COACHING CAROUSEL
Whoever coined the phrase “coaching carousel” should be forced
to watch the Detroit Lions play football every
week.
“Carousel” congers up images of
merry-go-rounds, happy faces, and
kids. Football coaches
who wind up unemployed don’t fit the description
somehow.
The Negatives:
Marinelli is out with the aforementioned Lions
– not a surprise – Crennel is gone from the Browns and probably
Tom Cable loses his interim label in Oakland and goes back to being an
assistant. Al Davis hasn’t
fired a head coach in over a month and is probably developing a
rash.
The guy I want to talk about is Eric
Mangini. All Mangini did was
take a 4 – 12 team and in his first year turn it around to a 10 –
6 team and make the playoffs. In
his second year, the Jets stumbled, but they were beset by injuries, especially
to the QB Chad Pennington who played in barely half the
games. This year’s record
of
9 – 7 is deceptive because of a Brett Favre “meltdown” that
saw the “legend” in the last 5 games, 4 of them losses, throw for
exactly TWO touchdowns and NINE interceptions over that
span. Favre led the league with
22 picks for the season. In the
press conference following Mangini’s firing owner Woody Johnson and
GM Mike Tannenbaum sat shoulder to
shoulder. When a reporter asked
whether the coach was being made the scapegoat for
their decision to ship Pennington
to Miami and bring in Favre the response was the old “we felt we had
to go in another direction.”
When your head is up your ass how can you tell what direction you’re
going? The Jet players were shocked
and saddened, but Eric Mangini will not be without employment for
long. What can Brown do for
you?
The Positives:
Mike Singletary has lost the “interim” from his title and been
named the for real head coach of the
49ers. Can this be a sign that
post Eddie DeBartolo,
Niner ownership has gotten some
smarts?
The
Huh?
Jerry Jones is calling it “Countdown to
Continuity.” The Cowboys
are bringing back Wade Phillips.
Jones cites Wade’s experience – hence
“continuity.” It still
doesn’t explain 44 to 6 (note no Dallas TD) the past Sunday in Philadelphia
with everything on the line.
Phillips is a so called
player’s coach which is usually
synonymous with losing coach, but
he says he’s going to change.
After all these years in the biz he’s going to get tough, become
a Coughlin or a Parcells. Maybe
even develop a personality!
To a man, the football analysts in the broadcast and print media all say
the root of the Boy’s problem – perhaps a collection of the most
talented players on the planet starts at the very top and trickles down through
the coaching staff to the locker room.
Jimmie Johnson said it on the Fox show, in essence they have a bunch
of talented toys but there is no TEAM.
Terrell Owens is a cancer
and on his way to ruining his third team,
Packman Jones is a joke, and now Roy Williams with $45 million of
J.J.’s green in his jeans is
whining. There are three reasons
that Phillips is coming back.
First, J.J. can control him.
Second, Bill Cower won’t take his phone calls, and third, Art
Shell hung up on him.
As I am writing this Mike Shanahan is losing his Denver
job. Now Mike has never been
one of my favorites and Shanahan’s Shenanigans generally upset my stomach,
but he has been one of the best offensive minds in the
game. Perhaps the difference
between he and Mangini is that Mike was totally in charge and the buck stopped
with him. You may never replace
an Elway, but Cutler wasn’t a bad choice and the ’08 pick of Eddie
Royal ain’t shabby. The
RB’s came up injured, but the running game was definitely not up to
Broncos’ standards and the ‘D’ has been an embarrassment all
season. Still, this is a surprise
firing and like Eric caught the players off guard.
SUPERBOWL PICKS
At the very beginning of the season, the Babe and I made our SB picks and,
when we opened the envelopes, to our surprise we had both predicted an all
Pennsylvania game in Tampa with the Eagles the eventual
winner. For the last three years,
as a matter of record, the Babe is 2 for 3 missing only on the GMen last
year. It looked like our AFC
Steelers pick was OK, but the NFC pick needed a win and a miracle to just
get in. The Raiders downing the
Bucs provided that miracle.
If defense wins championships, the following teams should be in the discussion:
Baltimore Ravens – New York Giants (to repeat) – Pittsburgh Steelers
– and yes, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Steve Young says pick the “hot” teams, i.e., teams that are playing
the best at this time of year and not necessarily those with the best overall
record. Certain clubs stand out
in this category: Miami Dolphins,
winners of 8 out of the last 9 – Baltimore Ravens 5 out of 6 –
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 of 7 – San Diego Chargers 4 straight – and
the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS winners of their last 9.
This year should provide us with the crème de la crème of the
post season tournament, and I can’t wait for the games to
begin.
Till next year,
Phred
Home
Page
This page was updated on January 3, 2009
|