2013 NFL Off-Season Thread

[dfwabel]

I just find it surprising the Chargers would be talking to Lovie Smith just because of how drastic of a departure it would be philosophy wise from what Norv Turner was doing.

I could see the rational in it if the Chargers were just totally inept on the defensive side of the ball or had the strenghs to cover Lovie Smith's weaknesses, but neither is the case with the Chargers. They have a decent defense in place, and this is not a team that is set up to play ground and pound football. It would take them at least two years to turn over the roster to get a Lovie Smith style team.

Unless the attitude is blow it all up and start from scratch which I don't think they need or should do, it would be a very strange hire for them in my opinion.

My guess is Lovie will go to Buffalo which does have a roster in place that fits what Lovie Smith is trying to do on both sides of the ball with the exception of a quarterback and San Diego will probably wind up hiring an offensive minded head coach. Chip Kelly, Bruce Arians, Pete Carmichael I think would be much better fits for San Diego, as would potentially Mike Tice or even Mike Sherman. Those would be the names I would want to talk to if I were San Diego and in that order of preference as well.

Taking the previous Bears coach (Dick Jauron) left BUF 24-33 through three and a half seasons.

[vmd9]

Perfect Scenario:

Buffalo: Doug Marrone

Eagles: Bill O'Brien

Chiefs: Andy Reid

Cardinals: Todd Haley

Bears: Mike McCoy

Chargers: Norv Turner

[NEW.ERA]

Perfect Scenario:

Buffalo: Doug Marrone

Eagles: Bill O'Brien

Chiefs: Andy Reid

Cardinals: Todd Haley

Bears: Mike McCoy

Chargers: Norv Turner

*Browns: Chip Kelly

[Lights Out]

Perfect Scenario:

Buffalo: Doug Marrone

Eagles: Bill O'Brien

Chiefs: Andy Reid

Cardinals: Todd Haley

Bears: Mike McCoy

Chargers: Norv Turner

Browns: Contraction

[The_Admiral]

Lovie's problem in Chicago was that he changed offensive coordinators more often than some guys change their skivvies, and his choices usually didn't make a lick of sense. Mike Tice lost his last coaching job because of his inability to handle a petulant, diva QB, so why the hell would you hire him to work with Jay Cutler?

Lovie ended up with Mike Martz because all their other prospects weren't granted permission or themselves declined to interview for the job, preferring to be quarterbacks/WRs coaches than be offensive coordinator of the Bears. I also kind of suspect that at least one of the people who didn't get term permission sort of asked for the sick note, so to speak. So there's another thing to consider with him.

[BBTV]

I don't get these teams slobbering over Andy Reid. He's the Bobby Cox of the NFL...perennially close, but never a cigar. (OK, one cigar for Bobby but you get my point.)

Because perennially good-but-not-great is better than perennially mediocre-and-often-terrible.

Why not take a shot at building a championship caliber team? I know picking a SB-winning coach is hit and miss but I'd rather the team I'm a fan of at least go for it. I'm the first to admit that the first word out of my mouth when I heard the Saints hired Sean Payton was, "Who?" I'd never heard of him. The safe pick would've been another retread but Benson gets credit for going with an up-and-comer.

And his choice worked out ok. ;-)

They may not have pulled through in the postseason crap shoot, but early-2000s Philadelphia was a championship caliber organization.

Funny, my views on Andy Reid have actually become more positive despite his two worst seasons as coach. I think that he has learned a lot in the past two seasons, and his moves toward the end of this season, even knowing that he wasn't coming back, show that.

The "early-2000s" Eagles were successful because he had Jim Johnson as DC, and gave him 1000% autonomy on that side of the ball. The team hasn't been the same since his death, and since the departure of the "heart" players on that side of the ball (Dawkins and Trotter to name two).

Reid made a LOT of mistakes after Johnson died. Specifically in coaching hires (hiring a DL coach before a DC? Really? Then making your OL coach the DC?), ignoring leadership factor when deciding whether to keep players or not, and his "Martz-esque" arrogance when it comes to offensive gameplanning and playcalling.

Also, while a few of his drafts were amazing (Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, Michael Lewis, Brian Westbrook in the same draft?), some were historically bad. While he had "final say", it's really tough to know what was really going on behind the scenes and how much of the good drafts were because of his smarts and how much of the bad drafts were because of his stupidity.

Not that I'm a football expert or even that I know a ton about today's NFL, but after thinking on this for a while, I really think that KC is the best place for him.

One thing that he loved about Phila was the passionate fan base (I do honestly think he loved it, even if they didn't love him). KC has that. AZ and SD not so much. I think he would enjoy the lack of pressure involved in building, rather than being expected to win. The only thing he wouldn't have is a QB to tutor, and this isn't a great draft year for one. Maybe he can bring Doug Pederson out of retirement to fill in for a year.

Rumor has it that Monte Kiffen would be his DC, and he would give him total control there. That's a good thing, as long as he doesn't die.

At the very least, Reid has the potential to build something really good in KC, and then they can wack him and bring in a "finisher" (like Tampa did in Gruden.)

[Cujo]

Perfect Scenario:

Buffalo: Doug Marrone

Eagles: Bill O'Brien

Chiefs: Andy Reid

Cardinals: Todd Haley

Bears: Mike McCoy

Chargers: Norv Turner

Browns: Contraction

Not that it worked the first time around.

[vmd9]

Perfect Scenario:

Buffalo: Doug Marrone

Eagles: Bill O'Brien

Chiefs: Andy Reid

Cardinals: Todd Haley

Bears: Mike McCoy

Chargers: Norv Turner

*Browns: Chip Kelly

Bill O'Brien announces that he will stay at Penn State. So I say Chip Kelly lands in Philadelphia.

