Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 196 of 1503)

      If makeup of current playoff coaches is any indication, Rivera was a good hire by Panthers

      January 11, 2011 /

      Only eight teams remain in this year’s playoffs and of those eight teams, six are being led by first-time head coaches. (Only the Patriots’ Bill Belichick and the Seahawks’ Pete Carroll had been head coaches elsewhere prior to being hired by New England and Seattle, respectively.)

      All six of these coaches were NFL coordinators before being hired as head coaches by their respective teams. And of those six, five of them have defensive backgrounds. (Only the Packers’ Mike McCarthy came from an offensive background, as he was the OC in New Orleans and San Francisco before arriving in Green Bay.)

      Even given this incredibly small sample size, the fans in Carolina have to be pleased that the Panthers decided to hire former San Diego defensive coordinator Ron Rivera as head coach. He’s best known for the role he played as defensive coordinator for the 2006 Chicago Bears team that went to the Super Bowl, but he’s done a tremendous job in San Diego over the past couple of years as well.

      While he’ll keep the Panthers in a 4-3, Rivera has had success running both the 4-3 and the 3-4 fronts. He’s known for being a “players coach” and likes to be aggressive in his defensive schemes. Behind his leadership, the Chargers went from 16th in total defense in 2009 to first in 2010.

      No offense to Jim Harbaugh or the 49ers, but it’s proven that teams that hire pro coordinators usually have the most success. Current playoff coaches McCarthy (Packers), Jim Harbaugh (Ravens), Mike Tomlin (Steelers), Mike Smith (Falcons), Rex Ryan (Jets) and Lovie Smith (Bears) were all NFL coordinators before becoming head coaches with their respective teams.

      Granted, being a coordinator doesn’t always guarantee success, as there are plenty of examples of former OC’s and DC’s failing as head coaches. Plus, as former Cowboys’ head coaches Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer can attest, coaches with college backgrounds can still succeed as well.

      But Rivera’s knowledge and experience in this league should serve him well in Carolina. Panther fans have a reason to be optimistic after such a dreadful season.

      External Sports, NFL

      Miles stays at LSU, Michigan hires Hoke

      January 11, 2011 /

      Les Miles isn’t headed to Ann Arbor, which means Brady Hoke is.

      The Los Angeles Times is reporting that after meeting with Michigan officials about the Wolverines’ football vacancy on Monday, Miles will stay at LSU. The former UM graduate is 62-17 with the Tigers, which includes five bowl victories and one national title in his previous six seasons. Following Miles’ decision, Michigan moved quickly to hire Hoke.

      When Rich Rodriguez was fired last week, two names emerged as leading candidates to replace him: Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh and San Diego State’s Hoke. And once Harbaugh agreed to terms with the 49ers, Hoke become the clear favorite to land in Ann Arbor.

      It would have taken a truckload of money to get Miles to come to Michigan and in the end, it would have been a riskier move than what AD David Brandon wanted to make following the Rich-Rod debacle. Hoke is the safer choice and he may be the better long-term fit for the program, too. He has ties to the team, he’s an up-and-comer and he’s cheap. It just makes sense following what happened with Rodriguez.

      Is Hoke the right fit? We’ll see. He certainly isn’t a big name but the Wolverines got a big name in Rodriguez and look how that turned out. I know some UM fans would have rather seen Rodriguez retained for another year than hire Hoke. But at least he’ll put the emphasis back on defense after Rich-Rod completely ignored that side of the ball for three years. (Maybe Hoke will actually recruit a kicker that knows that the ball is supposed to go between the uprights and not to either side of them, too.)

      Hoke may be a ho-hum hire in some people’s minds, but maybe that’s exactly what UM needs right now.

      College Football, External Sports

      How was this bowl season better than a playoff?

      January 11, 2011 /
      Auburn Tigers quarterback Cam Newton (R) is tackled by Oregon Ducks Spencer Paysinger during the second quarter in the NCAA BCS National Championship college football game in Glendale, Arizona, January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL IMAGES OF THE DAY)

      Bill Hancock seems like a nice enough guy but he’s delusional if he thinks that this past bowl season was a rousing success and that it proved that there’s no need for a playoff.

      First and foremost, that title game was terrible. It may have had an exciting finish but a great game it was not.

      Two of the most explosive offenses in the nation were on display Monday night and yet, you couldn’t have asked for worse field conditions. This should have been the most entertaining game of the season but from the opening kickoff, players resembled hockey players sliding on a sheet of ice. Neither team could catch their footing, which is probably why the combined score totaled only 41 points (or 31 fewer points than what Vegas installed for the over/under). How does this happen in an indoor stadium when the grass can easily be maintained?

      Granted, it’s not the BCS’ fault that the game was rather lousy on a whole. Even if there were a playoff, there would be no guarantee that all the games would be exciting. But at the very least, the teams would be playing for something every week.

      The matchup between Auburn and Oregon was dead on, but the BCS largely struck out with its other games. They made Stanford fly cross-country just to crush an overmatched Virginia Tech team and there’s no reason to relive the Oklahoma-UConn debacle.

