NFL Coaching Carousel
Is it me, or have NFL head coaches been making some rather curious decisions in the last few weeks? I’m not talking about on-the-field strategizing. There is no definitive answer on the subject of whether to go for first down yardage on fourth and inches from the opponent’s 40 yard line, or to kick a long field goal attempt, or to punt in hopes of pinning the other team deep in their own territory. These are judgement calls for which numerous factors (the score, time left in the game, degree of faith in the offensive line, the leg strength of the kicker, success rate of the defense up till that point, etc.) come into play. Fans will always want their team to go for broke. Coaches will weigh all of the options in front of them, and if this fails to enlighten, there’s always the reliable toss of a coin.
The decisions I’m talking about have to do with where and for whom some of these men have been choosing to work. Three names in particular stand out - Marty Schottenheimer, Al Groh and Dick Vermeil. Each of them recently elected to take on coaching assignments that at the least caused some mild head scratching, at the most, caused fans to be admitted to hospitals with holes in their heads.
Schottenheimer is one of the most successful coaches in the business. His 11 playoff appearances place him fifth all-time, and 145 victories put him at eleventh best. In his 15 seasons as a head coach, he has had only one losing season, a 7-9 mark in 1998. He resigned from the Kansas City Chiefs after that season, but since NFL coaches make more comebacks than Rocky and Rambo combined, it was inevitable that he would be patrolling the sidelines again before long.
For the last two seasons, Schottenheimer worked as an analyst for ESPN. Last year he spent a fair portion of his on-air time doing what just about every other analyst was doing - criticizing Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder for various practices in his role as resident tyrant/busybody in the nation’s capital. It was easy enough to find fault with Snyder’s treatment of Norv Turner, who no doubt was aching to cry out "I quit" up till the moment that Snyder unceremoniously fired him. When the position of interim coach was given to an African-American, not even the most optimistic proponent of advancing the careers of blacks in football beyond the field expected the appointment to be anything but temporary with a capital T. The job was clearly up for grabs going into the 2001 season, leaving as the lone question, who would want it.
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