NFL Thread

[roamyn]

The Browns just hired a baseball executive to run their team, and it could change football forever

Can't make us any worse.

If it was President of the club, I can't see that it would matter. It might be good for sports. After all, dealing with spoiled athletes is dealing with spoiled athletes.

ETA: Apparently he started in football. So, maybe good for the team.

Edited January 5, 2016 by roamyn

[Fukui San]

Andy Reid?

    Although McCArthy and Payton became head coaches in the same year, McCarthy is in his 10th season and Payton is in his 9th season (thanks to that year off).

    What do y'all think of the Jim Nance story. He refused to acknowledge the allegations against Manning. But it turns out, they share a connection...

    http://deadspin.com/peyton-manning-shares-a-rep-with-jim-nantz-who-wont-me-1751103050

 

Andy Reid switched teams, so he can't be it unless they count two jobs as one tenure.

 

I just looked up the answer. It's a name not yet mentioned whose team is in the playoffs.

 

As for the Jim Nantz story, it's obvious that no one cares about cheating unless the Patriots are accused.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Fukui San

[mojoween]

It can't be Marvin Lewis can it?

In watching Coughlin's press conference he said that he is the 16 HC of the Giants. So I looked it up because I am curious, and the Giants were founded in 1925. So they have had 16 coaches in 80 years.

Since 1999, the Browns have had EIGHT.

Do you think they care, that they are a laughingstock? How can they not know how much people make fun of them? Because everything they've done lately, shows that they don't know what the fuck they are doing.

I saw it mentioned that Spags could be a consideration for the Giants coach. Um, no. Been there, done that. Great DC, terrible HC.

Edited January 5, 2016 by mojoween

[twoods]

I think it is Lewis. He has been with the Bengals for a long ass time. Or Bellichick but he's been mentioned right?

[stealinghome]

It can't be Marvin Lewis can it?

Has to be, right? Because isn't one of the knocks on him that's he like the longest-tenured HC ever without a playoff victory or something like that?

 

The only other really long-serving coaches are Tomlin and McCarthy and if it's not them....

[pennben]

Here's a list (as of July 2014) of the tenures of the then current head coaches.  Lewis and Belichick had longer tenures than Coughlin. Kind of funny to look at and see how many names are now off the list (or at different places).

Edited January 5, 2016 by pennben

[nowandlater]

Ah, Marvin Lewis....In 2001, Cal was looking for a head coach. Lewis was the frontrunner. Our AD flew out to Maryland to offer him the job, and Lewis admitted that he ultimately wanted an NFL head coaching job and didn't want to mislead Cal into thinking he'd be there for a long time. (Cal's previous head coach, Steve Mariucci, had bolted after one season to become head coach of the 49ers.) And so, 13 months later, Lewis got the Bengals job.

Edited January 5, 2016 by nowandlater

[Snowprince]

Isn't the Coliseum falling apart? Or am I thinking of someplace else? It's going to suck for whichever team gets stuck playing there until they can haggle out the details and built a new stadium.

For as old as it is it's still in pretty good shape, actually. Because it's been designated a National Historic Landmark, there isn't much wiggle room for modernization and adding more luxury boxes. That's 1 of the reasons Al Davis took his toys and went back to Oakland the first time. USC hasn't had any complaints about it, that we know of.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Snowprince

[Rick Kitchen]

"Billy" Manziel

[ganesh]

And he made everyone call him McLovin.

[mojoween]

Peter King called Dallas "The Jerry Jones Home for Wayward Boys" which made me laugh so hard.

[Danny Franks]

The Colts keeping Pagano is smart, although I'm not sure what I think of him kicking out his defensive coaches (and reportedly looking to poach from the Ravens). Keeping Grigson is ridiculously stupid. That man is a terrible GM, and will run this team into the ground with his personnel decisions.

Shanahan interviewing for HC gigs just reinforces how much of an old boys club the NFL really is. Constant retreads and second, third and fourth chances for guys who have used up all the chances they should have earned.

