Someone of an nutty question, but when a team is stacking losses, and fans are tired of hearing the same "excuses" from coaches/players after games in the presser, what do they want them to say?

[TecmoSuperJoe]

I know this is essentially stupid and probably just comes down to angry sports fans wanting to lash out emotionally. But at the same time I still wanted to ask this question in case there really is a reasonable explanation that makes sense. So this happens every year. If you look at people's reactions after a head coach's message has grown stale, and the same message along the lines of "have to look at the film" or "we've just got to better" is said over the course of weeks of losing, there is a lot of blowback. The worst example of this in 2021 is probably Matt Nagy in Chicago with fans mocking his catch phrase of "needing to find the 'whys' of the issue". But coaches are contractually obligated by the NFL to essentially sit there and answer questions from the media. So amid the backlash from fans hearing "the same old message" every week I think to myself "Well, what do you want him to say?" Really, what more is there other than saying the team/coaches/players have to find a way to get better? The players say the same thing usually, and is there really any more to it than that? For as much as I hated Mike Singletary as 49ers head coach, I can't fault him for essentially saying the same "Well we'll have to look at the film for answers" response he had every week when a reporter asked him a variation of how to fix the 49ers losing problems. So, is there a reasonable demand from fanbases of not wanting to hear the same old story every week when the losing starts with no end of sight? Or is the elixir as simple as win games, and the savagery won't reel it's ugly head? 

Edited October 26, 2021 by TecmoSuperJoe

[AntonChigurh]

I just chalk it up to this 

 

 

[Dome]

15 minutes ago, TecmoSuperJoe said:

The worst example of this in 2021 is probably Matt Nagy in Chicago with fans mocking his catch phrase of "needing to find the 'whys' of the issue"

Sean Payton often talks about his “vision” for a player when the Saints bring in someone out if left field. Usually when he’s talking about his visions, he’s just hallucinating, the success rate for his “vision” players isn’t great.

 

To your question: Fans want to hear the coach say “There are fans who could coach better than this” … the media just wants something they can use without context as a headline if needed, so that’s probably why coaches keep it short and repetitive. 
 

 

[soflbillsfan]

Fans are just overall frustrated hearing the same thing and it will continue. The coaches have to say stuff and media has to take it all in. You rarely get something that doesnt line up with the typical "review the film" comments. You got coaches like Detroit who made a comment about Goff needing to get better, then the media starts to pick that apart about the HC and the QB not being on the same page and turning a mountain out of a mole hill. Its not ideal to hear from coaches check the tapes and try to do better but its better then the national media mocking the coaches for throwing their players under the bus in certain situations. 

[Chiefer]

Be funny like Jim Mora or John McKay

 

[FrantikRam]

I watched Dan Campbell's and it was refreshing. He basically said that the Rams are better than the Lions.

[scar988]

As someone who sat through three straight years of 5+ game losing streaks with the Falcons, we wanna hear, " We just suck right now. We don't have it. We're working towards getting better, but the 1-0 mentality is what we need every week." Or something like that. Just accountability. Something Dan Quinn didn't have. When Arthur Smith lost two games to start his time here, he said something along those lines of, "I haven't coached well the first two weeks. This all starts and ends with me. I need to do better. The team needs to do better." And the accountability (and much weaker schedule the last 4) made a difference with the Falcons going 3-1 including a loss that they could have won.

[Daniel]

43 minutes ago, scar988 said:

As someone who sat through three straight years of 5+ game losing streaks with the Falcons, we wanna hear, " We just suck right now. We don't have it. We're working towards getting better, but the 1-0 mentality is what we need every week." Or something like that. Just accountability. Something Dan Quinn didn't have. When Arthur Smith lost two games to start his time here, he said something along those lines of, "I haven't coached well the first two weeks. This all starts and ends with me. I need to do better. The team needs to do better." And the accountability (and much weaker schedule the last 4) made a difference with the Falcons going 3-1 including a loss that they could have won.

This, but the main thing is something showing that you're aware of the failings on your team and what you're doing to fix those things.

Like for the Titans: defense just had a great game against KC and a good game against Buffalo, but it's been bad.   I don't want to hear "we need to execute, blah blah blah."  I want to hear: "We see that perhaps the way we're approaching run defense and our DB scheming isn't working like we hoped.  We're going to start trying new things to be less predictable and more effective, until we find what works."

