NFL: Coaching Carousel Comes to Redskins Park

The NFL’s 2000 season is not even over and there are already several new coaches for 2001. The way these teams carry out these hirings and firings is really despicable.

Gunther Cunningham in Kansas City knew he was going to be fired because the team was out courting Dick Vermeil, the emotional coach who has retired twice.

If the Chiefs land Vermeil, they’ll have to give up two valuable high draft choices to the Rams. Speaking of retiring, Bill Parcells left the Jets suddenly, and he left them in shambles--no coach (Al Groh left to be the head football coach of the University of Virginia) and no general manager. He’ll probably take Matt Millen’s place in the television booth. Millen left to become general manager of the Lions.

I don’t know why anyone would want to be tagged with resurrecting that moribund franchise. Norv Turner is the new offensive coordinator in San Diego, and I’ll bet he’s praying they draft Michael Vick and dump Ryan Leaf like a sack of potatoes.

Notice a pattern? These are just a bunch of recycled candidates. Coaches are fired and hired right away, no matter how bad they are. New people from college don’t even get a chance. Position coaches looking to move up to coordinators are shunned. Nowhere is this more evident than at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Virginia.

New coach Marty Schottenheimer cleaned house this week, firing most of the coaches. Defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes wants to leave and go to Denver. Terry Robiskie was given permission to interview with other teams, which is a nice way of saying they don’t want him back. Russ Grimm, who has been clad in burgundy and gold since I was a boy, was dismissed. Where is the loyalty?

The worst part is that Schottenheimer doesn’t seem to have learned from the team’s attempt to assemble a dream team for 2000. It looks like he’s trying to do the same thing on his coaching staff by bringing in former head coaches as coordinators.

However, his candidates, revealed today in The Washington Post, are less than stellar. Wade Phillips, fired as Buffalo’s coach this week, might interview for defensive coordinator. This is a guy who wouldn’t start Doug Flutie over Rob Johnson, even though Flutie is a better player and has a better record. If Phillips is that dumb, I don’t know how he can coach an NFL defense. The other candidate is even more of a hoot: Bruce Coslet. The guy is a loser who was an awful head coach with the Jets and Bengals. If the Redskins hire him, they’ll be the laughingstock of the league--again.

D.C. Notes: The Washington Capitals have been the league’s hottest team since November, but they are showing signs of a mini-slump. Injuries among their forward corps are starting to pile up, and they just lost two games in a row since early November.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Wizards are the worst team in the NBA (sure, the Bulls have fewer wins, but they beat the Wizards last week). Rod Strickland has an attitude problem, doesn’t want to play here and has been arrested three times for DUI. Michael Jordan wanted the pressure on him this year, but he has done nothing but maintain status quo. The players can show up late, not hustle, get arrested, and the consequences are minimal. They need to cut Strickland or trade him to Vancouver to send a message. That’s probably all that I’ll write about the pathetic Wizards this season.