A rumor was started by Chris Myers of Fox Sports Radio yesterday that Tony Dungy might return to the Bucs in some front office capacity. Dungy denied the ridiculous report, and I have no doubt he's telling the truth. All indications are that Dungy is done with football as a full time occupation, but there's more than that to explain why this story made no sense. Dungy's too polite to remind people of the inexcusable way he was treated by the Glazer family, with them leaking word of his upcoming firing the day before a playoff game with Philadelphia. Dungy has more class in his little finger than the Glazer boys did with their snickering, giggly "oh no, we haven't talked to Bill Parcells" press conference after canning him (they were lying, of course). I'd love to have Dungy back in charge, but there's not a chance in hell that's going to happen.
One of the games I'm most looking forward to this weekend is USC at Notre Dame. It's become trendy for people to tout Jimmy Clausen for the Heisman Trophy thanks to him leading the Fighting Irish to last second wins three times. That would be fine except for the fact the wins came against Purdue, Washington and Michigan State. The best player in the country's team wouldn't be losing late against those teams in the first place. As an example of what I'm talking about, here's one of my least favorite writers Gregg Doyel proclaiming Clausen is the best passer in the sport. If he is, now's the time to prove it. Do something special against a USC team that's held ND to 3 points in the last two games combined. Otherwise, Clausen is a good quarterback in his third year as a starter for a mediocre football team. That's nothing to be ashamed of, but its nothing to hype up either.
Mike Locksley's nightmarish first year as a head coach continues, with him being suspended for ten days as punishment for getting physical with his New Mexico team's WR coach. I liked Locksley when he was at UF, but New Mexico felt like a weird fit for him from the time he took the job. He's got a number of former Gators on his staff there, including Mike Degory and Cheston Blackshear, so I hope he gets his act together and is eventually able to turn things around.
Locksley is one of just seven black head coaches in Division 1, and the New York Post is beating the drum that Charlie Strong should increase that number soon. We'll see if that happens - if UCF doesn't open I'm not sure I see a great fit for Charlie yet. There likely won't be an opening in the SEC this year unless Rich Brooks retires at Kentucky, and his successor will be Joker Phillips whenever he does go. Memphis will be opening, but that's not a very good job because of horrible facilities. In the ACC, only Virginia seems likely to open right now (FSU and Maryland don't count, with successors in place) and even that's not a sure thing. I'd love to see Charlie get a shot, but he needs some jobs in the part of the country he's got the best ties in to come available.
Despite all the discussion of concussions the past two weeks, the best article on the subject has nothing to do with Tim Tebow's injury. Malcolm Gladwell is an interesting read on any topic - you should take the time to read his piece from the New Yorker. Former Buc Tom McHale's downward spiral and death was somewhat stunning - when you read about the analysis done on his brain in this piece, it makes a lot more sense.
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2 comments:
Thanks for the link to the article. I read your blog every day, partly for your opinions, and partly for the great reading recommendations!
It's too bad that the Glazer family simply lacked the class to deal with Dungy (a class act all the way) in an appropriate manner. I say that because I think it would be a good opportunity for Morris to be "coached" by Dungy. The NFL needs to set their minority coaches up for success, not failure.
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