Posts tagged DennisGreen at FanHouse

Denny Green is what we all thought he was -- you knew it was coming, so you should have braced yourself early -- a retired football coach. And, according to what he said on Sporting News radio yesterday (as transcribed by Larry Brown Sports), he is going to stay that way.

Stews: "It's obvious that some time during the course of the year, Lane Kiffin is probalby going to be dismissed from his job. If that happens and your phone rings and the caller ID says 'Al Davis,' do you answer that phone call, Coach?"

Green: "No I do not."

Good for Denny, insomuch as he appears to be able to recognize another horrible coaching situation that he has no business stepping into. Seriously, think about it: Lane Kiffin is still employed, the Raiders are 1-1 and effectively not the worst team in the NFL, and we're asking unemployed people if they'd be interested in a job opening.

I'm not saying people should leave Kiffin alone and and let him work, I'm just pointing out that Green would have to be both desperate and crazy to think about taking the Oakland gig at this point. Besides, he's making enough cash off his catch phrase to do just fine, thank you.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Matt Leinart enters his third year and he finally seems to understand that football is actually more important than bonging beers with Nick Lachey. If he struggles early, though, head coach Ken Whisenhunt won't hesitate to go with 37-year-old Kurt Warner. Heat Index: 5

Running backs: Edgerrin James' best days are (way) behind him, and Marcel Shipp, J.J. Arrington and rookie Tim Hightower are all "just guys." Which is to say: defenses will continue to play the pass until the running game proves otherwise. Heat Index: 3

Receivers: Larry Fitzgerald is extremely happy; Anquan Boldin, not so much. Still, they are two of the best wideouts in the league. No one will miss Bryant Johnson, and rookie Early Doucet will get every chance to win the slot receiver job. Assuming Leinart doesn't regress in '08, both Fitzgerald and Boldin should have 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Heat Index: 8

FanHouse is counting down the 10 best, 10 worst, and 10 weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

Howard Stern could take over for Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News. Your cat could win the Nobel Prize in physics. Guns 'N Roses could actually release Chinese Democracy. Those are three things which seem as unlikely now as Northwestern's 1995 Rose Bowl run seemed at the time.

Northwestern had occupied a certain niche in the Big Ten's ecosystem, that of the perennial homecoming date. The Wildcats could be counted on to show up sometime between late September and late October to provide an all but guaranteed W for the returning alumni. And as long as they still played football in Evanston, every Big Ten team knew that no matter what other outrageous fortune befell them, they wouldn't go winless in the conference unless it was one of those years Northwestern just wasn't on the schedule.

A lot of coaches sacrificed large parts of their careers coaching in Evanston, trying to face up to the challenge of turning around a football team that hadn't won a conference title since 1949. But not even legitimately good coaches like Lou Saban, Ara Parseghian, and Dennis Green could accomplish anything with the Wildcats. So how did Gary Barnett do it?

In 1995, when Kellen Winslow Sr. delivered his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech, he used it as an opportunity to denounce the NFL's abysmal record of minority hiring. His voice has been an important one, but in a sick irony, a con-man has started impersonating Winslow and sucking African-American coaches into a money-wiring scheme.

From conversations I've had with coaches who say they were bilked, these seem to be low-risk, small payout operations built around a smooth-talking con artist. The plan had to be swiftly executed: find an eager assistant coach looking for that one big break, hook the assistant in emotionally, hastily schedule an interview, get the money, then disappear.

One small-school assistant coach offered details to FanHouse on how the scam was perpetrated on him. "When you're a young unknown coach and Kellen Winslow, Hall of Famer, calls you, you don't ask a lot of questions," said the coach, who asked that his name not be used for this story. "You don't want to blow an opportunity."

The Washington Times' David Elfin (via PFT) is hearing that Seahawks quarterback coach Jim Zorn will be the Redskins' new offensive coordinator. This is interesting in a slow-motion-train-wreck sorta way for several reasons: first, word on the street had Zorn staying in Seattle and possibly assuming the coordinator's job after Mike Holmgren retired next season. Second, Al Saunders, who held down the 'Skins job for the last two seasons and was supposedly going to fix the offense, is now looking for work. Apparently, the 700-page playbook didn't take.

Two other thoughts: there goes Todd Collins' lucrative new contract, and any chance he had of competing for the starting job next season. Also, you think Jason Campbell is jazzed about learning his third offense in his fourth year in the league? You think that has any effect on a young quarterback's progress? Just asking.