As for LA, I want the Rams to get it, and maybe the Chargers. Not the Raiders.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Danny Franks

[benteen]

The Colts keeping Pagano is smart, although I'm not sure what I think of him kicking out his defensive coaches (and reportedly looking to poach from the Ravens). Keeping Grigson is ridiculously stupid. That man is a terrible GM, and will run this team into the ground with his personnel decisions.

Shanahan interviewing for HC gigs just reinforces how much of an old boys club the NFL really is. Constant retreads and second, third and fourth chances for guys who have used up all the chances they should have earned.

As for LA, I want the Rams to get it, and maybe the Chargers. Not the Raiders.

 

At least Ole Serial Killer Eyes Shanahan has won two Super Bowls.  Granted, they were early in his head coaching career when his team had John Elway and a healthy Terrell Davis.  He admittedly hasn't done much since but that still gives his an edge over all these failed ex-head coaches like Pat Shurmer. 

 

There's no much originality with many of these candidates.

[merylinkid]

Hey now, don't forget this year's IT guy -- the offensive co-ordinate of the Bears Adam Gase.   Because the Bears offense was an unstoppable juggernaut this year, everyone wants him.   Oh wait.

[benteen]

Heheh, yeah.  Can't forget about his "amazing" year either. 

 

There just seems to be this great urge to recycle mediocrity among NFL coaches, just because they had once been coaches before.  No matter how badly it turned out.  Like why is Doug Marrone getting interviews?  He was an unremarkable coach in Buffalo and Syracuse whose players hated him and I think is another control freak.  THAT'S who you want coaching your team?

[xaxat]

I never understood how Marrone got an NFL job the first time around. 

[Ohwell]

At least Ole Serial Killer Eyes Shanahan has won two Super Bowls.  

Ha!  I thought I was the only one who thinks he looks like a serial killer.

[ganesh]

Because most NFL owners really don't care if they win or not for the most part. They don't want to take risks. Get a coach who has been around the block and you can go 7-9, 8-8 most years, and with a few plays break your way you can get to 10-6 and get in the playoffs. Even 8-8 can get in the playoffs most years. You're good enough to keep fans hopeful and spending their money. If you win, great, if not, start over next year.

 

The league wanted parity, so most teams would be competing for the playoffs and fans would stay interested. That also means they got mediocre play too. There's really only a handful of teams legit in contention every year, and it takes a long time to build up to that level, cf. Arizona, Carolina. If you really want to win you need to take a risk and you need to stick with the personnel and grow. 

So recycle those coaches who can do just enough to tread water. 

That's what baffles me with the 49ers. They actually took a risk with Harbaugh and were *instant* winners. Then they canned him because he's a jerk. Oh, boo-hoo. Now, you suck while your jerk of a coach turned a college team around in one season. 

[Bastet]

As for LA, I want the Rams to get it, and maybe the Chargers. Not the Raiders.

 

Well, you'll probably get your wish, because the Raiders are the only one of the three I'd be excited to have here, and after however many years I ultimately spend waiting to have the NFL back in town, I'm sure the cosmic joke will be that I wind up with a team/teams I don't like.  Although, with Philip Rivers gone, I could probably become a Chargers fan if I had to.

[xaxat]

I hope the Rams don't get the relocation go ahead.

 

Just to watch the PR dance they will have to pull off after shitting all over St. Louis on the way out.

 

ETA: Someone should ask the commissioner if that's the league's position. Oh, I forgot. He's been in witness protection ever since Inflategate.

Edited January 6, 2016 by xaxat

[benteen]

Because most NFL owners really don't care if they win or not for the most part. They don't want to take risks. Get a coach who has been around the block and you can go 7-9, 8-8 most years, and with a few plays break your way you can get to 10-6 and get in the playoffs. Even 8-8 can get in the playoffs most years. You're good enough to keep fans hopeful and spending their money. If you win, great, if not, start over next year.

 

The league wanted parity, so most teams would be competing for the playoffs and fans would stay interested. That also means they got mediocre play too. There's really only a handful of teams legit in contention every year, and it takes a long time to build up to that level, cf. Arizona, Carolina. If you really want to win you need to take a risk and you need to stick with the personnel and grow. 

So recycle those coaches who can do just enough to tread water. 

