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      Report: Carroll to Seahawks “looming”

      January 8, 2010 /

      Updating a previous post, it appears that the Seahawks’ hire of USC head coach Pete Carroll is “looming” according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

      Here’s a breakdown of all the Carroll-to-Seattle rumors via the Post Intelligencer:

      The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke was in Southern California earlier this week to talk to Carroll and gauge his interest in the Seahawks’ job.

      ESPN’s Chris Mortensen was the first to link Carroll’s name with the Seahawks. Mortensen said on SportsCenter his league sources indicate it would be almost surprising at this point if Carroll doesn’t make the move. Here’s his story on ESPN.com.

      Jay Glazer of FOX Sports posted a note on his Twitter account that two people close to Carroll said the Seahawks are “dangling an exhorbitant amount of money at him.”

      Former Los Angeles Times columnist J.A. Adande, now with ESPN, writes that a football source told him Carroll to the Seahawks is a “done done done deal.”

      Seahawks owner Paul Allen certainly has the money to make this deal happen, but Carroll has had the opportunity to return to the NFL a couple of times and hasn’t done it. If he does leave USC, why choose the Seahawks? What makes them a more intriguing employer than some of the other teams that have courted him over the past couple of years? It can’t be the money because I’m sure other NFL owners have been willing to pony up before. Maybe this is just the right time for Carroll.

      From a scheme and game plan standpoint, Carroll is a fit for the NFL because he already runs a pro style system. (USC is essentially a junior NFL team based on the way the program is run under Carroll.) But is he too much of a ra-ra guy to succeed in the pros? He was criticized when he was the head coach of the Jets and Patriots in the 90s because he was too much of a “player’s coach.” Should we expect anything different this time around?

      It’ll be interesting to see if this deal gets finalized and based on Seattle’s decision to fire Jim Mora without hiring a new GM to replace Tim Ruskell, there’s a good chance it will.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Bosh to Houston?

      January 8, 2010 /

      There has been some Bosh to Chicago talk in recent days, and now Marc Stein says the Rockets are very interested in acquiring Toronto’s big man, even if they have no assurances that he’ll re-sign next summer.

      What we did hear, though, is that the Houston Rockets have made it known that they would be willing to trade for Bosh immediately … even if they don’t get a guarantee they can re-sign him this summer.

      Sources say the ever-aggressive Rockets are sure a half-season in Houston could convince the native Texan to pledge his long-term future to a city players love as well as a team that sits four games over .500 without the injured Yao Ming and the exiled Tracy McGrady.

      This season’s success without marquee names also suggests that the Rockets have the requisite stash of assets — depending on whom they’re willing to surrender from a group that includes Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry, Trevor Ariza and Luis Scola — to assemble a legit deal for Toronto to consider. It’s likewise believed that Houston can put a decent package together without insisting that McGrady’s mammoth $22.5 million salary has to be part of it, which complicates matters even though it’s an expiring deal because so many more players have to be included to make the trade math work.

      You figure Chicago, Miami and New York also are on the short list of teams that would be willing to risk trading for Bosh before we get to the summer. Those are the teams thought to have the best shot at signing him in free agency and could inherit Bosh’s Larry Bird rights with a deal before the deadline. None of them, though, can offer a better talent deal than Houston. The Heat and Knicks — with their heavily stripped-down rosters as the countdown continues to July 1 — can’t come close.

      From a talent standpoint, I’m not so sure that Houston has the edge. They do have a number of good young pieces, but Miami’s Michael Beasley and the Knicks’ Danilo Gallinari would seem to have more upside than any of the Rockets mentioned. The Rockets do have more young talent overall than the Knicks or the Heat, so maybe they’ll be able to put a package together that will appeal to the Raptors. I’m sure Toronto would rather trade Bosh out of the Eastern Conference if possible.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Seahawks fire Mora – Do they want Carroll as replacement?

      January 8, 2010 /

      It only took the Seahawks one year to figure out what the rest of the league should know by now: Jim Mora isn’t cut out to be a head coach.

      On Friday, the Seahawks fired Mora (who had replaced Mike Holmgren) after just one season. The move is rather surprising because Seattle did this before hiring a new GM to replace the departed Tim Ruskell, so that means the front office had already made the decision that it wanted Mora gone.

      Mora has pulled the blanket over everyone’s eyes one too many times. He’s a fine defensive coordinator and I doubt that he’ll have problems latching on as an assistant elsewhere because he’s a good motivator and players like him. But as a head coach, he just doesn’t have it and he’s proven this on two different occasions.

