I think both Haley and Sparano got raw deals. There are a lot worse guys you could have for coaches. And might. McDaniels, Norv, et cetera.
Haley was hamstrung by Pioli. As Parcells said when he left New England back in 1996-1997, "they expect me to cook the meal when they don't let me buy the groceries". in Haley's case, he was told, "Hey, here's your food list. Make us something tasty. Oh, by the way, as soon as you start cooking, we're taking away your sea scallops (Charles), your barbecue pork ribs (Berry), and your cheesecake dessert (Moeaki). Oh, yeah, and the main ingredient we're forcing you to use is cheap steak (Cassel)... and we'll be taking that away halfway through your cooking prep and replacing it with some dried-up fried chicken from three days ago (Palko). Oh, yeah, and, by the way... we have a shitload of money and could buy you better ingredients, but we just don't want to. Now make us a gourmet meal, kthxbye."
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