WallyG3 Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 The good news: http://www.nbc5.com/bears/2760738/detail.html Report: Bears Love Lovie St. Louis Defensive Coordinator To Receive Offer POSTED: 9:11 AM CST January 13, 2004 UPDATED: 10:33 AM CST January 13, 2004 CHICAGO -- St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator Lovie Smith (pictured, left) visits Halas Hall on Tuesday, and there are some indications that Smith holds quite a bit of affection for the Bears' head coaching job. NBC5's Mark Schanowski reported that Smith is bringing his wife to Chicago for his second interview with the team and hopes to land the job by midweek. According to a report in the Daily Herald the Bears will offer him a contract Tuesday morning. Smith and Bears general manager Jerry Angelo have worked together before, in Tampa Bay, where Smith was the linebackers coach while Angelo worked in the team's personnel department. Smith's interview comes on the heels of Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm's visit to Chicago on Monday. Grimm, who played in four Super Bowls as a member of the Washington Redskins' famed "Hogs" offensive line, is also a candidate for the Hall of Fame this year. During a news conference at Halas Hall, NBC5's Bears beat reporter Peggy Kusinski said Grimm sounded much like Bears' legendary coach Mike Ditka. "I'm a meat-and-potatoes guy," Grimm said. "I don't send fliers around the league saying I want to be a head coach. They [the Bears] asked for permission [to speak with me] on Thursday, I flew out Friday, and I'm not a big self-promoter type. I'm not calling around the league to find the first job that's available. Some things are interesting, and this is one of them, and I'm excited about it." The bad news: http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/bears.asp Jauron should know fate in Buffalo soon By Kent McDill Daily Herald Sports Writer Posted January 13, 2004 In some ways, the Buffalo Bills are the Chicago Bears. The Bills recently fired head coach Gregg Williams because he couldn't fashion an offense that worked. He was a former defensive coordinator with no head-coaching experience when he was hired. Sound familiar, Bears fans? So who is on the Bills' short list of candidates to replace Williams? Dick Jauron. The Bills are expected to name Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey coach of the team sometime this week. It's not a done deal, but Mularkey is the leading candidate, according to Mark Gaughan, who covers the Bills for the Buffalo News. Mularkey has ties to Buffalo general manager Tom Donahoe, the former director of football operations for the Steelers. While Mularkey has to clear his own hurdles with Buffalo's fans, Jauron would not be a popular choice, Gaughan said. "I don't think Jauron would play well in Buffalo, simply because the Bills' No. 1 problem is offense,'' Gaughan said. "The Bills have a good defense. It was second in the NFL. Jauron's reputation is of being a first-class guy, an excellent defensive coach, and a highly competent guy except for the fact his offense in Chicago was miserable." "When he had his interview and they asked him, 'What is your answer for the offense?' he had to hit a home run,'' Gaughan said. "I think everybody is presuming - among the fan base - the Bills will go with an offensive guy." The offensive guy in this case is Mularkey, who might be offensive to the fans. "I could see more people getting upset if it ends up being Mularkey,'' said Dan Cave, news anchor for WGR, a sports radio station in Buffalo. "A lot of people have soured on Donohoe. If he brings Mularkey in here, they will see it as a Pittsburgh connection, Donohoe just hiring his Steelers buddy." Plus, Mularkey is a coordinator without head-coaching experience, which was the slam against Williams. The one thing certain about Jauron is that he gives good interviews. The Buffalo media heard through the grapevine that his dinner with team owner Ralph Wilson was a tremendous success, mirroring the way he interviewed with the McCaskey family when he got the Bears job. In a column about the coaching candidates in Buffalo, Leo Roth of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle explained why Jauron might be a good choice. "Because he was good enough to catch lightning in a bottle with the Bears during that 13-3 season,'' Roth wrote. "Many think the low-key Jauron fits the Bills owner/general manager/coach dynamic the best, and Jauron had a smashing interview, even having dinner with Wilson. If he was smart, he picked up the check." "Our listeners are split down the middle on Jauron,'' Cave said. "They like him because he is a coach with previous experience. We got burned by Williams, and they are worried about bringing in another coordinator. "A lot of people see him as a guy who didn't put up a great record with the Bears but didn't have the best talent. They know that, but they see his overall record in Chicago as cause for concern." Bad news again: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/football/nfl/01/12/bills.mularkey/ Mularkey emerging as a top candidate in Buffalo Updated: Tuesday January 13, 2004 12:14AM By Don Banks, SI.com Buffalo Bills team president Tom Donahoe spent a good bit of Monday in discussion by phone with Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, and indications are that Mularkey could be rapidly emerging as the leading candidate for the team's vacant head coaching job, a league source close to the situation said Monday night. Mularkey did not leave Pittsburgh on Monday, but he and Donahoe talked extensively, and are expected to resume their discussions on Tuesday. The source said Donahoe threw a number of questions and scenarios at Mularkey that he considered key to the interview process. "Let's just say Mike was very busy talking with Tom on Monday,'' said a league source. "He had his hands full.'' It marked the third time that Donahoe has discussed their vacancy with Mularkey. He interviewed for the job last Wednesday in Buffalo, and the two continued the interview on the phone on Thursday. While Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and ex-Bears head coach are considered the other two strong candidates among the seven that Donahoe interviewed the past two weeks, Mularkey seems to be the gaining momentum in the process and it's possible the Bills could move on his hiring by midweek. All things being equal, Donahoe had said he wanted to hire someone with previous NFL head coaching