NFL Coaching Hot Seat, The Early Odds

Charles Trainor Jr - Miami Herald

1. Tony Sparano - this ones easy, ownership is/was
in love with Jim Harbaugh and now that they see what
he's out west, Owner Stephen Ross has to be seething
at missing out. Sparano wasn't given a real shot for
2011 anyway. He is far and away the first coach to go.

2. Jack Del Rio - not far behind Sparano, but he actually
has a shot a surviving, I just don't think it will happen.
Del Rio gambled and got rid of Garrard just before the
start of the season and hoped that it might work for
him like the last time he did the same thing and got rid
of Byron Leftwich in favor of Garrard. Problem is owner
Wayne Weaver had a win now ultimatum prior to the start
of the season, and even though cutting loose Garrard
saved him $3 million, attendance is so bad that it may
not matter.

3. Todd Haley - Was my early season favorite after
getting out scored 98-10 to start 2011, but has since
salvaged a couple of wins. He's way too cocky for someone
who has accomplished absolutely nothing. I thought he
would be gone by week eight, but here he is.

4. Jim Caldwell - I actually think he's moved into a tie
for third with Haley. Yes, it's true, no Peyton Manning,
but in all fairness, if you can't win games, you aren't
that good of a coach. Owner Jim Irsay may save him,
but he should probably go.

5. Leslie Frazier - Blame Donovan McNabb all you want,
he's still the head coach, and he may prove to be one
of those guys whos best days are as a coordinator, and
nothing more. He probably gets another, but how he
finishes will be the key.

Honorable mention:
Steve Spagnuolo - 0-5, third year, I think they were
expecting more this year

Ken Whizenhunt - Kevin Kolb, veteran team, 1-4, bad job

Lovie Smith - If they don't make the playoffs it might
just be time for a change

Tom Coughlin - 4-2 yes, but how will they finish?

Rex Ryan - Team starting to look BAD again, can that
mouth cash his check? Schottenheimer more likely to
be the sacrificial lamb here.




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NFL Stone Cold Locks 2011 Week 4

AP Photo/Mel Evans

3-0 last week puts me at 8-1 for the
season, and though that's nice, I'm
driven to make sure that they live up
to their name and look for more, and
more perfection this week, so here goes:

1. Philadelphia (Too much talent, their due)
2. Baltimore (Here comes the Rex Ryan quote train)
3. Green Bay (Way too much cheese here)

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NFC: The New Monster Of The "Midway" Division

Courtesy: Yardbarker

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but when
you have Dallas (Americas Team), the New York
Giants (New York, New York, so nice they named
it twice), the Philadelphia Eagles (The NEW
Miami Heat?), and The Washington Redskins
(Well it is the Nations Capitol, anyway), then
you have lots on swag going on, and as far as
divisions go, it is a bit of a Monster, and one
that will be followed very closely throughout
the year, especially if the Cowboys can steal
one against the Jets on Sunday night football
on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and momentarily
silence Rex Ryan (Who am I kidding!). This is
how I think it will look at seasons end.

1. Philadelphia Eagles (Too Much REAL Talent)
2. Dallas Cowboys (For Real, & Will Make Some Noise)
3. NY Giants (Injuries Hurt/End Season Before It Begins)
4. Washington Redskins (Shanahan A One Trick Pony, No
Elway, No Tricks. O V E R R A T E D)

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Mark San-chise Or Dumb-chise ?

Full disclosure will tell you that I am not a
Mark Sanchez fan, as a matter a fact I have been
predicting his demise since the moment the NY
Jets traded up to get him in the 2008 NFL draft,
but that is not why I am writing this.

A little over a week ago Deadspin reported a
story about Sanchez and his hooking up with 17
year old girl a few weeks back, and all the little
pieces of the story since attached to it.
The details are not something I'm really all that
interested in, maybe you are. What does strike a
cord with me is that even though I root against him
from time to time, I kinda like the kid. He's
comes across as a bright guy, likable and smart, but
this latest story kind of leaves you scratching your
head. You see the synopsis of the story is this:
He meets a girl, she's says she's 17, he says well
I guess I'll have to wait until you turn 18 because
he thinks that 18 and not 16 is legal in NY. She,
the girl tells him no, I'm legal now it's 16 in NY,
he, Mark Sanchez is 23 at the time, so this all seems
ok, except it really isn't. You see, 23 year olds
shouldn't be with 17 year olds, but they sometimes
are and it turns out just fine, and the intentions
are good, BUT you are the starting Quarterback of the
NY Jets, yes that's right in the media mecca of the
world. What the F%&K are you thinking? Are you
serious? There are a tremendous amount of women
ranging from 22 - 82 who are willing to drop to their
unabashed knees and service within a seconds notice
at just about any hour of the day, and you choose a
17 year old girl?, who no matter how hot she is, is
more than certainly going to give you a bad name in
the press just because they are going to label you
with making a bad choice! As Pro Football Talk
pointed out in one of their stories, no laws were
broken, but it will raise eyebrows, and that to me
has to have Jets fans wondering if this is the guy
who through his decision making is the one that's
going to lead the J-E-T-S to the promised land.

