What a COP OUT by the spineless hosts, who were raving about Spielman's "contacts in the league" and painted him as having significant influence in the hire of both men at the time those hires were announced (certainly Stoney gave remarks to that effect at the time).A caller to today's show laid a lot of blame at Chris Spielman's feet. Blamed him, as having no previous managerial experience, for his role in hiring the inexperienced Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes, as well as hiring a coach before hiring a GM, which is the reverse of how it's usually done in the NFL. The hosts were not quick to support that, as they claim no one knows how much influence Spielman had in those decisions.
I completely agree with the caller, and during the same time many of 97.1's hosts were heaping praise on Spielman and Rod Wood for hiring Holmes, I questioned the quality of the hire given how far removed Holmes was from the GM post when he was in L.A.
I will say I did not dislike the hire of Campbell until I heard his first press conference where he offered the "breaking kneecaps" quip. Once I heard that presser, I thought holy crap - this guy has some screws loose. I've actually come to like his personality since then. As a coach, he needs to produce a significantly better W-L record this season than last season. If he fails to do that, he should be shown the door, in my opinion. If he can manage to win at least six games, he should be retained for one more year.