While out of town and enjoying the peaceful nature, I started thinking about how next season could turn out, and thought of several ramifications that the season could bode for the future. Based on the passion that drove my alternate history in N&D, I ended up writing several predictions that, although highly unlikely to actually happen as I write, certainly are plausible and hopefully not completely out of line.

My goal is to create more of a story out of these predictions that I hope will be entertaining to some of you here, and to have most of it done before the preseason starts. The timeline starts at the end of the regular season, and will end right after the draft is over. I should probably emphasize that for the moment, there's not a whole lot on the looming CBA expiration, though technically it is still operational until after the 2011 draft.

I'll grab a few off my laptop and post them in here now, and work on some more soon.

Dungy tells coaches not to interview with Panthers

As if the inevitability of the Carolina Panthers’ hire of Bill Cowher isn’t obvious enough, Tony Dungy raised the bar significantly during halftime of the Chargers/Broncos season finale on NBC.

Dungy said to Bob Costas that he believes, as a protest, that no coach should interview for the impending opening at head coach, now that interim hire Jeff Davidson’s tenure is officially over. Such a move would force the Panthers to violate the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority for the job. Furthermore, Dungy claims that he had already privately expressed his opinion to at least two unnamed coaches.

“I think it’s time that an example be made on this issue,” said Dungy. “I do feel a bit bad for [owner] Jerry Richardson, as well as Bill, who are both good men and very competent at their professions. However, all too often teams are simply being too hasty with their staffing decisions, and they are becoming blind to the hidden talent that exists in the coaching ranks.”

Dungy stressed that all coaches should participate in the boycott, and not just minority candidates, although the outcome would result in a Rooney Rule violation. “This isn’t about race,” said Dungy. “It’s about fairness and giving more people a shot at something that they likely deserve.”

We’re curious about to whom Dungy previously expressed his feelings. One possibility is Panthers defensive coordinator Ron Meeks, who served in the same capacity for Dungy during his entire tenure with the Indianapolis Colts and nearly earned the interim job with the Panthers himself after John Fox was fired midseason. Another could be Lovie Smith, whose firing from the head coaching position with the Chicago Bears is considered imminent. Smith served as linebackers coach under Dungy when he was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and like Meeks, is also black.

It seems unlikely that Dungy’s boycott will be able to work, as it only takes one minority candidate to satisfy the rule, and the Panthers could easily set up a smokescreen interview with an in-house candidate such as Meeks. However, Dungy likely realizes this, and is probably hoping that a publicity campaign on the issue will eventually prove successful.

If this is anywhere as good as your alternate history thread, it'll be an awesome read.

fkkn, dungy.... trying to steal the pats record setting spotlight yet again...

Jaguars jettison Del Rio down del rio

The Jacksonville Jaguars have officially kicked off the league’s Black Monday in which several head coaches are given their pink slips.

The team released a statement notifying that they have terminated the services of head coach Jack Del Rio.

“We would like to thank Coach Del Rio for eight seasons of leading our team on the field. After careful consideration, we have decided to move our team in a different direction, one which we believe will lead the organization back to its winning ways. We wish Coach Del Rio the absolute best and sincerely wish that he finds a successful position within the National Football League in 2011.”

Del Rio was widely believed to be out the door after a disastrous 4-12 campaign, the worst season of his tenure with the Jaguars.

2011 Locked Out!!

Sadness ensues.

Cutler First QB to Throw Interception in Offseason

Story to follow...

should have drafted tebow...

this will be interesting, but these first two aren't that impressive or shocking...

Yeah, the first few are going to be mainly coaches we would expect to get fired, but that's how it always starts. I'll dig up an interesting one for you soon, though.

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Bengals, Marvin Lewis will likely test the market

It’s rare that an NFL team allows a head coach’s contract to expire. But the Cincinnati Bengals certainly are cheap different in this department.

With the Bengals’ season now officially over after an embarrassing 47-14 loss at Baltimore, head coach Marvin Lewis is now officially a free agent. Furthermore, it seems more likely that Lewis and the Bengals may part ways.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Lewis is in “no rush” to talk a new contract with the Bengals. Furthermore, the feeling appears mutual from the Bengals’ point of view, as Florio also adds that owner Mike Brown may feel that Lewis’s tenure has “grown stale”.

It would certainly make sense for the Bengals to go a different direction. Although Lewis saved the team from its dreadful performances of the 1990s, he never won a playoff game in Cincinnati, and this year he presided over a 7-3 start that entered another spiral of 8-8 mediocrity.

However, the looming problem is that when the Bengals negotiate a new head coaching contract, be it with Lewis or someone else, they will get what they pay for. And if Brown isn’t willing to open up the wallet, he’s not going have much talent available to choose from.

ive never seen the strikethru option so prevalently used in actual reporting!

I seem to see it a lot in blogs, which is the type of point of view I'm aiming to tell this story from.

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McNair: Kubiak is “still our man”

The Houston Texans are clearly disappointed after a 6-2 start turned into a 2-6 finish. However, owner Bob McNair made it clear that he has not lost faith in his head coach, Gary Kubiak. McNair told John McClain of the Houston Chronicle that Kubiak will still be in charge for 2011.

“Gary is still our man,” said McNair. “We’re all obviously disappointed about how the season ended, but we suffered quite a few bad breaks and we were competitive in almost every single game we played. Gary is doing an excellent job and I have no doubt that we are going to break the ceiling very soon.”

