Lonestar
05-19-2009, 04:47 PM
by John Czarnecki
John Czarnecki has been the editorial consultant for FOX NFL Sunday since its 1994 inception. This season marks Czarnecki's 30th year covering the NFL. He is one of 44 selectors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Updated: May 19, 2009, 2:41 PM EST 1 comment
The NFL, still America's best game and economic business model, has been doing a little downsizing in the last year. Remember when experience counted, and with it great coaches like Joe Gibbs and Mike Shanahan could demand whatever salary they wanted?
The NFL remains a big-money league, but only for the players (for now at least, until the next CBA tug-of-war), not the game's newest head coaches.
Jon Gruden was whacked in Tampa and was replaced by a bargain-basement young coach in Raheem Morris. The same thing happened in Denver where Pat Bowlen, who really doesn't have a lot of money, fired Shanahan for Josh McDaniels, who's young enough to be Mike's son.
Basically, the once-exclusive $5 million coaching club has been replaced by the $2 million to $3 million club. By my count, 21 head coaches' salaries fall into that ballpark area. Heck, Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett earns more than that at $3.5 million a season.
Yes, the owners went cheap and young this past two offseasons, but there is an awful lot of coaching talent on the unemployment line. And four of them have won Super Bowls, the best possible entry on the old résumé.
Besides, Gruden, there is Shanahan, who will be 57 this season, Mike Holmgren, 61, and Bill Cowher, who will be 52. All four of these men are used to a lot of zeroes on their paycheck. Cowher reportedly has already rejected Snyder, Blank and the Cleveland Browns. And he's smart enough to know that only a handful of ownership groups will toss around big money again.
Consider what Redskins owner Danny Snyder did. When he hired Jim Zorn to replace Gibbs before the 2008 season, he saved more than $4 million in annual salary for his top coaching position. The Bucs and Broncos didn't do as well because they still owe Gruden and Shanahan $20 million respectively — or a lot more money than they are paying their current head coaches.
The Atlanta Falcons are a perfect example. Prior to last season and the arrival of Matt Ryan, owner Arthur Blank was dealing with a PR nightmare between Mike Vick's prison sentence and one of the league's worst teams. Blank was willing to shoot the moon for a Bill Parcells or a Pete Carroll, but ended up saving himself a few million dollars annually by hiring Mike Smith — who in his rookie campaign earned AP Coach of the Year honors. Blank is pretty pleased with his final decision.
Still, with all these salary savings, I don't believe Gruden's agent, Bob Lamonte, one bit when he says his client will spend a few seasons in the Monday Night Football booth. Not if an owner like Snyder or Jerry Jones of the Cowboys comes calling, seeking a new head coach for the 2010 season. Lamonte knows the NFL landscape and realizes that many owners are cutting back their payrolls, but Snyder and Jones are two that still believe in spending big money. They have huge stadiums to fill. They have greater revenue streams than 90 percent of the league.
Nothing against Gruden being a talking head, but he's a football coach first and being the head coach of the Cowboys is a pretty big deal. You can also bet that Gruden would love to play fantasy football with Snyder — you know, picking players and spending oodles of money on them — because his previous management team was pretty tight with a buck. I don't believe Gruden could resist Snyder.
Yes, Gruden will be 46 this football season, and that's very young when compared to Tom Coughlin, the league's oldest head coach at 63 this season. Believe it or not, Bill Belichick is the game's third oldest coach at 57 years old.
So does Lamonte pass up a high-salaried position for his client while waiting for other teams to alter their perspective on salaries? Of course not. But another thing to consider is that there are only a handful of owners and GMs who would really love working with Gruden.
Yes, I can see the Bucs throwing big money and total control to someone like Shanahan or Cowher. The Glazer family likes to make money and they bought themselves a Super Bowl when they originally hired Gruden. They haven't forgotten his initial impact to the franchise and ticket sales.
