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The 2007 NFL season ended on Sunday. Brian Billick’s head coaching tenure with the Baltimore Ravens ended less than 24 hours later.

Change Was Needed

The team finished 5-11. Suffice it to say, management had much higher expectations. In 2006, the Baltimore Ravens won 13 games and made the playoffs (they lost in the first round).

Team owner Steve Bisciotti stated that he made the decision to fire Brian Billick a few hours before the team played its final game of the season. The Baltimore Ravens have lost the same amount of games as they have won since Steve Bisciotti took over full ownership.

Steve Bisciotti initially wanted to give Brian Billick another year to fix the team, but after discussing things with his consultants, he changed his mind. The guess here is that his consultants convinced him that a change was the best thing for the team. They’re not doubting Brian Billick’s coaching ability. They just don’t think he’s the right coach for this team at this moment.

Brian Billick’s stubborn nature helped him get to the top of the NFL, but it also brought him right back down. When the Baltimore Ravens needed change, he wasn’t capable of providing it because of his stubborn nature. When Brian Billick came over from the Minnesota Vikings, he was labeled as an offensive genius. However, he wasn’t able to produce an offense with the Baltimore Ravens that came close to being great. They weren’t even good. In fact, the defense grumbled for all 9 years about the lack of production from the other side of the ball. The Baltimore Ravens also dismissed Brian Billick’s assistant coaches as well.

New Job

Brian Billick still has 3 years and $15 million on his contract. If he becomes contractually eligible, then he moves towards the top of the list of available coaches for next season.

The Atlanta Falcons are still looking for a head coach who can command respect. Brian Billick is one of those coaches that can do that. Plus, the Atlanta Falcons can also offer a bit of control over personnel, which would be pretty tempting for the coach.

Replacement

Even though he was dismissed from his post as defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan will be considered for the head coaching spot.

There are also reports that Steve Bisciotti had talks with former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher had a discussion in regards to the job back in November.

University of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is another candidate as well.

Closing Thoughts

It was a nice run for Brian Billick in Baltimore. He has a championship ring out of his 9 year tenure, so that makes his stint there a success.

In a move that comes as a surprise to no one, Bill Parcells has fired the Miami Dolphins General Manager.

Randy Mueller Fired

Bill Parcells officially took over on Thursday as the new Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Miami Dolphins.

His first decision was to fire the man who was in charge of a franchise that only won 1 game this season.

Randy Mueller has only been in charge of personnel for a year despite being the general manager for the past 3 years. When Nick Saban was coaching the Miami Dolphins, he had control over personnel. With Randy Mueller at the helm, the team acquired free agent linebacker Joey Porter and drafted Ted Ginn Jr and John Beck in the draft. You can’t really place all of the blame on Randy Mueller’s shoulders. However, he wasn’t particularly impressive this season. Plus, when a franchise brings in a new boss, more than likely, he’s going to surround himself with his own people.

The Replacement

The Miami Dolphins have requested and received permission from the Dallas Cowboys to interview Jeff Ireland for the general manager position. He is expected to interview for the job on January 1, 2008.

Right now, Jeff Ireland is the Vice President of College and Pro Scouting for the Dallas Cowboys. Bill Parcells used his powers to push Jerry Jones to promote him to that position. That move appeared to have paid off since the Dallas Cowboys were able to draft DeMarcus Ware, Marion Barber, Marcus Spears, Kevin Burnett, Chris Canty, and Jay Ratliff in 2005.

Jeff Ireland was immediately linked to the Miami Dolphins the moment they hired Bill Parcells.

Cleaning House

Randy Mueller wasn’t the only one fired on Monday. Bill Parcells also fired Assistant Director of Player Personnel Mike Baugh and College Scouting Coordinator Rick Thompson.

Those two guys will of course be replaced by people who have worked with Bill Parcells or people who have worked with the new General Manager.

Head Coach in Jeopardy

Cam Cameron could be next in line.

The head coach went 1-15, which is never a good thing. It’s worse when you achieve that record right before the franchise decides to make changes in management.

Bill Parcells and Cam Cameron are expected to sit down and discuss things later on this week. Unless Cam Cameron can pull off the interview of the century, he’ll probably be fired.

The Miami Dolphins are expected to contact the Dallas Cowboys about interviewing Jason Garrett and Tony Sparano, both of whom are assistant coaches with plenty of interest from around the league.

Closing Thoughts

Firing Randy Mueller is just the start.

Rick Neuheisel, former coach for the Washington Huskies has been named head coach of his alma mater UCLA in a 5 year deal worth about 1.25 million annually. Neuheisel was a quarterback for UCLA in 1984. He has been spending the last couple of years in the NFL and is currently the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.

