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Something called the Washington Huskies Examiner and the Web site ProFootballTalk.com are both reporting that Jim Mora could be the next head coach of the Washington Huskies.
While the Seattle Times reported a month ago that he wouldn’t be a candidate, rumors persist that the former Atlanta Falcons coach might in fact be the guy.
Why is this noteworthy? Well, the assistant head coach/defensive backs coach of the Seattle Seahawks had already been pegged to be the successor to Mike Holmgren, who has already announced that he is leaving the Seattle Seahawks to take at least the next year off.
And the Seahawks may have paid the price for making that announcement prior to the season. While the team has been plagued by injuries, there is some evidence that naming a “head coach in waiting” can turn the current team off from playing for the current guy.
Don Banks at sportsillustrated.cnn.com points at the Indianapolis Colts (Jim Caldwell will replace Tony Dungy when Dungy leaves) and Dallas Cowboys (Jason Garrett will replace Wade Phillips when Jerry Jones gets his next itchy trigger finger) as teams in addition to Seattle that all have underachieved to some degree during the season.
The Colts and Cowboys have turned it around enough to get into contention. But an AFC executive told Banks “I can’t recall one, but in the history of the league has there ever been a situation , where there’s a coach, and a coach in waiting and that team has had a productive season?” the executive asked rhetorically. “I really don’t think so. I don’t remember one. There has to be something to all three of these teams struggling in this situation. How can it not be at least a factor?”
So, while injuries have helped derail the Seahawks this season, they also potentially partially wasted a the year in hopes that Mora would take over next year only for him to potentially jump ship before coaching a game?
I’ve got to think that if this comes to pass this strange “coach in waiting” trend might slow a bit. And I’ve also got to think that perhaps these are some of Jim Mora’s true colors starting to shine through … again.
I think when people look back at the 2008 season for the St. Louis Rams, the one thing that will jump out is how the lack of clarity around the ownership of the team doomed their season. And possibly their next few seasons.
There were rumors dating back to last season that coach Scott Linehan was going to get fired. Those rumors proved to be false, and then in January, team owner Georgia Frontiere passed away, and her son Chip Rosenbloom assumed control–but promised not to make any changes until he could “evaluate the team.”
In October 2000, the NBA discovered that the Minnesota Timberwolves had entered into secret contracts that allowed them to circumvent salary cap rules. While teams in all sports stretch the rules, the Wolves and Smith exacerbated this particular situation by putting their agreements down on paper.
NBA Commissioner David Stern at the time handed out one of the most severe spankings a professional sports franchise has ever received. He voided Smith’s contract with the Wolves, fined the team $3.5 million and took away their first-round picks for the next five seasons – a move the organization from which the organization is still recovering.
One must wonder after reading ESPN’s snippet of a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Packers Insider story if the Minnesota Vikings might soon be in for the NFL’s version of the Wolves’ punishment. The paper reports that the tampering charges the Green Bay Packers filed against the Vikings are based on phone records showing that Brett Favre had numerous conversations with both his friend, Darrell Bevell, the team’s offensive coordinator, but also head coach Brad Childress.
I almost regret writing most of the soap opera script that I have on the Brett Favre saga over the last week and change and nothing would make me more sorry than if ProFootballTalk.com’s post from last night is true.
That post suggests that the Packers gave Favre a list of three teams they would consider trading him to and that Favre didn’t like any of the three so he now plans to stay retired. What a horribly boring way for this saga to end.
In today’s early hours PFT has cited the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the NFL Network in reporting on separate posts that the Packers have called the Baltimore Ravens and at least one NFC team about dealing the bipolar quarterback.
Whether Favre does or doesn’t ultimately come back apparently doesn’t change the Packers’ tampering charge against the rival Minnesota Vikings. So – as PFT puts it – this story isn’t going away for months and months whether they want to cover it or not.
We, on the other hand, will just choose to ignore it if it continues to bore us. After all – training camps are starting and games are just around the corner. It won’t be long before we’re sitting at the sports book in the Wynn or Caesar’s Palace or the Golden Nugget — or all of the above — enjoying week one of the NFL regular season – and hoping the red eye flight home Sunday night doesn’t get canceled so I make my wife’s Monday birthday.
ESPN Radio’s Freddie Coleman says Vikings fans can stop trying to decide whether they’d like to see future Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre wearing his trademarked number four in purple and gold this fall.
“Forget it, boys and girls,” he says. “It’s not going to happen.” During his Friday night GameNight broadcast Coleman says there are three teams Favre could end up with – and the Vikings aren’t one of them. It’d be too painful for the organization to deal with Favre coming out of the Lambeau Field tunnel with Minnesota, he claims.
Actually, Coleman insists that because of salary cap issues and the roster turnover that would be required by most teams to fit him under the cap it is most likely that Favre remains a Packer. But if a trade does happen – and his release is highly unlikely, Coleman says – three teams make the most sense.
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