2009 NFL Season Thread

[BlueSky]

Don't cry too hard for young Jim Mora. From the Seattle Times:

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Mora had three years remaining on the coaching contract he signed in 2008 when he was designated Seattle's coaching heir. Those three years total more than $11 million.

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He gets paid that money, right? Must be nice.

[FiddySicks]

Pete Carroll would be a fool to leave the sweet gig he's got right now for the Seahawks.

[BBTV]

The thing is, in a different system, he may be able to excel and win something big. Andy Reid has stubbornly tried to force a square peg into a round hole for all these years. I'll admit that earlier in his career, when he could still move, if he had legitimate weapons (like a T.O.) instead of Torrence Small, Charles Johnson, James Thrash, Todd Pinkston, Na Brown, et al, he might have a ring (or two) right now. But the fact is that he doesn't, and he won't... not here anyway.

I get what everyone is saying about the Eagles' "succes" over the past 10 years, and I certainly understand where you're all coming from. I'm sure some day we'll all look back on this time and realize what we had. The thing is that once you watch your team get so far every year, only to have your leader throw up, or choke in a key situation, you get frustrated. I don't expect anyone who doesn't live here and who doesn't hear this guy's mopey, whiney attitude, and hear him point fingers at everyone but himself to really understand how annoying he is. He's an insecure baby, who won't allow for anyone to be the star besides him. He says repeatedly that he's the leader of this team, yet when the young guys look to him, he's moping on the sidelines with his towel over his head, almost like he's waving the white flag.

I'm not going to get too extreme and say that he's terrible, or even bad (though the stats show that when he loses in the playoffs, his ratings are lower than those of any other good qb - so basically when he's good he's good, but when he's off, he's horrible). He's probably the best QB that the franchise has had in the past 50 years, including Jawarski and Randall. But he doesn't have the makeup to get it done in a pressure situation, and it's just time to move on. If he goes somewhere else and wins it, good for him. I don't hate the guy, I'm just sick of him.

[rams80]

Well the Seahawks are targeting Pete Carroll as a replacement so this should be an interesting offseason for the Emerald City.

ESPN thinks this is going to happen.

I guess l'affair Reggie Bush is going to turn into a massive storm after all.

[quantum]

I get where BBTV is coming from on this issue. If the goal is to win the Super Bowl, then I believe Philly will have to change the chemistry of the organization. For whatever reason, they just don't have a fire in their belly to dominate. The organization shouldn't settle for being an also-ran. McNabb, although skilled, seems emotionless. He should be pissed that the team never gets over the hump. If he is, it just doesn't show.

[Jimmy!]

Well the Seahawks are targeting Pete Carroll as a replacement so this should be an interesting offseason for the Emerald City.

ESPN thinks this is going to happen.

I guess l'affair Reggie Bush is going to turn into a massive storm after all.

"Gee, I hope nothing bad happens to USC football. That would be a shame," Jimmy said sarcastically.

[BBTV]

I also don't believe for one second that he didn't have at least a little bit to do with their decision to let Dawkins become a FA and leave. He was threatened because Dawkins was the true leader of the team, and the most popular player with the fans.

One thing that people on the outside may not realize is that Reid and McNabb are joined at the hip. McNabb has more say and more influence than probalby any other player in the league, due to his relationship with Reid. He helped get TO in, and helped him get thrown out of town (that situation would never have gotten as bad as it did if McNabb didn't want TO gone.) When Westbrook wanted more money, they were reluctant to redo his contract, then McNabb said something about it, and boom - Westbrook gets a new deal (which this is the final season of.) I think that Andy Reid probably thinks that his legacy is in McNabb's hands, since he was a controversial pick at the time, and he wants to show everyone that he made the right call (even though time has already shown that he did make the right call, and we Eagles fans were dumb for hating it and wanting Ricky Williams instead.)

[jkrdevil]

My question is why would Seattle want Pete Carroll. He is a recruiter not a football coach.

