Around the NFL 2011-2012

[Sly]

Bengals/Texans
Lions/Saints
Falcons/Giants
Steelers/Broncos

 

[Sly]

Steve Spagnuolo fired by Rams

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on January 2, 2012, 10:27 AM EST

AP
Black Monday is off and running.

Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reports that the Rams have fired coach Steve Spagnuolo. ESPN reported last night that Spags and G.M. Billy Devaney would be let go on Monday, and now it’s happened.

Glazer doesn’t mention whether Devaney will keep his job.

Spagnuolo seems like he could be a good coach in the right situation, but St. Louis was clearly not that situation. His defense was a major disappointment and the team wasn’t competitive most weeks.

SI’s Peter King pointed out he lost more regular season games in three years than Bill Belichick has in more than a decade in New England.

The hanging question: Will any other coaches be fired Monday?

It sounds like Chargers owner Dean Spanos wants to take some time to make his final decision. The Bucs ownership has not moved quickly on changes in the past. The Colts or a possible surprise team is out there.

For now, four head coaching jobs are vacant: Jacksonville, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Miami. Of those four situations, the Rams have the most promising quarterback and the best draft pick.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/02/steve-spagnuolo-fired-by-rams/

Rams general manager Devaney officially out in St. Louis

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on January 2, 2012, 11:33 AM EST

AP
The Rams are officially cleaning house.

The team announced Monday that G.M. Billy Devaney is out, in addition to coach Steve Spagnuolo.

“I would like to personally thank Steve and Billy for their dedication to the St. Louis Rams organization over the past several seasons,” said Rams owner E. Stan Kroenke in a team statement. “This was a difficult decision for many reasons. We have tremendous respect for Steve and Billy as people and football professionals.”

Unlike Jacksonville, Kansas City, and Miami, the Rams could hire a general manager before finding their next head coach. Or they could hire a head coach that essentially comes with someone who will help pick the players.

Devaney had his ups and downs in St. Louis, but ultimately he had too many misfires in the draft and free agency.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...l-manager-devaney-officially-out-in-st-louis/

I think this causes some question marks for us at the top of the draft. Now there's no telling what the Rams will do and a new GM/Coach will probably try to make a splash.

Raheem Morris out in Tampa

Posted by Mike Florio on January 2, 2012, 11:58 AM EST

AP
Last year, the Buccaneers won 10 games. This year, they finished with 10 straight losses.

And so Raheem Morris, as widely expected, has lost his job.

The Buccaneers have announced that Morris has been fired. He had one year left on his contract.

To no surprise, Jay Glazer of FOX reports that the rest of the coaching staff will be fired, too.

Unlike Rams G.M. Billy Devaney, who was fired along with coach Steve Spagnuolo, G.M. Mark Dominik is expected to stay. Dominik received a new contract after the season.

“We want to thank Coach Morris for all his hard work and dedication as head coach of the Buccaneers,” Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer said in a team-issued release.

“I have a lot of respect and appreciation for the passion Coach Morris gave to our football team, but this change is one we felt was necessary,” Dominik said.

Morris coached the team for three seasons. He got the job only weeks after being promoted to the position of defensive coordinator, after Monte Kiffin left to join his son, Lane, at Tennessee.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/02/raheem-morris-out-in-tampa/

A little surprising. I thought he'd earned a little more time, despite the bad year.

 

[Shakalu M.D.]

I'm glad he was fired, bastard cost me the championship when he benched Blount after 2 plays. All I needed was 3 points from him.

 

[Sly]

Colts clean house: Polians are out

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on January 2, 2012, 2:39 PM EST
We have our first stunner of Black Monday.

Colts Vice Chairman Bill Polian and his son G.M. Chris Polian are out in Indianapolis, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.

We’ll have more on this story soon. There’s no official word yet on Jim Caldwell.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/02/colts-clean-house-polians-are-out/

Damn. One bad year and :gtfo: .

Wonder if this has anything to do with a disagreement on what the organization should do with Manning. The draft ahead of us is completely unpredictable now. I'm sure glad that we're not going to be dealing with a veteran crew like the Polians in any deal for Luck though. Bet the Irsay and the Colts fans have no clue how hard it is going to be to replicate the kind of success and stability they've had.

 

[AZ_]

The Colts drafting has been pathetic, this has been coming for some time now.

 

[SauDogg]

What better way to start a completely new era for your team than drafting an elite QB prospect? It might be a lot harder to trade up now.

 

[Gimme Some Mo]

I can't believe that most people (including myself) thought the Bengals were going to win 2-4 games this season and be one of the worst teams in the NFL. Now they are in the playoffs (along with the rest of our division). WTF

 

[bigjmac0815]

I'm sorry I gotta do this

“@incarceratedbob: **BREAKING NFL NEWS**Source: Peyton Manning has requested his release or a trade.. Just happened mins ago **BREAKING NEWS** #IBN on it again”

 

[AZ_]

I'm sorry I gotta do this

“@incarceratedbob: **BREAKING NFL NEWS**Source: Peyton Manning has requested his release or a trade.. Just happened mins ago **BREAKING NEWS** #IBN on it again”

Good to see ibob can count to 4.

 

[Sly]

The Colts fans are celebrating over on ESPN. They wanna go right out and sign Jeff Fisher, without ever considering a GM. They wanna cut Peyton Manning. As a Browns fan, it's like watching children argue over toys. So naive.

I have to wonder if they we're fired because they wanted to keep Manning or because they wanted to let him go. Irsay is the one that said he was willing to pay Manning.

 

[CPK]

Good to see ibob can count to 4.

He can't. But he's got a source that can.

 

[Sly]

Update:

The departure of the Polian clan is a seismic decision by owner Jim Irsay after Polian served the team successfully for 14 years. Bill Polian took over as G.M. in early 1998 and made Peyton Manning his first draft pick with the team.

Polian dumped quarterback Jim Harbaugh back then and it’s at least possible that Polian’s plans regarding Manning led to this move by Irsay.

Irsay is very close to Manning and there was apparent friction between the quarterback and general manager in recent weeks. Polian seemed almost certain to draft a quarterback No. 1 and had been closely tied to Andrew Luck, who yet another Polian worked with at Stanford.

It’s possible the next Colts decision maker could still let go of Manning or draft Luck, of course. But the departure of the Polians appears to make it more likely for Manning to have a future in Indianapolis.

If Irsay was thinking about starting fresh, now is certainly the time. Let the new decision makers chart the course of the franchise for the next decade.

Until this disastrous year, the Colts had won at least ten games for nine straight seasons. The team had eleven double digit win seasons in Polian’s tenure.

Of course, Polian’s tenure coincides exactly with Peyton Manning. There are fair arguments to be made over how much credit Manning should get and how much the front office should get.

We think there is enough credit to go around, even if Manning makes it all go. The Polians and Manning accomplished an incredible amount together.

Irsay sure appears to see Manning as the more integral part of the Colts’ future.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/02/colts-clean-house-polians-are-out/

 

[Stitches]

Sanchez picked off again

3rd time this game....this one in the redzone

It was great to see Sanchez play so well.

 

[Stitches]

Didn't see it posted, but it's confirmed that Mendenhall tore his ACL and will miss the playoffs.

 

[Sly]

Seems we did our job and hooked the Steelers up on their playoff run yesterday.