Peter King MMQB T.E. shows Loomis some love (1 Viewer)

[rstrauss33]

Pretty interesting article.

He talks to Benson, who admits he was doubtful about Payton at first.

King says Loomis is a big favorite for Executive of the Year. Pretty funny because we were all very critical of him as a "bean counter" in past years.

I think part of the problem is that he gave Haslett to much of a say in things. It looks like with Payton's better sense of personnel this is a great partnership.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/peter_king/12/19/mail/index.html

 

[UGASaintsUGA]

It's no secret that Loomis' strengths do not include player evaluation. Problem? Absoultely not. Loomis has shown a willingness to delegate his evaluation role to those around him. He has surrounded himself with excellent player personnel evaluators, most notably Rick Mueller and Sean Payton, and has seemingly heeded their advice with open arms.

I think most of the criticisms of Loomis come from our previous drafts. Looking back on those drafts, however, it seems as though the problem was not talent evaluation; rather, it was talent development -- the job of the coaching staff. This is illustrated by the drafted players, like Stinch and Devery, who failed under Haslett but are now thriving under Payton.

 

[mafiapetey]

Loomis does deserve much credit, from coaching staff to free agents and the draft. Great job this year.

 

[cajunkid]

Haslett Did not have Balls.

 

[Random Fan]

I was never a big fan of Loomis but I give him credit for knowing the right people to hire.

 

[Sloppy Dice]

I was never a big fan of Loomis but I give him credit for knowing the right people to hire.

What exactly are you a fan of?

 

[Random Fan]

What exactly are you a fan of?

Hijack threads much? :dunno:

As far as Loomis, prior to the Saints the man's resume was almost identical to my brother's who is an accountant. While there have been a few success stories of business oriented (as opposed to personnel oriented) General Manages -- like Terry Bradway -- there have also been numerous failures. My memory is not so short as to forget the tragedy that happened after Jim Finks died and we were left with Jim Miller and Bill Khuharich running things and then Khuharich and Ditka. It wasn't until Mueller was hired that the organization got back to a true General Manager format and the team started being productive again. When Benson deviated from that and started canning people left and right I was, to say the least, concerned. But Loomis has proved himself and for that I give him credit.

You will forgive me if I don't immediately praise every move the franchise makes. I want the Saints to win it's just that I'm not so naive as to think the franchise can do no wrong because they certainly have had their fair share of mistakes under Benson's tenure.

 

[flyinggoose]

Worst to FIRST under the worst conditions - LOOMIS Executive of The Year

 

[Speck Killer]

Loomis is still strictly a bean counter. A very good bean counter though. I guess you have to give him credit for the hire because there is no way to know who made that call. It looks as though the organization had a reshuffle with the way they do things, hopefully. Loomis handles money and contracts, Payton and the other guys handle player personelle and football operations. As long as we keep things set up like that we will be in good shape. You must let the football people handle football and the money people handle the money. Loomis is great at his specialty (money). All Benson has to do is make sure he doesn't get overzealous and want to start running the draft and player evaluations. They got a good thing going, lets keep it that way.

 

[Danchrism]

Hijack threads much? :dunno:

As far as Loomis, prior to the Saints the man's resume was almost identical to my brother's who is an accountant. While there have been a few success stories of business oriented (as opposed to personnel oriented) General Manages -- like Terry Bradway -- there have also been numerous failures. My memory is not so short as to forget the tragedy that happened after Jim Finks died and we were left with Jim Miller and Bill Khuharich running things and then Khuharich and Ditka. It wasn't until Mueller was hired that the organization got back to a true General Manager format and the team started being productive again. When Benson deviated from that and started canning people left and right I was, to say the least, concerned. But Loomis has proved himself and for that I give him credit.

You will forgive me if I don't immediately praise every move the franchise makes. I want the Saints to win it's just that I'm not so naive as to think the franchise can do no wrong because they certainly have had their fair share of mistakes under Benson's tenure.

Wonderful post, I agree on all counts.

 

[rstrauss33]

Yeah that was sorta my point. With the right football people, Payton's skills with contracts etc are great.

Plus, maybe this formula works better than others. He probably doesn't have the I know everything about football ego that some GM's have and works with coach/staff to make picks. He basically admitted that Brees was all Payton's idea and it's great that he got it done.

Someone made the point that our past picks haven't really been as bad as just not developed by the staff and I'm really starting to come to that conclusion. Stichomb has done a fine job at RT. Henderson, though he still drops a few, has contributed much more.

The best thing about the current regime is that they're not afraid to throw out the waste- ie half our defense from last year. Hopefully they'll continue to build up the team in the offseason adding an LB, a CB (and hopefully retaining Grant/Stichomb/H. Thomas who are all free agents I believe.)

 

[BRAINFREEZE]

loomis has always supposedly had final say over all that goes on in football ops. but....it was too bad haslett was a coach picked by someone else..and it's too bad loomis had to do what he was told for way too long. when mickey was told the team was his, and got to pick his own coach, no help from anyone, the changes and the improvements began immediately. no one can deny that. don't put all of the kudos on the three ricks. loomis has 25 yrs in the nfl. he does know what he is doing. anyone that still calls him just a bean counter. well, maybe they call a solar eclipse just another day. you try running a football team and an afl team concurrently for the past (three of) four years. i don't know anyone who would want to put in those hours, have that responsibility, or yes, have to work for a leaguewide acknowledged somewhat difficult owner (any owner so hands on is deemed to be difficult). now that rita is in charge for the most part, that also has made a tremendous difference. i for one will give credit where credit is due, no holds barred. and if you read the article, so does mr benson. and who would know better than any of us? just as there will always be detractors for any accomplishment of the team (yes, it is hard to believe our team has gone this far in one year), the same can be said of those who find it hard to believe that the management of this team can accomplish anything worthwhile. well. they have. they all have. loomis would be the first to put the glory on everyone's shoulder's but his own. but for once, this one is all his.

 

[mvtrucking]

Should be a landslide for ML as EOY & SP for COY.

 

[wbbigtymer]

Should be a landslide for ML as EOY & SP for COY.

absolutely! I would think this is a no-brainer, but COY is probably more of a slam dunk than EOY.