There was a lot of praise and Ra Ra during the Super Bowl celebrating the fact that not 1 but two African American coaches made it to the big game. Both coaches were very deserving of the recognition.

That was then. Enter the post Super Bowl reality. Lovie Smith helped turn around a Franchise that was mediocre at best to be one of the premier teams in the NFC for the past couple of years. Two Division Titles and a Conference Championship. Yet, he is the lowest paid Head Coach in the league. I thought it was ridiculous for them to not extend his contract after last year, but I can understand them not wanting to make a long term commitment based on what may have been a fluke season. Wake up Jerry Angelo. It wasn’t a fluke. What did he do for an encore? He helped guide the team to the Super Bowl with Rex Gross-man as the QB.

I hate to say it, but I am not so sure that things wouldn’t be a little different if Lovie was Caucasian. Being that its Black History Month, Chicago is a prime example of how far African American coaches still have to go in order to be viewed in the same light as their white counterparts.

Am I crazy? Take a look at the “Golden Boy”. John Gruden. He took the Raiders to the Super Bowl and was crowned a genius. Heck. Tampa Bay even traded draft picks to get him. He has gotten the fortune, fame and respect. What does he do? Win a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s players and not much since.

Lovie Smith inherits a team that went 7-9 and finished 4th in the NFC South. What does he do? Season #1(5-11), Season #2(11-5, Wins NFC North) and Season #3(13-3, Wins NFC North and NFC). Does he have to win a Super Bowl to get off the bottom of the coaches pay scale? This is unfair. I am sure John Gruden would be immediately inducted into the Hall of Fame if the roles were reversed.

Chicago, prove me wrong and pay the man what he deserves. $4.5M+ Good Luck Lovie and Congrats on a Great Season. Maybe you should jump ship and join the new NFC North cellar dwellers. Get us to the NFC Championship game and you would be crowned King of Detroit.

Well, I can’t say that I am surprised. Norv is a likable guy, has previously coached at San Diego and is a great offensive mind. Do I think he can succeed in the short term? Probably. The Chargers are loaded with talent all over the field. He has adequate coaching on the defensive side of the ball to ensure that he can focus on offense. BUT. There’s always a but. I am still not sold on Norv Turner being a successful head coach. My feelings have been somewhat validated when some of his former players have went public with statements questioning his ability to motivate his players. Yeah, yeah. These guys makes tons of money and shouldn’t need any motivation. But I disagree. Every once in a while, even the best of us need a little kick in the butt. I think even though he has a talented team, he has a very young team. Let’s see. Take a look at the ages of the team leaders: LT(27), Philip Rivers(25), Antonio Gates(26), Shawne Merriman(22) and Shaun Phillips(25). What’s going to happen when they run into any form of adversity? Who are they going to turn to, McCardell? Neal? LT proved after the loss to the Patriots that he can crack. Can Norv motivate them to come together and look past this adversity? That remains to be seen.

Did AJ Smith miss the memo on the Dallas Cowboy’s hiring? Jerry “Better Win Now” Jones, bypassed Dallas’ beloved Norv Turner to hire Wade Phillips. Norv was a part of the last Dallas Dynasty and was backed by all of the triplets. Yet and still Jones hired someone else. I think this alone should raise a red flag before hiring Norv. Not to mention his pathetic results as a Head Coach. (OK, he gets a pass from the Oakland fiasco.)

Some people are just born to be excellent VPs and not have the “it” quality to be the President. Norv is a GREAT offensive coordinator. This is probably Norv’s last chance to be the main man. Hopefully it will work out, but if not, I am sure that Marty will be in front of some television with a smile on his face.

Well, I guess the timing isn’t as bad as it sounds for the Chargers. If they need to replace both coordinators and there is a rocky relationship with the head coach, may as well get rid of Marty. A new coach will want to bring in new coordinators anyway. So, I disagree with the move, but understand the timing. The draft is fast approaching and the combine is around the corner.

