I usually have a solid memory for this stuff (and not much else). I recalled Fassel being treated as an Andy Reid type when it came to being an offensive HC where he wanted to control everything.
It happens, they did something similar in the NFC Championship this year when the Lions were destroying the 49ers. It must be a special mercy rule just for San Francisco in the playoffs.
I might recall something like that happened in a Super Bowl a few years back. Atlanta was up 28-3 on New England in the third quarter and they just stopped the game
At any rate, back to the thread, Vrabel also not getting a job. So the list of potential candidates for the 2025 season is just that much bigger before this season is done
I know I didn’t see him as an exciting prospect but I’m surprised he wasn’t hired by somebody.
He reportedly only got interviews with Atlanta and Carolina.
Considering he butted heads in Tennessee with the GM and the fact Atlanta already rejected one candidate for wanting more say over the GM, maybe not so surprising. And David Tepper in Carolina appears to be something of an idiot, at least when it comes to evaluating potential hires and follows that up by micromanaging them.
I think if there’s any real truism about coaching hires, it’s that NFL owners aren’t any better at talent evaluation than most of us (arguably worse in many cases) and probably read the same articles about the same ‘hot’ candidates and fall prey to the same conventional wisdom. Pittsburgh appears to be an outlier in this regard by actually having taken time and really evaluating the qualities they want in a coach rather than going for whatever is trendy or convenient at the time and then backing that up by giving their HCs time and support.
The Patriots have hired Alex Van Pelt as their Offensive Coordinator. He was formerly the OC (but not playcaller) and QB Coach of the Browns, but was fired after this season.
Any idea why he was let go, @SenorBeef ? From afar, it seemed like the Browns had a pretty good season on offense considering the massive amount of injuries to their star players.
Browns HC Kevin Stefanski’s official statement was he wanted to “change course.”
Which often translates to, “I got yelled at by the owners and I had to act like I was doing something.”
That would certainly explain why Seattle passed on him then. It’s the GM John Schneider making the hire for the Seahawks, and he worked closely with Pete Carroll for 14 years, so there’s no way he’s going to hire someone who then tries to take over and cause conflicts.
I will say that Stefanski is someone that I have a lot of respect for. He went onto a Browns team that had a turnstile at the head coaching position, and he has stuck around and actually made them winners. They’re not quite Super Bowl contenders yet, but they were something of a joke not long before he came on.
According to this, the Colts have hired Pittsburgh Panthers Co-Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach Charlie Partridge to be the new defensive line coach in Indy.
I don’t know anything about him other than what’s mentioned in the article, but this could be a very good move on their part.
Commanders have replaced OC Eric Bieniemy with Kliff Kingsbury.
Bieniemy was with Washington for all of one season, in which the offense struggled considerably.
Former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy let go by Commanders after one season | FOX Sports
Perhaps this will mean Howell gets one more season rather than Washington taking a QB in the draft with so many more holes to fill.
He had one of the best Chris Berman nicknames I can remember.
Maybe, but with the number 2 overall pick, the temptation to snag a QB will be hard to ignore.
As an avid disliker of the Raiders, the Commanders, and Kliff Kingsbury, I enjoyed the drama of Kingsbury pulling out of the Raiders OC search to sign with the Commanders. I love it when these teams’ disfunction is on display, even in a minor way.
I have a feeling both of those things might happen. They’ll draft Maye, or Daniels, and Howell will start the first 3-4 games before playing himself out of the job.
Former Sports Anchor applied to be Packers DC and gets handwritten reply:
I regret to inform you that we have decided to go in a different direction. I hear that the Bears have an opening - you look to be a perfect fit for them
Full application and reply 
in link
Brian
Not exactly Black Monday news, but the Steelers cut Mitch Trubisky. I remember being pretty excited when they initially signed him. I thought he had promise, and would perhaps perform better in a more stable organization than the Bears, but somehow he was clearly worse than both Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. Not sure what is next for the Steelers, part of me wants them to cut both Pickett and Rudolph and just start fresh. But maybe one of them could improve to the level of “serviceable” , and FA money & draft picks would be better spent elsewhere?
Steelers release three players, including QB Mitch Trubisky - ESPN
He will forever be the answer to a sports trivia question:
Who was the quarterback drafted before Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL draft?
Anyone hoping he’s going to have a Geno- or Flacco-like renaissance is probably going to be disappointed, but someone is still probably going to try.
I’ve heard suggestions that the Steelers should take Russell Wilson off of Denver’s hands.
And… Well here is Sports Illustrated saying that they expect that to happen.
Steelers Predicted to Sign Russell Wilson
Adam Schefter said yesterday that Wilson is at least one possibility.
Just putting in “Russell Wilson to the Steelers” in Google gives one article or chat or video after another. I guess it’s a big thing.