Archive for the ‘Coaching carousel’ Category

Is Gus Bradley a good fit for the Jaguars?

Posted by Sean Tomlinson under Coaching carousel, Jacksonville Jaguars on Jan 17, 2013

The Jacksonville Jaguars have hired former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley to be their head coach. Under Bradley, the Seahawks defense allowed just 15.3 points per game, a league low.

The Jaguars, who fired now former head coach Mike Mularkey after one year, are coming off a 2-14 season in 2012, their worst in franchise history.

Consider a trend bucked off of the hiring season horse, albeit briefly. Of the eight head coach vacancies that were created beginning on Black Monday, seven have now been filled, with Bradley, Marc Trestman, and Chip Kelly the most recent hires over the past two days. And of those seven hires, six of them have been coaches whose roots come from the offensive side of the ball.

In an era when secondaries are handcuffed by increasing restrictions and both long-armed and especially mobile quarterbacks are thriving, that trend isn’t remotely shocking. The teams that have hired former offensive coordinators either have a struggling or developing quarterback who needs to be groomed (Cleveland, San Diego), or simply a sputtering offense in need of a new direction (Buffalo).

Now Bradley is the exception, which is both understandable, yet still slightly confusing.

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Bruce Arians is the lead candidate in Arizona by default

Posted by Devang Desai under Arizona Cardinals, Coaching carousel on Jan 16, 2013

Gus Bradley is having himself a time in the wasteland that is the NFL head coaching job market. Bradley had a seven hour interview with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie on Tuesday, but that wasn’t enough to sign a deal. The Eagles quickly moved on, hiring Chip Kelly earlier this afternoon.

Bradley is now in Jacksonville, interviewing with Shad Khan and the crew tasked with making the Jaguars relevant again. New GM Dave Caldwell is rumored to be interested in San Francisco DC Greg Roman, who’s a friend from his college days.

Jacksonville and Arizona are the final two teams looking for a head coach. Arizona, attempting to beat the Raiders for most incompetent management in the league, are interested in Bruce Arians.

Mike Florio has the details:

Arians, we’re told, wanted the Chicago job, where he was a finalist.  Though it’s believed he won’t be leaving the Colts for any head-coaching job, the Cardinals’ vacancy is regarded as one of the worst available, given the absence of a great quarterback and the presence of increasingly stiff competition in the division.

Cardinals Football! Several candidates have turned Arizona down — including Mike McCoy, who will attempt to salvage Philip Rivers’ sputtering career. To make matters worse, their hesitation has angered defensive coordinator Ray Horton, who has interviewed twice for the job. The words Michael Bidwill and due diligence don’t mesh.

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Marc Trestman to the Bears, aka Canada’s ratification

Posted by Devang Desai under Chicago Bears, Coaching carousel on Jan 16, 2013

Pictured: Bill Callahan not listening to Marc Trestman.

For the most unhinged commentary regarding the NFL, Pro Football Talk’s comment section is the place to go.

Last night the Chicago Bears ended their injudicious coaching search with a hire. Phil Emery’s exhausting interview process, which didn’t include the horrible ‘what’s your biggest weakness’ question, culminated in the hiring of Marc Trestman.

Aside from the Jimmy Johnson equals prophet comments, the commentariat at PFT were surprisingly sensible. I believe tangledupinblue12 said it best (kill me): “Oh no! Not an offensive innovator with a track record as a successful head coach!” Read the rest of this entry »

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And now the Eagles are closing in on Gus Bradley, or maybe they aren’t

Posted by Sean Tomlinson under Coaching carousel, Philadelphia Eagles on Jan 15, 2013

It’s a good morning to be a prospective NFL head coach. Just a few hours ago there were six head coaching vacancies. Now we could be down to four.

