What are your thoughts on Butch Davis' staff, to-date...
Personally, I'm glad that Thigpen and Browning are staying, as well as Jeff Connors. I'm really interested to see what he can do without being (IMHO) hand-tied.
Getting John Blake was a coup, too.
Your thoughts..
I feel kinda the same way. I'm really glad that Browning and Thigpen are staying. Browning is somewhat of an institution at Carolina - he's been here forever. He knows all the high school coaches in the state, and he's a great teacher. Plus, he's flexible enough to coach just about any position on the team. There's no reason not to have him on staff. As for Thigpen, you can tell that he's a great recruiter just from his short time here already.
I don't know as much about the rest of the staff, but it seems like Butch is really going for chemistry here. He wants these guys to be able to work together without any friction. I'm really impressed with all that I hear about Blake. He didn't seem to be a very good head coach, but he seems to be a quality assistant and an excellent recruiter. In addition to that, he just seems like a good guy. He's very soft spoken and laid back, and I think that appeals to players.
The one ? I have is Shoop. I don't know much about him except for his time in Chicago with a team that didn't score a lot (but won 13 games one year), and his time in Oakland. A lot of folks want to crucify him over that, but I think the NFL is a different animal. Pete Carroll and a host of other coaches didn't look great in the NFL either. I think maybe Shoop will enjoy the college environment and being able to teach guys, and I think he'll be a better OC here.
I'll wait and see before I get too many expectations one way or another, but I think we've got better days ahead, folks.