tennesseeboy

Great players make great coaches? Tell that to Lombardi, Belichik, Parcells, Gibbs, Walsh, Holmgren, Levy et. al. Great players make great players...great coaches make great coaches. Jauron had a losing record over a long period as a head coach. Many of his supporters say yeah he's a loser, but he has a good excuse. I'm not too interested in losers with good excuses.

There will be a good group of OT's available 18 through 32 which makes trading down such an attractive option for us. High Quality Defensive Tackles and tight ends as well. We are in a pretty interesting draft position. I'd love to see how things shake out after the six and seven pick.

if he comes available...thank our lucky stars and take him. I don't see that happening if NYJ trades down. Actually I could see us trading with Dallas so that they can get Jay Cutler and us getting another second and a very good DT (Ngata?) or OT selection out of the first. Best scenario would be to walk out of the second round with a defensive tackle, an offensive tackle and a quality tight end. The draft seems to be heavy in quality at all three positions, so this might be a very good draft for us.

How about Eric Winston of Miami (310 lbs) in the the second round? He is coming off an ACL in last season so he may last into the second or (hopefully) third round but has all the tools and was dominant at tackle after being recruited as a tight end (sound familiar?). This guy might be worth a gamble in the second round.

Lofton gets his name in the mix. You are probably right that it will help him get a co-ordinator post. No harm in that, and I can't think of a better guy to pull for. I think there are a number of more serious minority candidates to look at, but since this search is apparently in the bag...let it be Lofton. I'd love to see him become a successful co-ordinator and a successful head coach.

If it is going to be Sherman, I'd want to have the powers that be rely on his judgment as far as OC and DC. I wouldn't rely on his judgment as to the Special Teams coach of course and might even suggest ever so gently that Mike might consider Bobby April for the Assistant Head Coach position (with a generously renegotiated contract). Sherman has the rolodex and has seen offenses and defenses in recent seasons in such a way that he would be the best to assess the staff he wants to work with. If it has to be Sherman, appoint him with the fewest restrictions within reason that you can give and get out of his way.

just worry about the potholes in the offensive line.

Grit your teeth and think of England.

Not too optimistic about the offensive line, but I think it can be addressed in free agency and the draft. I think we need at least one defensive tackle and the line will be okay...not exceptional. I think the linebackers are okay for now and i think the Clements McGee Vincent Milloy combo will hold together for the next year. The jury is out on Losman and McGahee, but we'll just have to play them and find out what is there. If we give up on Losman, Holcomb can lead us to another 5-12 season...and hopefully we can find a qb after next season. I'm still hoping Losman plays well. Tight end is a cypher, but we'll have tough choices to make in the draft and and OL and DL problems trump addressing that area. Receivers are fine. Special teams should again be outstanding. With a good draft and a pretty good coach I could see us turning around and getting 8 or 9 wins.

I am okay with Sherman. He is a winner. Winners get that way by winning. Jauron on the other hand is popular with players, caught lightening in a bottle for one season, but is a loser. Sherman has GM experience, has a proven and successful track record and I suspect will coach his own game. This may not be acceptable to ML and RW, but I hope they realize that that may be essential in turning this team around. The more I hear of Jauron the more I wonder how he got this far in the search.

I think it all boils down to Mularkey's performance with what he had. A coach should influence both the folks below him (the players) and those above (GM and Owner.) He didn't do either apparently. He should have resigned at the end of the season rather than fire five of his coaches. He was dead with the Bills at that moment. He would have gone into this season with assistant coaches not trusting him, without the confidence of the owner and GM and having serious problems with the players. Sounds like a no-brainer to me. The part I don't understand was why the Bills put him into this position as opposed to firing him outright with Donohoe.

I'm a little surprised we got to these two candidates so quickly. I'm not all that impressed with either, but I think Sherman is the safer bet.

If those are the only two choices? Sherman is a winner as head coach, Jauron is a loser as head coach. Easy choice.

Gweez...a big nose and having to live in Cincinnatti to boot? I think 250,000 is WAY too low!

I think I like that fact as much as the ability to make the playoffs!

I believe the Rooney rule has had a significant effect in the hiring of minority coaches as head coaches in the NFL. I never thought these "tokens" were any less than the white candidates. In FACT I would be hard pressed to find many of the "tokens" being bandied about right now as not head and shoulders above Jauron (Shell being the most obvious as he is in the same generation, has better credentials and isn't being interviewed, but the others are looking pretty good against Jauron as well.) I think Lewis was better than Williams at the time hired and I think Smith was better than Mularkey. Maybe this article says it better than I have minority interviewing.

I can't believe we won't get at least two serious upgrades. A minimum of one in the draft and one in free agency. I refuse to believe we would go into next season with the o-line as you describe.

Believe me, I don't for one moment think they aren't three or four times the coaches Mularkey and Williams were..just like I think Art Shell is a better coach than Jauron. The system works against the black coach and the Rooney rule at least addresses that system. detroit's search and results.

Actually go back to the Williams and Mularkey hire and look at the names of the guys who were waste of time ninority tokens.

If it weren't for this program Marv Lewis and Lovie Smith would not have become head coaches. Face it, it IS an old boy's network. How is Jauron a loser head coach a finalist? ML and RW like him, he's from the same club. Left to their own devices the club finds a million excuses to find their own (Blacks can't play q-back, Blacks can't coach...etc.) Jauron with a .432 head coaching win record is the favorite. Shell with a .527 is not even a token.

Once we get the OT and DT under control tight end looks good to me too. Leonard Pope of Georgia looks like an early second rounder, but it will be a tough decision because our top DT's will also be there. Much as I like Pope, I think we have to take care of business, as Elvis used to say. I feel your pain, as I agree a quality tight end could improve our offense tremendously and right away.

Jason Allen of Tennessee who was injured this year might be available in later rounds as might Doug Slay of Texas Tech slay I think the first three or four players picked will solve our OL and DL problems or maybe a tight end...but you never know what safeties there might be later.

Nah...the nazis only like to chat among the converted.

ooohh...the poor oppresssed Ivy Leaguer. Believe me, a black coach with a .432 winning record would not have been interviewed. Let me see...I'm Art Shell, a black guy, hall of fame player... .557 winning record. He's Dick Jauron, white guy with a .432 record. hmmmmm....and my interview is a "token" interview? Oh...wait a minute...I don't even get a "token" interview?

Hey...Tom Sestak came out of McNeese State. I think I'll go on the way the guy plays football rather than read tea leaves about the conference.