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Tuesday Roundup St. Louis dismisses four assistant coaches
Updated: Tuesday January 02, 2001 8:02 PM
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Defensive coordinator Peter Giunta and two of his assistants were fired Tuesday by the St. Louis Rams, who also dismissed special teams coach Larry Pasquale. Also fired were line coach Carl Hairston and secondary coach Steve Brown. The moves come three days after the defending Super Bowl champions were eliminated from the postseason in a 31-28 wild-card playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints. "Decisions like this are not easy," head coach Mike Martz said in a statement. "They are good coaches and good men, but I feel we need a new direction on defense and on special teams." The Rams allowed 30 points a game, the highest ever by a playoff team, and their defense was ranked 23rd in the NFL. It was ranked sixth last year, and the only new starter was strong safety Devin Bush. Giunta, Hairston and Brown were holdovers from the staff of Dick Vermeil, who retired after winning the Super Bowl last January. Pasquale was added to the staff after Frank Gansz unexpectedly resigned. Giunta was co-defensive coordinator with John Bunting in 1999. Bunting left to become linebackers coach for the Saints, and Giunta took over as defensive coordinator. But Giunta's duties were reduced after a 54-34 loss at Kansas City in Game 7 when Martz lured Bud Carson out of retirement to act as a consultant. Carson called defensive signals much of the remainder of the year, but is not expected to return next season. Giunta, and Hairston were with the Rams for four years. Before this year, Pasquale coached five seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Rams' special teams lost three onside kicks. Brown was with the Rams for six years, the last three as secondary coach. The Rams were ranked 27th in pass defense and surrendered big days to Saints journeyman wide receivers Willie Jackson and Robert Wilson in the playoff loss. Under Hairston, the Rams led the NFL in sacks last year. This year they finished fourth. Surviving the purge on defense were linebackers coach Mike Haluchak and defensive assistant Howard Tippett, both of whom were hired by Martz.
Broncos fire defensive coordinator RobinsonDENVER (AP) -- Greg Robinson, who helped the Broncos win Super Bowls in the 1997 and '98 seasons, was fired as Denver's defensive coordinator Tuesday amid criticism of the team's shoddy tackling and apparent lack of passion. Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan did not announce a successor. The team said Shanahan would discuss his decision Thursday. A telephone message left at Robinson's home was not returned. Robinson, fired two days after Denver's 21-3 playoff loss to Baltimore, came to Denver with Shanahan in 1995 and helped the Broncos build a defense that relied on blitzes and a gambling secondary. After finishing last in the NFL in total defense in 1994, Denver improved to 15th in Robinson's first year and climbed to fourth in 1996. The rise to success culminated with back-to-back NFL titles and led to speculation that Robinson would become a head coach. But since the second Super Bowl win, the defense seemed to lose some of its intimidating character, and the problems were magnified by season-ending injuries to linebacker John Mobley, defensive end Alfred Williams and safety Eric Brown in 1999. Unable to put consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks this season, the Broncos (11-6) were vulnerable to big plays and ranked last in the league against the pass. They also were humbled in Week 8 when Cincinnati Bengals running back Corey Dillon rushed for an NFL-record 278 yards. Eight weeks later, Kansas City's Tony Richardson had a career-high 156 yards as Denver stumbled in its quest for the AFC West title. The Broncos were equally inept in their playoff loss Sunday as rookie Jamal Lewis ran for 110 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown that featured a missed tackle by Denver linebacker Al Wilson. Robinson spent the 1994 season as defensive coordinator for the New York Jets. He coached the Jets defensive line from 1990-93. Robinson was the offensive coordinator at UCLA in 1989 and was a defensive assistant for the Bruins from 1982-88. Cardinals fire Trestman, three othersTEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Cardinals offensive coordinator Marc Trestman and three other assistants were fired Tuesday as head coach Dave McGinnis started his promised shakeup. Trestman had been offensive coordinator since 1998. Quarterbacks coach John Garrett, tight ends coach Don Lawrence and wide receivers coach Vic Rapp also were dismissed. Trestman, offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers under George Seifert in 1995-96, was highly criticized for an offense that ranked 24th in the NFL overall, 27th in rushing and 17th in passing. In Trestman's first season in the post, Arizona went 9-7 and earned its first playoff victory in 52 years. But the offense was awful the last two seasons, and quarterback Jake Plummer struggled to make the right decisions in Trestman's West Coast offense. Arizona was 3-13 this season, the franchise's worst winning percentage since 1959. Sports Illustrated's Don Banks reported last week that McGinnis' wish list for the position starts with former Redskins head coach Norv Turner, although few expect Turner to take the job. McGinnis will take a hard run at Turner in an attempt to change his mind. McGinnis' top backup candidate is believed to be current San Diego offensive coordinator Geep Chryst, who was the Cardinals' quarterbacks coach in 1998 when Plummer had his breakthrough season. Minnesota offensive line coach Mike Tice, who is seen around the league as a coordinator-to-be, is also highly thought of, albeit as a long-shot candidate. Chryst still has a job with the Chargers, but that could change if head coach Mike Riley is asked to shake up his staff by a new general manager. Tice might find it hard to turn down any coordinator offer, because his resume could use the play-calling experience. McGinnis, promoted from defensive coordinator to interim coach when Vince Tobin was fired seven games into the season, has