Arizona owner Bill Bidwell decided that Dave McGinnis was still his man as head coach even after a two and a half year mark of 13-28 but that general manager Bob Ferguson, offensive coordinator Rich Olson, and defensive backs coach Kevin Ramsey are no longer useful. Bidwell elevated Ferguson’s right hand man Rod Graves to vice president of football operations (i.e., GM with a fancier title) which figures into the key question down in the land of the Sun: Will the team will offer quarterback Jake the Snake Plummer, an unrestricted free agent, a new contract.
And over in Dallas, Bill Parcells made his first hire by hiring Maurice Carthon as offensive coordinator and retaining Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator. Carthon, of course, was the star fullback on Parcell’s two Giants Super Bowl squads and was running backs coach for him at the Patriots and Jets. Zimmer was defensive coordinator this past year for dethroned coach Dave Campo and has been a Cowboys coach since 1994.
p.s. A little late reporting this change but last week Seattle owner Paul Allen gave Mike Holmgren a choice–give up the general manager job or resign altogether. Holmgren looked at that $4 million per year contract, looked around at the possible landing slots, and wisely chose to keep his coaching office. Reportedly, the Jaguars are going to replace Tom Coughlin by separating the two jobs. Which means that I was spot on when I said the era of one man being both GM and head coach is probably coming to an end. Smart move.
BillSaysThis 