The NFL coaching carousel

Well, its that time of year in the NFL. Yes, it is playoff time, and its also layoff time as several coaches have either received their walking papers or decided to leave on their own accord. Here are my thoughts on the coaching changes:

Bill Cowher- I am sure that he will resume coaching sooner rather than later, most seem to think he will be out of football for one year (which is also the amount of time left on his contract with the Steelers) and then he will return. At that point, Bill will be able to pretty much pick from the open jobs on the market at that time. The guy has done a great job with the Steelers, is the kind of coach players love, and still being in his mid-40's, I would be shocked if he was done with coaching.

Nick Saban- Totally different story here with Saban. After denying to basically anyone that would listen to him that he was not going to leave the Dolphins to coach the Crimson Tide, he decided to do just that anyway. Why he could not just say no comment instead of lying to everyone is beyond me. I don't blame the guy for taking the job, but the way he did it was pretty sleazy. Can you say "Won't ever get a shot in the NFL again?"

Art Shell- I have mixed feelings about Art Shell losing his job, on one hand he inherited a lousy team, but on the other hand leaving the offense to Tom Walsh after he had been out of the game for something close to a decade, not a smart move. I pity the guy that takes over this team. He will get some talent on defense without a doubt, but the offense is not so good, and then you have to deal with the likes of the "me first group", capably led by Randy Moss and Jerry Porter. Yikes!

Dennis Green- I would have been shocked if he kept this job. Rumors are circulating about Pete Carroll coming here, but that would only happen if he gets total control, which I don't think he will. Also, since Pete has such a good situation already going for him at USC (and the Bidwell's are known for being frugal too) including being well paid, I am not sure Pete Carroll will want to leave all that for this team. Not to say that one of these seasons he won't make the jump to the NFL, but I doubt it will be this time. As far as Green goes, this team has too much talent to do as poorly as they did this year.

Other coaches on the hot seat:

Romeo Crennel,- He just fired a bunch of assistant coaches, so that will probably buy him one more year as long as the Browns improve. I will have to say they have had a freakish number of injuries the past couple of years to key players though (Winslow,Edwares, Bentley, Baxter). Maybe his luck will change.

Jack Del Rio- I thought he might get fired this off season, but it does not appear that will happen. He also purged a number of his assistant coaches, which makes me suspect it was one of those deals where he was told to make some changes if he wanted to keep his job. He still has to figure out who is going to play QB for next year, and if its not Leftwich (and presumably it won't be) then they should try to move him for draft picks if nothing else.

Tom Coughlin- They did make the playoffs, we shall see in a few hours what happens there, but you have to thing the powers that be cannot be happy with the situation there. Sometimes it sounds as if they are on the edge of a full blown mutiny there.

Those are my thoughts, it will be interesting who goes to what team to fill these jobs. At least they did change the rules so assistant coaches for playoff teams can be interviewed during the bye week.

When is Baird done?

After Royals owner David Glass put out the ominous warning that changes were imminent if the Royals continued to lose (which they have for the most part, although they swept the Tribe at least), everyone naturally assumed that GM Allard Baird was done. But so far, nothing has happened. I would not want to be in Baird's shoes right now, clearly his days are numbered.

Bengals WR Chris Henry with another dumb move

Bengals WR Chris Henry made yet another stupid off the field move recently, when he was arrested over the weekend on gun charges stemming from what looked to be a fight about to break out. An officer ordered him at gunpoint to put done his gun (which he was pointing at someone else at the time) and arrested him.

Henry was arrested for marijuana possession not all that long ago, a move that got him benched for a game. Knowing his head coach Marvin Lewis, if Henry is found guilty of charges he may be in for worse than that, and possibly punishment from the NFL as well.

Henry looks to have a promising career on the field, but to do so he needs to curtail his string of stupidity off the field dating back to his college days (this is just his 1st year in the NFL).

You can read about it here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AngrKZdMkUSNS9H.ZrTTW31DubYF?slug=ap-bengals-henry&prov=ap&type=lgns

Who should make the NFL Hall of Fame class for 2006?

Who do you think should make the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of 2006? You can read the story from Yahoo at the link below for more info on the class, but here is the short version of who is newly eligible.

Reggie White (a lock for sure)
Troy Aikman (ditto)
Thurman Thomas (probably deserves, but never won a super bowl so who knows)
Warren Moon (same reason as Thomas, depends on whether you take into account cfl as well)
Rayfield Wright (seniors candidate) might be a longshot
John Madden (seniors candidate)- will make it on his celebrity, did win one super bowl too)

Others:
Local fav Derrick Thomas (might be too one dimensional to make the cut this year)
LC Greenwood (how the hell is LC not already in there?)
Russ Grimm (member of the Hogs from one of my fav's the skins- deserves to be in as well)

That is just a few, with that many great players, some will undoubtedly be left out in the cold for another year.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-halloffamefinalists&prov=ap&type=lgns

Who should make the NFL Hall of Fame class for 2006?

Congrats to the Steelers and Seahawks

Congrats to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks for making it to the big dance, the Super Bowl! But I am officially still bummed about the Colts, Bengals and Skins getting knocked out of the playoffs.

My pick is Pittsburgh to win the Super Bowl, 27-23.

If you were GM, would you draft Marcus Vick?

I, for the record, would not. The guy acts like a thug, already has been in trouble with the law numerous times, and basically just seems like a creep. On top of that, he is no where near as talented of a QB as his brother is.

I imagine someone will still draft him, but I think its a bad idea, not enough upside to counter the considerable risk you are undertaking there. He seems like the kind of guy that could cause lots of problems in the locker room.

You can read about my boy Marcus and his antics here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060107/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_va_tech_vick_dismissed;_ylt=AsOEkbNGeor7N3F56xai2JIN97QF;_ylu=X3oDMTA4aTcxZmtlBHNlYwMxNjk4

Texas wins a national championship!

Nothing against USC, but after the roll they have been on it is nice to see someone else win the national championship. Texas really impressed me the way they came back. Not sure if Vince Young of Texas will end up being a good pro QB, but he was spectacular vs. USC, as he has been all year. The big question for him now is whether or not to go pro a year early (for this spring's draft) or wait another year and go as scheduled. Either way he might be overshadowed by another QB (Lienart this year, Brady Quinn next year).

It will be interesting if Vince does declare for this year's draft to see what NFL team takes a flyer on him. Not sure if he is a good enough passer or not, but he would be interesting to watch for sure.

Sunday the last day for Vermeil as Chiefs coach?

According to local reports from within the Chiefs organization, Chiefs Head Coach Dick Vermeil is going to retire after the game this sunday against the Bengals (unless they make the playoffs, then he will coach a little longer until the season is over). Not a real big shock there. Nothing against him, but I think its time to try a new direction for the team anyway.