OT: NFL offseason thread

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:38 am

wco81 wrote:You see Moss pointing at the coaches and shouting "You don't never take playmakers off the field."

How ironic coming from a guy who took himself out of many plays when he was with the Vikings.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:04 pm

NFL Misery Scale:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... 060110_nfl

Pretty funny.

There were some posts a while back, some of you were wondering whether it was worse to be a Browns fan or a Lions fan. According to ESPN, it ain't even close.

I don't think things are that miserable right now. I was at the last game of the season, the big win on New Year's Day against the Ravens. There was such a good feeling leaving the stadium that maybe this team is FINALLY headed in the right direction. Heck, we're undefeated in 2006!

I dunno, maybe I'm dillusional.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:36 pm

I'm sure Mike McCarthy is a standup guy and had a great interview with the Pack, but I don't like what I see on his resume.

The Niners offense was beyond horrible this year. OCs can't play but they can call a game to maximize opportunities. I didn't see much of that this year. New Orleans wasn't exactly an offensive juggernaut when he was down there, and serving under Ray Rhodes and Paul Hackett isn't exactly like clerking for a Supreme Court Justice.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't have a good feeling about this hire.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:17 pm

Didn't McCarthy work previously with Favre? Thought I heard that.

He apparently is credited with developing Brooks, who was okay before this year and maybe one or two other guys.

One of the color guy, forget whom, said Smith was lucky to be working with McCarthy.

I really didn't see much improvement in Smith. Maybe Gore got a little better and they got a lot of playing time for their young OL.

Otherwise, yeah how does the OC of the 30th offense get a HC gig?

Not enough qualified candidates for too many HC vacancies. BTW, Collinsworth said Sherman was jobbed, because he had signed an extension recently and had one bad injury-wracked season.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:22 pm

Wow, Mularkey resigns as Bills head coach.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2289987

Boomer Esiason is backing up the rumors about the Chad Johnson incident during halftime of the Bengals/Steelers game.

And last, but not least: Palmer's injury was pretty damn serious:

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/CIN/9161575

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 9:35 am

ScoopBrady wrote:Boomer Esiason is backing up the rumors about the Chad Johnson incident during halftime of the Bengals/Steelers game.

What happened?

nm, I Googled it.

marino · Post by **marino** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:06 am

ScoopBrady wrote:Wow, Mularkey resigns as Bills head coach.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2289987

Boomer Esiason is backing up the rumors about the Chad Johnson incident during halftime of the Bengals/Steelers game.

And last, but not least: Palmer's injury was pretty damn serious:

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/CIN/9161575

Thank God Mularkey is gone. Now the Bills can start to rebuild this franchise.They were slowly turning in to a joke of a franchise the last week.With all the dam press conferences Wilson had and then saying Mularkey is the head coach and then to have him resign a week later.

I wonder if that was Wilson's plan all along to drive him out with all the assistant's firings and bringing back Marv.Wilson being as cheap as he is was never ever going to fire Mularkey with three years left on his contract.Now the cheap ass gets off without paying him.

The real question is who comes in.The right thing to do is to bring someone here who has coached before and is a hardass(this team needs disciplina and a fire lit under their ass in a big way).

With Wilson being as cheap as he is with paying head coaches I wouldn't be surprised if Cottrell is here coaching.Marv did bring him to Buffalo and woudl make sense for Marv to bring in one of his guys and I am sure he would come for a 1 million or so.Any other experienced head coach would demand at least 2 1/2 to 3 million a year.I doubt wilson would pay unless Levy could convince him to.

They are interviewing special teams coach Bobby April today.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:30 am

Marv has a real salvage job in Buffalo. The front office is in chaos right now.

For example, did you know that the Bills got permission to interview Falcons defensive coach Brett Maxie for the Buffalo defensive coordinator's job even though Jerry Gray still has that job? Sure, Gray is interviewing for various head coaching jobs, but what if he doesn't get them? The interview of Maxie basically screams, "You're surplus requirements, Jerry; get the f*ck out of here."

Totally unprofessional. What a joke. John Butler is rolling in his grave, and Bill Polian is laughing in Indy.

