Tuesday Morning QB: Two coaches get the ax
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
01/02/2007
Dennis Green couldn't get the Arizona Cardinals into contention. Jim Mora couldn't keep the Atlanta Falcons in contention.
Both are now unemployed.
The first two coaching dismissals after the NFL season came quickly. Less than 24 hours after their teams concluded losing campaigns, the Cardinals canned Green and the Falcons fired Mora. Both were in their third years on the job.
No one expects the flood of movement that occurred a year ago, when 10 head coaching spots changed hands, but Monday indicates this could be a painful January in the precarious profession.
Also in danger of being fired is Oakland's Art Shell, whose Raiders went 2-14, the worst record in the league. Just lose, baby.
Romeo Crennel has done so much losing in Cleveland that his tenure could end after two years. Tom Coughlin is under fire because his Giants have underachieved in a stunningly dysfunctional manner — despite making the NFC playoffs as a wild card.
Jon Gruden's grip in Tampa Bay is slipping. Bill Cowher is contemplating leaving the Steelers after 15 seasons. It's impossible to predict what Bill Parcells will do in Dallas in his fourth head coaching stop. Miami's Nick Saban has been targeted by the University of Alabama for its vacant coaching position.
For now, Green and Mora are finished.
"In the final analysis, when you look at the three years of wins and losses, we didn't win enough games," said Cardinals vice president and general counsel Michael Bidwill, son of owner Bill Bidwill.
No, Green was a mere 16-32 as the latest failed coach for the Cardinals, who have had one winning season in 22 years.
Bidwill believes it won't be difficult to find a replacement, and he identified six, including former Packers coach Mike Sherman, now the assistant head coach of the Houston Texans. Sherman will be in Tempe, Ariz., to interview on Thursday, vice president for football operations Rod Graves said.
Interviews have yet to be scheduled for Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow, Colts assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, and two Steelers assistants: Russ Grimm, assistant head coach-offensive line coach, and Ken Whisenhut, offensive coordinator.
The Cardinals will pay Green the $2.5 million remaining on his four-year contract. Arizona went 6-10, 5-11 and 5-11, the 2006 season the most disappointing because the Cardinals moved into a showcase new stadium with high expectations.
Mora, whose father Jim was a longtime NFL coach, took the Falcons to the conference title game in 2004, losing at Philadelphia, but then went 8-8 and 7-9. In the last two seasons, Atlanta went 4-13 combined in the second half.
Mora hurt himself by not fully developing Michael Vick at quarterback, having few reliable receivers, and not winning with the league's best rushing game. And Mora didn't help his situation by saying on a radio show that his "dream job" was to coach his alma mater, the University of Washington — even though the school has a coach, Tyrone Willingham.
PACKERS — Teammates are holding out hope that quarterback Brett Favre will talk himself into returning for what would be his 17th NFL season. Favre sounded like someone on the verge of retirement Sunday night, getting choked up after Green Bay's victory in Chicago. Favre originally was scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs on his left ankle on Monday. But a Packers spokesman said the procedure had been postponed.
DOLPHINS — Defensive end Jason Taylor says he'll consider retirement at age 32. Taylor scored twice on interceptions, had 13 1/2 sacks and is a contender for NFL defensive player of the year. But he said retirement is a possibility. "Yes, I will have to think about it, and there are no guarantees," Taylor said.
PANTHERS — Middle linebacker Dan Morgan said he has been cleared to return next season despite multiple concussions.
STEELERS — Dick Hoak, a Steelers player or coach all but one season since 1961, is retiring after an NFL-record 35 continuous seasons as a Steelers assistant coach.
