Rating the New Head Coach Hires: The First Time Coaches

Rating the New Head Coach Hires: The First Time Coaches :

B Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
I give the Saints a B for getting Payton. He is a respected quarterback guru (who will probably get a chance to show what he can do with Matt Leinert) and a fine offensive mind. He seems to have all the tools to be a big-time head coach, and he reminds me a little of John Gruden. He has a chance to turn around a struggling organization. He is probably about even with Jim Haslett.

C+ Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans
Kubiak reminds me of Mike Shanahan. Both the good and the bad. Kubiak seems highly organized, he has run one of the best offenses in the NFL for more than a decade in Denver with all sorts of players, and he is ready to be a head coach. And he seems to know how to run the ball. He was a player in the league, which neither helps nor hurts. Denver has had it share of below par quarterbacking ever since No. 7 left town, so it willbe interesting to see what Kubiak can do with David Carr. Reggie Bush will help. I do like Dom Capers, but, geez, Dom, get an offensive line, would ya?

C Rod Marinelli, Detroit Lions
OK, this is just me. There is something aboutMarinelli that just says "football coach" to me. Whether he is a svelte Abe Gibron, who also sort of said "football coach" to me, is another matter. Idon't think you need to have been a coordinator before taking a head job. I do think it helps. I don't think you need to have a head coach at a lower level before taking a lead job. I do think it helps. I think Detroit is a mess of a situation and it may not matter who the head coach is there, they may not be able to be successful. Is Marinelli a step up from DickJauron? Probably not, but I think Jauron needed to go, because of the interim status thing. Is Marinelli astep up from Mariucci? No.

C- Scott Linehan, St. Louis Rams
Maybe I'm biased, but I thought that much of what Minnesota accomplished under Linehan's tenure as the offensive coordinator was due to Randy Moss tilting the field and Dante Culpepper being a fairly fast 255-pound quarterback with a big arm and running skills. I was never really impressed with the Vikes' consistency on offense. But they did score. Linehan did a pretty impressive job with Miami's offense last year. But the Fish were coming off the Ricky fiasco, got Ronnie Brown, and got Ricky back. Linehan has some pretty impressive college credentials as well. Is Linehan an upgrade over Martz? As a offensive mind, no, but as head coach, maybe.

D+ Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings
I have to admit that I was never a big fan of Philadelphia's offense, but it IS productive. Childress is given credit for much of Donavan McNabb's success. Maybe rightly so. And, if that is the case, then he has a lot to work with in Culpepper. I thinkDante's decision skills aren't as good as McNabb's, so there will be some problem there in adopting a pass-first West Coast offense that depends on a high completion percentage. Childress is a step up from Mike Tice, if for no other reason than it was time for Tice to go. I'm not overly impressed with Childress and think he's about Mike Mularkey. There were probably better candidates available.

F Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers
I think Mike McCarthy isn't even Mike Mularkey. When Andy Reid was hired as the Philadelphia coach, I gave that an F-, so you never know. But I think McCarthy wasn't even close to the best candidate available. I don't think he's ready. And I think he's come some spotty work in the past. He was the QB coach for Brett Favre for one season in which Favre threw for 4,000 yards. He was an offensive coordinator for New Orleans for five years. He had Jeff Blake, who did him proud for a year. And Aaron Brooks. Not all that great. Last year, he was the OC for the 49ers, where he oversaw the rapid development of Alex Smith. He is not an upgrade from Mike Sherman.

Eric Mangini, New York Jets F-
What is this about? I was going to make some derogatory comment about Mangini being Phil Bengtson, but Bengtson was much better prepared to be a head coach and actually deserved the job. I'm sorry. There is nothing about this guy that says "outstanding" to me. He took over a defense that was No. 1 in the NFL in points allowed in 2003 and No. 2 in 2004 and drove it to No. 17 in 2005. Now I know there were injuries and whatever, and those are just numbers, but why give this kid the job? I think that what Ted Cottrell did in his career is far more impressive. I think Norm Chow deserved a shot more. And I will tell you this, there is nothing about Mangini that says "step up from Herm Edwards." Definite stop down. Eric, you are welcome. By my giving you an "F-", you will now go out and make everyone forget Don Shula, who was 33 when hewas hired by the Colts in 1963, replacing one of my favorite coaches of all time, Weeb Ewbank.