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Tony Sparano

Previous Job: Offensive Line Coach, Dallas Cowboys (2003-07)

Contract: 4 years, estimated $10-11 million

 

Why He’s Here

Disenchanted after a 1-15 extended the once-proud franchise’s playoff drought to six years, owner Wayne Huzienga shook up the front office and brought in Bill Parcells to right the ship. One of the Big Tuna’s first moves was to anoint a new Captain whom he can trust.

 

What Sparano Brings

A familiarity of coaching in the Parcells paradigm (Sparano was an offensive assistant in Dallas under Parcells, and even called plays in ’06).

 

Resume Gem

Helped bridge the new coaching staff in Big D in 2007 by guiding an offensive line that boasted three Pro Bowlers.

 

Glass Half Full

Bill Belichick. Tom Coughlin. Romeo Crennel. Eric Mangini. Sean Payton. All are former disciples of Parcells. Surrounded by former Cowboy officials – including GM Jeff Ireland and five assistant coaches – Sparano is part of a structure that, if history is any indicator, is sure to flourish.

 

Glass Half Empty

Belichick, Coughlin, Crennel and Mangini never inherited a one-win team that presented such a myriad of downtrodden AARP veterans and underachieving youngsters. The Cowboys offense featured seven Pro Bowlers last season; Miami’s offense featured seven different starting quarterbacks or running backs.

 

What To Expect

A rebuilt franchise by 2010, spearheaded by Parcells and carried out by Sparano and Ireland. Miami’s spiraling struggles have resulted from poor leadership from the high coaching and front office ranks. Dave Wannstedt and GM Rick Spielman never clicked, Nick Saban was paid Broadway money to run a Trenton-quality one-man show and Cam Cameron worked for a GM in Randy Mueller who, for whatever reason, never garnered anyone’s respect. Assuming Parcells knows what he’s doing (and those who know football say he kinda does), the wave of incompetence will no longer crash on South Beach.

Of course, there’s still residue left over from last year’s tide. Left in the wet sand are the dead shells of a stagnant offensive line, seaweed entangling a mess at running back and soggy pieces of litter making up the quarterback and wide receiver situations. What’s more, the Dolphins’ solid 3-4 defense has aged.

Despite his fulsome free agent signings, Parcells knows that the way to ameliorate the situation is by drafting new talent for Sparano to mold. That takes time. Expect four to six wins in 2008, and six to eight wins in 2009. Gloomy? A little. Bt look on the bright side: at least the Marlins and Heat won’t be rallying the town and putting pressure on these Fins.

 

 

John Harbaugh

Previous Job: Special Teams and Secondary Coach, Philadelphia Eagles (1998-2007)

Contract: 4 years, estimated $8-10 million

 

Why He’s Here

After nine mostly successful years, owner Steve Bisciotti believed that Brian Billick’s act had run its course in Baltimore.

 

What Harbaugh Brings

Fresh energy and an updated staff

 

Resume Gem

NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year in 2001

 

Glass Half Full

Billick had lost many of the team’s veterans, which, coupled with Baltimore’s lackluster offense over the years, had put the franchise in a severe risk of stagnancy. Injecting new leadership steers the still-talented team back onto its customary path of formidability.

 

Glass Half Empty

The Ravens won 13 games two years ago….how bad could Billick have been? The Super Bowl XXV winning coach had just two sub-.500 seasons prior to 2007, and in both instances, his team bounced back with double-digit win totals the following year.

 

What To Expect

A resurgent Ravens club. We maybe would have seen that anyway. Harbaugh has been a respected players’ coach for many years. In Baltimore, he inherits what remains one of the stronger defensive teams in football, thanks to an übertalented group of All-Stars that includes Ed Reed, Chris McAlister, Terrell Suggs, Bart Scott and yes, still, Ray Lewis. With Rex Ryan – who was unsuccessful in his most recent search for a head coaching opportunity – back in his coordinator role, expect Baltimore to field one of the five most ferocious defensive units again in 2008.

Of course, if it were only about defense, the Ravens would have claimed more than just one Lombardi Trophy this decade. Offensively, they’ve been horrendous at their worst, mediocre at their best and anemic at their norm. The assumption is that hiring Cowboys young offensive coordinator Jason Garrett – the team’s top choice – would have been a better move. But hiring head coaches to fix one side of the ball can be fruitless (see Marvin Lewis and his “defensive powerhouse” Bengals, or, whatdyaknow, Brian Billick, former offensive connoisseur of the Minnesota Vikings, and these very Ravens). 