For those who don’t know,  Neuheisel was a very good coach in Washington with a 33-16 record, 4 bowl trips, and a Rose Bowl title. What ended his career there and what upset many fans was his participation in a betting pool on the NCAA basketball tournament. He sued for wrongful termination and left Washington and coaching with a messy ending.

UCLA has a good coach in Neuheisel as shown by the numbers in his tenure at Washington and could bring the team to some prominence. So he played in an NCAA basketball tournament pool, that is not a big deal and many people do it everywhere. It is not like he bet on college football or basketball, it was just a pool. Rules are rules but to tarnish the guys name is not fitting. Neuheisel should make nice comeback to the coaching in the PAC 10.

After a controversial season, Joe Paterno, one of the greatest coaches in college football, has done it again by beating Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl 24-17, which makes it his 23rd career bowl win and 372 career victory. I do not know how this man does it. He is 81 and still has he energy and stamina to coach this young kids and run along the sideline through the plays as well. He is truly a legendary coach like Bear Bryant and Bobby Bowden.

Paterno has coached 500 games and has won over 320 games which gives him a winning percentage over 75%. That is a great record and it is going to be a sad day in Happy Valley if he decides to retire. Football is one of those sports where great coaches are never forgotten and JoePa will always be mentioned whenever there is talk about college football coaches or Penn State. Congratulations coach and keep on rolling.

Former ace pitcher Mark Prior has signed with the San Diego Padres in a deal worth $1 million for one year with $4.5 million in performance bonuses. Prior was looking at several teams including the Astros and Mariners after being released from the Chicago Cubs. Injuries have side tracked him for the last couple of years but if he can get back to his 2003 numbers where he went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA and 245 strikeouts then the Padres have won on a gamble.

I love Prior as he had good stuff before the injuries and at 27 he should be able to come back and get to a higher level of pitching. He was born in San Diego and should be a great fit in the strong pitching rotation. Prior joins ace Jake Peavy, Greg Maddux, and Chris Young and the team led the major leagues with a 3.70 ERA. If Prior can become an ace again, the Padres would have an outstanding one-two punch in Peavy and Prior. This is a great signing for the Padres and should help them reach the postseason. As for the Cubs, they let go a good pitcher who could become just as good as Carlos Zambrano but have resigned Kerry Wood. Ted Lilly is also itching well for them but to let go of Prior is just not sensible.

Hate them or love them the New England Patriots are undefeated and proved that they are the dominate team in the NFL. If you thought either team was going to bench their starters here then you haven’t been keeping up. The Patriots definitely had an eye on that perfect regular season record of 16-0 and keeping their starters in was the only way to do so. The Giants were not going to slump over either as they came out strong by running through the New England defense and then setting up the passes.

Eli Manning had great numbers in this game and still remains hot or not. He can be like Peyton some games and then look like Ryan Leaf the next. He had 4 TDs with two going to super talented Plexico Burress who doesn’t get that media coverage even though he is just as talented as the big three: Owens, Moss, and Johnson. Brandon Jacobs also had some decent numbers running the ball as well.

What it came down to was the arm and leadership of Tom Brady who lead the team from a 12 point deficit to a 38-35 win. The Patriots scored three consecutive touchdowns to take the lead and seal the victory. There was also a bunch of records broken including Peyton’s touchdown record for a season and Jerry Rice’s touchdown reception record. Brady threw his 50th touchdown in the game and Moss caught his 22nd touchdown  for  the season.  Oh and you can’t forget that  undefeated season record matched only by the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

The Patriots would have won the Super Bowl last year if their receiving core wasn’t suspect and they surely upgraded by getting Moss, Welker, and Stallworth. People doubted if Moss could play at the same level but those people know nothing about the game. It was easy to see that Moss wanted to play for a winning team and he wasn’t even close to that in Oakland. Brady is already talented and combined with these weapons the offense just explodes. The only way to beat them is to outscore them and not too many teams have that fire power except the Colts, Cowboys, and Jaguars.

The only step the team has now is to win the Super Bowl and nothing else. Not winning the big game will tarnish the perfect regular season record a little because winning it would probably set them as one of the best if not the best teams in NFL history. The offense surely is one of the best but the defense is weak so that’s a debate for later.

The Utah Jazz have sent guard Gordan Giricek and a 1st round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for sharpshooting forward Kyle Korver.

Expected

When head coach Jerry Sloan sent Gordan Giricek home, the writing was on the wall. The guard from Croatia had fallen out of favor with the coach after some harsh words were exchanged between the two during a game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Gordan Giricek was brought back to the team, and everyone in the organization said the right things about moving forward and focusing on basketball. However, behind the scenes, the Utah Jazz were working the phones pretty hard to get a deal done.