Carroll wasn't a good coach with the Jets. Carroll was a mediocre coach with a very good team in New England. What is there to make anyone think he would be any good the 3rd time around. Pete Carroll has had success at USC because he could out recruit everyone for the best athletes and players. That can win in College where the gap between the top level players and others is very large. That can not win in the NFL where the gap between the top players and below is small. Given that Carroll's more recent USC teams have shown the ability to lose their focus at times (which was a problem with Carroll's NFL teams) I don't see why another NFL stint for Carroll would be any better.

I think he is what his record is about .500 coach in the NFL. I don't think that is what Seattle should be looking for.

[Jimmy!]

My question is why would Seattle want Pete Carroll. He is a recruiter not a football coach.

Carroll wasn't a good coach with the Jets. Carroll was a mediocre coach with a very good team in New England. What is there to make anyone think he would be any good the 3rd time around. Pete Carroll has had success at USC because he could out recruit everyone for the best athletes and players. That can win in College where the gap between the top level players and others is very large. That can not win in the NFL where the gap between the top players and below is small. Given that Carroll's more recent USC teams have shown the ability to lose their focus at times (which was a problem with Carroll's NFL teams) I don't see why another NFL stint for Carroll would be any better.

I think he is what his record is about .500 coach in the NFL. I don't think that is what Seattle should be looking for.

Maybe Carroll's thinking about getting out before any potential "death penalty" hits the school? I'm not jazzed about the possibility of Carroll coming, and I hope that's not the direction the Seahawks are going.

[rams80]

My question is why would Seattle want Pete Carroll. He is a recruiter not a football coach.

Carroll wasn't a good coach with the Jets. Carroll was a mediocre coach with a very good team in New England. What is there to make anyone think he would be any good the 3rd time around. Pete Carroll has had success at USC because he could out recruit everyone for the best athletes and players. That can win in College where the gap between the top level players and others is very large. That can not win in the NFL where the gap between the top players and below is small. Given that Carroll's more recent USC teams have shown the ability to lose their focus at times (which was a problem with Carroll's NFL teams) I don't see why another NFL stint for Carroll would be any better.

I think he is what his record is about .500 coach in the NFL. I don't think that is what Seattle should be looking for.

Quiet! If Seattle doesn't know this, don't point it out to them.

[rams80]

Well...this is kind of dickish, though.

Regardless of how bad Mora is, fire him before interviewing replacements.

[infrared41]

How many "successful college coaches" have made the jump and found success in The NFL again? It's way over 100 right?

[BlueSky]

My question is why would Seattle want Pete Carroll. He is a recruiter not a football coach.

Carroll wasn't a good coach with the Jets. Carroll was a mediocre coach with a very good team in New England. What is there to make anyone think he would be any good the 3rd time around. Pete Carroll has had success at USC because he could out recruit everyone for the best athletes and players. That can win in College where the gap between the top level players and others is very large. That can not win in the NFL where the gap between the top players and below is small. Given that Carroll's more recent USC teams have shown the ability to lose their focus at times (which was a problem with Carroll's NFL teams) I don't see why another NFL stint for Carroll would be any better.

I think he is what his record is about .500 coach in the NFL. I don't think that is what Seattle should be looking for.

Agreed. With all the unemployed former NFL coaches around, why in the world would they go after a college coach, especially considering their miserable success rate in the pros?

[Seadragon76]

Wow... The ship sunk faster then I thought out there with the news of Mora getting the boot and the seemingly mutual interest from a certain USC coach.

Personally, I'm kinda unsure what to make of this... Were things that bad with Mora? I know he isn't the best coach, but come on! Give the man at least another season because there's no way the coaching was the main issue in Seattle. The team needs help on the offensive line and should focus it's attention on trying to take the best offensive lineman availible in Okung with the sixth overall pick.

Now, yes. I do know that Carroll was only an average coach in the NFL, but that was 10-15 years ago. You mean to tell me that people still hold that kind of junk over his head after all this time?