[Cujo]

Who goes where:

Eagles - Chip Kelly

Bears - Mike McCoy

Chiefs - Andy Reid

Chargers - Lovie Smith

Cardinals - Bruce Arians

Bills - Whatever's cheapest.

Browns - Josh McDaniels, Charlie Weis, or any other former Pats asst.

[Lights Out]

Eagles: Chip Kelly

Bears: Bruce Arians

Chiefs: Andy Reid

Cardinals: Mike McCoy

Chargers: Mike Zimmer

Bills: Ken Whisenhunt

Browns: Rich Kotite

[BlueSky]

@BBTV...good post, especially the point about the fan base. The atmosphere in places like NY and Philly has to have a negative effect. Who knows how much of one, but your point is well taken that Andy in KC may have a much better outcome then Andy in Philly. I didn't consider that before my post wondering why he was such a popular candidate.

But whether it's Reid, Lovie, or whoever else, I stand by the point that if all factors are roughly equal (i.e. say Ryan was fired and Reid went to the NYJ) there's a very high risk for same s*** different team. Norv is an extreme example of what I mean. Coaches presumably learn from their mistakes and change for the better in other ways but at this point, if any other NFL team hires Norv as their HC expecting a different result, they're insane.

[DDR]

So word on the street is that Rex Ryan has a tattoo of some woman (maybe his wife) wearing nothing but a green Mark Sanchez Jets jersey crouching in a pose that resembles Tebowing. The tattoo may or may not be permanent.

Rex Ryan's a weird dude.

[pmoehrin]

Andy Reid is now officially a Chief and Scott Pioli is officially unemployed. I think its a really good fit for both sides. Andy's a good coach, I just think he and the Eagles both needed a change of scenery. The Chiefs did show some life towards the end of the season, but this is a team that needs a ton of work and hasn't had a true franchise quarterback since Trent Green was there. We'll see if Andy Reid can change both of those situations.

As far as the whole Rex Ryan tattoo thing goes, I feel like I already know too much about it. There's nothing that can be said by anyone that's going to make the situation any less weirder. Best case scenario he got the tattoo and his wife said she wanted to be in a Sanchez jersey, or that tattoo artist just decided to her in a Sanchez with little to no objection from Rex. If the reasoning for the Sanchez jersey is anything besides that, I don't want to know about it.

[dfwabel]

Your Rooney Rule "Token Two" for head coaching jobs this year are:

ATL special teams coach Keith Armstrong and former AZ DC Ray Horton.

Since Lovie Smith is a former HC, I will not list him.

[BigEd76]

Ian Rapoport is reporting Kelly will be the Browns next head coach. We'll see...

[Brendan]

I can't express how much I love the Rex Ryan tattoo story. I hope he and Sanchez stay in NY forever. Best circus in sports.

[pmoehrin]

Ian Rapoport is reporting Kelly will be the Browns next head coach. We'll see...

If that's the case then I feel the Browns hit a home run with the hire.

I think this is a great sign that things will be different then they were under the Lerner ownership. Too many times they were getting second and third tier hires and if you look at their record along with the guys that have come through there it shows. Chip Kelly is not a second tier hire. If the Browns hadn't hired Chip Kelly somebody else would have.

Bottom line is if your a Browns fan I think you have to be ecstatic with the hire.

[vmd9]

Ian Rapoport is reporting Kelly will be the Browns next head coach. We'll see...

If that's the case then I feel the Browns hit a home run with the hire.

I think this is a great sign that things will be different then they were under the Lerner ownership. Too many times they were getting second and third tier hires and if you look at their record along with the guys that have come through there it shows. Chip Kelly is not a second tier hire. If the Browns hadn't hired Chip Kelly somebody else would have.

Bottom line is if your a Browns fan I think you have to be ecstatic with the hire.

Seems like it's still far from a done deal. Kelly met with the Browns for 7 hours today, but still has to meet with Philadelphia and Buffalo. Have to say Philadelphia still seems like a more logical destination. I remember when it was reported that Reid was guaranteed to end up in Arizona, but now he's in KC.

I'm not sold that his offense can work in the NFL or with Cleveland's current personnel.

[pmoehrin]

Ian Rapoport is reporting Kelly will be the Browns next head coach. We'll see...

If that's the case then I feel the Browns hit a home run with the hire.

I think this is a great sign that things will be different then they were under the Lerner ownership. Too many times they were getting second and third tier hires and if you look at their record along with the guys that have come through there it shows. Chip Kelly is not a second tier hire. If the Browns hadn't hired Chip Kelly somebody else would have.

Bottom line is if your a Browns fan I think you have to be ecstatic with the hire.

I'm not sold that his offense can work in the NFL or with Cleveland's current personnel.

The one thing that makes me believe that Chip Kelly's offense can work is the fact that several NFL most notably the Patriots have essentially copied Oregon's offensive playbook. Whether or not the Browns will have the coaches and players in place to make it effective enough is another question, but I think there's already enough evidence to show that his style of offense can be effective at the NFL level.

My own view is the Browns already have a pretty talented young roster that is much closer then most people think to being a playoff team. They were rarely blown out in games, they're youngest team in the NFL and I think they already have some solid building blocks in place. Just going back to my original point I don't think these are the Al Lerner Browns that we saw in the early to mid 2000's. This is a team that seems to have a plan and a direction they want to go in that can win in the NFL.

[Mings]

1) I really hope Mike Zimmer stays put.

2) I thought the Rex Dirty Sanchez tattoo was a joke, but he actually did it? The ?