      Mora has always been completely outmatched as a game planner and he often leaves his teams unprepared on Sundays. He has never been good at halftime adjustments and he can’t out scheme other coaches in order to produce wins. If his teams can’t get by on talent, then they’re doomed at kickoff because Mora can’t make the necessary in-game decisions to put his players in the right position to win.

      Mora might make a fine college head coach because teams can get by on emotion and passion at the collegiate level, much more than they can in the NFL. Maybe he’ll drop down to the college ranks now that Seattle has decided to part ways.

      As for potential coaching candidates, the Seahawks have already been linked to Vikings’ defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and USC’s Pete Carroll. Of course, every year Carroll’s name is linked to some NFL team and he always winds up heading back to USC. I doubt this year will be any different, but you never know. Owner Paul Allen has enough money to lure Carroll away and ESPN’s Adam Schefter says that the USC coach wanted back into the pros.

      This could be a developing story.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      South Florida fires head coach Jim Leavitt

      January 8, 2010 /

      South Florida has decided to fire head coach Jim Leavitt after he allegedly struck a player and subsequently lied to investigators.

      From Fanhouse.com:

      USF fired the only coach the Bulls have had in the program’s 13-year history following an investigation initiated after a FanHouse report that stated Leavitt grabbed sophomore Joel Miller by the throat and hit the walk-on twice in the face Nov. 21 at halftime of the Louisville game.

      FanHouse first reported details of the incident Dec. 14. Five witnesses, USF players and staff members, said that Leavitt was upset by a mistake Miller made on special teams during the first half against Louisville, and subsequently struck Miller twice.

      “You do something like that [on the street], you put them in jail,” Paul Miller, Joel’s father and a former Tampa police officer, told FanHouse at the time. “Somewhere [Leavitt] crossed the line.”

      Wednesday, wide receiver Colby Erskin, who was not present in the locker room at the time, told FanHouse that Miller told him about the incident and asked for his advice on what he should do, a few days after the Nov. 21 incident.

      Erskin also said Leavitt cleaned out his locker and threw his personal effects into a trash bin. Erskin said he believed that Leavitt suspected him of leaking the story to the media.

      As the article notes, Leavitt was 95-47 during his tenure at South Florida. He essentially built that program from nothing and deserves credit for making USF relevant in college football.

      That said, there’s zero excuse to hit a kid. There’s a difference between being a hard ass and hitting players because they screw up. If the report is true and Leavitt did strike Miller multiple times, then he deserves to be fired. Many of these college coaches have massive egos and think they can say and do whatever they want to players because they’re above them.

      Leavitt found out the hard way that universities are stepping in to ensure that these types of situations don’t continue and won’t be tolerated.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Andre Miller is not happy in Portland

      January 8, 2010 /

      An argument between Andre Miller and head coach Nate McMillan to close practice is further proof that the (ill-conceived) marriage just isn’t working out (OregonLive.com).

      The louder parts of the exchange, which intermittently featured raised voices and expletives from both sides, were audible through a closed door where media were waiting to enter the practice court.

      He has mildly complained about the team’s “methodical” playing style, and more than hinted that McMillan is a “controlling” coach that stifles free play. He also has slipped into interviews he is confused about his role, which has twice alternated between reserve and starter, and recently has expressed bewilderment over a growing trend of playing little, if any, in the fourth quarter.

      Brandon Roy is the Blazers’ star, and he does most of the ball handling in crunch time. He needs to play alongside a point guard who can space the court with good shooting. Moreover, the Blazers continue to play at the slowest pace in the league, so why they would want to sign a point guard that wants to push the ball and can’t shoot it from deep is beyond me. This signing didn’t make much sense last summer and it makes even less sense now.

      Miller was Portland’s Plan C (or D or E, who knows) after attempts to acquire Paul Millsap and Hedo Turkoglu fell through. Some suggested that management didn’t want the cap space to go to waste, so they acquired Miller figuring that they’d be able to move him for another asset later in the season. That may very well happen.

      Miller is signed for two more seasons at the tune of $15 million, but the final year of his deal is not guaranteed, so his contract shouldn’t be too hard to move. The Knicks and Heat jump out as good fits, but neither team is likely to squander its cap space next summer for a 33-year-old point guard.

      Maybe he won’t be so easy to move after all…

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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