JDG

There was a change in regime in Green Bay, and the new GM wanted to bring in his own guy, so he fired Sherman at the first opportunity. Jauron was in the same situation in Chicago, but going 13-3 made him unfirable for two years. JDG

The Bucs denied permission for their LB Coach to interview for the Detroit DC position. Under new NFL rules, teams are only required to grant permission for HC opportunities. JDG

Well, both Seifert and Sherman followed on the heels of a coach who had had tremendous success - Bill Walsh and Mike Holmgren. While Forrest Gregg did go to a Super Bowl in Cincy, I don't think that Wyche was exactly following the same caliber of a coach, and he definitely built his own team. JDG

No and no. It just mandates interviews.

That would be possible with Jauron, impossible with Sherman. Sherman isn't going to run Martz's system. (And personally, I don't think that anyone should be running Martz's "chuck and duck" system in Buffalo.) JDG

That rule has since changed. Teams can deny any asst. coach from taking a non-HC position with any team. Tampa Bay has been denying their position coaches promotions to DC for a couple years now. JDG

Wrong. Lofton did satisfy the requirement. JDG

Valid enough that the Bills were the *second* team to interview him. JDG

Of course, given that there is a 95% chance the new HC will be either Jauron or Sherman, a lot of people could have gotten lucky. Secondly, sources may be reporting information that they believe to be true, but is in fact incorrect. Moreover, sources may be reporting information that *is* true, but that changes over time. So, don't expect anything like that. People will have to continue to judge for themselves, and take information for what it is worth. JDG

I'll be surprised if Wilson pays Capers to be a DC. And I'll be surprised if Caldwell makes what is essentially a lateral move. And finally, how often has any NFL team ever previously hired someone they interview for the Head job as a coordinator???? (Other than the Chiefs bringing back Gunther Cunningham?) JDG

Everyone seems to be agog over Mike Sherman, based on his past track record, and seem to be mystified that Dick Jauron is even a consideration. I think it is important to consider that stark differences in talent the two had to work with. While Dick Jauron was making do with the Jim Miller's and Anthony Thomas' of the world, Mike Sherman had one of the greatest QB's in NFL history, some solid WR's, and an outstanding RB in Ahman Green. Its hard to judge the quality of a coach who is the beneficiary of a load of talent assembled by his predecessor. Consider, for example, the run George Seifert had after taking over Bill Walsh's talent-stocked 49ers: 1996 12-4-0 2nd -- NFC West 1-1 - Lost Divisional Playoffs 1995 11-5-0 1st -- NFC West 0-1 - Lost Divisional Playoffs 1994 13-3-0 1st -- NFC West 3-0 - Won Superbowl 1993 10-6-0 1st -- NFC West 1-1 - Lost Conference Championship 1992 14-2-0 1st -- NFC West 1-1 - Lost Conference Championship 1991 10-6-0 T2nd -- NFC West 1990 14-2-0 1st -- NFC West 1-1 - Lost Conference Championship 1989 14-2-0 1st -- NFC West 3-0 - Won Superbowl That's about as solid of a coaching record as you could ever possibly hope for. And yet, George Seifert moved on to Carolina and was positively abysmal - in three years he *never* had a winning season, and he ended his tenure with a jaw-dropping 15 game losing streak in a 1-15 season. (And you think that *we* were bid this year!) So, I'm just advising people to keep a little bit of persepctive, and stop judging NFL Coaching candidates solely by prior wins and losses. JDG

This is dirty pool as Donnie Henderson has only been a coordinator for what, two years? Ron Rivera, whom you also listed, has only been a coordinator for one year. I'd also point out that Ray Rhodes is simply not going to get another HC job, not after being fired after just one year in Green Bay and not with his health concerns. Quite simply, there are not many experienced and successful minority coordinators in the NFL right now - which is the usual grooming ground for HC's. This is certainly partly a result of so many minority coaches having been hired lately. So, this is something that is going to take time - but I don't think that race has played any part in the six minority guys you listed not getting a job. JDG

McCarthy comes from the very-successful Mike Holmgren coaching tree. McCarthy also once coached Brett Favre, which is a huge consideration in Green Bay. McCarthy has a long track record of success, including HC interviews in prior seasons. This year, McCarthy was working with one of the most talent-deprived offenses in the League - so you have to consider what he was working with. And finally, the qualities that make one a successful coordinator are not the same qualities that make one a successful HC. Indeed, two of the League's most successful HC's were, Andy Reid and Herm Edwards, were *never* Coordinators. So, I think that the Packers were looking for the qualities they wanted in a HC and looking past a lost year coordinating a talent-deprived team. JDG

Which is pure ignorance of history. Asian-Americans have suffered far more discrimination in this country than Hispanic-Americans ever have. JDG

One of the greatest gifts of my life was the opportunity to be at that game with my Dad. I remember it was freezingly cold that day, and a nice woman in the stands next to me gave me a draught of hot chocolate from her thermos. I would have taken frostbite before leaving that game - and I was dressed warm! The experience afterwards what it must be like to remember your first Christmas. The world seemed more alive, and anything seemed possible. One the drive home from the Stadium, people were out on the streets, standing on the corners ringing bells, dancing, and cheering. It was fantastic. JDG

