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.

Happy Birthday to me

To start with today, technically it's my birthday now (January 5th) so Happy Birthday to me. Now to truly begin, it occurred to me that the other day I praised Michael Lombardi for the greatly improved quality of his articles on NFL.com, but I never mentioned who I thought was the best, most consistent writer over the course of the year. That award would go to Jason Whitlock of FOXsports.com. Whitlock may not be every body's cup of tea so to speak, but personally I find his articles and attitude very engaging. I like the fact that he doesn't pull any punches and unlike many who write for the major networks, he has no problem blowing up the leagues official line on various subjects, especially when they're trying to curry favour with the fans. So if Whitlock is the best and Lombardi is the most improved, who might be an upcoming face to look out for next year? That would fall to Albert Breer, also of NFL.com. For an example of his work, check out this recent article. Next, coaching news. To go along with the firing's of Mike Singletary, Wade Phillips, Brad Childress & Josh McDaniels, as well as the end of John Fox's tenure in Carolina, we now have the release of Eric Mangini by Cleveland and most recently the surprise (at least to me) firing of Tom Cable by the Raiders. Next in line could be Coach Tony Sporano of the Dolphins, with multiple news outlets suggesting that the Dolphins are extending feelers towards Stanford Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. Apparently Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was present at the Orange Bowl to watch Stanford put down Virginia Tech. If Sporano goes that would make eight teams with new Head Coaches for 2011. What was that we've told for the last month or more by the networks about a lack of coaching changes being made due to CBA uncertainty? Busted. Marvin Lewis of the Bengals will be keeping his spot though, with a two year extension apparently signed. To be honest, the Singletary, Childress and Philips firings I could see coming, but I'm not sure about some of the others. Josh McDaniels had his difficulties but he was putting together quite the offense I thought. Certainly no worse than the Texans under Gary Kubiak, and with more promise for the future in their roster. John Fox leaving was practically a gimme, but Eric Mangini? I know I'm not a huge Mangini fan, which makes this all the more surprising, but I kind of got the impression that in his second year Mangini was just starting to get his head around this whole head coaching thing. His demeanour, the way he spoke in interviews, the changes made to the team. I was shocked that Mangini wasn't allowed to come back for another crack of the whip in 2011. And I never thought I'd say this but.... I think Mangini might be a hot candidate for making a Super Bowl in the 20-teens. There, I said it. But now we really get down to it with Tom Cable. Are you kidding me? Tom Cable?! The same Tom Cable who looked to be turning the corner with the Raiders (finally)? The same Tom Cable who was just starting to figure out where his team was at on offense? The Tom Cable who was getting Jacoby Ford more and more involved? The same Tom Cable who was fashioning a strong ground game around Darren McFadden and Michael Bush? I feel sorry for Tom and I hope he gets a good gig for 2011. He, like Mangini, appeared to have finally found his feet and style as a Head Coach, which is the first step towards big things. Cable could be another hot shot for a Super Bowl coach in the coming 20-teens.