CHAMPS ALL DONE, THE BRIAN KELLY FALLOUT & WHO THE HELL IS HACHI GO?
So much for my 'Steelers repeat theory' from August. They're done, make no mistake about it, losing 5 straight. What should trouble Mike Tomlin most is losing to Kansas City, Oakland & Cleveland during this streak, 3 teams thought to be in the league's bottom-5. Three glaring weaknesses showed up again last night, inability to protect Ben Roethlisberger, special teams once again gave up a big return & the defense's poor tackling in the secondary. Some of the defensive problems can be traced to Troy Polamalu's injury, they're 4-0 with him & 2-7 without him. They've given up 38 sacks, which puts them into the league's bottom-5. The special teams troubles will be cured with a new coach & 3-4 new bodies. It's been very undisciplined coverage teams giving up all these returns. Pittsburgh will have to rededicate itself in the off season, completely revamp their coverage teams & scheme, have a good draft & they can be right back in the playoff mix in 2010. It's a lot to accomplish, but this proud franchise has is still young enough to be a major factor for years to come.
JaMarcus Russell continues to live in another dimension. His take on Bruce Gradkowski's success since taking over Russell's QB spot is that "guys are making plays around Bruce." He repeats this over & over like some sort of a mantra. He says "guys weren't making plays for me, but they make them for Bruce." Let's just take a second to analyze what kind of a quarterback & team leader JaMarcus Russell has been since he took over the starting job. He's overweight & out of shape, he is late for meetings, he spends little time on film study, he can't execute the game plan because he hasn't prepared properly & he's committed one of the cardinal sins for a team leader, he's one of the last to arrive at work & one of the first to leave. To me, that sums up a mediocre quarterback & team leader. When Gradkowski took over in the Kansas City game, players were impressed the way he responded, unfortunately, his receivers let him down or they would have won that game too. Gradkowski leads by example, especially on game day, he is prepared, he doesn't panic, his body language is that of a winner. His timing with his receivers is better than Russell's, which is shameful considering how little time he's had with the first team. When asked about having his contract renegotiated since he isn't the starter, Russell totally discounted speculation that Gradkowski could be the QB of the future for the Raiders & he's not about to take a pay cut for sitting on the bench like the lump that he is. Now hear this.....if Bruce Gradkowski wins two of the remaining games on the schedule, he is the starting quarterback next season. One more thing I just can't resist, if Al Davis hadn't gone against the scouting reports of the rest of the league & passed on Darrius Heyward-Bey, taken Michael Crabtree instead, how much better would the Raiders be right now & for the future. Putting Crabtree into the mix with 4th round pick Louis Murphy & TE Zach Miller, would have made the Raiders much harder to defend. But Al knows best doesn't he? That's how they got JaMarcus Russell too, Al Davis over ruling the coaching staff.
So Brian Kelly took the Notre Dame job, the school is pissed off, the alumni is pissed off & his players feel betrayed. How is this any different from many of the coaching changes we've seen in recent years, like Rich Rodriguez bailing on West Virginia while they're in the top-5 at season's end. Or what about Nick Saban & Bobby Pettrino pulling a double switcheroo on a college team & an NFL franchise. I'm not being cynical, I hate it when players are recruited by a coach, a coach that sits in their living room looking his parents straight in the eye & tells them he's going to be there for their son. Which is true, unless a better paying offer comes along. Then their integrity takes leave. Without seeing the contract I'd say Kelly received a $2 million raise moving to South Bend at a minimum, possibly more. Would you like to be offered a 200% raise? Of course you would & so do these guys, it's the successful coaches at mid-level programs who move up the ladder quickly, leaving a lot of disappointed people in their wake. I think the hardest part is when a coach tells a player he's not leaving & within 24 hours, they're gone. It's hard to swallow, a lot of these kids look up to their coaches as family or even father-figures. I think Kelly will be more successful than Charlie Weis at Notre Dame eventually, but not in the short term. Most of the Irish's skill position players are bailing out or graduating, so it might take a couple of seasons before they show up on the national map.
In the meantime, the Cincinnati Bearcats will try to regroup enough to give Florida a scrap in the Sugar Bowl. I think they will, there's some pretty strong characters in that Cincinnati program.
