FanHouse 08coachingchanges

The St. Louis Rams will have a new head football coach in 2009, as interim coach Jim Haslett has been notified he is no longer a candidate for the full-time gig. Though he was said to have interviewed well for the job, I can't see how this is much of a surprise. He went 2-10 after taking over for Scott Linehan, including 10 consecutive losses to end the season.

Delving through the extraneous information (and the egregious typo in the title) in the article, it would seem Leslie Frazier is the front-runner, though Steve Spagnuolo is reportedly close to Frazier on the Rams' wish list. Other candidates presumed to still be in the mix are Rex Ryan, Jason Garrett, and Jim Fassel.

With the retirement of Tony Dungy -- which was announced yesterday -- the torch is passed in Indianapolis to Jim Caldwell. It was hardly news, considering his eventual elevation was announced last season. Still, Caldwell is a relatively unknown dude to be taking the reins of one of the league's premiere franchises.

While there are those who focus on the fact that Dungy "only" won the Super Bowl once, Caldwell has some awfully big shoes to fill. Dungy was at the helm of 10 straight playoff teams, and he won at least 12 games in the last six seasons with the Colts.

Despite having a defense that has sabotaged a playoff-worthy offense and featured a player, Jason David, who Football Outsiders determined was less effective in coverage in 2007 than thin air, the Saints' defensive coordinator vacancy is actually desirable.

It didn't take long for the Saints to bring Gregg Williams in for an interview after the firing of Gary Gibbs. Apparently the team was interested, as Williams was in town that night. And cccording to his agent, after the interview, Williams has a "strong interest" in joining New Orleans.

The St. Louis Rams interviewed Jim Haslett -- who served as the interim head coach when Scott Linehan was mercifully let go after four games -- Monday for their head coaching vacancy. I think we can all agree that it was a token interview. Sure, the Rams have a billion holes to fill, and Steven Jackson was hurt for much of the second half of the season, but Haslett didn't really do anything to distinguish himself. He stormed out of the gate with two victories, but then lost the Rams' last ten games -- many in embarrassing fashion.

Two very intriguing names are on the Rams' radar, though. They plan on interviewing 32 year-old Josh McDaniels for the job, and they have received permission from the Patriots. He's currently their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Obviously the work of Mr. Matt Cassel has made this young coach a hot commodity. We know the Patriots offense could score points, so the Rams could do much worse.

The Indianapolis Colts' season came to an end last night with an overtime loss to the Chargers, so now the beat goes on with the inevitable retirement talks for their coach. Just as has been the case in the past few seasons, Tony Dungy is initially unsure if he's returning to the team.

"For me, it will be kind of like every year at this time,"

"I'll try to get over the disappointment of this loss, talk things over with my wife, and see where we go from here."

Dungy has coached the Colts for the past seven years, putting together a sparkling resume. He took over the team from Jim Mora when the dust was settling from the playoffs? are you kidding me? playoffs? season.

The Colts made those playoffs in each of Dungy's seven seasons, and his worst record was 10-6 (his first season). They have won at least 12 games in the past six campaigns. He brought Indianapolis their first Super Bowl championship, and has a current 10-year string of consecutive playoff appearances as a head coach (he took the Bucs to three in a row before coming to Indy).

Fresh off a historic season in Detroit, Rod Marinelli is being wooed by the Chicago Bears as a possible defensive line or assistant head coach. Marinelli was on the same staff as Lovie Smith in Tampa Bay, and the two are great friends.

Look, it's easy to snicker and point to the record as a head coach, but some people are better suited as assistants, and I believe Marinelli would be a very solid defensive coach. Look at Cam Cameron as a good example. He was 1-15 in his one year Miami stint, but he can do wonders in just one season for an offense -- just ask the Baltimore Ravens. I'm not saying Marinelli is as talented on the defensive side of the ball, but he certainly can't hurt anything.

Of course, Marinelli may not even want a job with the Bears, according to his agent, Frank Bauer.

Bauer said Marinelli wants to continue as a head coach but understands the circumstances.

"I think anybody would love to be a head coach, but he would become an assistant and then come back through," Bauer said.

The holiday season doesn't bring good tidings for everybody. Just ask those head coaches who are spending the New Year cleaning out their offices.

