MIKE LEACH RETURNS TO COACHING, PALKO TO START SUNDAY & THE GAMES THAT AFFECT K.C.'s FUTURE
I knew someone in the latest wave of coaching dismissals would have the guts to pull the trigger, make a really bold move in an attempt to make their football program relevant again nationally. It happened on Wednesday, it just surprised me as to where. The Washington State Cougars hired former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach & signed him to a 5-year deal worth slightly more than $2 million per season. I won't bore you with the shameless allegations that got Leach canned in Lubbock, but I firmly believe he got a raw deal. It's good to see him back in college football. The Wazzu program has been down since Mike Price departed for Alabama after the 2002 season. The Cougars have been about as irrelevant as can be since, going 39-69. Even in the very competitive PAC-12 Conference, I expect Wazzu to be above .500 by the 2014 season, he built Texas Tech into a national-ranked team in the ultra-competitive Big-12. No reason to believe he can't do it again.
Mike Leach
I think Rich Rodriguez's tenure at Arizona is getting off to a rather rocky start. First, Tulane's athletic director said in a speech to boosters "It was between us & Arizona & the money was the same, I promise it was, but they promised to put Michigan on their schedule within three years, something we weren't able to do." So exacting some payback on the university who fired him is a consideration when selecting a new program? When RichRod gave his initial pep talk to Arizona boosters he kept picking at Michigan, "See I thought 5-years meant 5-years." He seriously needs to get on with his job & new position or he'll find himself needing a revenge game for payback against Arizona.
Loved this line from FOXSports Brian Billick when asked if he would be a candidate for the now vacant Jacksonville Jaguars job. "They're looking for young & cheap & I'm neither."
The Jags did some additional purging right after they gave general manager Gene Smith a 3-year contract extension. Wide receiver coach Johnny Cox was fired & WR Jason Hill was released. Both had to know they were in peril with the performance of this receiver corps. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker was named interim coach, replacing the fired Jack Del Rio.
A couple of important injuries to report. Denver OLB Von Miller underwent thumb surgery on Tuesday & his availability for Sunday's trip to Minnesota is unknown. Starting left tackle Will Beatty of the New York Giants was placed on injured reserve Wednesday as was Seattle WR Sidney Rice, who suffered his 2nd concussion in three weeks. Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin keeps insisting Troy Polamalu will play Sunday vs. the Bengals despite his concussion he suffered Sunday night against the Chiefs.
In what could be a very embarrassing Saturday night, the BIG TEN is apparently advertising for seat fillers needed to do exactly that, fill empty seats at Lucas Oil Stadium for the BIG TEN Championship game. Every single ticket for the first such game was sold the first day they went on sale. So what gives? Apparently the Ohio State, Iowa & Penn State faithful who purchased tickets aren't having much luck dumping them on fans from Wisconsin & Michigan State. Plus there are the locals who thought they'd make a score on tickets & now find themselves holding two they can't sell. I checked eBay & tickets aren't selling even when priced 2 for $50 or 4 for $100. Not a good sign. Back to the seat fillers, Craigslist ran an add soliciting people for a one night gig, pays $75, & "seat-fillers must be able to stand loud crowds, wear either red or green sportswear & be prepared for a 4-hour job." This is really bizarre & if it's all true, totally humiliating for the conference.
Whoop-T-Doo! Chiefs' fans get another start from Tyler Palko. Todd Haley announced Wednesday that Palko would start Sunday in Chicago. Apparently newly acquired Kyle Orton isn't familiar enough with the K.C. playbook to start against his old team. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Orton in relief Sunday. Playing against Bears' backup Caleb Hanie isn't enough to give the Chiefs an edge as long as Palko's at quarterback. The Chiefs made a couple of personnel moves on Wednesday, signing WR Zeke Markshausen & OL Rob Bruggeman to the practice squad. More Anthony Becht-like transactions I'm sorry to say. Jared Gaither, cut by the Chiefs on Tuesday, was signed by the Chargers on Wednesday. San Diego placed left tackle Marcus McNeill on injured reserve Wednesday.
