Courtney Cronin wrote that Ryan Poles is getting a contract extension to align with Ben Johnson.

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

Courtney Cronin wrote that Ryan Poles is getting a contract extension to align with Ben Johnson.

I suppose it makes sense, but with all these bold moves, Im wondering if there is a better option out there?

23 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

I suppose it makes sense, but with all these bold moves, Im wondering if there is a better option out there?

We just got the best coaching candidate.  One of his requests for the last year was to have alignment with the GM.  Johnson has done well bringing in an experienced staff plus he also didn’t try to play us against another team for more money.   I don’t think we should be going back on our word after two weeks.  Love him or hate him once Johnson agreed to coach here Poles was part of the deal.  

Quite frankly it makes sense.  If they weren't going to move on - you had to do this to better connect the timelines and it seems like it aligns probably with messaging when BJ came aboard.  

2 hours ago, AZ54 said:

We just got the best coaching candidate.  One of his requests for the last year was to have alignment with the GM.  Johnson has done well bringing in an experienced staff plus he also didn’t try to play us against another team for more money.   I don’t think we should be going back on our word after two weeks.  Love him or hate him once Johnson agreed to coach here Poles was part of the deal.  

no, that's right for sure.

I just meant maybe a few months ago, or when we hired Johnson, maybe he had someone better in mind. We just put together a first class coaching staff, and I wonder if Poles is at their level is all.

Poles may have questions about whether he is worth an extension but they had to add stability and stop the cycle of misaligned contracts.  If Johnson doesn't have a problem with him, why should we.

If Poles focuses on OL and this coaching staff is as good as it looks on paper, his job was secure for the long haul anyway.  It's undeniable he's brought talent to this roster after being handed a shit sandwich.  He's made mistakes too but are they out of line with any other GM in the league?  I think not.  It's always thought to be good to align your HC and GM so I'm for them getting this done.  Now, they've got to prove it.  

25 minutes ago, CrackerDog said:

If Poles focuses on OL and this coaching staff is as good as it looks on paper, his job was secure for the long haul anyway.  It's undeniable he's brought talent to this roster after being handed a shit sandwich.  He's made mistakes too but are they out of line with any other GM in the league?  I think not.  It's always thought to be good to align your HC and GM so I'm for them getting this done.  Now, they've got to prove it.  

💯 

Obviously Poles' job is safe for a while. And it's too late to change him even if we didn't think so, so all that is a given.

But he focused on the OL last year, and laid an egg, and he kept Eberflus, which was also a terrible move. I'm not sold on him being our best option, but I also fully agree it is way too late to do anything about it.

Hopefully, with the help of a superior staff giving input on players our drafts will be much better. If he is easy to work with, and the staff get the players they want, then poles will look very good and I'll be happy.

Having a strong GM with vision is best, but if you have a strong coach who wants input into decisions, and makes good ones, then having a team player at GM who is competent and gets things done works really well too. He may not have that golden eye, but if the coaching staff does, then that's a very workable shape too.