2003Contenders

The WCO offense may not work in Buffalo, but if Sherman elected to go in that direction, we do have much of the personnel that could run it. In fact, I think it would match well with JP's skills. The drawback, of course, is that it normally takes a QB a couple of years to pick it up.

After the game as the players and coaches crossed paths, Sherman told Sapp that what he did was " a chicken sh-- thing to do." Sapp then started screaming "Put on a jersey!"

You know, I do find it very interesting that we have heard NOTHING from TD since the season finale. In fact, it's never even been clear to me whether he was fired or resigned. Ralph hinted that the parting of ways was a mutual decision. I just find it odd that TD never had some kind of a press conference or at least a press release stating that he did the best he could but it just didn't work out. At least Gregg Williams came across as very classy in his goodbye address, which I am sure helped him quickly land the gig in Washington. I just find the TD silence to be a bit ... eerie.

He's the guy many of us whined about the year we traded that #1 pick to the Patriots for Drew. Recall that the Pats ended up swapping that #14 pick with the Bears, who ultimately took him. To date, it looks like we're better off having used the later pick that we got from Atlanta to draft Willis, as Haynes really hasn't done much yet in the pros. But he was a very good college pass rusher, that's for sure. Considering Marv's Chicago connection -- and his knowledge that Haynes hasn't lived up to first round draft potential -- I would find it unlikely that he'd be interested in him. Then again, maybe Marv feels that the kid has never had much of an opportunity in Chicago and likes that he has a chip on his shoulder...

Those attributes do sound a little like what Marv described as the attributes he was looking for in a head coach in last week's PC.

I really like April's intensity. For example, did you see how he pled his case to the officials in the Cinci game over the second-half on-sides kick? Not sure if he is HC material, but Marv should do whatever is necessary to retain him at least in his current position. Considering Marv's infatuation with Special Teams, I would expect him to do exactly that.

Here are the reasons for the interview... 1. The Chicago connection. 2. Like Levy, Jauron is an Ivy leaguer 3. Jauron worked as a DB coach here back in 85 For those begging for Haslett, Jauron made the playoffs more recently (2001, as opposed to 2000 for the Saints and Haslett) and was named COah of the Year. The knock on Haslett is that he "underachieved" with the Saints. If anything, Jauron overachieved. Even in his final year with the Bears, he got them to (I believe) 7-9 with a ridiculously bad (and injury-plagued) roster. I'm not saying that he's my top candidate, but he it is unfair to call the guy a bum.

Carthon has developed a reputation of not being liked by his players.

You know I was just thinking about that tonight. Having Flutie on the team -- even in a backup role -- is like having the kiss of death come playoff time. This year with the Pats... Last year with the Chargers... Before that with our beloved Bills.

Well, with that scruffy beard, Jake the Snake is looking more and more like the old Snake, Kenny Stabler. Hmmm.

Did it ever occur to you that the leaks to Mort and Clayton are intentional. That is, last week we heard from Mort that it looked like MM was on the way out. Maybe Ralph used the national media to help create an environment in which MM would ultimately quit?

... for a head coach. Since Buffalo isn't likely to be at the top of anyone's list, if he wants a qualified HC, he is going to have to pay some real money. Let's just hope that Marv can get this through to him.

Although the Williams hiring seemed to come out of leftfield back in 2001, it really shouldn't have. I think the fact that TD waited to interview Marvin Lewis after the Super Bowl and the fact that the two had a history dating back to their days in Pittsburgh, signalled to most observers that Lewis was going to get the job, much like everyone knew last year that Romeo was going to get the job in Cleveland. That's why the GW hiring seemed like such a shock. What everyone misses is that statistically speaking, GW's Titans actually had the #1 defense in the NFL that year. And the year before, GW had been coaching the Titans' defense in the Super Bowl. Thus, it is actually surprising that GW wasn't more sought after than he actually was. Suffice to say that at the time his credentials were at least on a par with those of Fox and Lewis. And with their interviews following the whirlwind of the Super Bowl understandably not going nearly as well as GW's, the GW hiring made sense. Thing about it: If you are an employer interviewing three equally qualified candidates for one job, you are going to hire the one that has the best interview. I've never understood folks for making fun of GW for "interviewing well". It's just another example of how something didn't work out. Based on the information that was at hand, TD felt that he made the best possible choice. He turned out to be incorrect. When things don't go right, there doesn't always have to be someone to "blame". Like I said, sometimes things just don't work out.

