idzik's mentor and came over to help with the scouting and administration of the team.  The interesting thing is that Arizona let Graves go about two weeks before they brought Bowles in as DC. Bowles also coached with Mornhinweg in Philly.  There is tons of crossover with all these guys, so we probably shouldn't read so much into so and so working with so and so. 

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 I assume this "huge learning curve" is why they kept Graves around.  Graves was Idzik's mentor and came over to help with the scouting and administration of the team.  The interesting thing is that Arizona let Graves go about two weeks before they brought Bowles in as DC. Bowles also coached with Mornhinweg in Philly.  There is tons of crossover with all these guys, so we probably shouldn't read so much into so and so working with so and so. 

 

Maccagnan seems to be pretty honest with himself and the organization.   I like that he understand his strengths and weaknesses and surrounds himself with the best possible people.  

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