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Friday, January 11, 2008
Overshadowing the playoffs?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Falcons’ general manager and coaching searching is captivating the football world.
That’s bizarre because of the good playoff games coming up this weekend. Out on the web, the Pete Carroll talks are not dead, Tom Heckert is getting the job by the weekend, the don’t think Arthur Blank knows what he’s doing, Chris Mara was an unlikely interview and they want Rich McKay’s neck on a platter.
ESPN.com reported that “sources” said that “dialogue between [Pete Carroll] and [the Falcons] was ongoing Thursday.”
The report also said that a source close to the USC coach acknowledged late Thursday that, while he would probably remain with the Trojans, the Falcons’ flirtation “is not quite a dead issue yet.”
SportingNews.com tried to help the five teams who are looking for coaches. When it came to the Falcons, owner Arthur Blank got dissed — or make that disrespected — for the franchise’s multiple searches.
“Falcons owner Arthur Blank is filling two jobs. And, for the most part, it doesn’t appear as if he quite knows what he is doing,” SportingNews.com wrote.
The report [in the Baltimore Sun] making the rounds that nine people interview Rex Ryan is drawing big laughs.
“It’s the most disjointed and disorganized hiring processes ever,” SportingNews.com wrote.
SportingNews.com also called for the firing of Rich McKay, when it wrote, “The best move? Hire [New England’s Scott] Pioli and allow him conduct the interview process from scratch and allow him to hire the coach. Right after he fires McKay.”
Profootballtalk.com has a link to a wonderful story by Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star on former Falcons interim head coach Emmitt Thomas about his options if he’s not retained on the Falcons staff and his possible selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in four weeks.
Also, there’s a story which states, “Eagles G.M. Tom Heckert could be offered the G.M. gig in Atlanta as soon as this weekend.”
The site wasn’t stunned that New York Giants exec Chris Mara withdrew from the Falcons search. “Mara always seemed like an unlikely candidate to leave the Giants, considering that the team has been run by his family for more than 80 years,” PFTalk wrote.
What’s the deal with Carroll? Should Heckert be the man? Should Emmitt Thomas stay on the new staff? Should Blank show McKay the door? We’ll will be surfing Web sites daily to catch up on what’s the latest buzz. Look for postings around 1 p.m. Monday-Friday. If you have a Web site you think we should should check out, send it to dledbetter@ajc.com.
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