The argument certainly has merit. The AFC was highly competitive this season, with ten of the sixteen teams fielding a non-losing record. Still, head coaches have been fired for doing more than Kubiak has done in his five years with the Texans, and it’s safe to say that his seat will be one of the hottest in 2011 if the franchise-long playoff drought continues.

Let the Brady Watch commence

Now that the Patriots’ season is officially over, it is time for followers of the team to speculate on what 2011 might hold.

This speculation will be dominated by the looming end of the contract of QB Tom Brady, on line to expire on March 5. And while both Brady and head coach Bill Belichick have done a good job of avoiding comment on the upcoming situation, there will soon be very little that they can do to avoid it from here on out.

There are quite a few facets that may make re-signing Brady difficult. First and foremost is determining compensation, especially with labor uncertainty that is in the air. Many have also sensed that Brady is frustrated from being distant from his family, who live in Los Angeles.

However, it also can’t be ignored that the Patriots appear to be a team in flux, and that Brady may not want to be a part of the sea of change that could happen. Although he was a key part in ending the year with a six game winning streak that fell just short of the playoffs, he certainly didn’t ignore the problems that plagued the team in the beginning. Also, while no one in New England would dare whisper the R-word, they are in prime position to invest in young talent. They own three first round picks in the 2011 draft, including the Raiders’ pick at fourth overall, as well as two second round picks, one of which is the 34th overall from the Panthers.

So stay tuned to this one. If all else fails, the Patriots would surely place the franchise tag on Brady to keep him in Massachusetts. However, there is always drama potential with that tag. Finally, while fans of other teams, such as the Indianapolis Colts might revel at the thought of Brady no longer being a Patriot, let’s not forget that Brady’s move could have impact on other impending free agent players.

Such as Peyton Manning.

New CBA Does Away With Franchise Tags.

Brady signs with San Fran.

Holmgren: Rob Ryan “definitely in the mix” for permanent head coach job

The Ryan family affair in the AFC could continue.

When asked at the season ending press conference if Browns interim head coach Rob Ryan could be retained for next season, general manager Mike Holmgren was quite supportive of his employee.

“Rob will definitely be in the mix if he’s interested,” said Holmgren. “He worked hard all season and turned some things around when we placed him in charge. Of course, we have a process in this league to determine who will be our next head coach, and we want to follow that process to ensure that we get the best man for the job.”

That last sentence could be construed as a jab at the Carolina Panthers, who are being accused of showing their cards way too early in their interest of Bill Cowher. Still, Holmgren said the right things, as he wanted to praise Ryan yet make it clear that they are serious in satisfying the Rooney Rule.

Ryan was able to muster a 4-5 finish to the season after Eric Mangini was fired due to an 0-7 start. Some believe that Ryan’s aggressive move to start rookie QB Colt McCoy was a large factor in the Browns’ slight rebound after the changing of the guard.

No more love for Lovie

As expected, the Chicago Bears have officially fired Lovie Smith, a story that was first broken by Chris Mortensen of ESPN. Mortensen also reported that coordinators Mike Martz and Rod Marinelli will also be on the outs, but the Bears have yet to confirm such news.

The Bears’ press release was quite short.

“The Chicago Bears have announced the contract termination of head coach Lovie Smith. We will have more details on the future of the team soon. We wish Love the best in his future coaching endeavors.”

The press release doesn’t sound too comforting. Then again, 2010 wasn’t exactly a comforting year for Bears fans.

CBS gives Cowher an “indefinite leave of absence”

In news that should surprise no NFL follower with a pulse, CBS Sports has announced that pregame show commentator Bill Cowher will not be in the studio for Sunday’s preview of the Wild Card matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos.

“CBS Sports has granted a request from Bill Cowher to receive an indefinite leave of absence for the coverage of the 2010 NFL postseason. We will support Bill during this time and assist him in whatever fashion is necessary and appropriate.”

Of course, CBS continues to refuse to acknowledge the reason why Cowher asked for the indefinite leave of absence. He is preparing to become the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. We’ve been highly critical previously of CBS’s refusal to prod Cowher about the situation, and in particular the refusal of studio analyst Charlie Casserly to mention one of the biggest current stories around the league. We understand the issue of possibly reaching a conflict of interest, but the tradeoff is that CBS Sports risks losing a bit of journalistic integrity in the process.

i like this so far.

also,



lol

Haynesworth to continue to make life difficult for Redskins

No one player created more drama in the NFL during the 2010 season than Redskins DT Albert Haynesworth.

To review, after a training camp holdout and a lackluster performance in the season opening game, the Redskins suspended Haynesworth for four games for conduct detrimental to the team. The team went 0-5 in his absence. After returning in Week 6, he was a key part in a defensive turnaround that helped the Redskins to a hopeful 7-9 finish, but he continued to state his displeasure regarding head coach Mike Shanahan’s 3-4 defensive scheme.

And apparently, he still hasn’t learned his lesson about working as a teammate to help out his team. According to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, Haynesworth is expected to continue to push GM Bruce Allen to pursue a trade for the volatile lineman. Per Glazer’s source, “Albert has always wanted out. It’s not going to change. He’s not dumb, and he knows the only way he’s going to get out is if he plays his ass off and continues to be a pain in the ass.”

Haynesworth’s performance post-suspension may slightly help the Redskins to find a suitor for him with decent compensation. However, the other 31 teams should continue to preach “buyer beware” with Haynesworth before they consider wagering anything on getting him to believe in anything else other than himself.

at first i was like =

and then i was like =