Is Wade Phillips On His Way Out?
Photo from AP Photo
It was right there in front of Jerry Jones‘ eyes. And he missed it.
There is no more shining example of how the radical move of an in-season head coaching change can work than the one being offered by the St. Louis Rams. Dead in the water at 0-4, the Rams fired Scott Linehan during their bye week and promoted Jim Haslett.
Last week’s two-point win over Washington seemed a bit of a fluke, predicated as it was on gathering in three Redskins fumbles. There was nothing remotely lucky about the Rams’ thorough 34-14 destruction of the Cowboys at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday.
What has been gathering steam for a month reached something of a crescendo as the Cowboys played by far their worst game of the Wade Phillips era. And frankly, it should be the last game of the Phillips era, but Jones made it clear afterward that there will be no coaching changes made.
“It really isn’t about changes people-wise as much as it is changes within the people, within the coaches and players,” Jones said.
No, Jerry, it really is about changing the people. This team is 1-3 over the last four weeks, a win over winless Cincinnati the only highlight.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
Bob Knight Open to Coaching Return
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College basketball fans might argue any interview with Bob Knight should cover cheating in recruiting, whether he’ll return to coaching and what he thinks of Indiana University’s program today.
Score two out of three for “Mickey’s Corner,” a local television Q&A with the former IU coach airing at 9 p.m. today on WFYI (Channel 20).
“In general, it was the best of Bob Knight,” said show host and local philanthropist Mickey Maurer. “He was funny, always knowledgeable … there was no edge. It was a relaxing evening for everybody there.”
Among other highlights: Knight said that he would return to coaching basketball if the right opportunity came along, but he didn’t say where or when.
There’s a sniff of vintage Knight, too. When asked for his take on cheating in recruiting, the former ESPN guest analyst for this year’s NCAA Tournament said: “If you get caught cheating, they should shoot you. Because you’re too dumb to be alive.”
Full Story: Indianapolis Star
Pacman Speechless After Suspension
Adam Jones, who got into a fight at The Joule with a team-issued bodyguard, was at his Prosper home when he was notified of the indefinite suspension. In a letter sent to the player, Goodell said the “alcohol-related physical altercation” was part of “a disturbing pattern of behavior and clearly inconsistent with the conditions I set for your continued participation in the NFL.”
The suspension will cost Adam Jones $41,176 a week.
“He was certainly disappointed,” said his Nashville-based agent, Warrick Robinson. “He was in a very somber mood about the commissioner’s decision. In a lot of ways, he was a lot more speechless than at any time I’ve ever seen him.”
Jerry Jones and Goodell met privately after a break at the NFL owners’ fall meetings in St. Petersburg, Fla., before the suspension was announced.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
Five Candidates for Clemson Job
Here are the five most likely candidates to replace Tommy Bowden at Clemson:
- Jim Grobe (Wake Forest) - If you cannot beat them, have them join you. Few coaches in the country can claim they do more with less.
- Bobby Johnson (Vanderbilt) - He’s a Clemson alum (1973) who has rebuilt the Commodores from the ashes. Would not be the splashy hire, but his academic track record fits president James Barker’s mold.
- Will Muschamp (Texas) - An intense, vocal figure — in other words, the anti-Bowden — who has generated top-notch, physical defenses at Auburn and now Texas. Figures to be the most sought-after assistant in the college ranks this offseason.
- Gary Patterson (Texas Christian) - Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips likes his southwestern guys, and Patterson has built a reputation as a consistent winner with a physical, hard-nosed style.
- Dabo Swinney (Clemson) - The current interim coach has more potential staying power than your average interim guy. Gained a ton of respect from administration as the football team liaison during last year’s rift with an academic review board.
Full Story: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is This the Real Tony Romo?
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His right hand packed in ice afterward, Tony Romo hid the famous dimples behind a mask. Nothing to smile about anyway, right? Not after you lose a sloppy overtime game to the Cardinals, 30-24, in front of a schizoid crowd of 64,389, half Cards, half Cowboys, polar opposites forced by wayward allegiances to sit side by side, cheek to cheek.
