Predicting where the coaching dominoes will fall

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Wednesday, January 14, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

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There is an old adage -- "The more things change, the more they stay the same" -- which applies perfectly to the current NFL coaching searches taking place in Oakland, St. Louis, Detroit and New York (and Kansas City in due time).

Although the names change from year to year throughout the league, the system seemingly doesn't: A handful of coaches go from city to city to make their pitch to a particular team as to why they are the Man for that franchise. The Denver Broncos struck first, hiring ex-Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

The question is: Where will all the coaching candidates settle? Here is a look at where the coaching dominoes should fall in the coming weeks:

New York Jets – This is Rex Ryan’s job to lose. As each week passes in the playoffs and the Ravens continue advancing, the defensive coordinator's resume gets stronger. When the Ravens clamped down on the Tennessee Titans last week in a 13-10 upset, it made teams salivate even more at Ryan. The Rams and Lions are also interested in Ryan, but he'll go to the Jets if it's up to him; after all, they are the most enticing of the three teams.

St. Louis Rams – The Rams supposedly love Ryan, just like every team does. New general manager Billy Devaney, though, doesn’t want to have to possibly wait until February for him (plus, who says Ryan wants the Rams?). Thus, defensive coordinators Steve Spagnuolo (Giants) and Leslie Frazier (Vikings) are high on the St. Louis list. Coaching has always been a close-knit fraternity, and Devaney and Spagnuolo go way back to their days with the Washington Redskins. Here’s betting that the Rams choose Spagnuolo to turn around the Scott Linehan mess.

Detroit Lions – The Lions seem to have settled on five candidates to end their historic losing streak – Jim Schwartz of the Tennessee Titans, Frazier, Spagnuolo, Todd Bowles of the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. Although he arrived later in the game, Rivera has emerged as a serious contender. This search has been tougher to gauge, but it seems that the Lions like Schwartz and Bowles. Schwartz recently came back for a second interview and Bowles impressed the Lions’ brass with his confidence about having experience turning around struggling programs in recent years. This could go either way, but it seems Bowles has, well, bowled over the Lions thus far. Don’t be surprised to see him leave Tony Sparano's staff with the Dolphins and take over in Detroit.

Oakland Raiders – Interim coach Tom Cable did a respectable job after taking over early in the season for Lane Kiffin, leading the Raiders to wins in their last two games of the year. Al Davis also knows that he can control Cable and that he won’t run for the hills under the owner’s controlling hand. Other candidates include Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride and Green Bay assistant coach Winston Moss -- a former linebacker for the Raiders. In the end, though, expect Davis to tab Cable as his guy to lead the Raiders . . . at least for half of the 2009 season.
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About Jeff Dickinson

I have been writing and editing professionally for 18 years. I spent the first three years of my career as a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in Alabama and got to cover sports and get paid for it! It was great until I got married and then it wasn't too much fun being away from my wife every ...
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