Harbaugh comes from a stable organization, having spent eight years under Andy Reid in Philadelphia. And he brings with him a good staff, headlined by offensive coordinator Cam Cameron (think San Diego’s Cam Cameron, not Miami’s) and special assistant Vic Fangio. If Harbaugh can a.) get the veterans to buy what he’s selling and b.) fix that whole Ravens quarterback thing, he can immediately have this team competing for AFC North titles again.

 

 

Mike Smith

Previous Job: Defensive Coordinator, Jacksonville Jaguars (2003-07)

Contract: 4 years, estimated $8-10 million

 

Why He’s Here

Bobby Petrino’s lack of integrity provided a job opening

 

What Smith Brings

Defensive experience and compatibility with the front office

 

Resume Gem

Coordinated three top-ten scoring defenses in five years at Jacksonville

 

Glass Half Full

Pretty simple…Mike Smith had nothing to do with the disaster that was the ’07 Atlanta Falcons.

 

Glass Half Empty

There are literally thousands – maybe even tens of thousands – of Mike Smith’s out there. Ten fans out of ten wouldn’t recognize this one if he walked by them with a nametag on.

 

What To Expect

A de facto expansion team where only the uniforms and home venue will seem familiar. Whether the new Falcons can generate much fan interest in the football-crazy state of Georgia remains to be seen. They must first decide on a quarterback in 2008 (you may have heard, that $100 million one they had wound up in jail) and find five players (six, if you count the vacant tight end position) who can assemble some form of an offensive line.

After that, it’s up to Smith to work his magic and revamp a defense that ranked 29^th in both scoring and yards last season. Just for kicks, he’ll be doing that without the services of veteran defensive tackle Rod Coleman (released), athletic outside linebacker Demorrio Williams (UFA) and superstar cornerback DeAngelo Hall (traded).

The Vick and Petrino catastrophes left Falcons owner Arthur Blank wounded and therefore wiser. To remodel the franchise, he hired New England Patriots Director of College Scouting, Thomas Dimitroff, to be the new GM. The move not only gives the Falcons a shrewd leading talent evaluator, it also allows team president Rich McKay to focus more on the business aspect of the organization, which is where his bread is buttered.

Smith was hired in large part because the team felt he would work well with Dimitroff.

Now the first-year head coach must shed the image that he is a pencil-pushing softy who knows football better than he does people. Ex-Jaguar Marcellus Wiley has already questioned whether Smith has the type of demeanor that can demand respect. Forecasting whether Wiley’s words will prove prophetic is virtually impossible. Still, it’s at least safe to assume that Atlanta’s season will be smoother in ’08 than it was in ’07.

 

 

Jim Zorn

Previous Job: Quarterbacks Coach, Seattle Seahawks (2001-07)

Contract: 5 years, $15 million

 

Why He’s Here

Four years was a long enough bis for Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs

 

What Zorn Brings

A more cohesive offensive game plan

 

Resume Gem

Quarterback coach of three-time Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck

 

Glass Half Full

The power-running and spread-passing offensive geniuses (i.e. Gibbs and Al Saunders) negated one another. Putting this playoff team in the structure of one proven system under Zorn will finally solidify things.

 

Glass Half Empty

Washington’s prolonged head coaching search was conducted in bizarre fashion…especially when it ended with the hiring of a Dan Snyder Yes Man.

 

What To Expect

More of the same in Washington. The All-Star coaching staff didn’t pan out. Gibbs and Saunders could not mesh their clashing offensive styles. Gregg Williams’s defense, for whatever reason, could never follow a good season with a successful encore. Ultimately, we saw a Redskins organization that would occasionally sneak into the playoffs as a wild card in between disappointing seasons, but never do much damage in the greater scheme of things.

However, the coaching was never the primary problem. Rather, it was the man up above – not God, just the owner in luxury box who thinks he’s God – and his lavish spending that propelled this organization dead smack in the middle of the C+ stratum. The Redskins epitomize a solid, sorta good but certainly not great team because they’re centered around quick-fix free agents and system changes.

Zorn augments Snyder’s power by the simple fact that he is not a three-time Super Bowl champion Hall of Famer. Unless he is a shockingly brilliant leader (and, considering he spent seven years serving under Mike Holmgren, the trunk of one of the league’s most lavish head coaching trees, without ever being considered a prime head coaching candidate, such is unlikely) the Redskins will go on continuing to be the best mediocre team in football.