been given significant authority along with a four-year contract by owner Bill Bidwill. McGinnis has vowed to make changes in the staff and personnel. He also wants to hire someone who can foster a close relationship with Plummer, as Chryst did in 1998 before he left his job as quarterbacks coach to be offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers. Trestman also was on the staff with Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland and Tampa Bay in 13 NFL seasons. Garrett spent two seasons as quarterbacks coach after four seasons as an assistant coach at Cincinnati. Lawrence, who has coached in the NFL for 18 years, was on the Cardinals' staff just one season. Rapp was with Arizona for five seasons, overseeing a receiving corps that includes Rob Moore, Frank Sanders and David Boston. Injuries were a major problem on offense this season. Moore went down with a season-ending knee injury in the preseason. Center Mike Gruttadauria was lost to a neck injury that threatens his career. Wild-card game overnights down for three of four gamesNEW YORK (AP) -- Three of the NFL's four wild card games drew lower preliminary TV ratings than they did a year ago. Overall, the first weekend of playoff games dropped 7 percent in the big-market ratings, despite an increase in total viewers because of the snowstorm in the Northeast. Overnight ratings measure the country's largest markets, covering about 65 percent of U.S. TV homes. The Saints' 31-28 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Rams, Saturday afternoon on ABC, drew a 17.6 preliminary rating. That is up 12 percent from last year's second Saturday game, in which Washington led Detroit 27-0 at halftime. ABC's early game Saturday - Miami beat Indianapolis 23-17 in overtime - was down just 2 percent from Tennessee's "Music City Miracle" victory against Buffalo last season. Sunday's playoff games dropped significantly. Baltimore's victory over Denver (on CBS), and Philadelphia's victory over Tampa Bay (on Fox) -- both by 21-3 scores -- averaged a 17.1 rating, down 16 percent from last year's Sunday wild card average, when Minnesota beat Dallas 27-10 (Fox) and Miami edged Seattle 20-17 (CBS).
Owner: Texans won't hire coach until 2002HOUSTON (AP) -- The expansion Houston Texans won't have their first head coach until 2002, the NFL club's owner told a Houston television station. "The schedule all along has been for us to hire a coach in 2002," owner Bob McNair told KRIV. "So, we are really adhering to that schedule, but we're starting the interview process now. That means we'll have roughly a year to go through this process." McNair says he's got a list of NFL coaches he'd like to talk to by a league-imposed Feb. 15 deadline. "Frankly, I don't think we can interview all of the people we want to interview in the short time frame the NFL scheduled," he said. Texans general manager Charley Casserly said fans shouldn't take upcoming interviews to mean the team will act this year. "The decision is still there to hire in 2002, so we start with that," Casserly said. "However, we are going to interview candidates in January and February." Butch Davis is the only coach known to have discussed the position with McNair, but Davis has said he's staying at the University of Miami. The Texans will field a team for the first time in 2002. NFL sets attendance record for third year in a rowNEW YORK (AP) -- Almost 16.4 million fans bought tickets to NFL regular-season games, setting a new attendance mark for the third consecutive season. The per-game average of 66,078 was also a new mark. Attendance has increased steadily over the past decades as new stadiums were opened and new teams were added. The 1999 figure jumped with the addition of the new Cleveland Browns as the NFL's 31st team and increased again with a new stadium in Cincinnati. Next year, new stadiums will open in Denver and Pittsburgh, although both the Broncos and Steelers have regularly sold out. The figures are on tickets sold. The NFL no longer announces no-shows in most stadiums.
Shanahan says Griese will return even strongerDENVER (AP) -- Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan is expecting a bigger, stronger Brian Griese after the quarterback has offseason shoulder surgery. Griese separated his right throwing shoulder on Nov. 13 and missed six of Denver's final seven games, including its 21-3 loss to Baltimore in an AFC wild-card playoff game Sunday. No date has been scheduled for the surgery, but Shanahan was upbeat about Griese's future. "That joint, if you go in there and get it done the right way, it will be stronger than normal," Shanahan said during his weekly television show Monday. "I think Brian will make a commitment in the offseason that he's going to hit that weight room hard and get much stronger." In his second year as a starter, Griese was the NFL's top-rated quarterback and was selected to his first Pro Bowl. Shoulder problems, however, surfaced for the second consecutive season. After having surgery to repair torn cartilage last year, Griese was limited to 10 games in 2000. "He's a worker," Shanahan said. "He knows he has to get those shoulders stronger to take the punishment that he's going to put up with through the season." Broncos sign four to future contractsDENVER (AP) -- Three players who finished the season on Denver's practice squad signed future contracts with the Broncos on Tuesday. Cornerback DeAuntae Brown and offensive linemen John Feugill and Steven Herndon agreed to terms, along with former New Orleans Saints fullback Marvin Powell. They will join the team when NFL rosters expand to 80 players after the Super Bowl. Powell played nine games, primarily on special teams, for the Saints as a rookie in 1999 before being traded to Green Bay in July. He was waived by the Packers five weeks later. Feugill was cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars a week before the 2000 season began, and Herndon was released by the Miami Dolphins during training camp. Brown's only NFL experience came in the 1997 season-opener for Philadelphia. He was released two days later, and spent the rest of the season and all of 1998 on Pittsburgh's practice squad. Brown was waived by the Seattle Seahawks in 1999.
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