[Jimmy!]

You mean to tell me that people still hold that kind of junk over his head after all this time?

Sure 'nuff. But look at Spurrier and Weiss. Their stints weren't any more successful. With the shape the team is in, do you really expect success from Carroll?

This makes me really think he's doing this to get out of the situation at USC. Why leave a successful college program for a 5-11 team unless the writing was on the wall?

I'm afraid....I'm very afraid.

[jkrdevil]

My question is why would Seattle want Pete Carroll. He is a recruiter not a football coach.

Carroll wasn't a good coach with the Jets. Carroll was a mediocre coach with a very good team in New England. What is there to make anyone think he would be any good the 3rd time around. Pete Carroll has had success at USC because he could out recruit everyone for the best athletes and players. That can win in College where the gap between the top level players and others is very large. That can not win in the NFL where the gap between the top players and below is small. Given that Carroll's more recent USC teams have shown the ability to lose their focus at times (which was a problem with Carroll's NFL teams) I don't see why another NFL stint for Carroll would be any better.

I think he is what his record is about .500 coach in the NFL. I don't think that is what Seattle should be looking for.

Maybe Carroll's thinking about getting out before any potential "death penalty" hits the school? I'm not jazzed about the possibility of Carroll coming, and I hope that's not the direction the Seahawks are going.

I'm not questioning why Carroll would want to get back to the NFL. It's the NFL, it's the top level of the sport anyone in the sport should at least want to get there (or get back there). Just questioning if he is right guy to get Seattle back to where it wants to be (a perennial playoff team).

[Brendan]

Wow... The ship sunk faster then I thought out there with the news of Mora getting the boot and the seemingly mutual interest from a certain USC coach.

Personally, I'm kinda unsure what to make of this... Were things that bad with Mora? I know he isn't the best coach, but come on! Give the man at least another season because there's no way the coaching was the main issue in Seattle. The team needs help on the offensive line and should focus it's attention on trying to take the best offensive lineman availible in Okung with the sixth overall pick.

Now, yes. I do know that Carroll was only an average coach in the NFL, but that was 10-15 years ago. You mean to tell me that people still hold that kind of junk over his head after all this time?

I think the thing this team needed was a new OC and DC not a HC. Greg Knapp's play calling was awful at times and Bradley's D did nothing. I think the team management is worried that the fan base could be going away and bringing in a big name is a way of keeping them around when they couldnt land Holmgren. But the team needs to a a GM before hiring a coach. Often times when gms and coaches are hired separately it ends badly.

[The_Admiral]

Speaking of one more season, Jim Mora will NOT be getting another one in Seattle

I'm getting really tired of NFL teams acting like impatient, spoiled little children.

Then they shouldn't hire coaches who suck at coaching. So of course, the Seahawks are probably going to replace that dope with America's Best Cheerleader. I don't want to live in a world where the Arizona Cardinals have divisional hegemony, but it's looking that way.

[ninersdd]

Who would've thunk that Zona now rules the West? It seems like the teams are switching off division supremacy(Niners for a long time, Rams about 99-03, Seattle 03-07, now Zona is taking over). Like in the irrelevant team thread, Seattle is just boring now, like they have no identity.

[Saintsfan]

Speaking of one more season, Jim Mora will NOT be getting another one in Seattle

I'm getting really tired of NFL teams acting like impatient, spoiled little children.

Dangit! He just needed more time. Like four or five years. That would have made me happy.

Seriously, he's a horrible coach and nothing out of Seattle this season is evidence that he has stopped being a horrible coach. 60% of his wins this year came against Detroit and St. Louis. He lost to the Bucs. With as much talent as Seattle purportedly has, "injuries" is not a complete excuse.

My sense is that Mora was Holmgren's guy and that the Seahawks wanted to start moving beyond that. I would prefer that owners get rid of a coach they are not happy with, rather than limping on and not backing the coach. I feel for Mora but it's an ok move for the Seahawks.