experience after choosing former Tennessee defensive coordinator Gregg Williams as Buffalo's head coach three years ago. Williams was fired Dec. 29 after going 17-31 and missing the playoffs in each of his three seasons. Thus, Jauron would seem to be in the driver's seat in Buffalo. But with the Bills' offensive struggles this year, especially at quarterback with Drew Bledsoe, Donahoe was thought to be seeking an offensive-minded head coach. The Bills lost interest in ex-Giants head coach Jim Fassel shortly after they interviewed him last week. While Bills owner Ralph Wilson was said to be very impressed with Jauron's interview, Mularkey and Weis appear to be the candidates with the inside track. But hurting Weis' chances are two considerations: The Bills would have to wait at least two more weeks to hire him if the Patriots win in Sunday's AFC Championship Game, and there is some question about how strong Weis and Bledsoe's relationship is dating from their days together in New England. Mularkey, 42, is thought of as one of the game's best young offensive minds. Besides the Bills, he interviewed for Atlanta's head coaching job this offseason, and this weekend turned down a chance to interview for Oakland's vacancy. Part of the reason Mularkey did not show interest in meeting with the Raiders is that he considers the Buffalo situation very promising and does not want to send the Bills any mixed signals with the process this far along. Mularkey the past two offseasons has interviewed for head coaching jobs in Tampa Bay (2002) and Cincinnati (2003). Mularkey and Donahoe are familiar with one another stemming from their days working together in Pittsburgh. Steelers head coach Bill Cowher hired Mularkey to be his tight ends coach in 1996, while Donahoe was the team's general manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 The Steelers can block Grimm from that job also you know. Its only a HC one they can't. Cowher isn't going to promote Grimm to it. He wants fresh ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All In Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Grimm has one year left. Since we are not bringing Zampese in as O.Coordinator this year, next year when Grimm has a choice we can hire him. What more could he want then to be a coaching peer with Gibbs and Bugel, the guys he models his offensive philosophy under. Plus if he could stick it out for 4 more years he could be promoted as HC of the team he played for, WHAT a Dream Job huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselPwr44 Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Originally posted by Skins_Freak Grimm has one year left. Since we are not bringing Zampese in as O.Coordinator this year, next year when Grimm has a choice we can hire him. What more could he want then to be a coaching peer with Gibbs and Bugel, the guys he models his offensive philosophy under. Plus if he could stick it out for 4 more years he could be promoted as HC of the team he played for, WHAT a Dream Job huh? You took the words right out of my mouth Skins_Freak. I hope we eventually sign him on(this year or next) with the hope that Gibbs grooms him into our eventual HC when Gibbs steps aside(5 yrs down the road of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Grimm's going to be the O.C. in Pittsburgh after Mularkey leaves. He's also the head coach in waiting there as they obviously like him a lot, and so he'll allow them to see whether Cowher can pull the team out of its present rut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins24 Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Originally posted by Bufford Redux The Steelers can block Grimm from that job also you know. Its only a HC one they can't. I don't think they can block it if he comes here as an OC. He's still a O line coach in Pitt right? An OC position would be considered a promotion then... No? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Isn't where Grimm winds up mostly his preference? If he's offered a promotion to OC by Pittsburgh and Washington, can't he choose either? It's a promotion either way.... so he could leave Pitt if he'd rather become the coordinator of the Redskins. Somebody set me straight here....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inmate running the asylum Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Originally posted by Cskin Isn't where Grimm winds up mostly his preference? If he's offered a promotion to OC by Pittsburgh and Washington, can't he choose either? It's a promotion either way.... so he could leave Pitt if he'd rather become the coordinator of the Redskins. Somebody set me straight here....... From what I recently read, PRIOR to 2002 that would be correct. But its my understanding now that being that Grimm is under contract for one more year, he is UNDER contract, which means just that. You cannot block a promotion now to HC, but the way I read it now, you can block a promotion if the guy is still under contract. The reason being that teams were stealing assistant coaches away from other teams, just by "making up" phony titles. So it kind of looks like Grimm is stuck in Pittsburgh for one more year, unless he is given the OC job in Pittsburgh and signs another multi-year contract. Of course we really don't know how Grimm feels about all this. We assume he would really want to return to the Redskins, but is this really the case? I mean after all he played for the University of Pittsburgh, and may well prefer being with the Steelers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Thanks inmate...that makes sense. You are right we don't know what Grimm really is thinking, nor what he truly wants to do. You would think if he really had the urge to come to DC as the OC for a number of years and the chance to become head coach in the future.... he's let the Steelers know where is heart is and they'd allow him to go "follow his dream". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzSkinsFan63 Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 damn ole Fassel is becoming one!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Originally posted by Skins24 I don't think they can block it if he comes here as an OC. He's still a O line coach in Pitt right? An OC position would be considered a promotion then... No? A new rule in 2002 Allows teams to block asst coaches leaving if under contract except for HC job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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