"THE GRID": VOL. I

FAMILIAR FACES IN NEW PLACES
By Bryan Palmese

The coaching carousel that went around this past off-season has yielded some new faces pacing the sidelines. Usually, you would hear teams that have struggled and are fed up with their current coaches were the ones making changes. Not so much this year. Seven new coaches were brought in to right the proverbial ships in Arizona (Ken Whisenhunt), Atlanta (Bobby Petrino), Dallas (Wade Phillips), Miami (Cam Cameron), Oakland (Lane Kiffin), Pittsburgh (Mike Tomlin) and San Diego (Norv Turner). Of these seven, two made the playoffs last year in Dallas and San Diego respectively. Atlanta and Pittsburgh were just on the outside looking in. Not your usual list of teams looking for improvement per se.

So which guys will have an easier path to success? Which ones will be mired in the rut that was occupied by their predecessor?

The coach that jumps out immediately for success is Norv Turner in San Diego. Prior to his stint calling the shots by the bay in San Francisco, Turner was the offensive coordinator for the ‘Bolts back in ’01. Something kind of big happened to that team in 2001, and it goes by the moniker LT. That was the year he was drafted by the Chargers and he has been looking at defenders in his rear-view mirror ever since. Turner built his offense around LT back then and should have no problem picking up right where he left off, taking over the reigns this season as head honcho.

Wade Phillips should do well with an excellent defense to compliment their strong offensive attack. Question marks arise with Romo at quarterback and the always entertaining show that is T.O. However, if Phillips can keep the troops focused in the battleground NFC East, they shouldn’t lose a step from the ’06 campaign.

A sleeper (or maybe not as much recently) pick for success is in the desert and Ken Whisenhunt. He inherits a stud wide receiver core and a young quarterback with All Pro written all over his future in Matt Leinart. An aging Edge is still in the backfield, but he still has a few treads left on his tires and should help take the load off of Leinart if the offensive line decides to show up. The defense boasts some young speedy talent and hopefully a change at the head of the totem pole will be all that this organization needs to pull itself from the dungeon of the NFC West.

The rest of the “newbies” have their hands full with trying to bring their respective teams back to the top. Tomlin is trying to return the city of Pittsburgh back to its glory days. The burden lies on the shoulders of Big Ben and we will see if that motorcycle accident was just a blip on the radar or if it is something more. Cam Cameron brought in the veteran Trent Green to link up with their mediocre-at-best wide out core of Chris Chambers and Miami’s draft day sensation and fan favorite Ted Ginn, Jr. Their defense will keep them in games and maybe Ronnie Brown will alleviate the pressure thrust on Green and take them to the post-season.
The final two coaches are in the two least enviable slots of the thirty-two teams. Bobby Petrino takes over in “Hotlanta” amid the Ron Mexico circus. Add Joe Horn to the soap opera and a very competitive NFC South race and you have a recipe for a migrane. Boy, I bet Rich McKay and Arthur Blank wish they would’ve held onto Matt Shaub now. For now, Joey Harrington is the man in the ATL. Have fun Mr. Petrino.

Lastly, is Raider Nation. The youngest of the new coaches will take a stab at fixing this once proud organization. A severely under-appreciated defense will keep them in games, but the offense is horrid. If #1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell is the starter, he will be thrown into the fire and take his lumps. This is good in the long run, but will pretty much have them on the clock come draft day next year. Kiffin comes from a great bloodline of intelligent coaches with his father Monty in Tampa.

Catch Bryan Palmese all season long on NFL Draft Bible’s 4th & Goal as he will be covering the landscape of the NFL in his weekly column “The Grid”.

Email: bryan@nflraftbible.com