Post-game pressers are just apologies.  Just saying sorry rarely works.  You express regret, but you also show that you know what you're apologizing for and why, and even more importantly, make it clear that the thing you're apologizing for will change, why, and how.

[scar988]

6 minutes ago, Daniel said:

This, but the main thing is something showing that you're aware of the failings on your team and what you're doing to fix those things.

Like for the Titans: defense just had a great game against KC and a good game against Buffalo, but it's been bad.   I don't want to hear "we need to execute, blah blah blah."  I want to hear: "We see that perhaps the way we're approaching run defense and our DB scheming isn't working like we hoped.  We're going to start trying new things to be less predictable and more effective, until we find what works."

Post-game pressers are just apologies.  Just saying sorry rarely works.  You express regret, but you also show that you know what you're apologizing for and why, and even more importantly, make it clear that the thing you're apologizing for will change, why, and how.

Exactly. This is the perfect comparison really. Dan Quinn vs. Arthur Smith

Dan Quinn after going 0-4 n 2020 after starting the two prior years 1-6 and 1-7: "Knowing where we are at, it’s certainly not the start that any of us envisioned or wanted,” Quinn said, via Pro Football Talk. “It’s confusing. It’s frustrating for everybody, but I also told them that it’s the people inside the locker room that get to fix that, that get to change it.”

This is absolutely word salad that means nothing to anyone.

Arthur Smith after starting 0-2 with two rough losses to begin the year: “I’m proud to coach this group. We are building something in there. These guys fight,” Smith said. “So, you go on the road like this against a really good, veteran team, our guys kept swinging. It’s unfortunate what happened at the end. We’ll go in there and watch the tape and keep moving forward and correct things. You have a ball game 28-25, we are backed up and get to third-and-inches and we don’t convert. Obviously, they get the short field, they go up and couple tipped balls later and that’s what the score was. We have a group of fighters in there and I’m proud to coach them.”

Compliments his players. But a "we need to fix it, this is what went wrong. This is how it went wrong. We need to get it back next week." That's more than Dan Quinn ever gave us in 6 years coaching.

 

[incognito_man]

We demand that others be vulnerable, humble and completely honest so we can feel better about ourselves while not being any of those things.

It's so much nicer to risk nothing for a return.

[TecmoSuperJoe]

17 minutes ago, scar988 said:

Exactly. This is the perfect comparison really. Dan Quinn vs. Arthur Smith

Dan Quinn after going 0-4 n 2020 after starting the two prior years 1-6 and 1-7: "Knowing where we are at, it’s certainly not the start that any of us envisioned or wanted,” Quinn said, via Pro Football Talk. “It’s confusing. It’s frustrating for everybody, but I also told them that it’s the people inside the locker room that get to fix that, that get to change it.”

This is absolutely word salad that means nothing to anyone.

Arthur Smith after starting 0-2 with two rough losses to begin the year: “I’m proud to coach this group. We are building something in there. These guys fight,” Smith said. “So, you go on the road like this against a really good, veteran team, our guys kept swinging. It’s unfortunate what happened at the end. We’ll go in there and watch the tape and keep moving forward and correct things. You have a ball game 28-25, we are backed up and get to third-and-inches and we don’t convert. Obviously, they get the short field, they go up and couple tipped balls later and that’s what the score was. We have a group of fighters in there and I’m proud to coach them.”

Compliments his players. But a "we need to fix it, this is what went wrong. This is how it went wrong. We need to get it back next week." That's more than Dan Quinn ever gave us in 6 years coaching.

 

But to be fair, isn't Arthur Smith essentially in his honeymoon phase? It's his first year. If he's still saying the same message next year by midseason with the Falcons in the midst of another losing campaign do you get tired of how he spins it after every L? 

Edited October 26, 2021 by TecmoSuperJoe

[scar988]

16 minutes ago, TecmoSuperJoe said:

But to be fair, isn't Arthur Smith essentially in his honeymoon phase? It's his first year. If he's still saying the same message next year by midseason with the Falcons in the midst of another losing campaign do you get tired of how he spins it after every L? 

Not really. Because he hasn't spun anything. Just been honest. "I love our players. We're building. We're fighting. We lost because of X, Y, and Z. I'm gonna work and get this team better." It's a simple message. But it's honest and not some BS spin of "the locker room will take care of it" lack of accountability.

[pwny]

 

[Jlowe22]

I dont really care about the press conference.  Doesnt mean anything, just regurgitated politically correct lines.

[berlin calling]

tl,dr