Was this a good move? I don’t think so. I’m not Marty’s biggest fan, but you can’t disregard the fact that all this guy does is win everywhere he goes. Yes, his post season record isn’t anything to write home about. But has it really been that far from 2000 when the Chargers were the laughing stock of the NFL? Remember 1-15. That’s not a date. That was the Chargers record. Has it been that long ago since Eli basically said he would play Professional Frisbee before he’d play for the Chargers? Do they now hold Super Bowl or bust as their mantra? If so, I can understand, but shouldn’t they pause to think about the coach that performed so well that he enabled this mentality to be developed. Super Bowl or not, Marty played an enormous role in bringing respectability to this Franchise. He has been their best coach since Don Coryell. That’s over 20 years. OK, AJ Smith, you got what you wanted. Even though the next guy will have an easier road to glory than Marty, you better hope you don’t get what you deserve. Go ask the Tampa Bay Bucs about Karma.

Good Luck Marty. I know you will land on your feet. Hell, I will take you in Detroit if this Marinelli experiment doesn’t work out.

Is it too early to crown a team as having the worst off season even though football has been on the shelf for less than 24 hours? And the team has yet to loose a major player from the ‘06 roster? Any guesses on the team that I am talking about? The San Diego Chargers.

Not only do they have a lame duck Head Coach, but they lost both coordinators. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron to the Miami Dolphins and Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to the Dallas Cowboys. In addition, they lost two possible replacements in tight ends coach Rob Chudzinski to the Cleveland Browns(Defensive coordinator) and linebackers coach Greg Manusky to the San Francisco 49ers(Defensive coordinator). Wow. I thought it was supposed to be the Super Bowl winners that have their coaching staff raided. At least when the Patriots lost Charlie Weiss and Romeo Crennel, there was no question about the status the top dog.

I still like the Chargers chances of having another spectacular season next year, but if not, Marty will have every excuse in the book if ‘07 is truly his last season with the Chargers. Firing or not resigning Marty is another topic for discussion.

It was a typical Pro Bowl game. The game just drags along until the last 5 minutes and surprise, surprise the players actually decide to PLAY. Thankfully there weren’t any significant injuries with the exception of Dree Brees’ left elbow which should be fine. Carson Palmer looked great and was well deserving of the MVP award.

OK. I will get off of Tony Romo’s back. (Until Next Year) When was the last time that a player was booed at the Pro Bowl? That is so funny and well deserved. Yes, he QB’d the NFC’s comeback, but I wouldn’t actually say that he “led” the comeback. Anquan Boldin made a great adjustment to catch that duck that Romo put in the air for a TD. And did you see Romo get out of the way instead of making a block during Steven Jackson’s remarkable “touchdown” run? Read my agrument for Vick over Romo.

All in all, I enjoyed the Pro Bowl. Now it is time for the worse part of the Football season….the off season. I guess its never too early to start planning for my Fantasy Football draft.

And for those that relish in the pain and suffering of others….take a look at Brian Moorman’s impression of a crash dummy. Look at the football.  From behind it looks like his head. LOL.

You’ve probably heard by now that Wade Phillips has been hired to replace Bill Parcells as the new Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys. The many reports that I have read tend to bash Jones for basically leading on Norv Turner and choosing a coach that doesn’t have that good of a track record. I disagree. Given the potential candidates, I think Wade was the “safe” pick. All of the coordinators were a gamble. Even though Ron Rivera has led a dominating Bears Defense, he has never led a team and has a Defensive scheme that is the polar opposite of the Dallas personnel. Not to say he wouldn’t be a fine Head Coach. Just not right now, for this team. Dallas is not that far away from being a serious Super Bowl contender. Hell, they have a Pro Bowl QB. (Jab. Jab. Tony Romo. A Pro Bowler? Had to stick that in there.) Anyway. By hiring Rivera, they may regress even further than they did toward the end of the season. Whereas with Wade, he may re-charge their batteries and get them over the hump.

Then there’s Norv. Poor Norv. Honestly, some coaches are just born to be Offensive coordinators. Which I think Norv is a great one, if not the best. He has proven on a couple of occasions that he may not be the most qualified to sail the boat. But based on Jerry Jones hiring Jason Garrett to be the next head coach of Da Boys, I don’t see Norv giving Jason the freedom he would need under Norv’s tutelage to flourish. Seems like Jason Garrett is probably the most significant hire of hime and Phillips. The head coaching choice was made primarily based on Jones’ belief in Garrett. This has to be a relief for Phillips. The pressure is on Garrett to make Jones not seem like a lunatic for not hiring the Dallas beloved Norv Turner. Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall when Wade walks into Jerry’s office and asks if he can fire Jason. Icing on the cake.