Rex Ryan has already guaranteed that the Jets will
win the Super Bowl next year, and I believe that
the Jets have the curse of the Schottenheimer to
deal with as well, so just add this to the things
that stand in the way of their second Lombardi
trophy and all you have is people around the league
saying is: "Typical Jets".

Curse Of The Schottenheimer ?

The Curse of the Schottenheimer may sound like
something I just made up, and it very well could
be, but if you take a look at the numbers of the
Schottenheimer trio and their history, both on the
College and Pro level, you have to admit, it may
actually exist. Marty the most notable member of
the Schottenheimer's has the most extensive career.
Marty started out coaching in the now defunct WFL
(World Football League), where he was the linebacker
coach for the Portland Storm. During his time there
they compiled a record of 7-12, and though you can't
very well blame that on him, you may eventually see
a pattern. I for one think Marty Schottenheimer is
a very good football coach, I just don't think he
is a coach you can win a Championship with.
I also think that Dan Snyder made a mistake firing
Marty and replacing him with Steve Spurrier, and I
said so at the time. Marty is a great coach to get
your team going in the right direction, but eventually
he plateaus, and that's as far as you're gonna get.

Marty also has a well documented one sided feud with
the owner of the Oakland Raiders. I say one sided
because he won't say anything other than he hates the
Raiders and Al Davis, and Al Davis never makes any
mention of this. Marty says that he will tell us all
in due time when he retires, but those days seem to
be upon us, since he hasn't coached in more than four
years and is quickly approaching the age of 68 when
team owners and GM's stop beating down the door of
a coach who has a losing playoff record and has never
been able to reach the Super Bowl let alone win one.
Marty never coached on the collegiate level that I can
find but his career numbers read as follows:
200 Wins and 126 Losses with one Tie a very respectable
.613 winning percentage but his playoff number are
a different story all together. He has 5 Wins and
13 Losses with NO Super Bowl Appearances, that is
a winning percentage of .384, and if you take
the numbers of the coaching staffs he's been a part
of the numbers get worse, 259-225-1 .538% and
5-15 in the playoffs for a .250 winning percentage.
His so called "feud" with Davis might in no small
part have to do with the fact the Marty was in his
first year as defensive coordinator of the Cleveland
Browns in 1980 when they lost to the Raiders in
Cleveland, but that's just a guess.

There are two other members of the Schottenheimer
clan that take part in this "curse". The lesser
known Kurt Schottenheimer is Marty's brother, and
though he has never been a head coach, the teams
he has been on the staff of, and many times as
defensive coordinator have compiled a record of
202 Wins and 166 Losses, and while again a .549
regular season winning percentage is quite
respectable, the playoff numbers dip to 5-11 or
a .313 winning percentage. Add to that that he
was the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay
Packers the year they lost to the Giants in the
NFC Championship game in the 2007 season.
Just another Conference loss for the Schottenheimer
clan, and believe me those are plentiful.
By the way Kurt did coach on the college level, and
again never as a head coach. His collegiate numbers
are as follows: 39-57-1 a woeful .402 %

Since conference Championships were mentioned with
Kurt it's only fair to point out how fresh Marty's
son Brian is from Conference Championship battle.
Brian has been the offensive coordinator for the
NY Jets the past two years worth of those, and
it should surprise no one that they are 0-2 in that
time. Brian's name has been mentioned many times
for head coaching jobs in the past, but if the family
numbers are to be taken into account, then the question
that begs to be asked is, why? His career numbers are
as vanilla as the family trophy case, 12-12 as an
assistant on the college level with two different schools.
96-96 on the pro level with 5 different organizations,
and 4-4 in the playoffs, and yes NO Championships.
With that the family numbers read as follows.
557-487-1 a .533 win percentage in the regular season.
14-30 a .318 win percentage in the playoffs, 0 for
7 in conference championships, hence the ZERO Super
Bowl appearances, and that is with eleven different
franchises. Yes even as assistants.
Their college numbers are 51-69-1 .421% with 7
different schools and ZERO Championships.
More numbers, if you add all this up it is as
follows: 526-586-2 a very very sad .472%

Rex Ryan said that Brian Schottenheimer would
absolutely be back as offensive coordinator of
the Jets the day after they were ousted in the
AFC Championship for the second consecutive year,
but maybe he should have taken a little time to
think that over. Many Jets fans want Brian's
head on stick, however that's not unusual for fans
these days. It's just that the numbers don't lie
and perhaps they are starting to understand that
having a Schottenheimer in your ranks may not
lead to the type of success you're looking for.