While Jeff Fisher gets busy rebuilding the Rams, former coach Steve Spagnuolo is talking to various NFL teams about future employment.
Spagnuolo started his week in Indianapolis, interviewing with Colts GM Ryan Grigson and then-coach Jim Caldwell. Soon thereafter Grigson fired Caldwell.
Grigson knows Spagnuolo from their days in Philly, so Spags made the Indianapolis Star's list of Colts head coaching candidates. “They wouldn't replace one 2-14 coach with another, would they?” asked the newspaper.
(The season ticket sales force of the Colts is probably wondering the same thing.)
Spagnuolo then headed to New Orleans, where Saints coach Sean Payton interviewed him for the defensive coordinator position vacated when Gregg Williams jumped to the Rams.
Eagles coach Andy Reid might covet Spagnuolo for his defensive coordinator role, as could the Vikings.
The Raiders are interviewing Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg for the head coaching gig in Oakland and the Colts may want to chat with him as well. Might we see a Mornhinweg/Spagnuolo package in Indy?
Philadelphia Daily News scribe Les Bowen raised that scenario:
Is Spagnuolo still a candidate for D-coordinator in Indy, despite the fact that there is no head coach, and a head coach normally hires his coordinators? Or is he now a head-coaching candidate in Indy, given his connection with Grigson, and despite his 10-38 record in St. Louis? OR, could Grigson be looking at Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg as his head coach, who also has a deep connection with Spags, who then could become D-coordinator?
Grigson has added Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray and Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael to his head coach shopping list. Owner Jim Irsay denied the team made a belated play for Fisher.
Over at NFL.com, Michael Lombardi suggested the Colts should aim big and woo Chip Kelly from the University of Oregon. Irsay is a noted gunslinger, so that is not a ridiculous thought.
“We want strong leadership and we want someone that shares this vision in this new era of Colts football,” Grigson proclaimed. “We want the best man and the best leader and the person that's going to get us where we want to go. And we're going to find that man.”
The next few weeks will be fascinating. The NFL coaching market remains fluid and volatile.
While Spagnuolo pondered the possibility of taking a year off from coaching, the marketplace may dictate his immediate return to the sidelines in some major capacity.
PEYTON PLACE NO MORE?
Elsewhere on the Colts beat, actor Rob Lowe reported via Twitter that quarterback Peyton Manning was retiring. This caused quite the stir.
“He ain't retiring,” sniffed Archie Manning, when contacted by ESPN. “I think he would've told me.”
Lowe later defended his Tweet, telling the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen that his intel came from “a pretty-darn good source.”
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while Sam Bradford watches the assembling of his new offensive coaching staff with great interest:
Is it really a good idea for Carlos Beltran to wear No. 3 with the Cardinals?
Will Packers fans ever recover from that loss to the Giants?
Should the networks hire really cute kids to do all their sports reporting?
Why would a mascot antagonize a burly Bruins fans with silly string?
QUIPS ‘R US
Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:
Charles P. Pierce, ESPN.com: “For years now, the undeniable fact about the National Football League has been that the whole operation is grimly determined to combine the unpredictability of an Amway seminar with the giddy good humor of the North Korean army. This problem has grown especially acute under the recent stewardship of Commissioner Roger Goodell, who seems to imagine himself on a balcony in Buenos Aires, tossing money to the peasants. There was a time, and not so long ago, when the NFL was full to its gunwales with entertaining miscreants of all varieties. Then the Collective assimilated the American Football League, and the steady march toward corporate sports nirvana — i.e., authoritarian tedium on which you can bet — went to the double-quick. Which is why all those people who spend so much time complaining about the No Fun League should embrace Bill Belichick, because Bill Belichick is the NFL's last real anarchist.”
Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com: “(Joe) Flacco's biggest problem has nothing to do with Flacco himself and everything to do with being in the same conference as Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. In 2008 the Ravens lost to the Steelers in the title game. In 2009 he beat Brady in the wild-card round but lost to Manning. In 2010 he again lost to Roethlisberger. Now he faces Brady a second time. So since coming into the league he has faced Roethlisberger twice, Brady twice and Manning once in the playoffs. That's not only nasty. That's just downright lethal. Flacco is also operating in an 8-track offense. Rice is a beast, but nonetheless ball control is very 1970s. In this era of rigged offense, er, extremely liberalized passing rules, throwing the ball is stealing money. The Ravens mostly stay away from the modern style of utilizing four- and five-receiver sets. Again, Rice is a beast, so you ride the beast, but I think Baltimore's offense hasn't kept up with the Joneses.”
Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports: “Jack Harbaugh has said he doesn’t want to think too much about it. Archie Manning said the other day he wouldn’t want to even imagine it. Ask any parent and they’d probably shudder. As sure as a parent would find picking one child they love more than another impossible, they’d struggle watching one succeed at the other’s expense. And that’s in any situation, let alone the Super Bowl. Jack and Jackie Harbaugh are two games from going through the ultimate in human drama. One son, John, will coach his Baltimore Ravens against the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game on Sunday. The other son, Jim, will lead his San Francisco 49ers against the New York Giants in the NFC championship game a few hours later.”
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Love Dwight Howard's game, and he's got more personality and charm than some entire NBA teams. But he's the biggest postgame diva since Barry Bonds. Howard keeps the deadline-sweating media waiting at least an hour after every game for his five-minute chat. After two recent campouts at his locker, I can tell you every grooming product Superman uses. And how about Howard's free throws? Is that a follow-through or a karate chop? He's like a golfer who has a marvelous game, tee-to-green, then putts with an umbrella.”
MEGAPHONE
“I've been around some locker rooms and quarterback-receiver situations and what-not, but it was as bad as I've been around. You know, it was at the point where I think the players could no longer do anything about it. There was nothing that the players could do. So when it gets to that point, there are certain changes that need to happen. Can it be fixed? I think absolutely it can be. But they're going to have to make some tough decisions.”
Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson, on “Inside the NFL,” discussing the rift between quarterback Mark Sanchez and receiver Santonio Holmes.