I am happy with the historical matchup of African American Super Bowl coaches. I really wanted to see Tony Dungy win, but didn’t believe Peyton would pull it out. Dungy is a class act and is more than deserving to be carried off the field as a Super Bowl winner as a player and coach. Near the end of the game, the Colts were in field goal range. A guy at our Super Bowl party was worried about losing his Under 48 bet. With absolute confidence, I told him not to worry because the Colts will run on 4th down. Why was I so confident? Because I know that Dungy is a high character guy that is playing against one of his best friends. At that point, it would take nothing short of a miracle for Chicago to win, so why add insult to injury.

One of my most horrible memories of my football life was the day that Tony Dungy was fired by the Bucs. I almost threw a brick at my TV in disgust. Here you have a role model for the community, a winner and all around great person being fired from the Bucs. Prior to hiring Dungy, the Bucs were the laughing stock of EVERY major sports league. The Clippers even looked world class by comparison. Enter Dungy. He wins a Division title, has them in multiple playoff games, the NFC championship and turned the franchise into one of the elite teams in the NFL. What does he get in return? A pink slip and replaced by one of the most “over-hyped” coaches of all time.

Gruden came in like he was going to be the savior. Savior? Sounds to me like they fired the savior. Well, Gruden wins the Super Bowl in his first year. YEAH. But with Dungy’s roster. What has Gruden accomplished since? Well, they did win a Division title, but now they look more like a rebuilding team more than ever. And what happened to this high powered offense that he was supposed to develop. LOL. Good Luck.

So, being that I am a fan of Tony Dungy. It was that much more pleasing that he is finally on top of the football mountain and the Bucs are down there somewhere around swamps of another Florida team. “I am not interested in being the coach of Alabama”.

Well, I looked like a genius at kickoff, but it was all down hill from there.  I was correct in saying that “Defense wins Championships”, but I picked the wrong Defense.  I can’t really fault Rex for trying to get them back into the game.  Chicago’s Defense just played very soft against the Colts.  Manning just picked them a part.  Chicago played Man-to-Man coverage for most of the later part of the regular season and the playoffs.  For some odd reason they decided to play more of a “true” Cover 2 and it killed them.  I hate to say it, but Lovie and Ron got outcoached by T-N-T (Tony and Tom).

Congrats Again.  The worse part of the Super Bowl is that it kicks off the longest offseason known to man.  Thank god for the NFL Network.  “Football 24-7″.

OK. So, it’s taken me the full 2 weeks to decide on which team I believe will win. I have tossed and turned. Went back and forth. Picked the Colts, then the Bears and then the Colts again. There are so many “key” matchups. Tony vs. Lovie. Indys Offense vs. Chicago’s Defense. Indys Run D vs. Chicago’s Run O. etc. etc. So without further ado. I pick…..drum roll, please…Da Bears.

Yep the Touchdown underdog Bears. My heart wants to see Tony Dungy win, but my head is saying to take Da Bears. I wanted to believe that Indy’s win over the Patriots put them over the hump, but I just have no faith in Manning winning the “Big Game”. He never did it in College and has yet to do it in the NFL. With that said, I think Indy had the hardest path to the Super Bowl and the win against Baltimore was noteworthy. BUT. As funny as it sounds, I think Chicago has a better all around team than any of the teams that Indy faced in the AFC playoffs. Chicago has a solid Defense, great special teams, a solid running game and a very adaquate passing attack. KC, Baltimore and New England each had a glaring flaw in their team. KC doesnt have a passing game. Baltimore lacks a passing game, special teams and has a shaky pass defense. And New England. Well, they have just played gutsy football without being great in any one area.

Remember. The Saints and NOT Indy, that had the NFL’s #1 Offense. And the Saints had a decent Defense which Chicago torched. Everyone wants to talk about how bad Rex has played but give me a break. Unless your name is Vince Young, how many first year starters played great for the entire season? Remember the golden boy, aka Tony Romo. He managed to get into the Pro Bowl with only 6 starts and he has choked ever since. Rex had a few god awful bad games, BUT he as always showed up when it counted. A couple of bad games that really dont effect your status in your conference rankings are just bumps in the road of a first year starter. I think Rex will play fine. Hester will be Rex’s best friend by continuing to give Chicago good starting field position. Jones and Benson will do the rest.

As the saying goes, “Defense Wins Championships.”
Da Bears 28 - Indy 24. MVP - Devin Hester