General manager searches ended for three teams this week, with the Cardinals hiring Steve Keim, the Chargers bringing aboard Tom Telesco yesterday, and the Jaguars hiring David Caldwell. Of those three, only Caldwell inherited a head coach, and one who was very much on unstable ground. Now that ground has collapsed.
Only 48 hours after he was hired, Caldwell has fired Mike Mularkey, according to the team’s official Twitter account.
We haven’t done one of these in a few days. So let’s catch up on a hiring season that has provided more January excitement so far than the playoffs with a little speed-round action.
Where to begin? Surely there are a few hot coordinators or assistants (not like that…settle down, Brent Musberger) who have emerged in the early days of this week to fill the five remaining head coach vacancies. Yep, Mike Singletary, Mike Holmgren, and Jon Gruden.
(*head asplodes*)
UPDATE (11:00 p.m. ET): Welp, it’s over. According to Adam Schefter, Chip Kelly has picked the team that can best run his offense: the Oregon Ducks. Schefter reports that after considering the Eagles’ opening, he’s decided to return to Oregon. We’ll have more on this tomorrow, and see the original post below for the details that led to Kelly’s decision. Like, say, a strong influence from a rich guy who co-founded a certain clothing company that makes generic athletic apparel. For now, know that Kelly has flirted with the NFL for two straight hiring periods, and in the end the comforts of home won both times. He may never make the jump, because he likely recognizes that his innovative offensive schemes lead to optimal results at the college level, and only the college level.
UPDATE (3:44 p.m. ET): A source tells Newsday’s Bob Glauber that Kelly will likely head back to Oregon. Damn, and I was really hoping he’d resurrect Michael Vick’s career from the depths of hell too.
I know, and I’m sorry. You want to focus on another day of playoff football that’s starting in less than 20 minutes as I write this, and dammit, so do I. To go about that, please get primed with the primers we wrote earlier this week. You’ll enjoy them thoroughly, and if you don’t, shhhhhh.
The reality is that in early January there are pretty important games taking place away from the field too that may determine the future of several franchises. I’m referring to the ever spinning coaching carousel, of course, and now there’s a chance that the heaviest guy (I mean that…figuratively?) on that death contraption may hop off, and go home.
No, you're awesome.
Hear that, Trent Richardson keeper or dynasty league owners?
The man who schemes for one-point safeties has wasted little time pursuing NFL employment following the Oregon Ducks’ pumping of Kansas State last night in the Fiesta Bowl. As expected, Chip Kelly is the Browns’ top target to fill their head coach vacancy, and he interviewed with team executives today. And now the wheels, they’re spinning rapidly.
Mercifully, finally, it’s over. Hey, remember Monday when Andy Reid was soooo the Cardinals’ next head coach? Keep being you, January.
The Reid to Kansas City chatter has been relentless over the past 48 hours, making it seem as though his hiring was a mere formality. Now ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Reid will remove his abundant body fat from the coaching carousel, and fill the first head coach vacancy of the hiring season. And then there were six.
So now the general manager search begins in KC, a hunt which will be spearheaded by Reid. It’ll be a delicate search too, as the Chiefs need someone they can trust with the first overall pick. Sure, the Colts went through the same search a year ago when they had the top pick and axed Bill Polian, later hiring Ryan Grigson. But really, your pet turtle could have picked Andrew Luck. A lot will change between now and late April, but this year there’s no definitive, elite prospect who’s the no-brainer first overall pick.
I was going to put one of those yelling, important looking UPDATEs on our earlier Reid post. You know, similar to the one that will surely end up on this post once Andy Reid is officially the Chiefs’ next head coach. But then I thought to myself: self, let’s give the ol’ carousel another spin.
So to review before we get to more quick style review below of the other coach-chasing shenanigans, here’s where we stand with Reid. Jason La Canfora is reporting that a deal between Reid and the Chiefs is pretty much completed, and he even used a big boy word (“imminent“). He expects the deal to be completed by the end of the day, and in one final sign that the beginning of Reid’s Chiefs tenure now seems like a mere formality, La Canfora also noted that he canceled his scheduled trips to Arizona and San Diego.
And so the domino falling has commenced.
Andy Reid and #Chiefs are on verge of a deal. Story up on ESPN.com short on on SportsCenter via myself and @adamschefter
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 3, 2013
Or has it? As usual, clarity is a lost art. But Mort and Adam Schefter — the Robin to his Batman — are reporting that although there are still minor details to work through, a source indicated the “major issues have been discussed and agreed upon“. The talks lasted nine hours yesterday, which is far more time than I talk to any one person during any given week. The length of the conversation indicates that the Chiefs’ likely are indeed on the verge of a deal.
But here comes the rest of the murkiness.