The proposed college football playoff bill in Congress got preliminary approval for a house sub committee. The next step would be a vote from the full committee & then a full house vote. Then it would have to go over to the Senate for approval, so don't look for this to happen anytime soon, Lord knows they have much more pressing issues to deal with right now. President Obama is all for a playoff system in college football's Division I, the only portion of college football without a playoff.
The coaching vacancy at Kansas is starting to heat up with some big names. Joining Turner Gill, who has spoken to Kansas officials, is Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, who'd like to get back into the Big-12. Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has thrown his hat into the ring. He has a 110-60 record at Ole Miss & Auburn. He's certainly a 'name coach', but does he work in the wide-open Big-12? Also in the mix is the Jayhawks' first choice, Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh's wife is from Kansas City & he's not happy with the pay scale at Stanford compared to other PAC-10 programs. The main drawback to heading the KU football program is knowing the school has always been & will always be, a basketball school. Kansas dramatically improved their football offices, training facilities, meeting rooms & weight room. A new stadium or a facelift for the existing one is long overdue. Making a committment to a coach as high profile as Harbaugh would go a long way toward having a program that could compete yearly for the Big-12 North.
Junior All-Americans, Stanford running back & Heisman finalist, Toby Gerhart & Tennessee safety Eric Berry wil both make the move to the NFL. Berry is a top-10 pick, Gerhart somewhere in late 2nd round, early 3rd round.
The Chiefs just made it before their blackout extension from the league office was to expire. The remaining 3,100 tickets were sold in slightly less than 24-hours, allowing K.C. locals to watch their home team playing the Buffalo Bills. Oooooooo, I'm all tingly.
Apparently when Rex Ryan tells his quarterback to slide, he means it. Rookie QB Mark Sanchez even got a sliding tutor, Yankee manager Joe Girardi, but it didn't help. In last Thursday's game against Buffalo, Sanchez ran & then dove for a first down injurying his knee. The PCL strain isn't bad enough to sideline Sanchez, provided he could live with the pain. Sanchez complained about the pain daily & that coupled with Ryan's unhappiness about his sliding, has Sanchez not only demoted as the starter Sunday in Tampa, but not even on the traveling squad. He's being left behind & he's pretty steamed about it. Rookie lesson #1, when the coach tells you to do something, even if you're the QB, do exactly as he tells you to do.
So who in the Hell is Hachi Go? It could be the new name of Chad Ochocinco, the receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson. Ochocinco, spanish for eighty-five(85), his number. Hachi Go is Japanese for same. He said yesterday he'll probably change his name again before he retires & he really likes Hachi Go. Is this guy the most narcisistic player in the league?
JaMarcus Russell continues to live in another dimension. His take on Bruce Gradkowski's success since taking over Russell's QB spot is that "guys are making plays around Bruce." He repeats this over & over like some sort of a mantra. He says "guys weren't making plays for me, but they make them for Bruce." Let's just take a second to analyze what kind of a quarterback & team leader JaMarcus Russell has been since he took over the starting job. He's overweight & out of shape, he is late for meetings, he spends little time on film study, he can't execute the game plan because he hasn't prepared properly & he's committed one of the cardinal sins for a team leader, he's one of the last to arrive at work & one of the first to leave. To me, that sums up a mediocre quarterback & team leader. When Gradkowski took over in the Kansas City game, players were impressed the way he responded, unfortunately, his receivers let him down or they would have won that game too. Gradkowski leads by example, especially on game day, he is prepared, he doesn't panic, his body language is that of a winner. His timing with his receivers is better than Russell's, which is shameful considering how little time he's had with the first team. When asked about having his contract renegotiated since he isn't the starter, Russell totally discounted speculation that Gradkowski could be the QB of the future for the Raiders & he's not about to take a pay cut for sitting on the bench like the lump that he is. Now hear this.....if Bruce Gradkowski wins two of the remaining games on the schedule, he is the starting quarterback next season. One more thing I just can't resist, if Al Davis hadn't gone against the scouting reports of the rest of the league & passed on Darrius Heyward-Bey, taken Michael Crabtree instead, how much better would the Raiders be right now & for the future. Putting Crabtree into the mix with 4th round pick Louis Murphy & TE Zach Miller, would have made the Raiders much harder to defend. But Al knows best doesn't he? That's how they got JaMarcus Russell too, Al Davis over ruling the coaching staff.
