A Review of Coaching Candidates

Coaching Candidates

By CK Stiller

With Cowher�s retirement, I thought it wouldbe a good idea to go over who the candidates to replace him actually are. This isn�t an attempt to given an opinion on the issue, just to offer some background information. Those listed below are the names that have been thrown around by the media, and there is always a shot that the candidate will be none of them. Some of these guys may not even get serious consideration.

Whisenhunt has been with the Steelers for six years. The last three were spent as offensive coordinator, while the previous three were as the tight ends coach. He has coached in the NFL for nearly 10 years now, and that was preceded by working at Vanderbilt. His background is mostly offensive, obviously. In college, he worked with special teams, and the tight ends from 95-96. He had his first job at the professional level in 1997 with the Baltimore Ravens, where he once again worked with the tight ends. In 99, he went over to the Browns and coached special teams. He would then spend a single season with the Jets in 2000 working with tight ends, before making the move to Pittsburgh. Last season, he interviewed with the Raiders after the Steelers playoff run, but turned down the job. He is an Atlanta native, and is likely to be a candidate to replace Jim Mora Jr. there if he does not get hired in Pittsburgh. It is questionable whether he will stay on as offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh if not hired.

Whisenhunt has worked under three head coaches besides Cowher in the NFL. The first of them was Ted Marchibroda in Baltimore, who coached the Baltimore Colts during the 70�s and then the Indianapolis Colts from 92-95. In 1999, he worked under Chris Palmer with the Browns. Palmer is a disciple of Bill Parcells, and began his career as the receivers coach, and then QB coach in New England. The time included their trip to the Super Bowl. Following that, he worked under Tom Coughlin as the offensive coordinator in Jacksonville for two seasons. He became a head coach in Cleveland for two seasons, and had a record of 5-27. From 02-05 he served with the Texans as offensive coordinator, and is now currently the QB coach of the Dallas Cowboys. The final head coach Whisenhunt served under was Al Groh, another disciple of Parcells. Groh was the successor to Parcells in New York, and is the only one of the three with a background in defense. Groh started as the linebackers coach for the Giants, and followed Belichick over to Cleveland. Following that, he went over to New England and then New York. As the coach of the Jets, they posted a record of 9-7.

Whisenhunt was a player at the professional and collegiate levels. He played at Georgia Tech from 1980-84, and then became the tight end of the Atlanta Falcons from 85-88. From 89-90 he was the tight end in Washington, and then went to the Jets from 91-93.

Grimm has been with the Steelers since 2001, and has served as the offensive line coach throughout his tenure. Since 2004, he has been an assistant head coach to Cowher. Prior to working for the Steelers, Grimm was with the Redskins as their tight ends coach (92-96), and then the offensive line (97-00). He has been a popular head coaching candidate for several seasons now, and was a finalist for the coaching job with the Bears before they hired Lovie Smith. Grimm has been credit for developing four Pro Bowl offensive linemen with the Steelers and Redskins.

Besides Cowher, Grimm has worked under three different head coaches. He was with the team for the final season of Joe Gibbs in 92, when the team was 9-7. The following season the Redskins were 4-12 under successor Richie Petibon. He had been the teams defensive coordinator under Gibbs. In 94, the team hired Norv Turner, who was the coach until 2000. During that time, the Redskins were 58-82-1, and had four winning seasons.

As a player Grimm was a guard for the Redskins teams that won three Super Bowls and played in four. He played for 11 seasons, made four Pro Bowls, and has been close to making the Hall of Fame. He played center at the University of Michigan prior to being drafted, and was an All-American.

Ferentz began his coaching career as the defensive coordinator at Worcester Academy. From there he went to the University of Pittsburgh and coached the offensive line for an 11-1 team. For the next nine seasons he coached the line at Iowa, where eleven of his players went on to play in the NFL; three as first rounders. He had his first head coaching job at the University of Maine in 1990, but his teams struggled to just a 12-21 record over three seasons. Afterwards, he became the OL coach for the Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick, and went with the team to Baltimore. He landed back in Iowa in 98 and replaced coach Hayden Fry. The team earned its first bowl appearance in 2001, and beat Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl. In 02, his team made it to the Orange Bowl (first ever bowl invitation for Iowa) and was 11-1, but lost to USC 37-17. He was named coach of the year by the Associated Press. The next year they beat Florida in the Outback Bowl. In all, his teams at Iowa have compiled a 67-64 record, and are an even 3-3 in bowl appearances.

Ferentz is an interesting candidate. Even if the Rooney�s chose him for the job, it�s doubtful he would be interested. He has publicly stated he wants to stay at Iowa, and signed an extension through 2012. A number of NFL teams have shown interest in the past.

