Skip to main content

History Awaits Tomlin & Whisenhunt

With Super Bowl winning coaches like Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Mike Holmgren and Tony Dungy all likely to take a year off in 2009, it is now clear that the NFL is entering a new era for head coaches.

For the past 20 plus years, fans and pundits alike have considered the names above, as well as the old guards of Bill Parcells, Dick Vermil, Dan Reeves and Jimmy Johnson to be the best coaches in the league. Now neither will be coaching a game in 2009. Thus, the winner of Super Bowl XLIII will be the welcomed in as the next great head coach.

This new generation of head coach is younger, more fit, more hip to modern technology, and a player coach who still maintains enough discipline and commands enough respect from his ball club.

Mike Tomlin and Ken Whisenhunt are about to enter this fraternity. Tomlin, after taking over for Cowher after the 2006 season as a virtual unknown from Jon Gruden's Tampa Bay coaching staff, has lit a fire under the Steelers. Tomlin's strong demeanour, on-field emotion and no-nonsense approach to coaching his players and answering the media is a trademark of many great coaches. His record speaks for itself: 22-10 in the regular season and 2-1 in the playoffs. That is pretty good for a guy who is in only his second year as a head coach.

At this rate, Tomlin will become a coach that many will want to talk to when his contract nears the end in Pittsburgh, but knowing that the Steelers have had only three coaches since the late 1960's, it is likely that Tomlin will call Pittsburgh home for 12 to 15 more seasons.

As for Whisenhunt, he grew up in Cowher's system, rising to the club's offensive coordinator position in 2004 and was part of the staff that won a Super Bowl in 2005. The fact that Whisenhunt was able to turn around a dead franchise like the Cardinals is a true testament to his work as a leader and communicator; again, these are important characteristics of a great head coach.

With the success of these two, the NFL has jumped on the bandwagon of hiring young coaches and assistants. The Dolphins hired Cowboys offensive line coach Tony Sparano in 2008, and he took the team to a AFC East title. The Falcons hired Mike Smith from Jacksonville, and Smith led Atlanta to a 11-5 mark and a playoff appearance.

In 2009, more assistants will join the NFL in the hope that they can become the next great head coach. Detroit hired Titans offensive coordinator Jim Schwartz; the Jets hired Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan; the Broncos hired Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is only 32-years-old, and the Buccaneers hired 32-year-old Raheem Morris to be their next head coach.

The job of NFL head coach now requires someone who is younger and more willing to take on the duties of 18 hour days, constant phone calls to players and agents, scouting college players at the NFL combine and leading both off-season mini-camps in March and May.

It's a new generation of NFL head coaches sweeping through the NFL; Tomlin and Whisenhunt will be the first two to shoot for immortailty, paving the way for others to follow.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...
8 comments
Read more

Francisco Lindor Remains Red Hot as Mets Top Phillies

 Francisco Lindor remains the hottest player in Queens right now.  The Mets shortstop blasted two more home runs, including a three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning, Monday night to help propel the Mets to a 5-4 win over Philadelphia.   Lindor who typically struggles in the month of April is putting together a heck of a month. Monday's two hit effort was the 10th game in the last 11 where Lindor has recorded a hit. In fact in the month of April alone this year, Lindor was hitting at .311 coming into Monday's action.  On the year, Lindor is batting .284 with five homers and 13 RBI.  Lindor's efforts proved to be prophetic, as the Phillies Alec Bohm crushed a three-run bomb off Edwin Diaz in the top of the ninth to cut the Mets lead to a single run. Fortunately for New York, Diaz was able to shut the door with strikeouts of Trea Turner and Bryce Harper.  New York (16-7) has now won five in a row.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Mets Keep Rolling into Phillies Series

 The New York Mets are feeling pretty good about things right now!  The Amazin's swept a four game series from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, winning 7-4 Sunday afternoon. It was the first time since 1986 that the Amazin's had swept such a series from St. Louis. We all know what happened later that season.    Well, not to get too far ahead of ourselves, because the 2025 version now faces a very stiff challenge. The Mets will face their arch rivals the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday with only two games separating the two teams in the NL East.  The Mets took out Philly in the NLDS last October, so this figures to be a heck of showdown. The Mets begin a month long stretch against teams that are likely postseason contenders like the Phillies, D-Backs, Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers.  If the Mets (15-7) are this good, we will know for sure in a month.
Post a Comment
Read more