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Green interviews for Jaguars' vacancy Posted: Tuesday January 07, 2003 5:40 PM
By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated Though some already have seemingly ruled him out of the running for the job, former Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green on Tuesday became the first candidate to interview for Jacksonville's head coaching position, a source close to the Jaguars' situation told CNNSI.com. Green met with Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver and the team's senior vice president/football operations Paul Vance in Dallas, the source said, with both parties traveling to the interview. In the eyes of many, Weaver's assertion last week that he wouldn't vest any new head coach with complete authority regarding personnel decision making -- as he did with former Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin -- seemed to all but eliminate Green from consideration. But in reality, the Jaguars remain very interested in Green, who has softened his views regarding the autonomy he seeks within the Jacksonville organization. Green wants to have significant input on player personnel issues, and the ability to make a strong case for a particular player or need, but he has made it clear to Weaver that he is willing to work within a framework that includes a general manager or personnel director sharing power with the head coach. Green is not interested in being his own general manager or personnel director, and is said to not be seeking oversight regarding the Jaguars' salary cap or player contract issues. In fact, Green has put forth the name of Dwight Clark, Cleveland's former director of football operations, as a GM-level candidate he would be comfortable working with in Jacksonville. Weaver last week said that he will have the biggest say in who the franchise's second head coach will be, even if he first hires a GM or personnel director. Also, asked about Green's quest for total authority, Weaver last week told the Jacksonville Times-Union: "I'm not going to give anybody total control. If [Green] said that's what he wants and wouldn't accept anything less, that would rule him out." That statement seemed to allow Weaver the chance to signal to Green that he will have to be open to a power-sharing arrangement in order to be seriously considered for the job. Green is believed to have made that clear to Weaver in recent days, when the two sides had phone contact, and Tuesday's interview was arranged. While Green is the only confirmed candidate to be interviewed for the head coaching job, Weaver interviewed Buffalo assistant general manager Tom Modrak for his top front office job Sunday. League sources say the interview was not particularly successful. Weaver has denied that he interviewed former Saints general manager Randy Mueller last week, but acknowledges he is under consideration for the GM-personnel director job. Mueller is thought to be in pursuit of total control in the traditional sense of a general manager, with the ability to have a large say in the hiring of a head coach. Weaver is not interested in that kind of arrangement. If the Jaguars would go with either Modrak or Mueller for the front office job, that decision would not likely bode well for Green's chances, meaning Weaver was likely in the market for a younger, less experienced head coach. Potential candidates in that scenario could include Washington defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis and Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, both of whom are among the leading three candidates for the NFL's other head coaching vacancy, in Cincinnati. Collegiate coaches like LSU's Nick Saban, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops also have been mentioned as possible candidates. Green, who worked this season as an NFL analyst on ESPN, has the strongest track record of any known coaching candidate. He won 101 games in his 10 seasons in Minnesota (1992-2001), taking the Vikings to the playoffs eight times. His candidacy is made even stronger, and may have the backing of the league office, given the NFL's concerted efforts to have clubs to improve in the area of minority hiring. As part of its front office search, it is believed that Jacksonville has contracted with a head-hunting firm that's well known within the league: the New York-based Russell Reynolds Associates. That firm assisted the Bears in 2001, before Chicago hired general manager Jerry Angelo.
Green is still owed $2.8 million this year as part of his January 2002 contract settlement with Minnesota owner Red McCombs. Thus, he doesn't have to return to coaching this year unless the situation is right. But given that Jacksonville appears to be the last coaching job outside of Cincinnati that will come open this off-season, Green faces something of an all-or-nothing situation with the Jaguars if he wants to return to the sidelines this year.
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