The Palmieri Factor

At the end of the 2013 season, we asked for 3 coaches to be replaced.  They were OC Kevin Gilbride, ST Tom Quinn and Strength and Conditioning Coach Jerry Palmieri.  Palmieri has been with Coughlin since … Jacksonville.  While there is obviously something said to be for experience, there is also a lot to be said for using 21st Century training techniques.  We blogged about Denver, who used an updated regimen to avoid hamstring and other muscle pulls.  That was the end of 2012.  Since that point, all Palmieri and the Gmen have done is finish in LAST place in the NFL, 32 out of 32, in starts lost by starters in 2013.  And here we are in 2013, 2 games into the season:

Beason out indefinitely w toe
Schwartz short term IR toe
Jernigan IR Lisfranc
Thurmond IR pectoral muscle
Kennard hamstring
Beckham hamstring
Weatherford ankle
Mosley back
Harris IR shoulder
Taylor IR foot
Wilson (retirement) neck

So reread that (December 2012) link to Denver’s 21st Century training and conditioning techniques and tell me again that the 2013 and 2014 are also not related to Palmieri.  The more things don’t change, the more they stay the same.

Speaking about change, Ahmad Bradshaw got a change.  He changed teams and got a new OC.  In 6 years with Gilbride at the controls, Bradshaw scored a grand total of 3 receiving TDs.  In 5 games with the Colts, he has scored 2 receiving TDs.  For years and years we have railed on this NY Giants blog about a few things:

1) How special a talent Bradshaw was, to use this guy
2) Use the RB in space with screens and flares
3) How awful Gilbride was in the red zone

Red zone efficiency statistics are misleading.  The Giants were in the middle of the pack.  By adjusting that for overall yardage and other measures of success, they were way behind.  Isn’t it obvious that you break with predictability when you can use players in multiple ways to get across the goal line?  Seeing Indianapolis get Bradshaw the ball this way is merely evidence of the lack of creativity and ability to adjust that was missing from Gilbride’s tenure.  (And no, I have enough patience with McAdoo to see it through.)