Ok this could be tinfoil hat thinking on my part. I could be inferring smart thinking from management that has clearly been stupid. BUT, what if the reason Vitello was hired is because they knew this team was likely to tank this year? He's a college coach with experience working with young players at the start of their career. It would be stupid to expect him to be able to motivate established overpaid players like we have. Clearly that's a contributing factor to the pain of this season. But what if that's not the point?
What if the idea is when we tank this year and start selling off the big contract dead weight? In the meantime Vitello establishes a report with Eldridge and others from the next gen? What if this whole season was always meant to be a punt so that Vitello can get a player base he can actually work with given his skillset? Is this cope or am I onto something?