And if that scene wasn’t weird enough, you witnessed the Cowboys quarterback’s continued retreat into a shell.
The numbers say he completed 61 percent of his passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns. The body language? This is not the quarterback we thought we knew.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
The Cowboys Should Never Have Signed Pacman
What actually happened in the bathroom at the trendy Joule Hotel between Adam Jones and a member of his four-man security team doesn’t really matter. Whether he was involved in a fight, a skirmish or horseplay, any doubt about whether Jones is a fool has been removed. He must be.
There’s no other rational explanation for why Jones would put his career in jeopardy. After all, he has been told by commissioner Roger Goodell that any involvement in another off-field incident that brings shame to himself or the league could result in a lifetime ban. How stupid can you be? We’re talking about a guy who served a one-year suspension and didn’t get reinstated until last month, wrote Dallas Morning News columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
It’s really dumb when you consider Jones arrived in Dallas with the equivalent of bus fare in his pockets, having partied away much of the $11.7 million he received in signing and roster bonuses in his two seasons in Tennessee. With a base salary of $700,000, he’s earning $41,176.47 per week for the 17-week regular season. Most of us could figure out a way to live on that. Now, he’s put all that in jeopardy.
This is why the Cowboys never should’ve signed him. The problem with adding Jones to the roster, as I’ve written before, is he’s such an immense talent that he eventually becomes an important part of the team. His ability makes you trust him; then he betrays that trust.
Of course, the Cowboys need him more than ever, because Terence Newman will miss at least the next few weeks with a sports hernia. If Jones gets suspended - I expect him to get at least one game - it forces rookie Mike Jenkins into the starting lineup.
Jones always says the right things. And he’ll even do the right things from time to time, but he obviously has no self-control.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
Angels’ Scioscia Planning Lineup Tweaks
Photo from AP Photo
After his team absorbed a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League Division Series Wednesday night, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said yesterday he would consider some “minor adjustments” to his lineup, no doubt in hopes of avoiding an 11th consecutive playoff loss to the Sox.
“We’re considering a few things and the core of our lineup will remain the same,” Scioscia said. “We have a lot of confidence in what our guys can do on the offensive side, and if you look at the last 60 or 70 games that we played, I think you saw an offense that can grind it out or hit the home run and break games open.”
Against Jon Lester, that was not the case. Despite getting nine hits (six off Lester), the Angels were unable to manufacture more than one run, which came in the third inning when Torii Hunter hit a single to left that scored Garret Anderson for a 1-0 lead. The lack of production from the bottom third of the order was stark: 0 for 9 with three strikeouts against Lester.
Among the tweaks Scioscia was considering were in the outfield.
“Well, the field is cut down a little bit with Vlad [Guerrero] DHing, and the bats we’re going to look at are either Gary Matthews or Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales,” Scioscia said. “I don’t think it’s going to come down to one player. As far as the whole lineup, we need to pressure teams every inning and it’s going to have to be as a cohesive unit, and if one player brings continuity, sure, it can have an impact.”
Full Story: Boston.com
Lane Kiffin to Syracuse?
Photo from AP Photo
They say timing is everything.
Well, if now former Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin is high on your list of candidates to replace Greg Robinson as head coach of the Syracuse Football team if and when he goes, this must be like Christmas morning in the timing department for you.
Now, I can only speak for my little slice of the world. Based on conversations I’ve had on the radio, messages left in the comments section in this and other blogs, message board posts, emails, texts, telegraphs, and other forms of communication I’m forgetting right now, Lane Kiffin has absolutely been one of the most popular names mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Grob.
That conversation was made all the more interesting when Daryl Gross told me last week that Kiffin would be a candidate in any coaching search that would be done here.
So, is Kiffin the guy?….
Full Story: Syracuse Post-Standard