New England's Bob Kraft and Philadelphia's Jeff Lurie will also pay a great head coach. Of course, both already have a talented head coach. You think the management teams in Green Bay and New Orleans will be grumbling much this year if Mike McCarthy and Sean Payton miss the playoffs again after handing them $5 million plus a season?
Consequently, the options will be limited for Gruden, Holmgren, Shanahan and Cowher. That's mostly why Lamonte said Gruden might stay in the booth for two or three more seasons.
We all speculated last season that Holmgren had designs on returning to San Francisco, but Jed York never called. Of course, that doesn't mean York won't call later this year if the 49ers go kaput again under taskmaster Mike Singletary and there's still no finalized plans for a new Bay Area stadium.
There has always been speculation about Jones hiring Holmgren in Dallas, but I seriously doubt that either man wants to be the second-largest gorilla in the room. Shanahan might be another possibility for the Cowboys, but his arrival would also mean that Jones made a big mistake in paying and elevating Garrett.
Mike Holmgren has always been rumored to desire a return to coaching with the 49ers, but when will that job open up again? (Greg Trott / FOXSports.com)
Holmgren loves the west coast, so San Diego might be a potential landing spot, and I say that even though Norv Turner and A.J. Smith are personal favorites.
But that would only happen if Turner messes up with the best personnel in the AFC West and — another big if — if General Manager Smith wears out his welcome with Dean Spanos. Yes, A.J. has the personality to wreck any relationship, but he's had a golden personnel touch and that isn't easily found in the NFL.
However, what could rock the San Diego boat are the big money contracts expected next season for players like Shawne Merriman and Philip Rivers. We all remember how Smith messed up with franchise star LaDainian Tomlinson this past offseason.
So while these four Super Bowl champs are giant coaching names, the NFL majority is definitely moving away from the unlimited or blank check philosophy for the right coaching staff.
Yes, there are a few notable exceptions. But in the current atmosphere, I'm betting that only two of these four big names will find the right job in 2010 or sooner. And that's saying something.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9589586/Big-buck-coaches-are-pricing-selves-out-of-NFL
John Czarnecki has been the editorial consultant for FOX NFL Sunday since its 1994 inception. This season marks Czarnecki's 30th year covering the NFL. He is one of 44 selectors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Updated: May 19, 2009, 2:41 PM EST 1 comment
The NFL, still America's best game and economic business model, has been doing a little downsizing in the last year. Remember when experience counted, and with it great coaches like Joe Gibbs and Mike Shanahan could demand whatever salary they wanted?
The NFL remains a big-money league, but only for the players (for now at least, until the next CBA tug-of-war), not the game's newest head coaches.
Jon Gruden was whacked in Tampa and was replaced by a bargain-basement young coach in Raheem Morris. The same thing happened in Denver where Pat Bowlen, who really doesn't have a lot of money, fired Shanahan for Josh McDaniels, who's young enough to be Mike's son.
Basically, the once-exclusive $5 million coaching club has been replaced by the $2 million to $3 million club. By my count, 21 head coaches' salaries fall into that ballpark area. Heck, Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett earns more than that at $3.5 million a season.
Yes, the owners went cheap and young this past two offseasons, but there is an awful lot of coaching talent on the unemployment line. And four of them have won Super Bowls, the best possible entry on the old résumé.
Besides, Gruden, there is Shanahan, who will be 57 this season, Mike Holmgren, 61, and Bill Cowher, who will be 52. All four of these men are used to a lot of zeroes on their paycheck. Cowher reportedly has already rejected Snyder, Blank and the Cleveland Browns. And he's smart enough to know that only a handful of ownership groups will toss around big money again.
Consider what Redskins owner Danny Snyder did. When he hired Jim Zorn to replace Gibbs before the 2008 season, he saved more than $4 million in annual salary for his top coaching position. The Bucs and Broncos didn't do as well because they still owe Gruden and Shanahan $20 million respectively — or a lot more money than they are paying their current head coaches.