So Brian Kelly took the Notre Dame job, the school is pissed off, the alumni is pissed off & his players feel betrayed. How is this any different from many of the coaching changes we've seen in recent years, like Rich Rodriguez bailing on West Virginia while they're in the top-5 at season's end. Or what about Nick Saban & Bobby Pettrino pulling a double switcheroo on a college team & an NFL franchise. I'm not being cynical, I hate it when players are recruited by a coach, a coach that sits in their living room looking his parents straight in the eye & tells them he's going to be there for their son. Which is true, unless a better paying offer comes along. Then their integrity takes leave. Without seeing the contract I'd say Kelly received a $2 million raise moving to South Bend at a minimum, possibly more. Would you like to be offered a 200% raise? Of course you would & so do these guys, it's the successful coaches at mid-level programs who move up the ladder quickly, leaving a lot of disappointed people in their wake. I think the hardest part is when a coach tells a player he's not leaving & within 24 hours, they're gone. It's hard to swallow, a lot of these kids look up to their coaches as family or even father-figures. I think Kelly will be more successful than Charlie Weis at Notre Dame eventually, but not in the short term. Most of the Irish's skill position players are bailing out or graduating, so it might take a couple of seasons before they show up on the national map.
In the meantime, the Cincinnati Bearcats will try to regroup enough to give Florida a scrap in the Sugar Bowl. I think they will, there's some pretty strong characters in that Cincinnati program.
The proposed college football playoff bill in Congress got preliminary approval for a house sub committee. The next step would be a vote from the full committee & then a full house vote. Then it would have to go over to the Senate for approval, so don't look for this to happen anytime soon, Lord knows they have much more pressing issues to deal with right now. President Obama is all for a playoff system in college football's Division I, the only portion of college football without a playoff.
The coaching vacancy at Kansas is starting to heat up with some big names. Joining Turner Gill, who has spoken to Kansas officials, is Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, who'd like to get back into the Big-12. Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has thrown his hat into the ring. He has a 110-60 record at Ole Miss & Auburn. He's certainly a 'name coach', but does he work in the wide-open Big-12? Also in the mix is the Jayhawks' first choice, Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh's wife is from Kansas City & he's not happy with the pay scale at Stanford compared to other PAC-10 programs. The main drawback to heading the KU football program is knowing the school has always been & will always be, a basketball school. Kansas dramatically improved their football offices, training facilities, meeting rooms & weight room. A new stadium or a facelift for the existing one is long overdue. Making a committment to a coach as high profile as Harbaugh would go a long way toward having a program that could compete yearly for the Big-12 North.
Junior All-Americans, Stanford running back & Heisman finalist, Toby Gerhart & Tennessee safety Eric Berry wil both make the move to the NFL. Berry is a top-10 pick, Gerhart somewhere in late 2nd round, early 3rd round.
The Chiefs just made it before their blackout extension from the league office was to expire. The remaining 3,100 tickets were sold in slightly less than 24-hours, allowing K.C. locals to watch their home team playing the Buffalo Bills. Oooooooo, I'm all tingly.
Apparently when Rex Ryan tells his quarterback to slide, he means it. Rookie QB Mark Sanchez even got a sliding tutor, Yankee manager Joe Girardi, but it didn't help. In last Thursday's game against Buffalo, Sanchez ran & then dove for a first down injurying his knee. The PCL strain isn't bad enough to sideline Sanchez, provided he could live with the pain. Sanchez complained about the pain daily & that coupled with Ryan's unhappiness about his sliding, has Sanchez not only demoted as the starter Sunday in Tampa, but not even on the traveling squad. He's being left behind & he's pretty steamed about it. Rookie lesson #1, when the coach tells you to do something, even if you're the QB, do exactly as he tells you to do.
So who in the Hell is Hachi Go? It could be the new name of Chad Ochocinco, the receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson. Ochocinco, spanish for eighty-five(85), his number. Hachi Go is Japanese for same. He said yesterday he'll probably change his name again before he retires & he really likes Hachi Go. Is this guy the most narcisistic player in the league?
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