Hey, Mobster, it sounds like Gus Bradley is the next head coach of the Eagles. What should I be feeling? From what I hear, he sounds like a good hire.
I'm annoyed, which is a good thing for you.
Flashback: in 2009, Jim Mora replaces Mike Holmgren, and brings in Gus Bradley as DC. They spend a lot of time in the offseason talking about developing some bold new "West Coast Defense" which would be flexible and incorporate both 4-3 and 3-4 concepts and hopefully shake up the game. Well, the 2009 season was a complete wreck and the defense stunk. This was not entirely the coaches' fault, as the Seahawks were old and had bad players, but still..... and Jim Mora and GM Tim Ruskell were fired (Ruskell landed with the Bears FO, who
led them to great glory).
Enter Pete Carroll, who overhauls the entire FO, but....keeps Gus Bradley, and incorporate his own blend of 4-3 and 3-4 concepts.
For the last 3 years the Seahawks have been pretty creative on defense, and obviously have done well drafting remarkable talent/picking it off the scrap heap. It's hard to tease apart who is responsible for what given Carroll obviously casts a shadow in the organization, but on a most basic level of competence (do they blitz enough, do they blitz too much, does the defense adjust well, do they look prepared for screens/end arounds?) I have no complaints with Gus Bradley. He seems like a smart guy. My biggest annoyance is that he's likely being hired to install a similar type of defense as Seattle, so the price of players Seattle wants will rise as competition increases.
As to whether he'd be a good head coach, I guess it's hard to tell without being in the interview, but I'd say the odds are as good as any other first-time HC working out. I grant you +3 Cautious Optimism. He's not going to be a Pat Shurmur/ Romeo Crennel style trainwreck.