Singletary has the least experience of any of these candidates. He started coaching with the Ravens back in 2003, and was in charge of the linebackers. From there he followed their defensive coordinator Mike Nolan to San Francisco, and once again worked with the linebackers. In his second season, he has been elevated to assistant head coach. He is a minority candidate, obviously, and while young, has garnered interest as a potential head coaching candidate for two seasons now. He has experience working with the 3-4, which is a factor that may come into play when choosing a coach. Singletary is known as a motivator, and even has a history in motivational speaking. As everyone knows, Singletary is already in the HOF as a player.

Another minority candidate. Rivera is also a former Bears player, like Singletary. Following his player career he became a TV analyst in Chicago covering football. His first stint in coaching came as the defensive �quality control� coach for the Bears (not even sure what that is) and worked under Dave Wannstedt. In 1999 he became the linebackers coach in Philadelphia under Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. The Eagles, unlike the Bears, were a heavy blitzing team. In 2004 he became the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, and a head coaching candidate after the 2005 season. He interviewed with both St. Louis and Green Bay.

Rivera has experience in two different defensive schemes (both 4-3, obviously), but there have been similarities between the defenses. They have both focused on rattling opposing QB�s, and both were successful. Philadelphia and Chicago have both been vulnerable to the run in the past.

Currently the offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers. He began his coaching career in Michigan from 84-93, where he worked with the QB�s and WR�s. During that time the team made five trips to the Rose Bowl, and played in 10 bowl games. His first stint in the NFL came as the QB coach with the Redskins under Norv Turner. From 97 to 01, he was the head football coach at Indiana. His teams had a combined record of 18-37, but did enjoy offensive success. He was Antwaan Randle El�s coach. In 2002 he was hired as the offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers (under Schottenheimer, of course). His teams have enjoyed a great deal of offensive success during that time. Last year he interviewed for jobs with Houston and St. Louis.

Currently defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. He began his coaching career back in 1987 with Eastern Kentucky, and served as their DE coach. He was a defensive coordinator for some small schools until 94, when his father Buddy Ryan hired him with the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals did have defensive success, but overall it was a failure. The team was 12-20 over two seasons. In 94 he coached the DL, and in 95 the LB�s. He was with the University of Cincinnati from 96-97, and the defense ranked in the top 20 in the nation. From there he went to Oklahoma and their defense ranked sixth in the nation. He finally began his career in Baltimore in 99 with Billick. He coached the DL for six years, and is the only member of the staff left over from the 2000 Super Bowl run. He has been the defensive coordinator for two seasons now, succeeding Mike Nolan. He worked under Mike Nolan and Marvin Lewis during that time. He currently runs what is probably the most versatile defense in the NFL. He plays a 3-4, but his team often switches to the 4-3, and really plays more of a 4-6 the majority of the time.

Greg Schiano is currently the head coach of Rutgers. He began his coaching career at the high school level, but only for a single season. He tried to work his way into the collegiate level at Rutgers as a graduate assistant, and then did the same at Penn State. From 1991 to 1995 he served as the defensive backs coach, and then made the switch over to the NFL in 96. He was with the Bears for three seasons under Wannstedt. He served as a defensive assistant for two seasons, and then took over working with the DB�s in his final year. In 1999 and 2000 he was the defensive coordinator for the University of Miami, and the defense was one of the best in the nation. He then took his current post as the coach of Rutgers. The team struggled. In 2004 he assumed defensive coordinator responsibilities, but the team still finished 5-7. They would go on to have a winning season in 05, however, and finished 7-4. In 06 they finished with a 10-2 record. He would appear to be a long shot at best.

Those aren�t all of the names flying around. I�m not even going to touch guys like Dave Wannstedt and Jim Haslett, though. There are some other names to consider. You have three of the head coaches fired last year - Mike Sherman, Mike Tice, and Mike Martz. Capers has been mentioned, but god willing that will never happen. Norm Chow has been mentioned as a head coaching candidate, and as a minority with an offensive background, they could give him a look.

It should be noted that Dick LeBeau has said he wants to stick around as the defensive coordinator. Others will likely remain on the staff, as well. A head coach probably won�t be starting from scratch. The fact that LeBeau wants to stay, though, could lead to the team selecting an offensive minded coach. Adding further to that theory is the fact that Grimm and Whisenhunt probably won�t want to stick around for a coaching job they were turned down from after waiting for the chance. Whisenhunt in particular will have other opportunities to become a head coach. Atlanta is a strong possibility given his background. Seeing the list above, though, no one with an offensive background impresses me personally. Ryan and Singletary are the two that interest me the most.

Then, the list will probably end up meaning nothing. The coach probably won�t even be any of these guys. There�s little go on when determining what the Rooney�s will go for as a coach, as they�ve only picked two in the past few generations. No one can really tell you what to expect.