Brooks Relying On “Trusted Guns”

July 21st, 2011

Transitioning from the field to the front office as a talent evaluator ain’t that easy. Even the great Derrick Brooks had his share of challenges in that area when he took over the Tampa Bay Storm this year.

Joe found that claim to be an interesting nugget, as Brooks explained on The Dan Sileo Show on WDAE-AM 620 Monday. Brooks painted a picture of himself in a foreign role despite years of experience watching film.

“When I first started [evaluating players on tape], I was studying as if I was in a player’s perspective,” Brooks said. “It’s a different style of watching type. I had to call on trusted guns of mine in the past. I had to ask for some more expertise from the likes of Bruce Allen, Coach Dungy, Lovie Smith, Jon Gruden, even Rich Bisaccia. He’s been a big help to me as far as how do I set that up and what is my evaluation system as I move forward. I get better at that every day.”

Bruce Allen? Joe sure hopes Bruce Almighty was helping No. 55 in the system aspect of evaluation, rather than anything to do with the action on the field.

One reason Joe found Brooks’ comments particularly interesting is because of the disagreement and fury surrounding the evaluation of Barrett Ruud’s value. How Mark Dominik and Raheem Morris perceive and assess Ruud’s value is likely to be very different from players’ and fans’ takes.

5 Responses to “Brooks Relying On “Trusted Guns””

  1. Gary Says:

    Should we be reading anything into the fact that he didnt mention anyone in the current org?

    The storm aren’t an NFL team, so he could ask Rah or Dom for help.

    Maybe its because Rah and Dom would be busy doing their own thing.

  2. thomas 2.2 Says:

    Maybe its because Brooks forgot more football than those 2 combined ever knew. People dont tend to seek out help from individuals that you believe are completely inferior to you on the subject. It is a window into how brooksy views the quality of the current leadership. I bet biasaccia feels the same, see his prior quote about the excellent football minds he has worked with, rah rah not mentioned.

    Rah rah is nothing more than a cheerleader without pom poms. Dom has done a pretty good job.

  3. thomas 2.2 Says:

    What have rah rah and dom been doing until recently? Not much

  4. Gary Says:

    How did I know Thomas would reply to my post. Questioning rah is like catnip to him.

  5. Pete Dutcher Says:

    Joe, I hope you are watching Goodell on BSPN right now…