Strike up the band
The coaching carousel has begun with Falcons' abrupt firing of Reeves
Firing line
The Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday announced that head coach Dan Reeves has been released from his contract effective immediately. Falcons defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, in his second season with the team, was named interim head coach for the remaining three games of the season.
And so it begins.
The coaching carousel that some think could produce as many as 10 or so openings this offseason cranked to life a little earlier than expected Wednesday with Dan Reeves' dismissal in Atlanta. Before it stops turning, we can expect it to touch nearly every corner of the NFL map. From Miami to Buffalo. From San Diego to Chicago. From Arizona to Oakland.
Let the league's annual job fair for the headset crowd commence.
Reeves' departure has for some time now been in the foregone conclusion category. The only surprise was in the timing of the move, given that it appeared there would be no team itching to pull the plug in-season, going the interim head coach route.
But we should have seen this coming in Atlanta, since Falcons defensive coordinator and interim head coach Wade Phillips has experience at both replacing Reeves (in Denver in 1993) and as an interim (for four games in New Orleans in 1985).
Some men are born to greatness. Others have it thrust upon them in the form of an interim tag. But we digress.
What the Falcons gave themselves with Wednesday's move was a head start on one of the more confusing coaching job markets in recent years. As crazy as it sounds, there may be more openings than logical candidates. And to be accurate, we should term it a further head start, since it has been rumored in recent weeks that Falcons owner Arthur Blank had already taken some preliminary steps to begin his coaching search.
Is Reeves Hall-worthy?
With his dismissal in Atlanta on Wednesday, Dan Reeves in all likelihood has worked his final game as an NFL head coach.
While his 38-year body of work in the league as a player and coach is an eye-opening accomplishment in and of itself, his career highlights include becoming the seventh NFL coach to amass 200 wins, taking three different teams to the playoffs, and making four Super Bowl appearances as head coach of the Broncos and Falcons.
But while all six coaches ahead of Reeves on the all-time victory list are in the Hall of Fame, there could be a decent level of debate when the issue of his enshrinement in Canton surfaces. Enough at least to keep him from anything approaching slam-dunk status. Has Reeves' NFL coaching career been great, or merely very good on the strength of its impressive longjevity? Here are some key statistics that are bound to be mentioned in any Reeves' Hall of Fame discussion:
At 201-174-2 (.536), Reeves is the second losingest coach in NFL history, and he dropped those 174 games in 23 seasons, compared to Tom Landry's 178 defeats in 29 seasons as the Cowboys head coach.
Reeves has had just 12 winning seasons in 23 years, with nine losing records and two .500 finishes. Nine of his 23 teams made the playoffs.
Eight of his winning seasons, and six of his playoff berths came in his first 12 seasons of coaching, in Denver. In his past 11 seasons, with the Giants and Falcons, Reeves is just 82-90-1, with four winning seasons and three playoff trips.
Reeves' teams have had losing records in seven of his past nine seasons, and five out of seven in Atlanta. Twenty-six, or exactly half of his 52 wins with the Falcons, came in his two winning seasons in Atlanta, 1998 and 2002.
Reeves' 11 non-winning seasons in 23 years is modest ratio of success compared to some of the Hall of Fame coaches who rank above him in career victories. George Halas had six non-winning seasons in 40 years, Don Shula six in 33, Tom Landry nine in 29, and Chuck Noll eight in 23. Even Chuck Knox, who is not in the Hall but whose 193 career wins rank just behind Reeves, had just nine non-winning seasons in 22 years.
While other coaches who were 0-4 in the Super Bowl have been elected to the Hall of Fame, such as Bud Grant and Marv Levy, Reeves' 0-3 record with John Elway -- one of his era's greatest quarterbacks -- might work against him. Elway later went 2-for-2 in winning Super Bowls in Denver under head coach Mike Shanahan.
The task facing Blank is actually a two-part jigsaw puzzle. The Falcons plan on filling their vacant general manager position first, in order to have that person play a role in the head coaching hire. That's sensible enough, but the timing still might be tricky.
As everyone who follows the NFL knows by now, Blank's top priority in the GM search is Tampa Bay's Rich McKay, who has been informed -- at least indirectly -- that his services are no longer coveted by the Bucs. Blank tried to lure McKay away from Tampa Bay in January 2002, failed, and subsequently never filled his GM position. The job is McKay's if the two NFC South rivals can strike a deal on the terms and conditions of the Bucs letting McKay out of his contract.
If they can't, another name to keep an eye on in Atlanta is that of Ron Wolf, the former Green Bay general manager whom Blank also offered his GM job to in the late winter of 2002. Wolf has been out of the NFL for three seasons now, but he has been tempted before to rejoin the league -- especially if a minority slice of team ownership is part of the compensation package -- and he could be again.
As for the coaching search, Blank is expected to cast his net far and wide in the interview process. The early stages of the search are likely to focus on the cream of the college coaching crop, since those candidates can be approached at this time of year. Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, and LSU's Nick Saban are three names that are on everyone's potential list, and the Falcons are believed to have already begun sniffing around those hottest of the hot candidates.
In the NFL, it's tampering season, meaning the Falcons must bide their time and wait for candidates to become available for an interview. But when they do, you can expect St. Louis defensive coordinator Lovie Smith to be high on Atlanta's list -- especially if McKay lands with the Falcons first or almost simultaneously.
The factors that make Smith the favorite in the Falcons' coaching search are fairly obvious: For one, he has been considered one of the league's hot coordinators since 2001, and his Rams defense has rebounded this season after struggling last year. Secondly, he and McKay are close, having worked together in Tampa Bay from 1996-2000, when Smith served as linebackers coach on Tony Dungy's Bucs staff. Some around the league are already speculating that McKay and Smith are something of a package deal.
For McKay, the hiring of Smith would be seen as a virtual echo of the move he attempted to make in Tampa Bay when he intended to have then-Ravens defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis replace Dungy in January 2002. That hiring was blocked by Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer and his sons, who instead eventually pried Jon Gruden away from Oakland. Smith is a disciple of Dungy's Cover 2 defensive scheme, and McKay by now is a tried and true believer in that system.
Lastly, and this is no small detail, Smith is one of the most attractive of minority coaching candidates. All things being equal, Blank and his executive VP/chief administrative officer Ray Anderson -- both of whom are members of the NFL's committee on workplace diversity -- would love to increase the league's contingent of black head coaches. Especially in Atlanta, which has never had a black head coach despite the majority of the city's population being black.
Other candidates who likely will be in the mix in Atlanta are New England defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel and former Vikings head coach Dennis Green. While Green's impressive track record of NFL success and long-time association with Anderson -- his former agent -- are strong selling points for the Falcons, it is believed that Blank has some concerns about going in that direction.
In Minnesota, Green at times clashed with ownership and the perception is that he is seeking a job where he would have something close to the total autonomy in football matters that he enjoyed in his last few years with the Vikings. Blank, who has set up his front office with a power-sharing arrangement, clearly is not interested in that kind of flow chart and will vest his general manager position with its traditional final veto authority in terms of personnel issues.
Sources close to Green, however, say that perception has been vastly overstated and Green is very willing to work under a general manager whom he considers experienced and capable. Whether he gets that opportunity in Atlanta is yet to be determined, but it appears to be a long shot at this point.
Whatever the outcome of the head-hunting in Atlanta, the Falcons are now the first team on the clock. The firing/hiring season has begun in NFL coaching circles. A little earlier than expected, but not in an unexpected locale. Hang on, folks. There's plenty more comings and goings on the way.
sportsillustrated.cnn.com |
