I was wondering who will go where coaching wise?
Falcons - They have probably been a bit hasty in hiring Petrino who in my opinion has not been tested yet. This one might backfire - Unless, of course, Falcons had their eye on Petrino for a long time and had been talking to him before the last Louisville game (very likely). Still, there are better out there.
Cardinals - I hear Norm Chow has been interviewed. It would be interesting to see how a quiet, unassuming 'chinese' fella do in this white male dominated league. The Chow-Leinart combination has worked in the past.
Raiders - This team is doomed. They would need a Bill Cowher to shake the dust. So we have to wait another decade I guess.
Dolphins - I don't know. But someone who can make Culpepper fire on all cylinders again.
Steelers - I don't know. I have not been following them that much for quite some time now.
In addition, Coughlin mught be living on borrowed time. Parcells might call it a day, Joe Gibbs is a geriatric, etc...
Well, the Coughlin part of your quote is forgettable, as he's been extended another year...
Cowher can't sign with anyone until after the 2007 season, unless the team wanting him buys out his Steelers' deal, and compensates them with a (probably 1st round) draft pick. That won't happen. And if he goes anywhere, it will be to a team close to his home, I'd think. He's made such a big deal about "family time" in recent years, and now they live in North Carolina.
The Steelers candidates are OL coach Russ Grimm (finalist for Bears job; sought by Falcons and Cards); Off. Coordinator Ken Wisenhunt (sought by Cards, Falcons and Dolphins); Ron Rivera (the Bears' D coordinator); and Mike Tomlin (the Vikes' D coordinator). This will be a tough call. The Steelers have had only 2 coaches since 1969. Grimm and Wisenhunt appear to be the favorites, and both have strong ties to the community. But the other 2 hires came from outside the organization (though Cowher, at least, had local ties.)
Rivera coached the vaunted Bears' D and is Hispanic (the "Rooney Rule", that teams with coaching vacancies must interview at least 1 minority candidate, is named for Steelers owner Dan Rooney), and Tomlin is: 1) African-American , and 2) 34, the same age as Cowher when he was hired away from the Chiefs.
Pete Carroll made it pretty clear that he was only "exploring his options", but will most likely be staying at USC. So the 'Fins will have to continue their search. Wisenhunt would be a good hire for them, too.
Finally, the Cards' owners, the Bidwells, are like Doug Ellis was when he owned the Villans: notoriously cheap, and infamously inept. Anyone who goes there does so only for the money, because that is a coaching "black hole." As for the Raiders... the only situation worse than the Cards is working for a senile owner who wears awful white jump suits and whose football mind-set is in the 1960s AFL.
Al Davis will have to die before the Raiders are play-off contenders again.
