RF365’s head coach power rankings: Halftime edition

By Os Davis | Friday, November 02, 2007 | ( 9 )

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Another month has passed, midseason approaches and by now heavy scrutiny is being given to head coaches; heads have been prematurely called for from some quarters. Stories in local media have recently sought the boot for Scott Linehan, Bobby Petrino, Dick Jauron ("Please, please," mutter the long-suffering Buffalo Bills backers) and even Andy Reid.

But at RealFootball365, we're here to praise some Caesars while burying others. No one really needs to be threatened with job loss yet in this writer's opinion, but Mike Nolan's suits have to be getting a bit sweaty.

Without further ado, onto the power poll! (Last month's ranking in parentheses.)

1. (1) Tony Dungy, Indianapolis Colts. For those of you who forgot the defending champs were still around, their winning streak now stands at 12 with a dozen victories just about as impressive as the Patriots' wins in 2007.

2. (2) Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers. All aboard the "McCarthy for Coach of the Year" bandwagon! With a win, the Pack will be tied for the NFC lead and have a record as good as either New England or Indy. At the halfway mark. Who outside of Wisconsin honestly would have thunk it?

3. (8) Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers. Is anyone - McCarthy included - doing more with the fundamentals this season?

4. (13) Bill Belichick, New England Patriots. After "Videogate," Belichick was forced to work his way back to the top of the RF365 table. OK, OK, we're all starting to believe that you didn't cheat your way all the way to the Super Bowl three times, coach ...

5. (5) Wade Phillips, Dallas Cowboys. The son of Bum continues his excellent work with a team Bill Parcells could hardly inspire, but, gee, didn't Phillips get out-coached by Belichick in Week 6?

6. (5) Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans. The Titans are 11-3 in their last 14 games. And it's not even all Vince Young's due: Kerry Collins is 1-0 as a starter during that run.

7. (9) Mike Holmgren, Seattle Seahawks. The 'Hawks continue to do just enough to win, though the Week 2 loss at Arizona may ultimately keep them out of a divisional playoff bye. Then we'll see some craftiness on the part of Holmgren. We'll have to.

8. (22) Tom Coughlin, New York Giants. Rumor is that Coughlin has loosened up since the Giants' bumpy start. It's working. Who knew that Coughlin could inspire? Who knew the discipline problems would dissipate? Who would have figured that Tiki Barber was the problem?

9. (7) Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens. What's a good word for an event slightly less than miraculous? Let's say "miraclette." Hanging in the playoff race by their fingertips, Billick is proving himself something of a miraclette worker in Baltimore.

10. (12) Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars. Looking at the Jaguar roster - particularly given that Maurice Jones-Drew has had a mostly forgettable year - you have to give kudos to the Suited One for getting the most out his bunch.

11. (4) Jon Gruden, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. How could a surprising 4-2 become a disappointing 4-4 so quickly? Injuries or no, Gruden's job security may depend on making the playoffs.

12. (17) Joe Gibbs, Washington. The old guy's still got some life in him after all.

13. (21) Sean Peyton, New Orleans Saints. As the Saints awaken and the offensive line has rematerialized, you still can't figure out Peyton. Was the playbook wiped from his memory by Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones directly after the 2006 season?

14. (15) John Fox, Carolina Panthers. Maybe even a bona fide miracle worker in 2006, Fox has the Panthers at 4-3 despite being outscored by opponents and the team is driving the NFC South at present.

15. (11) Mike Shanahan, Denver Broncos. The more games you watch, the more evident it becomes that Shanahan's game-planning and play-calling are excellent. For some odd reason, they're just not putting enough points on the board. Is it the personnel? The schedule? Nah. Shanahan's lacking something motivation this year ...

16. (24) Herm Edwards, Kansas City Chiefs. This probably means Edwards will be around for a couple more years.

17. (23) Rod Marinelli, Detroit Lions. This ranking is mostly by default. Despite the winning record and the feel-good feel of the Lions, this team is oddly without identity or consistency. One week, they're giving up 56, then they're putting together 34 in the fourth, and the next they're scoring three. Is this a running team or passing team? Do they play the horizontal game or vertical? With some proper coaches on the upcoming slate against the Lions, we'll see Marinelli's cerebellum work up a sweat.

18. (18) Lane Kiffin, Oakland Raiders. You have to wonder what life will be like for the man once JaMarcus Russell steps into it. I know Kiffin is.

19. (10) Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles. Something is up in Philly mentally. Reid has appeared to be elsewhere while physically on the sidelines all season. There's too much out there on this subject already, so enough said.

20. (27) Romeo Crennel, Cleveland Browns. To think they don't need Brady Quinn at all to go, say, 7-9. Come to think of it, they probably don't need Crennel, either.

21. (6) Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans. The golden era in Houston may be over. Kubiak fans are optimistically awaiting next year, though.

22. (14) Eric Mangini, New York Jets. A strong contender with Lovie Smith for the 2007 Waffle Award, Mangini was apparently the last in the country to know that Chad Pennington should be benched.

23. (16) Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears. You're not really going to blame this on the "NFC Champion Curse," are you, Mr. Smith?

T24. (20) Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals. To think the Stripes might not even get to Lewis' formerly requisite 8-8. Sweet offense, dude; maybe you should get together with ...

T24. (25) Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings.

T26. (26) Scott Linehan, St. Louis Rams. Linehan's joined the "It's Not His Fault" Club in this unfortunate season, along with...

T26. (28) Bobby Petrino, Atlanta Falcons.

28. (29) Ken Whisenhunt, Arizona Cardinals. Wait, what was that QB rotation thing? What was that insane trick play on the two-point conversion? Is it too late to sweet talk Dennis Green back into the job?

29. (26) Dick Jauron, Buffalo Bills. Since the bye week, Jauron has been showing signs of life on the sidelines - He may yet convince Buffalo fans that his continued existence is a good thing.

30. (25) Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers. Just because the oodles of talent on this team are coming together doesn't mean that everyone's favorite .400-level coach deserves a higher ranking. I still ain't buying stock in Emperor Norv.

31. (14) Mike Nolan, San Francisco 49ers. For three years, the Niners have been among the very worst in all areas of defense. Nolan has improved his team's 'D' to a whopping 19th in total yardage surrendered while somehow dismantling last year's respectable offense to a condition of dead last in passing yardage and overall yardage gained. And all this after a well-hyped offseason of player acquisitions. The league's most disappointing team (all right, most disappointing team east of the Mississippi) now sports the league's most disappointing coach.

32. (30) Cam Cameron, Miami Dolphins. Cameron is now winless in two countries. (Three if you count Texas.) Well, it's not much of an achievement, but it's an achievement.

Ranking 'em all from 1 to 32, 24/7, at RealFootball365.com

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	About Os Davis Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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Comments: 9 | Sign Up View all comments


	No.1 Raidehz	01:10 AM 11/02/2007

	So what does the Os stand for? ***It's Embarrassing*** Today I had 3 football fans come up to me....THREE DIFFERENT...


	No.2 Bobby	01:17 AM 11/02/2007

	Mangini in 7 spots in front of Jauron???? That is confusing considering the outcome of both games that these coaches have gone...


	No.3 vicman	08:24 AM 11/02/2007

	The following is my own HC power rankings:1) Fisher.2) Belichick.3) Dungy.4) Shanahan.5) Edwards.6) Reid(without personal...