That's what baffles me with the 49ers. They actually took a risk with Harbaugh and were *instant* winners. Then they canned him because he's a jerk. Oh, boo-hoo. Now, you suck while your jerk of a coach turned a college team around in one season. 

 

Agreed, particularly about the 49ers.

 

I can imagine Harbaugh must be exhausting to deal with but the man can win.  Period.  I remember when he was having problems with 49ers, some "unnamed sources" were speculating whether he was a great coach or was just put into great situations, which means those so-called experts don't know shit about football.  He built a winning culture at the University of San Diego, he built a winning culture at the University of Stanford which is difficult as hell to do with all the academic standards.  Although he didn't win a Super Bowl, he made the 49ers an elite team again for the first time in almost two decades.  In his first year at Michigan, he went 10-3 and it should have been 11-2.  The man is a winner and you can't replace someone like that.  Especially with the guy they replaced him with.

Edited January 7, 2016 by benteen

[merylinkid]

 

some "unnamed sources"

It is strongly suspected that one of those "unnamed sources" was Tomsula acting at Baalke's behest.   Karma is indeed a bitch.  

 

Seriously, would you hire Tomsula in any capacity after all the crap he allegedly pulled in SF?   It's bad enough trying to get the players to get along, but when you have coaches deliberately creating divisions in the organization -- well you get what the 49ers became last year.

[Rick Kitchen]

William "The Refrigerator" Perry, who now weighs in the vicinity of 450 pounds, is in the hospital, and may have to have his legs amputated.

[mojoween]

Calvin Johnson is considering retirement? He's not even old enough yet is he? How crazy would that be, another Lion hanging them up in his prime.

[yourpointis]

After making $113 million, NFL star Calvin Johnson is mulling retirement at 30 years old because he's 'in pain'

 

 

Despite interest elsewhere, Sean Payton staying with Saints

[ganesh]

How much of a jerk is Harbaugh compared to someone like Belichick though? I guess Belichick is more low key, like you never see him yelling or whatever, but he can't be easy to deal with either. It's funny not funny because the league essentially lets teams have out and out criminals play, as long as they are producing on the field, but you get a coach whose only 'crime' is being a jerk, despite the clear history of winning and he's out. 

 

Let's just trot out another meek guy who has been banging around for the last decade, and we'll go 8 and 8 and see what happens. Because we're all about winning in the NFL. 

[merylinkid]

I pointed out to a friend about how Johnson would be another Lion retiring early.   He said "Would you want to play there?"   He kinda had a point.    Then since he is a Bears fan, the conversation degenerated into which old lady owner was tougher.   I argued for Martha because she is actually doing something unlike Virginia McClaskey.

[stealinghome]

Yeah, I'm no great John Harbaugh fan, but dude just wins. If I was an owner, there would not be many coaches higher on my "want to hire" list.

[merylinkid]

Bucs fired Lovie Smith.    WHY?   He only had one season with their QB of the future - and did pretty well all things considered.   They were headed in the right direction.   Even the players are pointing out the stupidity of going through coaches like kleenex.   This is insane.   Coaches like to bring in their own QB.   So they just spent all that money on a guy that might get replaced by the new guy's new guy.   

[mojoween]

Hmm. Might not be a bad idea for the Giants to kick Lovie's tires. He can't be WORSE for the defense and might get some results.

[Rick Kitchen]

Niners!  Lovie is free!  Please, NOT Chip Kelly?  Please?

[twoods]

Hope Lovie goes somewhere he is appreciated. The Bucs were shitty his first season but he inherited a bad team, and got 4 more wins this season behind a rookie. They would have been decent next year. How can a team get a chance to be good if they are constantly changing staff? Idiots. He would work well in NY or SF.

I refused to sip on Harbaugh's kool aid because I didn't like him, but I can't help finally notice how good he is by turning around Michigan so fast. They went from terrible to contenders in one year- insanity.

Edited January 7, 2016 by twoods

[BitterApple]

Damn, that's too bad for Lovie. 6-10 with a rookie QB isn't all that bad. At least it let's you know there's potential for the future. It must be getting frustrating for the players having to acclimate to a new coaching staff every other season. You can't get into any sort of rhythm when there's constant upheaval.