Shortly after the Mike McCoy rumor train finally reached its destination in San Deigo, this happened…

We’ll be careful with this report that’s bubbling in the wicked cauldron of hiring season speculation. It’s not that we don’t trust Chargers beat guy Kevin O’Connell, and we’re sure he’s a very nice man. But we’d like to hear this echoed by someone in Philly, which will surely happen short. Actually, the way this morning is going, it’ll happen as I type this very sentence.

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As the carousel turns: Ken Whisenhunt isn’t a good fit in Philadelphia

Posted by Sean Tomlinson under Coaching carousel on Jan 14, 2013

The Eagles and Bears won’t stop until they’ve interviewed all of the coordinators, and all of the assistants, and also possibly several well renowned league janitors and raffle ticket sellers. I suppose in hindsight we should have expected this since these are two franchises in a very unfamiliar position, and they’re trying to replace two head coaches who had lengthy tenures. That especially applies to Andy Reid in Philly, who was canned after 14 seasons.

But while the Bears are simply casting a wide net (at last count they had interviewed 13 candidates, a very Al Davis approach), the Eagles have been repeatedly spurned. They can’t hand money to anyone named Kelly, because for both Brian Kelly and Chip Kelly, staying in college and moulding America’s fine young football bodies seems to be infinitely more appealing than pursuing a Super Bowl, and having to do it in Philadelphia. Don’t you dare disrespect Rocky like that, Kellys.

There was also speculation about Bill O’Brien and Doug Marrone, with the latter going to Buffalo, and the former staying at Penn State. Repeatedly, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has given it the good ol’ college try, and repeatedly, that’s failed.

Jason La Canfora wondered if Roseman is the problem:

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me one esteemed coach or another advised one of the Eagles’ top candidates not to take the job precisely because of Roseman’s presence there. Roseman isn’t the general manager they should tie their wagon to. It’s clear Chip Kelly wasn’t leaving Oregon for anywhere unless he had a large measure of control over the organization, and owner Jeffrey Lurie has already entrusted that to Roseman. There has been trepidation by some candidates to go all-in given the questions about this existing power structure.

Confidence in the course of a vessel is difficult to have when the man at the rudder is widely perceived as being inexperienced due to his ill-advised decisions. This is the same general manager who gave Michael Vick– an aging, notoriously brittle quarterback — an $80 million contract in the fall of 2011. He also committed to Nnamdi Asomugha as his free agent splash that same summer, and a 31-year-old who’s due $15 million next season was beaten frequently this year, becoming the goat of a regressing Eagles secondary.

So when you’re no longer attractive to the rock star-ish names on the market, settling for retreads may eventually be the only option. Enter Ken Whisenhunt.

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No one is really taking Jimmy Johnson seriously, right?

Posted by Sean Tomlinson under Coaching carousel on Jan 11, 2013

Of course now Marc Trestman will be hired as the new head coach of the Bears, and Jimmy Johnson will be the new Bob Woodward or something, and I’ll just be the latest village idiot blogger man. In short, the normal state of the universe will remain in place.

At about 4:30 a.m. ET this morning (really Jimmy? Elder bodies need sleep), Johnson tweeted this…

We were abundantly aware of that first development, Jimmy, but thanks. It’s the second one that’s interesting.

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Whisenhunt gets a second interview in Cleveland

Posted by Sean Tomlinson under Coaching carousel on Jan 10, 2013

At least Kenny Ken Ken has experience with mediocre quarterbacks. That’s a vital job qualification in Cleveland, along with the ability to withstand a constant, lingering stench.

Yeah, I never pass on a chance to post this…

Ken Whisenhunt (or “the Whiz” if you prefer), is being interviewed for a second time by the Browns for their head coach vacancy, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. She has three names instead of two, which makes her different, yet noble. Really, what’s better?: having one name like Madonna, or more names? If seems to me that more syllables in your name leads to more importance, and thus a significantly higher social stature.

Sorry, I blacked out for a second there. Back to Whisenhunt, who’s the clubhouse leader for the Browns’ opening.

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