In terms of the search to replace Joe Gibbs, I suppose this is progress. But as long as owner Dan Snyder and his squash partner, Vinny Cerrato, are at the controls, anything can happen. Don't forget, Jim Fassel was this close to getting the head-coaching gig, before Snyder reconsidered, and that after assistant coach-defense Gregg Williams interviewed four times with the front office before being left in the lurch.

If Snyder plays his cards right, Lane Kiffin should be available any down now ... unless Denny Green's on the Redskins' radar. Either way, welcome to the mess, Zorn.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis has asked coach Lane Kiffin to resign.

According to Mortensen, Davis sent Kiffin a letter in which he asked Kiffin to step down. In fact, Davis actually provided Kiffin with a resignation letter that he wanted Kiffin to sign and return to the team.

Davis and Kiffin have butted heads almost from the beginning of Kiffin's tenure as head coach, particularly over Kiffin's staff of assistants. Most notably, Kiffin wanted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan after this season and Davis refused.

Kiffin would rather get fired than resign because a firing allows him to guarantee his salary for the remaining two seasons on his contract. Kiffin is currently in Mobile, Alabama with the rest of the Raiders' coaching staff. He is scheduled to coach in the Senior Bowl tomorrow.

According to Mortensen, if Kiffin does leave, Davis would like to replace him with former Vikings and Cardinals head coach Dennis Green.

UPDATE: Raiders Deny Al Davis Wants Lane Kiffin Out

The Dolphins and Ravens have new head coaches, but almost two weeks after Joe Gibbs retired, the Redskins are still searching. The early money is still on assistant coach-defense, Gregg Williams, but the Washington Post's Jason La Canfora writes that there's plenty of speculation that owner Dan Snyder is pursuing a "name coach" and will shock "everyone with [his] choice."

Bill Cowher is still out of the mix, however.

I spoke to people close to Bill Cowher who continue to say nothing has changed with him at all. He's not going back to coaching this year. One source said he knows the kind of money Snyder spends but "I would be very, very surprised if Bill came back."

Another name making the rounds is Dick Vermeil, who says he hasn't talked to the Redskins about the job. Plus, as La Canfora points out, Vermeil is tight with Al Saunders, the current Redskins offensive coordinator who's not quite sure what he'll be doing next season.

Other names for the rumor mill: Jim Fassel, Dennis Green and Jimmy Johnson. All veteran coaches with shiny resumes, but all say they haven't talked with Washington about Gibbs' job.

And then there's this: apparently, Brian Billick has reached out to the 'Skins about "trying to find info on the coaching search and possible openings on the offensive side of the ball." Yes, I could see Billick making the Redskins the offensive juggernaut that Saunders couldn't. Yikes.

You can always count on Roy Williams for a good quote. But he sounded a little bit like Dennis Green after the Lions lost to the Redskins yesterday.

"They didn't throw nothing at us. They are what we saw on film. They're going to sit back and play zone, play 30 yards deep, those two safeties, make you run it. We ran it. We just couldn't get to the end zone."

The Redskins are what Roy Williams thought they were! I love this new trend of teams justifying losses by claiming that they were fully prepared for their opponent. Right.

For reference, and because, really, how can you ever get sick of seeing it?

A report we made a few days ago on a possible injury to Broncos rookie QB Jay Cutler has not checked out. We hope that we made it clear that the rumor was just that - rumor. This week's injury report contains no mention of Cutler (though Cedric Cobbs and Kyle Johnson are both questionable for Sunday's game with ankle problems), and Rocky Mountain News Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold has confirmed that Cutler has been throwing fine in practice all week.

So, consider this a formal retraction of the rumor. It was false. Jay Cutler is not injured. The source may have heard wrong, I may have been tricked by a Broncos employee who wanted to brag, or any number of other possibilities - but I just wanted to let you know that you can safely continue calling for Cutler to replace Jake knowing that Cutler is healthy enough to do so.

Additionally, in case you haven't heard, Rod Smith is considering going into the travel agency business, and the alleged terrorist plot on several different NFL stadiums (including Browns Stadium in Cleveland) is now thought to be a hoax. The FBI assures you that it is safe to attend football games this weekend, but makes no promises about any "attacks" Dennis Green might carry out during his post-game press conference if the Cardinals loose to the Raiders this week. After last week's explosion, a loss this week has the potential to make Green 'go nuclear.'