I sure hope Marv can bring some stability to the front office soon, and it's going to take more than quoting Shakespeare.

Marino, was Teddy Cottrell known as a disciplinarian? I always saw him as a "player's coach."

And Bobby April as a possible head coach? Come on. I know special teams is important, but they're on the field around 10-15 plays per game. I find it hard to believe that a special teams coach has a grasp of managing a complete game. And special teams is all April has coached during his 10-plus years in the NFL. It's not like he's a former coordinator or position coach who gravitated to special teams.

Ugh.

Take care,
PK

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:18 am

I expected a lot of turnover this year, but the number is astounding. If this many coaches had changed in my Madden franchise, I would have criticized EA for faulty AI.

rubba19 · Post by **rubba19** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:19 am

pk500 wrote:
And Bobby April as a possible head coach? Come on. I know special teams is important, but they're on the field around 10-15 plays per game. I find it hard to believe that a special teams coach has a grasp of managing a complete game.

Chiefs promoted Frank Gansz to HC from special team and that was nothing short of disasterous. This would not be a good move.

Barry Switzer had more HC ability that a special teams coach.....but not by much.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:27 am

Damn...the Dolphins are screwed.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2297806

Rams got a damn nice offensive head coach...that certainly can't help the Dolphins one bit.

BTW...I like the redesigned ESPN.com

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:31 am

I like Linehan and thought he did a pretty good job as offensive coordinator for the Vikings, but it seems like it is a little early to talk about him as a head coach. It is a tough loss for the Dolphins, but I figure Saban will find a quality guy to take his place.

Linehan's a better hire than Cam Cameron, that's for sure. How can a guy who failed so miserably at the college level suddenly be mentioned as a possible NFL coach?

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:47 am

I like that you're seeing a lot of coordinators and assistants getting hired. The league needs new coaching blood. Sure, some of these guys will surely flame out, but overall I think these hires are good for the league.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:46 pm

Brando70 wrote:I like that you're seeing a lot of coordinators and assistants getting hired. The league needs new coaching blood. Sure, some of these guys will surely flame out, but overall I think these hires are good for the league.

Indeed. And of course, who are the Bills interviewing? Retreads such as Jauron and Sherman, with Haslett probably getting some face time with Ralph Wilson, too.

Then again, it's hard to blame Ralph for taking with the "experienced head coach" route. The Bills' last two hires, Williams and Mularkey, were career assistants taking their first top jobs, and they didn't exact set the NFL ablaze.

Take care,
PK

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:11 pm

pk500 wrote:
Brando70 wrote:I like that you're seeing a lot of coordinators and assistants getting hired. The league needs new coaching blood. Sure, some of these guys will surely flame out, but overall I think these hires are good for the league.
Indeed. And of course, who are the Bills interviewing? Retreads such as Jauron and Sherman, with Haslett probably getting some face time with Ralph Wilson, too.

Then again, it's hard to blame Ralph for taking with the "experienced head coach" route. The Bills' last two hires, Williams and Mularkey, were career assistants taking their first top jobs, and they didn't exact set the NFL ablaze.

Take care,
PK

PK, if the Bills hire Jauron I will personally send you an extensive condolence package containing various entertainment alternatives. For if they do, you'll find your Sundays free from watchable football.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:38 pm

RobVarak wrote: PK, if the Bills hire Jauron I will personally send you an extensive condolence package containing various entertainment alternatives. For if they do, you'll find your Sundays free from watchable football.

No kidding. The only difference between Jauron and Dave Wannestadt is the asymmetrical mustache.

He's probably the only coach in league history who had the ownership question if they should bring him back after a 13-3 season.

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:54 pm

Pete Morelli's (head official of the Indy/Steelers game) home was vandalized on Sunday night.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2298135

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:09 pm

Brando70 wrote:
RobVarak wrote: PK, if the Bills hire Jauron I will personally send you an extensive condolence package containing various entertainment alternatives. For if they do, you'll find your Sundays free from watchable football.
No kidding. The only difference between Jauron and Dave Wannestadt is the asymmetrical mustache.

He's probably the only coach in league history who had the ownership question if they should bring him back after a 13-3 season.