The "Where are we going to draft?" questions keep rolling in, so I'll give you something to consider other than the Chiefs impending 4-12 record. I say that with some confidence what with Tyler Palko starting again this week. Then it's off to New Jersey to play the Jets, home for the Packers & Raiders before closing the season in Denver. All five teams have winning records & with the exception of Green Bay, who can clinch the division this Sunday, all four remaining teams are in the playoff hunt. So don't be concerned with the Chiefs remaining schedule, look instead at the games of the teams Kansas City is competing with for a top-10 draft selection spot. I'm going to ignore Indianapolis, they've pretty well clinched the top pick. If Andrew Luck wants to be a Colt, a Colt he shall be. It's the 2,3 & 4-win teams you should examine & when they play each other, one of them has to win. Here are a number of matchups that can only benefit the Chiefs. Every game is between tonight & the final Sunday of the season. Their current win total is in ().
Philadelphia(4) at Seattle(4)
Carolina(3) at Tampa Bay(4)
San Diego(4) at Jacksonville(3)
Tampa Bay(4) at Jacksonville(3)
Philadelphia(4) at Miami(3)
St. Louis(2) at Seattle(4)
Cleveland(4) at Arizona(4)
Tampa Bay(4) at Carolina(3)
Seattle(4) at Arizona(4)
Indianapolis(0) at Jacksonville(3)
Washington(4) at Philadelphia(4)
I believe with 2 remaining games vs. Frisco & a pair against Pittsburgh & Cincinnati, I'll be shocked if the Rams find themselves anywhere but second in the draft. The Vikings with 2 wins have Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans & Denver left to play, they look like a solid pick to be third in the draft order. After that, anything can happen, but I'm predicting right now the Chiefs won't pick any lower than 7th & it could be as high as 5th. Let the wild speculation begin on who Scott Pioli will select with their 3rd top-10 draft pick in 5 years. Will it be a quarterback like Landry Jones, Matt Barkley or RG3? How about a premiere offensive tackle like Matt Kalil, Jonathan Martin or Riley Reiff? Something to think about over the final 5 painful weeks of Kansas City football.
Robert Griffin III - Baylor Landry Jones - Oklahoma
Jonathan Martin - Stanford Matt Barkley - USC
Ryan Kalil - USC Riley Reiff - Iowa
Mike Leach
I think Rich Rodriguez's tenure at Arizona is getting off to a rather rocky start. First, Tulane's athletic director said in a speech to boosters "It was between us & Arizona & the money was the same, I promise it was, but they promised to put Michigan on their schedule within three years, something we weren't able to do." So exacting some payback on the university who fired him is a consideration when selecting a new program? When RichRod gave his initial pep talk to Arizona boosters he kept picking at Michigan, "See I thought 5-years meant 5-years." He seriously needs to get on with his job & new position or he'll find himself needing a revenge game for payback against Arizona.
Loved this line from FOXSports Brian Billick when asked if he would be a candidate for the now vacant Jacksonville Jaguars job. "They're looking for young & cheap & I'm neither."
The Jags did some additional purging right after they gave general manager Gene Smith a 3-year contract extension. Wide receiver coach Johnny Cox was fired & WR Jason Hill was released. Both had to know they were in peril with the performance of this receiver corps. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker was named interim coach, replacing the fired Jack Del Rio.
A couple of important injuries to report. Denver OLB Von Miller underwent thumb surgery on Tuesday & his availability for Sunday's trip to Minnesota is unknown. Starting left tackle Will Beatty of the New York Giants was placed on injured reserve Wednesday as was Seattle WR Sidney Rice, who suffered his 2nd concussion in three weeks. Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin keeps insisting Troy Polamalu will play Sunday vs. the Bengals despite his concussion he suffered Sunday night against the Chiefs.