Indeed, Bryce left the Bills for the Rams for a couple years - who also let him go. JDG

I've noticed this too. I am, in general, a huge fan of attempting to hire the next Andy Reid or Herman Edwards (two guys, incidentally, who weren't even *coordinators* upon being hired - and the Philly media blasted the hiring of Reid over guys with HC experience.) Again, in general, if a proven HC with experience is available, its usually because he proved that he was able to get fired from one job beforehand. Plus, I'd rather hire the next Bill Cowher - a guy who could lead the organization for the next 15 years (and counting.) With that being said, I think that there definitely is something to being a contrarian in a sellers market. With such a huge number of vacancies this year, and with the Mularkey resignation throwing us into the market late, it might be very sensible to go against trend and look at the experienced guys all the other teams are passing over. Moreover, both Dick Jauron and Mike Sherman have the interesting quality that they both served during a change in GM regime, and that the new GM's essentially forced them out at the first opportunity. Its arguable that neither lost their jobs so much through a fair evaluation of their performance as it was of the new regime wanting to bring in their own guy. Hopefully Jauron or Sherman will be the next Belichick or Shanahan. JDG

If the Bills just wanted a token interview, wouldn't they have just interviewed Gray or Cottrell? Or even Donnie Henderson or Tim Lewis? Heck, why not Tyke Tolbert? I think that Lofton is a more serious candidate than the MSM is giving him credit for. He still might not get the job, but I think he has a shot - and he might make a great OC for Dick Jauron. JDG

Sometimes numbers can be misleading, but Losman's numbers are so bad... they're hard to argue with. There's essentially two cases for Losman: 1) Losman is really bad, and the burden of proof is on Losman to show that he can ever be a competent NFL starter. Losman's play would not be tolerated from a 3rd-round draft pick, and the Bills should start planning for a future without Losman until he presents convincing evidence otherwise in practice and training camp. 2) Losman is really bad, but we just need to suck it up and tolerate the really bad play for X games more, due to reasons of (pick your favorite: inexperience, injury, bad coaching, poor line play, lousy supporting cast), because Losman might still be good - having been picked in the 1st round and all. I can't fault Arkush for going with case #1 - while admitting that he could be wrong at the same time. JDG

Speaks volumes about just how bad Losman was this year.... JDG

Ain't nobody else was able to develop Cade McNown either...... JDG

No and No. Matt Millen ran into that problem with Mariucci - everyone knew he was going to hire Mariucci and so other candidates started declining token interviews. JDG

If you look closer, I think that you will find that Mort is pretty often reliable and that Clayton isn't even worth listening to ever. JDG

Good to hear. Especially if Jauron is hired, there's nothing worse than not believing in the new Head Coach. I think Jauron is an interesting choice. Yes, the Bears got a ton of breaks in their 13-3 year - but every NFL team gets some breaks during the year. So maybe with some different bounces the Bears lose the Browns and 49ers games. That's still 11-5... with a roster that really should have been 4-12. On offense they had Jim Miller and Anthony Thomas - two guys who very quickly became NFL backups, and their only WR was Marty Booker, with a bunch of nobodies lining up on the other side of the field. Their TE's were probably the biggest collection of no-names since the Bills lined up Lonnie Johnson, Rob Coons, and Tony Cline. Yes, the defense carried this team, but their defensive roster doesn't exactly evince evidence of being loaded with great players. Looking closer at the Bears personnel during the Jauron era, the Bears look like they had some really weak drafts during that time. In his first year, they drafted Cade McNown in the 1st Round - one of the worst 1st Round QB's ever, and their second rounder, Russell Davis, was off the team after just one season. The 2000 draft was a winner with Urlacher and Mike Brown, but by 2001 they were drafting the likes of David Terrell and Marc Colombo, both first round busts. So, while Jauron definitely has fewer playoff seasons and wins than Mike Sherman, Jauron seems to have been operating with significantly less talent at his disposal - the difference between Brett Favre and Ahman Green vs. Jim Miller and Anthony Thomas. And 13-3 is still 13-3.... that's the best record Marv Levy ever achieved with the Bills. Its also worth noting that before the 2001 season, the Bears' GM resigned. The new GM, Angelo, wanted to get rid of Jauron, but couldn't after the 13-3 season, but took the opportunity to do so after subsequebt 4-12 and 7-9 seasons. While some people talk about Jauron being upset in the playoffs by a solid Philadelphia Eagles team, the truth of the matter is that coaches with tons of playoff wins generally aren't available. JDG

They got two first rounders from the Gruden trade. In the first year they drafted Philip Buchanon and Napoleon Harris with their first rounders... Philip Buchanon was a head case and a bust, Harris was a mediocre player they tossed into the Randy Moss trade. In the second round they drafted OT Langston Walker who was ready to start for them this year before getting hurt, and TE Doug Jolley whom they traded. The next year they drafted Nnamdi Asomugah and Tyler Brayton with the last two picks in the first round. Asomugah has been an o.k. player, and Brayton is still a backup. In the second round they drafted Teyo Johnson, who despite a bit of preseason hype in Fantasy Football mags has been a complete bust. The Raiders suffered this year from a very hard schedule, Kerry Collins being his usual erratic self, and probably some bad coaching by Norv Turner. They should be better next year, provided they can find a QB. JDG