When the Flyers hired Torts, I tried to find all the players who criticized him, and only came across a couple, one was a scrub, the other Dubinsky, who he demoted to 3C in CBJ in favor of two younger centers, and who was soon out of the NHL.
I think there are a lot more entitled athletes the last couple decades who don't like hard coaching or being held accountable. Guaranteed contracts are part of that, but more the whole sense of privilege, not just athletes, but a generational shift - having taught college, I could never demand my students handle the reading lists that were standard when I was in college. And it's only gotten worse since then.
If people think Torts is tough, go look up stories about Stoutland and how he rides his players.
A couple differences:
1) NFL players are less secure so more accepting of hard coaching
2) Eagles make a culture of accountability a key priority, work ethic a key priority when drafting, and Howie isn't afraid of cutting loose mistakes quickly.
Now the good old days weren't so good, there was some insane things, like no water breaks in practice, etc. that wouldn't and shouldn't be tolerated these days. I remember Andy Reid's first year as a HC, when he did two a days to break a culture of complacency. He might have gone a little overboard.
I think Briere and Torts were on the same page in terms of wanting a similar culture for the Flyers.
Hurts sets the tone for the Eagles (who outworks your star?), and they want a core of players with a similar attitude creating peer pressure inside the locker room. Partially by adding these types, also by subtracting players who lack work ethic or high motors.
I don't think Torts ran Frost and Farabee out of town, I think Briere, as a smaller player who bounced between the AHL and NHL until he was 24 (Sharp had a similar history) has no patience with players who won't pay the price to get better.
Briere comes off as this kind of wishy washy, just want to be a nice guy persona - but I think it's a front. As a player, he was ultra-competitive, coming up big in the playoffs, going to the dirty areas as an undersized player in the days when you took a lot more punishment. And when you watch what he does, very patient, talks a lot but says little, and goes for the kill.
Torts was the bad cop, but Danny is the "Killer" behind the scenes.
They may add more of a player's coach, but only relative to Torts, I don't think Briere will tolerate a team that doesn't play hard and physical.
