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Notes By George Stahl NEW YORK (AQB)--CBS' top NFL game analyst Phil Simms thinks his former Giants coach has one more year of coaching in him. "I think there's a definite chance this guy is going to come back and coach. I don't why. It's starting to add up that maybe Bill Parcells is going to come back and coach the New York Jets again," Simms said during a CBS conference call this week. "I haven't heard Bill Parcells come out and say that he is not going to coach. So by not hearing that, this makes me think that there is something there." However, Simms claims he has no insider information. "I wish I knew. I have flipped-flopped on this 20 times since he stepped down after the last game. My feelings change almost day-to-day." CBS NFL studio analyst Craig James thinks it would be hard for Parcells to turn his back on the Jet team that he has built and since seen wounded by the hasty resignation of his handpicked successor, Bill Belichick. "I would think that the reason he would go back is that the guy has to have feelings, emotions and loyalties to the players in that locker room to a certain extent. And I don't see the options that the Jets have right now. "I think he realizes this organization would be hung out to be a rough place next year if he's not back there." Meanwhile, CBS' No. 2 game analyst, Dan Dierdorf, sees no problems with the Packers firing head coach Ray Rhodes after one 8-8 season. "One year isn't long at all, but I wasn't surprised," Dierdorf said, explaining that team officials were dissatisfied with how Rhodes' disciplined the team. Dierdorf, though, was surprised by Jesse Jackson's outrage at the firing. "I think Jesse Jackson's intervention concerning Ray Rhodes is absurd. Ron Wolf must have become a racist in a hurry. It seems to me that it was just a year ago that he hired Ray Rhodes. "I just think that anyone who knows Ron Wolf or anyone who thinks that it has anything to do with anything other than winning and losing, and a dissatisfaction with how he [Rhodes] administered to his football team, to think that decision was based on anything other than that, I just find to be ridiculous." Simms agreed. "You've got to make your stars and your team play well. That's when you have a big-time chance," he said. "Anytime you hear players saying wonderful things about a coach, just fire him. What is a players coach? If you're making the players happy, it ain't going to work." However, in some cases, such as Dallas, you have to make at least some of the players happy. "Whoever gets the job in Dallas - to get the job - he's going to have to go dinner with Troy Aikman and get his stamp of approval," Dierdorf said. James second that emotion. "Troy Aikman is the key figure there. Whoever can come in and make Troy a happy guy is what Jerry Jones is going to go for." CNN/SI's Ron Meyer has a guy in mind. "He [Jerry Jones] should probably just go ahead and name himself the head coach, and then go get an offensive coordinator. Whether he calls himself that or not, Jerry is already the head coach of the Cowboys. He allows players to come to him, he gives them motivational speeches and Gailey was essentially just his offensive coordinator," Meyer said in a statement this week. James agreed, saying "it's not that far-fetched" that Jones could become coach and leave the offensive and defensive coordinators to run the show. CNN/SI's Trev Alberts said he doesn't sees a viable candidate for the Dallas job. "You need somebody who will let Jerry be the boss, and yet still command the respect of all those veteran players. I don't think there's a guy like that out there. "A guy like Chan Gailey was a good fit. Someone like a Bill Parcells, or similar to him, is not going to work in Dallas. They need a guy without an ego who can put up with all that stuff... there's other jobs out there where coaches can, almost, have full control." Simms said one of the reasons for the lack of quality coaching candidates is that the NFL isn't as attractive to college coaches anymore. "If I was a really big-time, successful college coach, why would I want to come to the National Football League? It's a lot easier to succeed in college and build yourself a nice, little life there than it is to come into this league.
Simms doesn't subscribe to that belief that this is a down year for the NFL. "I don't think there's much wrong with the NFL," Simms said. "We have some outstanding teams this year. Like always, when you play the NFL season, there's always a couple teams that distinguish themselves before the end of the year." "Does it upset people because it's not one of the perennially great teams?," he said. "I think the interest is greater than ever from people. Yes, they don't quite know these teams out there right now as well as they have the 49ers and the Cowboys and whoever before, but you know what? Give it time." Dierdorf said it's healthy to have different teams on top, although he expects teams like the Rams, Colts and Titans to be around for a while. "I don't think these are one-hit wonders. These are football teams that have laid down a pretty good foundation."
Simms, Dierdorf and James all believe that replay is here to stay. James said, "I've heard a lot more people talk about the success of instant replay this year than I have the failures of it. I agree, too, that replay is here to stay." Dierdorf, though, would make one change. "Personally, I would just assume that there is a designated representative up in the booth to make the call. I think it's awkward for the referee on the field to put his head under that hood and try to make the call." Simms said that although replay didn't determine Tennessee's game-winning lateral, it did make the result more acceptable because the replay was inclusive. "It took some of the foul out of that storm just because they had instant replay." Simms said that for the Dolphins to continue their success, Marino and the team have to continue to play like they did last week against Seattle. "When I watched him play last week, that's what serves Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins the best. He is not the same quarterback, and he doesn't need to stand back there in the shotgun and throw 40 passes a game. He's not physically capable of doing that anymore. "Play the game along, be conservative, but somewhere along the line you draw up plays, you find out situations, you let him take advantage of those situations. He is capable of doing that. Simms said the safe conservative game plan allows the defense to rest more and doesn't put them in bad situations. Plus, it has a track record of success. "That's what the Denver Broncos did with John Elway the last few years. Especially the last two or three years. Run the football, look for passing plays where you could take advantage of John Elway's special talent of throwing the football. They did that, and that's the main reason why they won two Super Bowls." Simms, though, doesn't believe that Marino's possible retirement serves as an incentive to his Miami teammates. "Maybe it's something they talk about. It's something that's there. But I don't know if players when they are in these positions that they need the motivation from one of their teammates to drive them to win Super Bowls." So can Miami have a repeat performance against Jacksonville, who didn't play last week and are rested? "It's easy to say, but it's another thing to dig deep down and go through another whole week of preparation and determination to try to make it happen," Simms said. "I think the Dolphins do have a chance, but it's never easy." Dierdorf, who will call the game with Verne Lundquist and Bonnie Bernstein, said Miami has a 50-50 chance. "I think this game is a pick'em, and what makes it that way is the injury situation with Jacksonville," he said, adding that stud Tony Boselli is out and right tackle Leon Searcy has a bad ankle. "I think we saw the second half of what Miami did with Seattle, and I think you realize that without a healthy offensive line, Jacksonville is going to have trouble matching that front four of the Miami Dolphins." "Miami's defense has gotten back to where they were the first half of the season. Because of that, I think Miami is a pick'em in this game. Yes, the short week, the travel, all of that works against them. But I think their confidence level is really high."
Dierdorf is happy after his first year back at CBS. "The transition was seamless. I couldn't have asked for anything more," he said. "It's been a really fun year for me at CBS. I couldn't be happier." Dierdorf, though, couldn't resist taking a shot at Monday Night Football, where he spent 12 straight seasons before this one and which suffered in the ratings because of the lack of quality contests. "The one nice thing about the job I have now is that I get to do a good game every week [because] we only work a couple weeks out."
"A lot of the Jazz [players] have been to acting school. Every time you see these guys play, they fall, they stumble, they're hurt, and they do a great job at that, as well as executing their offense. They're great at baiting the officials into fouls. That can create frustration in the opponent, as obviously they seem to be doing with the Spurs." -Analyst John Thompson said Monday night about Utah's ability to get calls from the officials.
For more details and a complete list of televised sporting events for this weekend, check out ArmchairQB.com's Today's Lineup. |
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