The Atlanta Falcons are a perfect example. Prior to last season and the arrival of Matt Ryan, owner Arthur Blank was dealing with a PR nightmare between Mike Vick's prison sentence and one of the league's worst teams. Blank was willing to shoot the moon for a Bill Parcells or a Pete Carroll, but ended up saving himself a few million dollars annually by hiring Mike Smith — who in his rookie campaign earned AP Coach of the Year honors. Blank is pretty pleased with his final decision.
Still, with all these salary savings, I don't believe Gruden's agent, Bob Lamonte, one bit when he says his client will spend a few seasons in the Monday Night Football booth. Not if an owner like Snyder or Jerry Jones of the Cowboys comes calling, seeking a new head coach for the 2010 season. Lamonte knows the NFL landscape and realizes that many owners are cutting back their payrolls, but Snyder and Jones are two that still believe in spending big money. They have huge stadiums to fill. They have greater revenue streams than 90 percent of the league.
Nothing against Gruden being a talking head, but he's a football coach first and being the head coach of the Cowboys is a pretty big deal. You can also bet that Gruden would love to play fantasy football with Snyder — you know, picking players and spending oodles of money on them — because his previous management team was pretty tight with a buck. I don't believe Gruden could resist Snyder.
Yes, Gruden will be 46 this football season, and that's very young when compared to Tom Coughlin, the league's oldest head coach at 63 this season. Believe it or not, Bill Belichick is the game's third oldest coach at 57 years old.
So does Lamonte pass up a high-salaried position for his client while waiting for other teams to alter their perspective on salaries? Of course not. But another thing to consider is that there are only a handful of owners and GMs who would really love working with Gruden.
Yes, I can see the Bucs throwing big money and total control to someone like Shanahan or Cowher. The Glazer family likes to make money and they bought themselves a Super Bowl when they originally hired Gruden. They haven't forgotten his initial impact to the franchise and ticket sales.
New England's Bob Kraft and Philadelphia's Jeff Lurie will also pay a great head coach. Of course, both already have a talented head coach. You think the management teams in Green Bay and New Orleans will be grumbling much this year if Mike McCarthy and Sean Payton miss the playoffs again after handing them $5 million plus a season?
Consequently, the options will be limited for Gruden, Holmgren, Shanahan and Cowher. That's mostly why Lamonte said Gruden might stay in the booth for two or three more seasons.
We all speculated last season that Holmgren had designs on returning to San Francisco, but Jed York never called. Of course, that doesn't mean York won't call later this year if the 49ers go kaput again under taskmaster Mike Singletary and there's still no finalized plans for a new Bay Area stadium.
There has always been speculation about Jones hiring Holmgren in Dallas, but I seriously doubt that either man wants to be the second-largest gorilla in the room. Shanahan might be another possibility for the Cowboys, but his arrival would also mean that Jones made a big mistake in paying and elevating Garrett.
Mike Holmgren has always been rumored to desire a return to coaching with the 49ers, but when will that job open up again? (Greg Trott / FOXSports.com)
Holmgren loves the west coast, so San Diego might be a potential landing spot, and I say that even though Norv Turner and A.J. Smith are personal favorites.
But that would only happen if Turner messes up with the best personnel in the AFC West and — another big if — if General Manager Smith wears out his welcome with Dean Spanos. Yes, A.J. has the personality to wreck any relationship, but he's had a golden personnel touch and that isn't easily found in the NFL.
However, what could rock the San Diego boat are the big money contracts expected next season for players like Shawne Merriman and Philip Rivers. We all remember how Smith messed up with franchise star LaDainian Tomlinson this past offseason.
So while these four Super Bowl champs are giant coaching names, the NFL majority is definitely moving away from the unlimited or blank check philosophy for the right coaching staff.
Yes, there are a few notable exceptions. But in the current atmosphere, I'm betting that only two of these four big names will find the right job in 2010 or sooner. And that's saying something.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9589586/Big-buck-coaches-are-pricing-selves-out-of-NFL