The world of sports, like religion, is often treated as black and white.  Fans often think of players and coaches as either “good” or “lousy” and tactics as “right” and “wrong”.  In this world, when a coach’s approach is different from how others might go about it, most are quick to offer criticism.  It goes with the territory.  And one player who gets a whole lot of scrutiny, constructive or not, is Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez is the starting quarterback for the New York Jets and is a former 1st Round draft pick.  He was a highly-touted high school player and big-time performer for USC, the school that produced Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart just before him.  He was seen by many as the savior of the Jets franchise.  Some apparently even call him “Sanchize”.  His play, has been above average and he has shown improvement in three years, but not as much as many hope from him.  So, apparently, it is time to release the hounds!

A recent issue came up in which unnamed teammates criticized Sanchez and the way the team treats him.  Personally, this is not as interesting to me as the nature of the allegation: that Mark Sanchez is “coddled”.  As Dan Wetzel argues, maybe there is another way for the coach, Rex Ryan, to handle Sanchez.  Maybe there is something to the allegations and maybe he could challenge him more.

My response is “Of course he could.  But should he?”  The NFL is littered with the careers of former talented players that were handled poorly by their coaches.  Perhaps they were “challenged” when they needed to be encouraged.  Maybe they were encouraged when they needed to be supported.  Maybe they were supported when they needed to work harder.  Maybe they were made to work harder when they needed more film room time.  Maybe they were made to live in the film room when they needed more work on mechanics.  Maybe they spent so much time on the field, they never got out with the receivers and linemen.  The list goes on and on. The criticisms of approach as a black-and-white or either/or paradigm of coddle vs. challenge is a fruitless and useless approach to coaching.  Hall of Fame careers are rarely made by not coddling a quarterback, but potential Hall of Fame careers are ruined by demoralizing and destroying the confidence of a quarterback.  The trade off might not be worth it.

I do think Wetzel may be right in this case and Sanchez could benefit from a little competition, but only if it really will make him better.  He is, after all, a pretty talented quarterback with a whole lot of potential.

What quarterbacks do we have in our midst that need the right “handling”?  How might we improve performance by changing our approach or tailoring it to their needs, rather than ours?