There is a large contingent of people -- myself and Ciskie are certainly included -- that believe Mike Shanahan wasn't really "fired" from the Denver Broncos, in the real sense of the word. In other words, Pat Bowlen demanded changes, Shanny said something that's probably impolite about running the team, and then probably dared Bowlen to fire him.

Bowlen's press conference today, regarding the decision, requires a little reading between the lines, but it certainly might lend some credence to that theory.

Naturally, Bowlen denied the idea that he demanded changes, stating that as an owner, he wasn't qualified to pick coaches and that, "No I did not (request for Mike to make changes to staff)" -- although it's important to remember that he's not necessarily dismissing the idea that he asked Shanahan to step down as VP of the team, adding that he hasn't "necessarily thought about" having a coach/GM combo again in the future.

That, coupled with the fact that Bowlen says he had "thought about it for a while" -- re: firing Shanahan -- in addition to Bowlen saying the toughest part of the move was "the emotion" and "the friendship" followed by the Broncos' owner getting choked up himself makes this all seem like a pretty unusual firing.

The holiday season doesn't bring good tidings for everybody. Just ask those head coaches who are spending the New Year cleaning out their offices.

Seeing as how the whole Bill Cowher-to-the-Jets rumor train has seen more ups and downs than the first six years of my college transcript, it's kind of nice to know that not only was Scoop dead wrong, but that Cowher will not be teasing us with the possibility of joining the Jets organization any longer.

At least according to the New York Post, who says that Cowher is out, and there's a good possibility that the sticking point was Brett Favre at quarterback.

After reaching out to Coach Cowher's representatives, we were informed tonight that he is not a candidate for the position," Jet spokesman Bruce Speight said in an e-mail.

While the Jets hoped to woo Cowher with a boatload of money, the marriage appeared to be unlikely from the outset. Sources close to Cowher said he did not want to have Favre as his quarterback, and that he also wanted to bring in people he was familiar with to handle personnel.

The idea that Cowher would leave his cushy studio job for long hours as a highly scrutinized coach seemed far-fetched enough, especially after Mort's report, but I suppose at this point, we'll never really know if Favre actually forced Cowher away from the Jets job.

But if it is true, my God, people in charge of football teams: do the smart thing and just don't let this guy near your company. Look at what he did to Green Bay, scope out the Jets in 2008 and then glance at Chad Pennington's success in Miami. If Aaron Rodgers had led the Packers to more than six wins, even Deanna would be begging him to call it off.

The holiday season doesn't bring good tidings for everybody. Just ask those head coaches who are spending the New Year cleaning out their offices.

Many around the NFL were stunned to learn Tuesday of Mike Shanahan getting fired in Denver. Shanahan, after all, had a long, successful tenure with the Broncos, winning two Super Bowls and 138 games in 14 years as head coach.

In the end, however, Shanahan paid for the success he had with John Elway as his quarterback. The Broncos won both of their Super Bowls under Shanahan while Elway was still playing, and while they have achieved success, nothing they have done has come close to matching what Elway was able to help them achieve.

His 138-86 overall record leads to a winning percentage over .600. That's awfully impressive for a 14-year head coach in a league full of parity. However, a 91-69 record since Elway retired translates to an average record of 9-7.

Add into that the fact that Denver has won just one playoff game since Elway left, and you have a recipe for persistent mediocrity. Persistent mediocrity doesn't win championships, and even the most patient or loyal owners will eventually tire of it.

It's the path Denver was on. Shanahan didn't help matters with his blind loyalty.

Just two days after Mike Singletary was handed a new contract to stay on as the 49ers' head coach, he has already cut ties with offensive coordinator Mike Martz, firing him after just one season in San Francisco. The initial reports following Singletary's hiring were that he would have the power to choose his assistant coaches. Despite this, a report from Jay Glazer of FOX Sports seemed to indicate that he was urged to go in another direction in regards to the offensive coordinator position, which seems to contradict his ability to pick and choose coaches.

Bottom line: Martz is no longer with the 49ers. During his one year with the team, the offense improved from the absolute worst in the league in 2007, to somewhat mediocre in 2008. His biggest failing was probably his loyalty to journeyman backup quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan, and, allegedly, creating ways to keep him on the field. Once O'Sullivan played his way out of the starting job, Shaun Hill proved he was the best option on the roster.

As for Martz, here's what he had to say on the move, from Matt Maiocco of the Press Democrat:

"He wants to run the ball," Martz said in a phone interview from his office. "I'm not what he's looking for on offense. That's his business."