[pennben]

The thing is, though, most of the improvement at Tampa had nothing to do with Lovie and everything to do with the new offensive coordinator and (high draft pick because of the suck last year) Winston.  Lovie's the defense "guy" and he yanked play calls from Leslie Frazier for this year and the defense was worse than last year..  As far as I've read, the offense coordinator was in line for a HC job on another team and would be gone...I'm assuming he gets the job.  So, do you keep Lovie for one more year or do you keep the person that improved your team exponentially this year?  To me, that is an easy question to answer.  As I'm a Bears fan and he squandered years of a solid defense by totally ignoring the offense, and by the end, his defense became outdated and easy for other teams to stomp on, I'm surprised, but not really that maybe TB thought they'd be keeping the wrong guy by giving him another year and losing the offense's progress.

[FuriousStyles]

If Lovie was such a bad coach why hire him in the first place? That's my issue. You dont give a coach 2 years (and only 1 with a rookie QB) to see what he's got. Its stupid management IMO.

[ganesh]

You do have to wonder what these people are expecting when they hire a coach. Maybe they gave Lovie and ultimatum of going 8-8? That's harsh with a rookie QB. 

 

I don't want to be within 5 feet of Harbaugh in real life. He strikes me as a guy who is always 'on' and that's so so tiring. If I'm an owner though, I don't have to deal with him that much and I hire a GM who can handle him. You're going to have some blow ups now and then, but you know what makes things feel better? Getting to the NFC championship and then the superbowl in the next year.

 

Wasn't part of the problem with Vick when he was starting out was that he had like 4 different OCs in 5 years? Or was that someone else. Either way, while I don't think football is nearly as complicated as it's made out to be, I do agree that players do need some stability in order to succeed. Which underscores my hypothesis that owners really don't want to win that much. 

 

I would think 3 years is fair. That's almost 50 games. If you can't get on a successful track with that, then you're probably not going to. You should be able to get into the playoffs or at least knocking on the door by then. 

[yourpointis]

REPORT: NFL sets $550 million relocation fee for Chargers, Rams, and Raiders

 

 

According to one report, the NFL has set the ground rules for relocation to Los Angeles and has asked the Chargers, Rams, and Raiders to agree to their terms before next week's vote.

The three franchises must submit documents verifying the teams' commitments to those requirements by the end of the week.

Among the requirements the teams must agree to are the relocation fee, moving procedures and guaranteeing an opening date for the new stadiums.

[AimingforYoko]

The NFL really wanted a new team to pony up that sweet, sweet expansion cash, but they'll make do with this money grab.

[Rick Kitchen]

Considering the Raiders moved to Los Angeles originally without league approval, why are these teams going through all of this rigamarole now?

[nowandlater]

REPORT: NFL sets $550 million relocation fee for Chargers, Rams, and Raiders

 

I believe Al Davis' son is worth around $500 million, so the Raiders aren't going anywhere.

[mojoween]

Everyone check the breakers at Levi's Stadium, Beyoncé is going to join Coldplay at halftime of the Super Bowl.

HOF finalists

I feel like Favre is a lock, and then I can't pick another four because they are all worthy. Sad Simms didn't make the cut again boooo.

Edited January 8, 2016 by mojoween

[jennifer6973]

But Joe Jacoby did and that rocks.

 

 

I met him once at a Field Day or something at my brothers elementary school.  He drove up in a Gold Pontiac Fiero.  Then I got scared to talk to him because he was sooooooooooooooo tall.

 

 

HTTR

[yourpointis]

I believe Al Davis' son is worth around $500 million, so the Raiders aren't going anywhere.

 

I thought I read somewhere that Goldman Sachs would back either or both the Raiders/Chargers with a relocation. At this point, I can't keep any of it straight in my head, and am not going to try now. It's basically turned into a millionaire/billionaire chess game and only the fans lose.

[roamyn]

Maybe one of those teams can relocate to Cleveland.

We're in need of a football team.

