Early leader-Sherman

[ItsInTheCards]

SHERMAN THE EARLY LEADER IN 'ZONA

A league source tells us that Texans assistant and former Packers G.M./coach Mike Sherman is the early favorite to succeed Dennis Green as coach of the Cardinals. Sherman's biggest asset is his experience in the top jobs.

Running a close second, per the source, is Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt.

Upcoming interviews for the Cardinals include Chargers offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, Colts assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow, and Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm.

If true, it seems the previous HC experience really helps him. At first I was on the "no way" side of the Sherman fence, but he's starting to interest me because he's put together a staff before. His offense is VERY different than what we've currently been running, but its been effective in the past. Unfortunately no word on his DC prospects

interesting to see Whisenhunt a close second

[OldDirtMcGirt]

This is horrible news. JUST SAY NO TO SHERMAN!!! There are so many good candidates available, it would be a major mistake to select Sherman.

[Tangodnzr]

Who's Mike Florio?

And does he know the footsie playing podiatrist...or what?

Hey folks....some experience talking here.......at this point in the game rumors are a dime a dozen and more prolific than stink on doodoo, and I wouldn't get too het up about any of them just yet.

[iacardsfan]

I wouldn't hate Sherman, but he's the guy I'm least enthusiastic about. Haven't they learned their lesson with the Green saga about hiring head coaches that have failed elsewhere?

[Tangodnzr]

I wouldn't be too quick to jump to over-generalizations.

That's just another form of donning self imposed blinders.

As Zig Ziglar says:

To become a true success you need to become a meaningful specific, not a wandering generality !

[JayGee]

I wouldn't hate Sherman, but he's the guy I'm least enthusiastic about. Haven't they learned their lesson with the Green saga about hiring head coaches that have failed elsewhere?

where did Green fail elsewhere?

[ItsInTheCards]

Who's Mike Florio?




he's the guy who called the Saban story weeks before it materialized. He reported Shell was out before anybody else...the Darrent Williams story before anybody else, etc

he hits and misses, but more often than not, he's right

[JayGee]

he's the guy who called the Saban story weeks before it materialized. He reported Shell was out before anybody else...the Darrent Williams story before anybody else, etc

he hits and misses, but more often than not, he's right

not too difficult to call the Darrent Williams story.. i mean, the guy got shot and killed.

[ItsInTheCards]

not too difficult to call the Darrent Williams story.. i mean, the guy got shot and killed.

my point is he broke the story hours before ESPN got a hold of it

[Sndvl1999]

he's the guy who called the Saban story weeks before it materialized. He reported Shell was out before anybody else...the Darrent Williams story before anybody else, etc

he hits and misses, but more often than not, he's right

Adam Sheftner broke the Shell story. The police broke the Williams story...

[ItsInTheCards]

Adam Sheftner broke the Shell story. The police broke the Williams story...

Schefter broke the story before it was official true, but once it was happening, he was there

of course the police were the first ones to talk about Darrent, I'm talking about the media.....

fine, I used a bad example with the Williams thing, I can live with that

[Cardsfan50]

I wouldn't hate Sherman, but he's the guy I'm least enthusiastic about. Haven't they learned their lesson with the Green saga about hiring head coaches that have failed elsewhere?

Green failed because of his arrogance, not his experience. Sherman has never seemed to me to be that arrogant or hard-headed.

All head coaches fail. Cowher failed last year. Sherman had one bad year, perhaps caused largely by key injuries. A new GM wanted his own guy and saw an opportunity to fire Sherman.

If we want some continuity from the last few weeks by the team, an experienced coach who doesn't have to learn how to do the job should be able to hit the ground running more easily than someone who has never been a coach before.

[Freddie Joe Nunn Rulez]

Not sure if it was in the original post, but Mike Florio is the guy who runs ProFootballTalk.com, a rumor site. I will admit that I read the site everyday because, along with rumors, he posts a lot of general NFL news also. He did call the Saban thing back in November, also spent a lot of time claiming that Cowher would be done in Pittsburgh. However, this is also the guy who claimed all summer that Leinart would never sign with Cardinals, etc.

The guts of that story, though, is in the last sentence. Notice all the names that appear in the "yet to be interviewed" section? Rivera, Cameron, Grimm, etc. In other words, the Cardinals have interviewed Sherman and Whisenhunt, and Sherman interviewed better. I wouldn't get too worked up until this same story breaks a week from now, after all others have been interviewed also. Kind of like hedging bets, on PFT's end-if Sherman gets hired, he called it first. If not, he can say his claim was made before the bulk of the candidates were interviewed.

[cardinalsDO]

Green failed because of his arrogance, not his experience. Sherman has never seemed to me to be that arrogant or hard-headed.

