Which coaches will go where, and why
Posted: Sunday January 03, 1999 01:57 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King talked with CNN/SI anchor
Bob Lorenz on Sunday morning about which coaches will end up where this
off-season and to wrap up his 1998 award winners ...
Lorenz: Is there any trouble in Pete Carroll's future if the
Patriots lose to the Jaguars on Sunday?
King: Absolutely. I think that right now Patriots owner Robert
Kraft is thinking about making a coaching change because some of the
players on his team have lost respect for Pete Carroll. A bad loss Sunday
could make Kraft look on the coaching market. He'll look at Jets defensive
coordinator Bill Belichick and he'll look at Chris Palmer, the former
Patriots aide who is now the offensive coordinator in Jacksonville. He was
very influential in the development of Drew Bledsoe.
BL: Game aside, what about the soap opera involving Steve Mariucci
and Mike Holmgren and their teams?
PK: I think Steve Mariucci is going to stay as the coach of the
49ers and I think this week he's going to sign a contract extension through
the year 2003. Now he had been talking with the 49ers about an extension
through 2005. I think he's going to get less authority and fewer years in
his extension. But Mariucci has told me on several occasions this year that
he doesn't want to be the big guru and that's one of the big things that
Eddie DeBartolo, if he regains control of this team, is conscious of. He
doesn't want a guru running the front office and running the whole show. He
wants to departmentalize this organization, with Bill Walsh on top, a
personnel guy and a cap guy in the middle, and then Steve Mariucci as the
coach of this team. So where does this leave Mike Holmgren? It definitely
leaves him out in Green Bay and here are the other places Holmgren won't be
going: Carolina, where George Seifert will surface on Monday; Cleveland,
where Holmgren is contractually forbidden to go by the NFL; and Washington,
which will not be set with an owner until far past the time that Holmgren
wants to make his decision. What I think is going to happen is as soon as
the Green Bay Packers
are eliminated from the playoffs, Mike Holmgren will interview in Seattle
and probably take the job as the coach and general manager of the Seahawks.
BL: As you noted, George Seifert's future seems to be in Carolina.
So let's look at some of the other openings... what about Brian Billick and
the Browns?
PK: Right now Brian Billick is the leader in the clubhouse but,
you know what, they're only on the fourth hole of this tournament. Carmen
Policy and the rest of the Browns braintrust has probably three or four
weeks to go before they make a hard and fast decision on who they're going
to hire.
BL: What about the situation in San Diego, with June Jones gone to
the University of Hawaii?
PK: San Diego is likely to make some kind of esoteric choice. They
have interviewed Oregon State coach Mike Riley. They're going to look at San Francisco 49ers
offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and San Diego State head coach Ted
Tollner. So I think that their choice is going to be the upset pick.
BL: Some people consider Philadelphia as the most attractive
situation. Who do you think might end up there?
PK: To me, Philly is the least attractive situation, Bob, because
they have such a long way to go. But I think that Steelers defensive
coordinator Jim Haslett is the leader here, he's clearly the guy they want.
But Haslett wants to interview in Seattle -- I talked to him this week and
he wants to go out there and he hopes to go out there if Holmgren doesn't
get that job. One other thing about Philadelphia: don't look for Haslett to
go there unless he gets a six-year, very long contract.
BL: And what about Baltimore -- they need someone to replace Ted
Marchibroda ...
PK: That's where I think Brian Billick could very well end up. He
fits the Art Modell profile, a coordinator, a guy who he can put his front
office to work with, not a guru type. I look for Modell to go hard after
Billick.
BL: And who could be next for the Chicago Bears?
PK: That's the $64,000 question. I don't think anybody in the
league knows, and I think that vice president of operations Mark Hatley,
who's in charge of making that process happen, is looking at a broad list,
which could include University of Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez.
BL: There have been rumblings that things aren't so great between
Jimmy Johnson and Dan
Marino in Miami to the point that some wonder whether Marino will stay
around. What do you hear about that?
PK: I wondered the same thing for a lot of this year, Bob, but
this week in practice Jimmy Johnson walked up to Dan Marino and said, "Dan,
make sure your agent calls me soon. I want to work out a contract extension
for you after this year." Now Marino's contract is due to expire in 1999,
and Jimmy wants to get Marino's cap number down from the $7.5 million that
it is. I talked to Marino's agent, Marvin Demoff, on Friday night and he
said, "The minute the season ends, I'm picking up the phone and calling
Jimmy. We'll work on a deal." Dan Marino will definitely be the Dolphins'
quarterback in 1999 and Bob, I think, probably, 2000, too.
BL: Let's talk about your awards for the year. I guess the easiest
decision of all was choosing your offensive rookie of the year...
PK: You bet. As Cincinnati Bengals owner
Mike Brown told me the other day, Randy Moss is the Jim
Brown of his era. The defensive rookie of the year was pretty easy, too. I
picked Green Bay defensive end Vonnie Holliday over
Oakland cornerback Charles
Woodson. BL: It's a little tougher choosing an overall
defensive player of the year. And while many think of the Vikings in terms
of their offense, you went their way for defense as well...
PK: With all due respect to Reggie White, who in his
bow-out year has 16 sacks, I picked a guy who in my opinion was the best
player in the NFL this season sideline to sideline, Minnesota outside
linebacker Dwayne Rudd.
Not many people have heard of him, but to me, he's the next super defensive
player in this league. And for offensive player of the year, it had to be
Indianapolis running back Marshall Faulk.
BL: And only one man can be the MVP ...
PK: I picked Terrell Davis for a very
simple reason. The Denver
Broncos started 13-0, changing a lot of guys, quarterback's in,
quarterback's out. There was one constant and that was Davis. Even though
he didn't break the rushing record he was the one indispensable player in
this league.
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