Hop on the Coaching Carousel

Well, Wade Philips has found a new home. The Texans have finally decided that their defense needs a kick up the butt and that Philips is the man to do it. In fairness, despite his lack of success as a Head Coach, Philips still did pretty well handling his defense. And really, anything has to be better than what the Texans produced in 2010. What's even more scary is that just a slight improvement on defense should give the Texans a legitimate shot at making the playoffs in 2011. Like the Saints of 2008, they currently have an electric offense married to a sub standard defense. When the Saints brought in Greg Williams for 2009 and made some improvement on that side of the ball, suddenly they found themselves winning the Super Bowl. Could Houston finally make it over the brink in 2011? Watch this space. Speaking of the Saints, Drew Brees is going to be working extra hard for his money this week against Seattle. Both running backs Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory are done, resting now and forced to watch nervously from the sidelines on injured reserve. That means it's down to Reggie Bush and Julius Jones to carry the load for the Saints. Which can't hurt the Seahawks chances of pulling off an upset. Please, don't tell me that Seattle is going to make the divisional round. Surely not. They can't. Just, no. Now, remember yesterday I said that the Dolphins might be in the hunt for Jim Harbaugh, along with the 49ers? Well the bidding war begins! Harbaugh has apparently met with the 49ers and I'm guessing it wasn't to share tips on making the perfect coffee blend. The 49ers have already interviewed Hue Jackson, the Raiders offensive coordinator, in part to comply with the Rooney Rule. That means the 49ers are now free to seal the deal with Harbaugh, which NFL.com reports could be worth around $5 million. The Dolphins on the other hand have a number of problems. Firstly, they still haven't provided a formal offer. Having reportedly thrown $7 million the way of Jon Gruden, who turned it down to stay on as an analyst at ESPN, the Dolphins certainly don't have an issue when it comes to laying down the goods to finance their new coach. Secondly, unlike the 49ers, the Dolphins have yet to interview a minority candidate in order to comply with the Rooney Rule. Even if they agreed to terms with Harbaugh privately, they would still have to wait while the full interview process was carried out to comply with the rule. That might be too long for Harbaugh, who is looking to cause as little disruption to his staff and players at Stanford as possible. Now I'm sure there was something else? Oh that's right, thirdly... THE DOLPHINS STILL HAVEN'T FIRED SPARANO!! The poor guy. Everyday he's picking up the newspaper or checking out the sports news and reading about all these great lengths that owner Stephen Ross is going to find a new coach, and they still haven't had the decency to formerly fire the guy! I mean c'mon, at least give the guy his payoff and let him go enjoy a holiday somewhere. EDIT: Bugger, I just remembered what I originally meant to write a post about. Vince Young will be leaving the Titans before the 2011 season. It appears owner Bud Adams has had enough and has been advised that given the choice of dumping either the superb moustache of Jeff Fisher or the bad work ethic of Vince Young, then it should be Young who goes. With a sizeable roster bonus due in March, it's likely that Young will be cut before then.