For the Utah Jazz This trade accomplishes two things for the Utah Jazz. They get rid of a bad locker room influence in Gordan Giricek, who has been unhappy with the team since the beginning of the season. He had requested a trade to another team earlier in the season. His unhappiness made him a constant thorn in the side of the coaching staff. The Utah Jazz also acquired a sharpshooter in Kyle Korver. Kyle Korver is an excellent outside shooter who can free up the middle even more for Carlos Boozer. His range also makes it more difficult for defenses to collapse when Deron Williams penetrates. He is expected to take over the 6th man spot for the Utah Jazz.

For the Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers basically picked up an expiring contract and a first round draft pick.

With the Utah Jazz currently sitting at 9th place in the Western Conference, there’s a chance that they could end up missing the playoffs. If they do, that draft pick becomes even more valuable to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Gordan Giricek’s expiring contract could end up being more valuable than what he can actually contribute on the basketball floor.

It’s no secret that the Philadelphia 76ers are rebuilding. They’d love to acquire as many expiring contracts as possible to have as much flexibility as possible. They’re still looking to trade guard Andre Miller for some expiring contracts as well.

For the time being, Gordan Giricek can provide the Philadelphia 76ers with some depth behind Willie Green and Andre Iguodala.

Closing Thoughts

Very good trade that should help out both teams. It’s another one of these minor trades that the casual sports fans are going to overlook.

Bulls bench Ben. Bulls bench Ben. Bulls bench Ben.

Pretty fun to say. Of course, Ben Gordon probably doesn’t think so.

Changes Chicago Bulls interim head coach Jim Boylan has decided to move Ben Gordon back to the bench. He will resume his former role as the team’s sixth man. Chris Duhon will start in his place. The team has been laying well below expectations. Changes needed to be made, and it started off with the firing of Scott Skiles as head coach. However, when Jim Boylan took over, he felt that more changes were needed. So, he decided to utilize Ben Gordon off the bench to provide an offensive spark to the second unit. It’s a role that Ben Gordon has excelled in previously. He won the 2004 NBA Sixth Man award. The transition will be a familiar one for Ben Gordon, but it will also be a difficult one. Jim Boylan has already stated that he’s fully aware of the difficulties for Ben Gordan. However, he hopes that Ben Gordan can embrace the role that he feels is best for the team.

Difficulties

They say that money is the root of all evil. Well, Ben Gordon’s financial concerns have hampered his play this year.

Over the summer, Ben Gordon turned down a $50 million offer from the Chicago Bulls. He obviously feels that he’s worth more money than that.

He also feels that being a sixth man is going to get in the way of his financial goals. Very few teams in the league pay their sixth men more than $50.

We’re assuming that Ben Gordon would be more willing to accept a bench position if he already had a long term contract like Manu Ginobili does. The San Antonio Spurs are currently thriving thanks to Manu Ginobili accepting a role as the team’s sixth man.

Trade

This is an ugly situation for the Chicago Bulls and Ben Gordon.Things are obviously not working out as well as they should be, and the best option for everyone involved might be to trade Ben Gordon.

We’re sure the thought has crossed the mind of Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson. A further disgruntled Ben Gordon could expedite the process. If Ben Gordon continues to sulk and struggle on the court, then John Paxson would lose leverage in negotiations with other teams.

Closing Thoughts

Things are getting ugly. A trade needs to happen as soon as possible.

San Francisco 49ers Red RA Polo

San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Mike Singletary has expressed interest in the vacant head coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons. When asked about his interest in the job, Mike Singletary bluntly stated, “Sure I would — absolutely. The one thing I’ve learned is it’s hard to become a head coach. But I feel I’m ready now. I know I’m ready.” The legendary middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears actually interviewed for the job before the Atlanta Falcons hired Bobby Petrino. Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank was very high on Mike Singletary, but instead went with someone else. Mike Singletary, who has been an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers since 2005, is highly regarded around the league as one of the better defensive minds. He was a strong candidate for the head coaching positions in Dallas and San Diego last year.

Mike Singletary is a great motivational speaker.

He should be able to connect with his players pretty well. Plus, he should be able to earn his players’ respect because he not only played the game but excelled at it. Mike Singletary has a Super Bowl ring on his finger. He did it by being the leader of arguably one of the greatest defenses ever with the 1985 Chicago Bears team.

Mike Singletary is also a great teacher. You’d have to be a pretty good teacher in order to have a company that provides businesses with leadership training.

As a linebacker coach, Mike Singletary’s work can be seen on display in the form of the one of the greatest linebacking quartets ever. With the Baltimore Ravens, Mike Singletary taught a linebacking corp of Ray Lewis, Eddie Hartwell, Terrell Suggs, and Peter Boulware.

The Atlanta Falcons desperately need a head coach that can command respect. Mike Singletary fits that bill pretty well.