But here we are, and this is why we love the NFL. Back when Brock was behind center and Peyton was out indefinitely (which was only like 6 weeks ago BTW) you wouldn't have believed this script. Peyton making a comeback and hoisting the Lombardi this year was about as believable as Joe Montana stepping out of one of their joint Papa Johns commercials and doing it himself. In my last post I was clear about what I felt this win would mean to Manning's legacy. He's now in the discussion with Montana and Brady for the 'GOAT'. I know it's crazy that one game can be so impactful on a career that has spanned nearly 2 complete decades, but it is. Congrats to a guy who is a class act.
As the gold colored confetti fell, and John Elway basked in the gleam of the bright lights that were reflecting off of the Lombardi Trophy, an all too familiar feeling of loss washed over me. I realized that I had just finished watching the last meaningful pro football game I would see for over 7 months. Oh, the horror.
So #NFLwithdrawal begins to set in, but the offseason is not all bad. For the fans of teams like the Browns, Jets, Jags, Titans and Dolphins this is the time of year when they are full of hope. That genius new coach will change the culture. That bluechip, top 5 draft pick will be the missing piece. That overpriced free agent will bring with him the secret to wining that has been so elusive.
That's the big three storylines of every offseason: Coaching changes, Free Agency and the Draft.
We have seen some interesting head coach hires in the past few weeks. Doug Peterson returns to Philly and the organization has been very clear that they are not giving Bradford a big money contract or using the franchise tag on him. They are also interested in reversing the ill-advised trade that sent Nick Foles to the Rams. It's impossible for anyone to be able to judge who or what Peterson is without his mentor Andy Reid. Who knows if he can create a winning culture, who knows if he's an offensive genius?? All we do know is coach Reid must be feeling vindicated after watching 2 things: 1) the guy who took his job get run out of town and 2) the Eagles owner come crawling back to hire Reid's protégé. You can not see if he's smiling under that porn stash, but trust me, he is.
By far the best hire of the new HC's was Hue Jackson in Cleveland. His staff is (or at least should be) every Browns fans wet dream. Jackson, Pep Hamilton, Al Saunders and Roy Horton. Dude, how did that franchise land these guys? Two years ago they fired a HC who had been employed with them for less than 365 days. The fall out was extreme. No one would touch that job and they ended up settling for a low level assistant coach from Buffalo Mike Pettine. He obviously was WAY over his head and the team floundered under his leadership. He was fired and with openings in Miami, Tennessee and Philly the Browns swing for the fences and land Jackson. I give Coach Jackson some real credit for taking the worst team in the league, in the same division as the team he just left. I believe that some franchise are simply snake bit, but with Hue in Cleveland and Todd Bowles currently turning the Jets around, maybe the respective curses on these teams (and their long suffering fans) are ready to be broken.
The hire that I take issue with the most is Adam Gase in Miami. This guy is just the latest Eric Mangini/ Rex Ryan, flavor of the month coordinator that caught the eye of Mike Tannenbaum. MR. T believes that good coordinators translate to good head coaches. He isn't bringing in a college guy, he isn't brining in a retread (meaning a guy who has previous HC experience like Shanahan). This situation in Miami is starting to look a lot like Mr T's time with the Jets. Gase is a young, smart boy wonder type coach (Mangini). He seems way over his head when listening to his introduction presser. He's getting saddled with a 100 million dollar underperforming, problem child diva in Suh, who is know for his bad attitude (Santonio Holmes). He also inherits a QB who hasn't been able to lead his team to the post season in 5 attempts (you know that saying: "6th time is the charm!") With no true general manager in place Gase will be the lightning rod for Tannenbaums's mistakes. At least the weather is nice and the OJ is fresh down there, because everything else in Miami is looking old, stale and way too familiar.
As for the other hires: Mularkey in Tennessee is just dumfounding. You had the #2 pick last year... you bring in a promising young QB... he looks like he has been prepared properly by the coaching staff in his first few games. So, you fire the HC and promote a guy who has been a total failure and he leads you to the worst record in the league. You now have the #1 overall pick in this years draft and desperately need something to excite your fans. So you keep the lame interim HC. What??? I don't get it.
Chip Kelly will never be a successful HC in this league. Here's the timeline for the powers that be in San Francisco. They stumbled through a few head coaches who were special (Nolan & Singletary), but just not elite. They land on Harbaugh... he turns the team around... they run him out of town... promote a homegrown, long time assistant coach who they groomed for years. He struggles year one, so they dump him. They decide to hire a coach who took a great young roster in Philadelphia and proceeded to decimate it in 3 short years, alienating the entire team... even the owner. He was run out of the locker room, not even allowed to coach the last game of the season. His system is proven to put the QB in unnecessary danger and runs the defense ragged. It doesn't work in the NFL. Period. Signing any free agents will be next to impossible especially defensive players. So, yes... I think this was absurd as well. You have a pair of ego's now joined together in SF who both separately ruined franchises who were on the rise. Maybe they deserve each other.
Dirk Koetter and Ben McAdoo were both offensive coordinators who slid into the spots of the fired head coaches who hired them. And make no mistake, Coughlin was fired in NY. The Giants sent a clear message as an organization... Tom Coughlin was the problem. They retained a large portion of the coaching staff including both coordinators and they retain the GM. This is a team that has simply looked bad for 4 consecutive years. I am not a believer in half measures. That team needed a complete reboot, but the Mara's don't like the idea of that. I think they feel it gives off the impression that things are out of control. Newsflash, things are out of control with Big Blue.
Koetter and the whole situation in Tampa is confusing to me. Just like Mariota in Tennessee, Winston will be playing for his 2nd HC in 2 years. Not a formula for success. Why any franchise would let a HC use a top 5 draft pick if they are on the hot seat is beyond me. I'm not saying that the HC's in Tampa and Tennessee were the decision makers for their teams in last years draft, but both guys had a lot of say in who was picked with those ultra valuable top 2 spots.. It's no wonder these teams always seem to appear at the top of the draft every year.
The NFL combine is just over one week from today and free agency starts not long after on March 9th. Only one team will reach the mountain top in 2016, and the race starts now! Gentlemen, start your engines...
-Jay Wagner
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