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McGinn has a good article in the paper today. Ryan and his agent wanted Ryan to go to a kicking specialist in the offseason for a "tuneup". Gary Zauner is a professional kicking coach and has worked with a lot of kickers. Packers special teams coach Mike Stock does not allow his kickers to do that because he feels they shouldn't have more than one coach telling them how to kick.

After Ryan was cut he went to this guy for a few days, had a great workout for Seattle and is having a solid year.

The two reasons we cut Ryan were his slow get-off times and his poor directional kicking. Those are the two things he worked with the outside coach on and according to Seattle's director of pro personnel, those two things haven't been a problem at all this season.

It's an interesting article and one that makes me want Stock replaced even more than I did before.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/35244379.html

I mean, people listen to outsiders, to insist that you as coach have a complete monopoly on who your players listen to is asinine.

I dont have a problem with it, especially if it produces results. Pro athletes still get coached by old coaches, fathers, and specialists when they're not doing the normal thing.

I don't give TT a pass for the move, but there's no doubt Stock will be a fall guy in the offseason for this, as well he very well should be.

But if a guy with Stock's tenure tells you he wants Frost, and he says its an upgrade, you probably go get Frost considering his tenure as a coach and knowledge of the game.

You can almost picture Stock cursing McGinn under his breath as he asks him those questions...

Yeah it's weird. The Packers tell Ryan they are concerned about him being too slow getting the kick off and his directional kicking. So he's proactive and wants to work with someone in the offseason and Stock tells him no. And then they get rid of him.

It's not like he's a quarterback and changing something could screw up your whole passing game. He's a punter who wanted to kick quicker and be able to aim it better.

I think this situation is an example of TT (and maybe MM) being tone deaf and not understanding of team chemistry. And I'm glad McGinn is calling them on it.

Ryan seemed to be an acceptable punter and decent guy that people on the team liked. Remember him making that huge run during the last pre-season game? You just don't make a move like that the day or two before the season starts. I'd say the same thing for KGB. You don't cut your all-time leading sack man the day before a game on the first week of November.

Those type of needless moves send out a bad mojo to the players. In the end the team still has big-time problems with both the O and D line, but it seems like those two guys were made scapegoats and should not have been.

I tend to agree Press. I personally would have just kept KGB for the intangible factor, much as I would hate to cost the feared pass rushers such as Montgomery minutes.

As a HS basketball coach, (obviously different from a professional coach where the players have contractual obligations, but still) I always had a face to face meeting with each of my players after the season and let them know what they could do to improve, and gave suggestions.

Frankly I was always thrilled when they went out and hired strength and conditioning or shooting specialists or whatever on their own time, and their own dime. Even those I thought were overrated or too expensive or whatever.

I liken it to free throw shooting. There's definitely a right way and a wrong way, but different things work for different people. The right way to do it is your strong foot forward right at the center of the rim, but if a kids making them without doing that, what the hell does it matter? If I disagree with how an outsider taught something but it gets results, what the hell does it matter? Now if they are not performing well doing it the wrong way, I tear it down...

Sounds like Stock just had something personal against Ryan to me.