All head coaches fail. Cowher failed last year. Sherman had one bad year, perhaps caused largely by key injuries. A new GM wanted his own guy and saw an opportunity to fire Sherman.

If we want some continuity from the last few weeks by the team, an experienced coach who doesn't have to learn how to do the job should be able to hit the ground running more easily than someone who has never been a coach before.


It's real easy to see "Head Coach" and "winning percentage" without looking past the lines. Sherman inherited a veteran team with Brett Favre in his prime. Green Bay had appeared in the Superbowl just 3 year prior to Sherman's arrival. Furthermore, he inherited a team that was coached by Mike Holmgren and Andy Reid. You can't inherit a much better team than that. At the very least, you should win and make the playoffs if not go further.

In Arizona, he will be asked to resurrect a franchise which is the furthest thing from his Green Bay experience. Furthermore, he was the assistant head coach and offensive specialist with the Texans and they finished 28th in total offense which is terrible. His most recent experience doesn't suggest he can help rebuild a struggling team.

[ItsInTheCards]

The guts of that story, though, is in the last sentence. Notice all the names that appear in the "yet to be interviewed" section? Rivera, Cameron, Grimm, etc.

Rivera was the first to interview, and interviewed before both Sherman & Whisenhunt....he didn't mention him at all

about Leinart, I searched his archives, and found nothing about him saying they'd have trouble signing him

I'm not trying to be a Florio apologist, but I searched "Leinart", and went through 69 stories that mentioned his name, but found nothing, and his archives go back years

[crdnl85]

Whisenhunt didn't impress me in any way,but if he were the one they hired i wouldn't complain.To me he didn't look,or act like he wanted the job.I have no problems with what the others have been saying.Haven't heard from Cam Cameron yet so don't know if he is interested or not.Only hearsay about what Chow is saying.I believe Grimm will get the job with the Steelers,but who knows?I sure wouldn't want to be the ones,who have to choose just the one.:Cards logo: :Cards logo:

[Reckon]

I'm not buying the "experience" story at all. In fact, after Buddy Ryan and Dennis Green experiences, and looking at the non-experience of all the other candidates, Sherman looks like nothing more than a token minority candidate.

[ItsInTheCards]

Sherman looks like nothing more than a token minority candidate.

minority, as in one of the three white coaches being interviewed?

[NightHawk11and81]

In Arizona, he will be asked to resurrect a franchise which is the furthest thing from his Green Bay experience. Furthermore, he was the assistant head coach and offensive specialist with the Texans and they finished 28th in total offense which is terrible. His most recent experience doesn't suggest he can help rebuild a struggling team.

It's closer than you believe, Denny Green is the only reason that it wasn't this season. We have the weapons, we need a solid line and solid coaching. If Sherman or whoever is hired really is a good coach, we'll be a good team in no time.

That's the only thing that coaches should be worried about: If you fail with this Arizona team, your head coaching career is likely over because if you can't win with this team, who can you win with?

[Cardsfan50]

Here's my scenario for hiring Sherman:

Team wants to keep some assistants, and Sherman should be okay with some. He knows o-line coach Loney from NFL North days, so that should be okay. He is offensive guy and will want his own new OC, QB coach, etc, all okay with the team.

Sherman will probably agree to keep Clancy, for at least a year, along with other defensive coaches except for defensive backs of course.

This would give good mix of new and old coaches, continuity and change.

Sherman's biggest plus is it won't take him a year to learn his job.

[lkratavil49]

It's closer than you believe, Denny Green is the only reason that it wasn't this season. We have the weapons, we need a solid line and solid coaching. If Sherman or whoever is hired really is a good coach, we'll be a good team in no time.

That's the only thing that coaches should be worried about: If you fail with this Arizona team, your head coaching career is likely over because if you can't win with this team, who can you win with?

Very well stated, that is one of the reasons I can not understand the "who would want to come to this losing franchise" mentality. I can just picture Norm Chow rubbing his hands and licking his chops thinking...."Boy, what I could do with all that talent".

[Saturn5]

where did Green fail elsewhere?

