11.18.2009

Bills and Browns

So, the purge starts, Or continues, depending on your point of view.

Yesterday, the Bills sacked head coach Dick Jauron after 3+ years of mediocrity. This after having dumped offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt just before the season started. The O-line coach, Buell Ferry, takes over as interim head coach, and the front office is in disarray. Everyone is wondering if 91 year old owner Ralph Wilson still has the faculties to run the team, much less his own household.

Much of the airwave static centers around the same issues that the Browns face. Should the team hire a Czar/Tzar/Tsar, in the mold of The Tuna in Miami (Bill Parcells)? The names being thrown around include the usual suspects: Holmgren, Shanahan, Cowher, Schottenheimer.

Personally, I'm hoping that the headless Browns make a push to hire Cowher. He played for them, coached for them, and wanted the job before it was given to Another Nameless Losing Coach. As it happens, he went on to many fabulous years with the Steelers and a Super Bowl ring. Any team would be lucky to convince The Chin to be there coach-slash-general manager-slash-football operations kingpin. Here's hoping that the Brownies Can The Man (Mangini, that is) and start over. Again.

(Hey, that sounds like a great catchphrase: Can The Man! We can start an online petition. Let the fans be heard.)

As for the Bills, I don't think Holmgren or Shanahan would want to take over here, but Schottenheimer might be an interesting choice. He has the pedigree, and actually a better winning percentage than either of the other two. He played here. He knows the area, the town, and the franchise. He might be convinced to come back and help, as long as he gets full reign, ala Parcells.

This has been a bleak year for my football teams. The Bills look lost, and the Browns couldn't compete with Ohio State, much less Cincinnati.

Let the purge begin in earnest, I say.

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