Bears fans don't forgive or forget.

Hey if every coach who failed the first time were never given another chance, where would Bellichek be? Or how about Parcells who had some dismal seasons?

I think the expectations after that 2001 season were unrealistic. And so were the expectations after this season. Early on, people were making jokes about the NFC North but Bears kept winning a lot of 20-10 games and became the second seed. They have a lot of good young players but their QB hasn't established himself yet and was only about a 50% passer.

It wasn't realistic to expect that the Bears would be able to hold a good playoff team to 10 points or less as they've done with most visiting teams during the regular season.

Bears will probably win the division again (with the rest of the division changing coaches) and the NFC as a whole isn't that imposing. But they're more than just a few players away from being a threat to win the SB.

Will the fans stick with Lovie Smith or will the second-guessing increase if they progress more than just getting into the playoffs and winning a game?

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:25 pm

No question that the 13-3 season literally saved Jauron. Angelo badly wanted to fire him, but that season and the McCaskey's favor kept him around.

I think there are some valid questions still about Lovie, but Jauron was clearly much, much worse. He was terribly indecisive about personnel (something he might be able to correct a second time around) and his choice of coordinators was abyssmal. What drove me the craziest though was that he was an utter failure at game day coaching. He repeatedly screwed up clock management (I recall very nearly having a heart attack over some game vs. TB in Tampa), and he was terrible at decisions about time outs, reviews etc.

Oh and you haven't heard comedy until you've seen a Jauron press conference. Let's just say that GWB is not the only barely-articulate alumnus Yale has produced. (For you Chicago guys, his "Uh, that's not my show but I'm on that show" moment is one of the all-time greats).

Lovie impressed me the most by being decisive with personnel moves (Jauron would have vacillated between Grossman and Orton for 6 weeks) and letting his coordinators coordinate. I was also impressed by his willingness to bring Ron Turner aboard and grant him nearly total autonomy despite rumblings that Turner's name and rep made him a successor-in-waiting. The playoff disgrace has clearly shown that Lovie and Rivera were not nearly tactically astute enough to change their defensive gameplan after the first Panthers game, or even after getting toasted in the first half. But they were here for the first in their positions, and should learn.

I really think that they are only a few players away from threatening a SB run, though. The QB position must be addressed and they can't continue to operate as though Muhammed is a No. 1 receiver. They have a solid OL and depth at RB though, and the defensive shortcomings were tactical not due to lack of talent IMO.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:34 pm

RobVarak wrote: What drove me the craziest though was that he was an utter failure at game day coaching. He repeatedly screwed up clock management (I recall very nearly having a heart attack over some game vs. TB in Tampa), and he was terrible at decisions about time outs, reviews etc.

You just described Mike Martz.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:52 pm

As each day goes by, I'm more certain that the Packers are headed for another era like back when Starr and Gregg were coaches. With Bates gone, the whole coaching staff looks like it's going to be full of guys who have never held their current positions before.

All of this change also decreases the chances of Favre returning. I still think hell come back, just because he loves playing the game so much. I don't hold much hope of attracting top FAs with all this change, last year's 4-12 record, and Thompson's reluctance to go after FAs.

On to the positive....GO SEAHAWKS!!!!

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:35 pm

Oh geeze...now the Dolphins are trying to hire Mularkey for their vacant offensive coordinator position. Bills fans must be laughing hysterically.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:10 pm

I thought Mularkey was a good O-coordinator with the Steelers. There are plenty of failed coaches who go back to being good coordinators, so it could be a lot worse.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:16 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Oh geeze...now the Dolphins are trying to hire Mularkey for their vacant offensive coordinator position. Bills fans must be laughing hysterically.

Cheer up db, it could be worse. The Raiders actually have ex-Bears offensive coordinator John Shoop on their list for HEAD coach.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:19 pm

ScoopBrady wrote: Cheer up db, it could be worse. The Raiders actually have ex-Bears offensive coordinator John Shoop on their list for HEAD coach.

They're just doing that to discharge their obligation under the league's affirmative action policy which requires them to interview someone from the criminally stupid demographic.