Re-accessing the Jim Mora Years (2 Viewers)

[Shawn]

I think Mora was okay, but the REAL driver of our success was Jim Finks. We were bad before he got here and bad as soon as he "departed. This is the same think that happened whereever Finks went. He was a GREAT asset and I think even Ditka could have won under his leadership. Let's not forget what an amazing job he did for the Saints.

I totally disagree. This has been debated ad nauseum on the board, but I'll have at it again.

Finks was the key to changing the culture of the team. He brought in Mora.

Finks made some great personnel moves. He had some great drafts--including his first--but he also had some horrendous misses. His overall draft record is a decent one, but it's mixed. The core of the Saints defense was built under Bum Phillips. It was incomplete, but the foundation was solid. Finks utterly bungled the first days of free agency. He was stuck in the old-school mentality that teams could mandate player contracts...as a result we lost players. Finks was singlehandedly responsible for blowing our best chance at a Super Bowl by allowing Bobby Hebert to sit out a season, rather than giving in to his contract demands. Then he made the problem worse by giving up a king's ransom to acquire Steve Walsh.

Mora brought discipline to the team, both physically and mentally. He was great at developing players--a quality that became irrelevent with the advent of free agency. He would bring a player along over several years until they were solid contributers. Mora could also take a young player who had incomplete skills...he would identify their strengths, and find a way to plug them into a scheme that took advantage of their skills, while not exposing their weaknesses. Best example of this would be the Saints propensity to have a league leading sack artist every year. They made Darrion Conner and Renaldo Turnbull all-pro pass rushers. Go back and watch some old Mora coached games before the decline, and you'll be impressed. No pre-snap penalties, sure tackling, guys finishing blocks, players flying to the ball, etc. They were a team that slowly smothered you, like an anaconda. Mora's faults are well documented. But Mora had as much to do with the teams success at the time as Finks. They were a good team.

 

[batman3428]

I think Mora was okay, but the REAL driver of our success was Jim Finks. We were bad before he got here and bad as soon as he "departed. This is the same think that happened whereever Finks went. He was a GREAT asset and I think even Ditka could have won under his leadership. Let's not forget what an amazing job he did for the Saints.

Game......Set.....Match!!

 

[rhawkins]

Shawn did a great job of summarizing the strengths (and frustrating weaknesses) of the Finks-Mora era.

I will add that during the era, no touchdown machines ever developed for the Saints (Hilliard did have 13 one year). That made the 49ers games extra frustrating.

 

[m_c_hamster]

ok nobody else said it, so i will, the word you are looking for is assessing

 

[ltronrx]

What I never understood was after one down year on defense Steve Sidwell is fired, but Carl Smith is allowed to stay after many years of medicocracy.

I think things started to fall apart after we lost Finks and Mora was more involved in player personnel.

 

[JackT.]

I think that Mora was more worried about the defense than the offense. I guess he figured that we had to have a better defense to win games so when the defense faltered a little Sid was let go. Saints have had some good defensive coaches lately. Except for that man who name shall not be mentioned.