In what could be a very embarrassing Saturday night, the BIG TEN is apparently advertising for seat fillers needed to do exactly that, fill empty seats at Lucas Oil Stadium for the BIG TEN Championship game. Every single ticket for the first such game was sold the first day they went on sale. So what gives? Apparently the Ohio State, Iowa & Penn State faithful who purchased tickets aren't having much luck dumping them on fans from Wisconsin & Michigan State. Plus there are the locals who thought they'd make a score on tickets & now find themselves holding two they can't sell. I checked eBay & tickets aren't selling even when priced 2 for $50 or 4 for $100. Not a good sign. Back to the seat fillers, Craigslist ran an add soliciting people for a one night gig, pays $75, & "seat-fillers must be able to stand loud crowds, wear either red or green sportswear & be prepared for a 4-hour job." This is really bizarre & if it's all true, totally humiliating for the conference.
Whoop-T-Doo! Chiefs' fans get another start from Tyler Palko. Todd Haley announced Wednesday that Palko would start Sunday in Chicago. Apparently newly acquired Kyle Orton isn't familiar enough with the K.C. playbook to start against his old team. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Orton in relief Sunday. Playing against Bears' backup Caleb Hanie isn't enough to give the Chiefs an edge as long as Palko's at quarterback. The Chiefs made a couple of personnel moves on Wednesday, signing WR Zeke Markshausen & OL Rob Bruggeman to the practice squad. More Anthony Becht-like transactions I'm sorry to say. Jared Gaither, cut by the Chiefs on Tuesday, was signed by the Chargers on Wednesday. San Diego placed left tackle Marcus McNeill on injured reserve Wednesday.
The "Where are we going to draft?" questions keep rolling in, so I'll give you something to consider other than the Chiefs impending 4-12 record. I say that with some confidence what with Tyler Palko starting again this week. Then it's off to New Jersey to play the Jets, home for the Packers & Raiders before closing the season in Denver. All five teams have winning records & with the exception of Green Bay, who can clinch the division this Sunday, all four remaining teams are in the playoff hunt. So don't be concerned with the Chiefs remaining schedule, look instead at the games of the teams Kansas City is competing with for a top-10 draft selection spot. I'm going to ignore Indianapolis, they've pretty well clinched the top pick. If Andrew Luck wants to be a Colt, a Colt he shall be. It's the 2,3 & 4-win teams you should examine & when they play each other, one of them has to win. Here are a number of matchups that can only benefit the Chiefs. Every game is between tonight & the final Sunday of the season. Their current win total is in ().
Philadelphia(4) at Seattle(4)
Carolina(3) at Tampa Bay(4)
San Diego(4) at Jacksonville(3)
Tampa Bay(4) at Jacksonville(3)
Philadelphia(4) at Miami(3)
St. Louis(2) at Seattle(4)
Cleveland(4) at Arizona(4)
Tampa Bay(4) at Carolina(3)
Seattle(4) at Arizona(4)
Indianapolis(0) at Jacksonville(3)
Washington(4) at Philadelphia(4)
I believe with 2 remaining games vs. Frisco & a pair against Pittsburgh & Cincinnati, I'll be shocked if the Rams find themselves anywhere but second in the draft. The Vikings with 2 wins have Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans & Denver left to play, they look like a solid pick to be third in the draft order. After that, anything can happen, but I'm predicting right now the Chiefs won't pick any lower than 7th & it could be as high as 5th. Let the wild speculation begin on who Scott Pioli will select with their 3rd top-10 draft pick in 5 years. Will it be a quarterback like Landry Jones, Matt Barkley or RG3? How about a premiere offensive tackle like Matt Kalil, Jonathan Martin or Riley Reiff? Something to think about over the final 5 painful weeks of Kansas City football.
Robert Griffin III - Baylor Landry Jones - Oklahoma
Jonathan Martin - Stanford Matt Barkley - USC
Ryan Kalil - USC Riley Reiff - Iowa
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