      The Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl were both highly entertaining – I’ll give the BCS that. But why must there be a long delay between the BCS bowl games and the championship? And for the love of college football, why were the Go Daddy.com Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the BBVA Compass Bowl and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl shown as a lead up to the national title game? I felt bad for the kids who played in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl because nobody cared by that point. They made those poor kids play on Sunday night following four NFL playoff games – only action junkies tuned into that one.

      Continue reading »

      College Football, External Sports

      Rex Ryan once again opens his mouth to take attention away from players

      January 11, 2011 /
      New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan watches his team play the Indianapolis Colts in the third quarter during their AFC Wild Card NFL playoff football game in Indianapolis, January 8, 2011. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      You can’t fault Jets’ coach Rex Ryan for trying to take pressure off his players by providing bulletin board material for the opposing team. (Wait…does that take pressure off his players?)

      One week after saying it was “personnel” between him and Peyton Manning, Ryan took a few more shots at Patriots’ QB Tom Brady.

      From ESPN.com:

      Ryan claimed he didn’t mean to take a shot at Brady last week. Ryan, in talking about how much he respected Peyton Manning, suggested Brady didn’t measure up because he has Belichick “dialing up plays,” while Manning runs the Indianapolis Colts’ offense.

      But Ryan expressed his disdain for Brady’s “antics on the field,” which include pointing at the opponents’ sideline after a touchdown.

      “That’s just Brady being Brady,” Ryan said. “I don’t like seeing that. No Jets fan likes to see that. He can’t wait to do it. He’s not going to say anything publicly, but he does it. It’s what it is. It’s my job to keep him out of the end zone.”

      I’ve always liked Rex Ryan. His defensive game plans are usually outstanding and for the most part, his teams are prepared. He’s also funny and he has a personality, which is refreshing these days in sports.

      That said, whatever he says to the media leading up to the game doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, he still has to figure out a way to beat Bill Belichick in Foxboro, which he has yet to do as a head coach. In the same article that I pulled the above quotes from, Ryan admitted that he was outcoached in the 45-3 Monday night bloodbath in early December. And he went on to say that he needs to rise to the same level that Belichick is in order to beat him.

      But at least leading up to kickoff, he provides the media something to talk about.

      External Sports, NFL

      2011 NFL Divisional Round Odds

      January 11, 2011 /
      coln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 09 January 2011. EPA/JUSTIN LANE fotoglif882603

      Ravens @ Steelers, 4:30PM ET, Saturday
      This will be the third meeting between these two teams this season. In Week 4, the Ravens beat a Ben Roethlisberger-less Steelers in Pittsburgh, 17-14. But the Steelers got their revenge in Week 13 by beating the Ravens 13-10 in Baltimore behind Troy Polamalu’s strip of Joe Flacco late in the fourth quarter. It’s a little surprising to see oddsmakers open this game at 3.5 with the way the Ravens played last Sunday in Kansas City. One would think that they would have set the point spread at 3 and let the public play with it from there. I can’t see this line going up throughout the week. The public remembers that the Ravens should have beaten the Steelers twice this year and they tend to latch onto Wildcard teams because those teams’ performances are fresh in their memory. I bet this line closes at Steelers –3, or even –2.5.
      THE ODDS: STEELERS –3.5 (36.5)

      Packers @ Falcons, 8:00PM ET, Sunday
      Home field advantage is usually worth three points, or so the logic goes. To see the Falcons opened at only –1.5 means one of two things: either oddsmakers believe that the Packers are the team to beat in this game or they believe that the public believes they’re the team to beat. (Or it could mean both, I guess.) Aaron Rodgers and the Pack are red-hot and the public views them as a legit Super Bowl contender. With the way James Starks ran last week, people are starting to buy into a Green Bay championship run, which means an upset this Sunday in Hotlanta. That said, the line has moved all the way up to 2.5 in the matter of 24 hours, so is Vegas getting heavy sharp action on the Falcons? It’s good to see that this matchup received the primetime spot on Saturday night because it should be the best game of the weekend.
      THE ODDS: FALCONS –2.5 (45)

      Seahawks @ Bears, 1:00PM ET, Sunday
      It’s not surprising that the Seahawks are underdogs again but didn’t their upset of the defending champs last Sunday by them a little bit of respect? They already beat the Bears once in Chicago this year and yet they’re double-digit dogs. Neither oddsmakers nor the public (at least the majority of the public) believes that the Seahawks have two upsets in them, especially since they have to go on the road this week. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the line drops from 10 to 9.5 or even 9 by kickoff. I don’t get the sense that everyone is on the Bears’ bandwagon this year, so the public may take the points with the road dog. But if you like the Bears, it may be best to wait and see if the number comes off the all-important “10.”
      THE ODDS: BEARS –10 (41)

      Jets @ Patriots, 4:30PM ET, Sunday
      The line opened at Patriots –9 and it almost immediately jumped to –9.5. But the spread has now dropped back to 9 so maybe Vegas is getting action coming in on both sides. It’s hard to imagine that the line wouldn’t move back up to 9.5 or even 10 by kickoff after the way the Patriots spanked the Jets 45-3 in their last meeting. But maybe Rex Ryan made believers out of people by the way he held Peyton Manning in check. In the end, I can’t see the public not backing New England and if the line stays below 10 then it would be a gift to Patriot backers.
      THE ODDS: PATRIOTS –9 (45)

      External Sports, NFL

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