Where five high-profile coaches will be in ‘08

By Connor Byrne  |   Monday, July 30, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

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The National Football League has been largely defined by its successful head coaches throughout its history, and recent years have been no exception. During the offseason the league saw two of its best sideline generals ever in Bill Cowher and Bill Parcells walk away, leaving voids in Pittsburgh and Dallas, respectively, and taking away plenty of the game's personality. Next offseason, there's a good chance other high-profile coaches could either retire or go elsewhere.

Today, RealFootball365 takes a look at some of these accomplished individuals and whether they have more than one season left with their current teams.

Bill Belichick, New England Patriots (career record: 111-81; playoffs: 13-3): The three-time Super Bowl winner is down to the final season of his contract with the Patriots, and there's a chance he may decide to head elsewhere to finish his career. At 55, he could leave New England for a massive contract elsewhere. Destination '08: The New York Giants. Tom Coughlin will be jettisoned after a disappointing 2007 campaign, thus paving the way for Belichick to return to his roots (he made his name as the Giants' D-coordinator back in the 1980s). Belichick will probably bring Romeo Crennel, the perhaps soon-to-be fired Browns head coach and former Giants assistant, with him as his defensive coordinator. Possible replacement: Pete Carroll. People tend to forget that the two-time national title winner at USC was once the Patriots' head coach. While with New England between 1997-99, Carroll was far from a Steve Spurrier-like train wreck. He amassed a 27-21 regular-season record and took the Pats to the playoffs twice. The only snag here could be that New England has vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli, who is one of the great front-office executives in the league. How's that a problem, you ask? Well, Carroll would supposedly like 100 percent control of whichever pro team he coaches. If the Pats land Carroll, some team will get itself a terrific general manager in Pioli.

Tony Dungy, Indianapolis Colts (career regular-season record: 114-62; playoffs: 9-8): Dungy finally got the monkey off his back last year and won a Super Bowl with the Colts, which led many to speculate he'd retire. Dungy, 51, is back for another season with Indianapolis; however, the 11-year head coaching veteran has admitted on multiple occasions that he strongly considered retirement. Dungy puts family and religion ahead of everything else, so there's a chance he'll leave after '07 to get even closer to those aspects of his life. Destination '08: Indianapolis. Dungy, despite his own uncertainty on his future, probably has two or three years left in him with the Colts.

Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles (career record: 80-48; playoffs: 8-6): Reid has never won a Super Bowl with the Eagles, but the 49-year-old has still been among the game's best head coaches since he first took the reins in Philly back in 1999. Reid has led the Eagles to the NFC title game four times and the Super Bowl once. There was speculation earlier this offseason that he would walk away to focus on some family issues (his sons have both dealt with legal problems), but it didn't come to fruition. Destination '08: Philadelphia. Like Dungy, it's hard to picture Reid walking away in the very near future. He still has multiple seasons left with the Eagles.

Mike Holmgren, Seattle Seahawks (career record: 147-93; playoffs: 12-10): The 59-year-old has been one of the league's premier head coaches since 1992, when he was first hired to lead the upstart Packers. Holmgren won a Super Bowl with Green Bay and has done a great job with Seattle since '99. However, like Dungy, Holmgren is a big-time family man who could retire to spend more time with the ones closest to him. Destination '08: Seattle. RF365's Seattle columnist, Chris Cluff, wrote an interesting article back on June 22 that said Holmgren's days with the Hawks could be numbered (he has only two years left on his contract). Expect him to finish his time in Seattle and either retire or go elsewhere to become a head coach and general manager. According to Cluff, Jim Mora Jr. -- the Falcons' ex-coach and an assistant in Seattle -- could be Holmgren's successor. That would make a lot of sense.

Joe Gibbs, Washington Redskins (career record: 145-87; playoffs: 17-6): Gibbs, a Hall of Fame head coach and two-time Super Bowl winner from 1981-1992 with Washington, returned to the Redskins in 2004 but has experienced minimal success. Gibbs' best campaign since his comeback was '05, when the Skins went 10-6 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Other than that, he's a combined 11-21 with no postseason visits. At 66, this is probably it for Gibbs in pro football. Destination '08: Goodbye, NFL. Hello, NASCAR. Gibbs owns a racing team and will leave football once and for all to focus on both that and his family. Possible replacement: Bill Cowher. That's right, folks. No way Cowher, who coached the Steelers from '92-06, will stay away for longer than a year, especially if Redskins owner Dan Snyder comes in the one-time Super Bowl winner's way with a huge contract and the promise of having a great deal of say in the front office. Washington, in the eyes of this writer, will replace one coaching legend with another.

Stay tuned, fans. Starting in January 2008, things could get very interesting in the NFL's coaching ranks.
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