Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Something I will never, ever, understand.



Retread NFL Head Coaches.

Norv Turner, yesterday, was handed the greatest collection of offensive talent in the entire NFL, and arguably the best collection of talent period. Norv Turner. The same Norv Turner that has a 58-82 record all-time as a head coach. The same Norv Turner that has one playoff season out of nine. That's the man that took over the most desirable head coaching job in the NFL.

Elsewhere, Wade Phillips, mastermind of the ingenious "Bench Doug Flutie for Rob Johnson to improve the self-esteem of defensive lineman in the wake of the Dmitritus Underwood tragedy" plan, now has the keys to the Dallas Cowboys. Wade Phillips couldn't ride John Elway to a better record than 9-7, and he's in charge of probably one of the 3 or 4 best teams in the NFC again.

Has the Sean Payton hiring changed anything? I read in a Rotoworld review that Ron Rivera had bad reviews on his job interviews. So what? Wouldn't it be better to take a chance on a coach that hasn't already proven conclusively that he isn't a good NFL coach? Bill Belichick did pretty well in his second chance, so I won't be too harsh on hiring someone who failed in one place, but when you've failed in multiple places?

I know there aren't any sexy wannabe coaches out there, and Pete Carroll wasn't returning your calls, but the Chargers have ended up with a horrendous coaching situation. I would rather have Dom Capers coaching my team than Norv Turner. And I say this as someone who suffered through every third down screen pass with eighteen yards to go that Dom gave us. At least Dom had the mid-90's Panthers. What's next? Bruce Coslet getting his fourth chance? Is Dave McGinnis around?

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I feel that the best man out there to be hired, if he's over his health problems, is Mike Martz. You can complain about his game management in certain situations, certainly. However, he kept his running backs fresh, his offenses were always capable or better, even when his QB's kept getting injured and Jamie Martin was thrown out there. He's had one losing record as a head coach, two very good teams (one that would have won the Super Bowl if Tom Brady wasn't the clutchest clutcher that ever clutched), and built the offensive game plan that did win the Super Bowl for the Rams against the Titans.

Come to think of it, a Martz-Rivera combo might make for a wonderful coaching combo. It's too bad we'll never get to see it happen.

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