Just one thing? How about Rich Kotite then?

That also explains why Dick Jauron's name was listed as a candidate.

Note that Scott didn't say that JG purposely threw any games. He just stated that he didn't put forth his best effort. While this is certainly unprofessional, it is at least different from intentionally losing. Based on the rumors we heard that Gray had submitted his resignation, which was refused, prior to the conclusion of the last regular season game, Scott's report actually does carry some credibility. This is starting to get plain silly.

I agree. Remember last week the original report was that talks were not going so well between Ralph and MM -- and that MM was expected to be fired. My only question is, if they reached some kind of compromise, why wasn't the trigger pulled back then rather than waiting a week -- a week during which MM did actually fire several of his assistants? My guess is that MM was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable about the surrounding environment in Buffalo. He no longer had his biggest defender TD at his side either. I also believe that MM has stewed over the whole Moulds situation since it happened. By that, I don't mean that he didn't get over what Moulds did -- but I don't think he liked being placed in the situation where an 87-year old owner had to give his blessing on whether or not to suspend a player. It made MM look very weak, which is why he lost the PR battle over that incident to Moulds. I think, in watching what's happened over the last week, MM came to the conclusion that things would get worse from this perspective before they got better. Maybe he went into Ralph's office making demands, rather than issuing a resignation -- and some resulting deal was later struck. The problem with all of this, to me isn't that MM quit. I think he was a lame-duck coach as it was, with only the fact that TD had signed him to such a long contract -- one that RW didn't want to eat -- keeping him on the sidelines. The problem is that if someone like him is willing to quit, imagine how hard it will be to attract a top candidate!

Haslett strikes me as being a coach similar to Jerry Glanville in that he is dynamic and engaging enough to come in and make major changes right away. However, because he's a bit of a kook, he wears out his welcome pretty quickly. Taken from that perspective, he's probably not a great long-term solution, but he can probably get us to the playoffs within a year or two. For a team that hasn't been to the playoffs in many, many years, that is at least progress. And, lest we forget, Haslett REALLY wants to be here, which is a plus in my book. Sherman would be my first choice, but it doesn't sound like the Bills are interested in him for whatever reason. Of the remaining candidates that have been bandied about (Rivera, Jauron, Gray, Ted C), I'd go with Haslett hands down.

Minority candidate would be Ted C.

Alas, the Leinart decision will be the example everyone uses henceforth to convince underclassmen to come out. If you think about it, Leinart didn't really hurt himself: he didn't get hurt, he played for another national championship, and by all accounts he had a very good season. Sadly, while his stock hasn't dropped, the stock of others has soared. And that is something that no player has any control over. Last year he KNEW he would be the #1 overall pick. This year he could fall to #3. Not only did that cost him millions in a signing bonus, he'll never be able to make up the money he lost in 2005. Oh, well. At east he got to take a ballroom dancing class.

For those who say that Marv would never go for a "I love me some me" player like TO, I present Bruce Smith as Exhibit A.