Northwestern, Stanford

Dennis Green lead the Northwestern Wildcats to a 0-11 record when he was coaching college ball, and in his five years coaching Northwestern, he never lead them to a winning record.
In Dennis Green's eight years coaching college football, he only had one winning record 8-4

[JayGee]

Quote:
Originally Posted by JayGee View Post
where did Green fail elsewhere?
Northwestern, Stanford

College coaching career

When Green was named the head coach of Northwestern University a school that had only won one of its last 35 games, in 1981, he was only the second African American head coach in Division I-A history (the previous coach, Willie Jefferies, coached at Wichita State, which no longer has a football team) [1]. Green was named the Big Ten Conference coach-of-the-year in 1982. He left Northwestern in 1985, doing a stint as running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers under his former boss at Stanford, Bill Walsh. In 1989, Green took the head coach position at Stanford University, inheriting a team that had graduated 17 of its 21 starters from 1988. Green led the Cardinal from 1989-1991, his tenure culminating in an appearance in the 1991 Aloha Bowl, where his team lost to Georgia Tech on a last-minute punt return.
(source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Green)

i know u hate green, but why say he was a failure prior to his stint with the cardinals? he was a success at the college level which prompted minnesota to hire him where he went 97-62 and appeared in the playoffs 8 times with 2 NFC championship appearances. how does anyone interpret that as failure?

he's gone. why pee on his grave?

[Big Red]

I agree with you, Jay Gee. Let's move on and show some class.

[Saturn5]

Don't hate him. But the fact is he was a failure as a college head coach:

Dennis Green lead the Northwestern Wildcats to a 0-11 record when he was coaching college ball, and in his five years coaching Northwestern, he never lead them to a winning record.

In Dennis Green's eight years coaching college football, he only had one winning record 8-4

[ItsInTheCards]

Sherman will probably agree to keep Clancy, for at least a year, along with other defensive coaches except for defensive backs of course.



or, he will go with somebody he's worked with before, like Jim Bates, Ed Donatell, or Bob Slowik

after all, both are not working with an NFL team right now, and Slowik is DBs coach for Denver

[Saturn5]

Denny Green's college head coaching career

Northwestern Wildcats (NCAA Division 1A)

1981-1985

1981 0 11 0
1982 3 8 0
1983 2 9 0
1984 2 9 0
1985 3 8 0


Stanford Cardinal (NCAA Division 1A)

1989-1991

1989 3 8 0
1990 5 6 0
1991 8 4 0 Aloha (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Aloha)


7 out of 8 were losing seasons and an overall record of 26-63. That's a failure.

[Big Red]

Good point, Saturn.

[Darth Llama]

So far we have heard that every single candidate is in the lead for this job.

Just rumors.. we're not going to know anything until the Cardinals hold a press conference and say "Our new head Coach is.."

This source is guessing..just like every other source.

On that note, while Sherman isn't my favorite candidate, he was very successful in Green Bay and if he's hired he'll have my support. I will support the Cardinals and back their decision on the next head coach.

[Lebo]

I can understand if some of you are not big Mike Sherman fans, but to act like the guy was an utter failure in Green Bay is way off base. Very good winning percentage...you can't deny him that. I don't care who he had on his roster he did when while he was there.
Am I saying I want him? No...I'd take Cameron over him but I don't think hiring Sherman would be a complete disaster unlike some of you.

[Cardsfan50]

or, he will go with somebody he's worked with before, like Jim Bates, Ed Donatell, or Bob Slowik

after all, both are not working with an NFL team right now, and Slowik is DBs coach for Denver

I agree if Bates is available he would probably be Sherman's first choice, but if Cards tell him condition of his being hired is keeping Clancy I think he could live with it for a year to see how things work out. That's all I was trying to say.

[NightHawk11and81]

I like Jim Bates. That wouldn't bother me at all if Sherman became coach and brought him in.

[ItsInTheCards]

I agree if Bates is available he would probably be Sherman's first choice, but if Cards tell him condition of his being hired is keeping Clancy I think he could live with it for a year to see how things work out. That's all I was trying to say.

oh, I understand, but I'm not sure that they would tell somebody like Mike that he'd have to stay for a year. I could see them telling some of the other candidates with no experience, but rarely do they tell established guys we want you to keep this guy :wink:

[Cardsfan50]

oh, I understand, but I'm not sure that they would tell somebody like Mike that he'd have to stay for a year. I could see them telling some of the other candidates with no experience, but rarely do they tell established guys we want you to keep this guy :wink:

But this is the Cards remember. They believe one of Green's major faults was that he didn't hire good assistants, at least early on, and they want to be sure the new coach does.

Remember when Parcells first went to Dallas he agreed to keep some assistants and some schemes to make Jones happy and get the job. After a year, he made changes to the defense and several caoches under him. So even experienced coaches have done this at times to get hired again.

[BoomerFan480]

NO to Sherman!!

1) Cam Cameron
2) Ron Rivera
3) Norm Chow
4) Russ Grimm

lets go Cards!!

[Domon Kasshu]

Sherman sounds like a reliable choice(after all, coaches have done a good job in their second stops in the league), but it's... I'm not sure how to put it, but it just seems too safe. I almost feel like a fresh face could really shake off the Cardinals rep and convince them how good they can be.

I agree with everyone else... the Cards have a ton of talent, and 8-8 is at least a possibility.