[mojoween]

Steve Smith is making the rounds and I don't hold his Raven-ness against him...I just love him. He is so funny and charming. Can't wait for his post-career broadcasting gig.

I wish he could retire as a Panther but Jerry Richardson imploded that bridge, didn't he.

[Ohwell]

Steve Smith is adorable.  I hope he replaces Ryan Clark.

[DrSpaceman73]

Been a busy week for me so just getting to comment on these coaching changes.

As a huge COlts fans I was STUNNED both Pagano and Grigson are staying. I am more upset about Grigson though than Pagano. It's not that Pagano is a bad coach, he is just mediocre. 8-8 with Luck out basically half the season and still coming close to winning the division, basically came down to the 4ht quarter against Houston, it's hard to criticize him too much for that. ANd I still believe most of the trouble on the team was offensive scheme based when Luck was playing. Pep Hamilton just has no idea how to coach a pro offense. They replaced him, Chud coached Luck for one game and they beat Denver, then luck is gone for the year. The hope is that The Denver game is what we can hope for next year with this offense. Plus a better offensive line.

this is my idea of what likely happened , piecing things together, in regard to Pagano. Irsay DID want a new coach, but he wanted to be sure he had an upgrade over Pagano. Reports were he wanted someone with prior HC experience and not a coordinator. There were two guys available that the rumors swirled around, Saban and Sean Payton. I think they likely reached out to both of them shortly before the season ended or after it was over. Saban I think told them no, Payton it probably came down to if they wanted to trade a pick for him, or he just turned them down. Either way, by Monday when Irsay and Pagano met, no deal or imminent deal with either guy. Pagano and Irsay meet, Pagano tells him if you don't want me I have other offers. I am sure another team would have hired him. Irsay has to make a a decision whether to jettison a not great but very popular coach among the fans and players and take a chance he finds someone else, likely a coordinator or rehashed hire who did poorly before, or take the safe route and stick with Pagano. He plays it safe and rehired him.

I am not too upset about Pagnano being back, the COlts can do worse. Grigson though, has been bad, especially in free agency. Too much money wasted on bad to mediocre talent and still has a bad OL, the offensive problem since he was hired. 4 years and it's not fixed. Hopefully part of this is Grigson agrees to listen more to Pagano and they have more of a duel role in personnel decisions. Rumors are up to know Grigson has had the upper hand and ignores Pagano.

I was sad to see Manusky go as DC, I though he did a good job with subpar defensive talent and felt the offense was more a problem this year than the D. But Monachino seems like a good replacement and I want to see what CHud can do running the offense a whole year. There was just a lot of wasted talent on the offense even consider the QB turmoil this season.

It was time for Coughlin to to go. Good career, at 79, should call step into the announcing booth.

HOF finalists : Two main thoughts on this. I hope Marvin Harrison gets in before TO. I would rather TO not be a first ballot HOFer and Marvin should have made it his first two years. And I think I am convinced despite his short career that Terrell Davis should be in. He has AMAZING playoff numbers. Averaged 150 yards a game over 8 career playoff games and he was largely responsible for Elway not retiring like Marino as one of the best QBs to never win a SB. Or the Broncos not being viewed like the 90s Bills or the 70 Vikings as a great team, but never won a title. Those two playoffs runs really did have a significant impact on the view of the league history and Elways and the 80s/90s Broncos in particular.

[nowandlater]

I could look it up, but I won't: It seems like every year, the first day of the playoffs in recent years involve the boring Bengals and/or the boring Texans. (Again, it just seems that way.)

 

I wish they put on one of the compelling NFC games on Saturday. Maybe mix it up a little.

[yourpointis]

Peyton Manning acknowledges this could be his last rodeo

 

It’s possible. Manning will start next Sunday’s divisional playoff game in Denver, and if the Broncos lose, that might be it for Manning. The 39-year-old five-time league MVP is at least open to the possibility that he might not play again after this postseason.

Asked by the Denver Post if it could be his last rodeo, Manning said it could.

“I’d be lying,” Manning said, “if I said I’m not thinking about that.”

 

[benteen]

You mean 69 for Coughlin.  He's not pushing 80 yet. ;)