OK... I'm about to go all over the map here in terms of both praise and criticism of MM, which probably reveals my own ambivalence toward him. Not to defend TD but... 1. Maybe just maybe Ralph placed a financial restriction on how much he was willing to pay his HC, which may have disqualified some candidates (Weis?) right off the bat. 2. With a top drawer defense already, I believe TD was looking for a HC that could come in and clean up the offense as quickly as possible to make us immediate contenders. MM already had a history of coming in and cleaning up a mess left by Gilbride in Pittsburgh. The thought was that he could do the same in Buffalo. 3. How do we know that the result would be any different with one of the other HCs? Weiss has done great in college -- but so had Steve Spurrier. Let's see a show of hands as to how many people were calling for Lovie Smith over MM at this time LAST year? I think Smith is a fine coach, but whose to say that the Bears aren't a bit of a fluke this year -- just like a couple of years back, when they went 13-3. And as for Romeo, well, just how good were the Browns this year? I'm not saying that MM is the greatest thing in the world. However, I really liked the job he did in 2004 -- but was obviously less than enthusuastic about what he did in 2005. That means to me that the verdict is still out on him. There were a lot of things that went wrong in 2005 -- some were his fault and some were not. I have NEVER understood, for example, why he got any bit of the blame for what happened with Moulds. In fact, it wasn't even him that made any part of it public. And, as for Sam Adams, well, ol' Sam has worn out his welcome everywhere he's ever played. In some ways, I have to say that MM showed me some thick skin by sticking with these guys in the final weeks. Of course, I have to agree with many out there who have questioned his play calling, especially in the redzone. Also, he's not shown that he can adapt well during the course of a game. The last two coaches that were "fired" -- I discount GW because his contract simply wasn't renewed -- were placed in that situation when they refused to follow Ralph's mandate and fire one or more of their assistants. Levy, in fact, resigned -- and Ralph tried to claim that in being "insubordinate", Wade had in essence resigned as well. With all of the coaches that we just saw canned, you really have to wonder whether Ralph made this order, hoping that MM would himself resign. Then there is the opposite perspective. Perhaps TD was such a control freak that he forced a number of these assistants upon MM -- and maybe for the first time Levy has given MM some freedom to name his own staff. Considering that most of the staff that was let go was on the defense, this could be the case. As for Tom Clements, we knew that he was a goner regardless. The only probelm with this theory is that if this were the case, I would have expected some replacements to have been named by now. Of course, maybe the team is waiting to see if Gray gets a HC job prior to firing him, so that Ralph doesn't have to eat any of that money too. That being the case, maybe MM will act quickly in naming a new DC, who will then have the option of naming their own defensive assitants? Hmmm...

I'm not sure that GW will ever be a good head coach. He deserves every bit of the credit that he is getting in Washington. In fact, it was his defense that has allowed the 'Skins to move ahead to round two of the playoffs. I don't think any of us ever challenged GW's credentials as a defensive coordinator. But one of the things that is missed is the ability -- and the requirmeent -- of a head coach to be a good delegator. In Washington, GW serves as the "bad cop" to Gibbs' good cop. When the press wants a good quote, they go to GW because he tells them the truth, while Gibbs is so wrapped up in being PC. The same thing applies to not only PR -- but also to player dealings. Recall that it was GW that called out Clinton Portis for cticizing the offense in the preseason. With all due respect to Gibbs the Hall of Famer, he lets his assitants do his dirty work for him, which does wonders for him as a delegator -- but not for the other coaches that serve as his henchmen. In a way, I've always found Gibbs to be a bit of a weasel for just that reason. For as successful as he's been -- can you name one of his assitants that went on to have a successful head coaching career of their own? Maybe GW got some good advice about this, which is why he and Dan Snyder reached the agreement they did to make GW the highest paid cooridnator in history -- and higher paid than about half of the head coaches in the league, including our own MM. If GW is waiting around for Gibbs to retire so that he can take over, maybe someone should tell him about Richie Petibon.

I didn't take Marv's comment as a singling out of any player in particular. Marv was just stating his philosophy that he wants guys on his team with character -- not just tons of talent. I think he was outlining his approach to free agency and the draft, rather than suggesting that there were current players that he had it in his mind to let go. In addition to being a great delegator, Marv was always a master motivator. He was able to push different buttons for different players. He was smart enough, for example, to understand that, while Bruce Smith hated practice and avoided training camp like the plague, he always came ready to play on Sunday. He encourgaed Thurman to carry a career-long chip on his shoulder as added motivation. Yet, when he needed to send a message, he was willing to do that too, like cutting Billy Joe Holbert for having not read his playbook. These are all things that hopefully MM can learn from Marv.

Sadly, the case you make AGAINST Monk is probably the same case that Peter King and his ilk have made against Andre. That is, instead of taking his entire body of work and his playoff appearances/performances and using that as a measuring stick, one in which Reed would HAVE to rank amongst the top 10-15 receivers to ever play the game, they instead want to look at game-by-game production, which is far less tantalizing. Reed probably also gets dumped on because of the Super Bowl losses. However, few people realize that, for a time, he had caught more passes in the Super Bowl than any other player in history. It is unfair that he'll be forever remembered for the helmet throwing incident, in SB XXVI instead. Kinda like Jim "Wrong Way" Marshall. Still, Marshall eventually found his way into the Hall, as Andre should one day as well.