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College football being so big in the south, why wouldn't someone think that could translate into the NFL?

I don't think it's impossible, but southern teams have had a lot of difficulty maintaining a fan base.

The Saints, Panthers, Jags, and Falcons have had a hard time, but three of those teams are still considered "expansion" by the locals.

The Dolphins have a well established fan base and even the Bucs have improved, but the southern fans don't seem to care about the pro teams as much as the traditional college programs they grew up watching.

Not to mention the Snowbird factor.

Tons of transplants down there- ESPECIALLY Tampa.

They had close to TWENTY THOUSAND G-men fans in the Bucs arena this past wknd, and not all of them were flyin down to catch Eli and Co. roll towards the Lombardi.

Philly has a huge contingent down there as well.

Much of the populations of those towns arent NATIVE to those towns. Or are 2nd generation etc....

You forgot the San Antonio Riders, Orlando Thunder, and Miami Sharks

Where is Blank from, anyway? That was my point in trying to explain his love for college coaches, seemingly. Since that area is big SEC/HBCU country, I can see why someone from down there would think that if they're a big name there, they could become an NFL HC.

And that Giants game might as well have been a home game.

blank's from nyc.

OK, check another theory shot to Hades.

As a 9 yr atlanta resident and observer of the clusterfuck that is the Atlanta Falcons, I can tell you that we all have a better chance of dating a supermodel than Blank has of landing Carrol. Although Blank, better referred to here as Elmer Fudd Millionaire, I own a mansion and A Yacht, might throw stupid money at Carroll, like $8 mil a year. Whoever comes into this franchise will need to clean house - Dunn, Crumpler, Hall, Brookings etc. They would be starting out with basically a expansion team with the crappiest race based fan base in all of America. They would alway have the Mike Vick comeback hanging over their shoulder along with a clueless owner on the sidelines. Throw in a failed GM who should be fired being retained as President. No one with a brain or head coaching experience would ever want to step into that mess. A rookie coach would get destroyed by this group of spoiled brat players who quit every year. Everybody made Petrino out to be the bad guy, but who is in a better position now? Petrino or Cam Cameron who stayed loyal to the Dolphins?
If Heckert thinks he will have complete control, he is delusional.

The reason college coaches had been thought of as "the answer" was, at least IMO, was due to the salary cap. Each year they graduate out 25-40% of their team, so it's a quick turnover. So who would be better to keep a team in the hunt than a guy that can year in year out reload his team... Now why college coaches are still the chic signing?!? I don't have a clue, as the Eagles, Redskins and Patriots have all proven in differant ways is that the cap is there and firm but there are ways around it... So for an owner to bring in a college coach and give them total control is just nuts, I really don't think any of them realize what it takes until it's too late... just the opinion of a silly football fan...

I think college coaches get the serious look because they, unlike coordinators, had to face hostile press, had to hire and fire subordinates, made daily roster decisions and player evaluations, and were ultimately responsible for the team's success. With coordinators, you're never quite sure of their executive level decision making ability, because they can always say, "The bad choices were the head coach's."

To give an anology, it's like the difference between hiring a small business owner to run a larger business vs. hiring a VP from another company. Sure, the VP might know the lingo, but the SB owner has a track record to evaluate and has had to sink or swim by his own merits.

Yeah, but it's extremely rare that a small business owner gets hired as a large business CEO, going with your analogy. It's a different world and they normally go with VP and promote them.

Other thing to remember is, yeah, they may understand the lingo, but the deck is stacked in their favor - top recruits, kids who'll play and generally won't make a fuss on the field, soft schedules and not having to play their opponents twice a year.

Though, it would allow for more comedy moments, like Spurrier's slow-motion Donald Duck routine.

My experience is that some executive from GE replaces the Pres

I was going to post this in the "rumors" thread but since he's got his own thread going here it is...

Falcons may hire Eagles GM
Posted: Friday January 11, 2008 07:48AM ET
Eagles general manager Tom Heckert still appears to be the leading candidate to get the Atlanta Falcons' GM job once owner Arthur Blank ends his wild goose chase for Southern California coach Pete Carroll. According to two league sources, the Falcons could offer the job to Heckert as soon as this weekend.

From SI's rumors page http://fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/nfl?page=2

fdallas,
I admit the analogy isn't perfect. Probably shouldn't used one and just let my explanation stand by itself.

Heckert stays put.
They hired some toadie from N.E. in a move that PFT.COM suggests is one orchestrated by Rich McCay to bring in a guy just happy to be there and not likely to make sweeping changes- one of which being his being releived of duty.

We’re picking up some reactions to the decision of the Falcons to hire Pats director of college scouting Tom Dimitroff, who’ll be the new G.M. in Atlanta.

The consensus thus far is that deposed G.M. Rich McKay got his way, bringing in a guy whom McKay thinks he will be able to control.

“McKay has to be ecstatic,” one league source opined. “He got someone he can manipulate. [Eagles G.M. Tom] Heckert would have been more combative. Dimitroff is like a yellow lab. His tail always wags. Heckert has some bite. McKay is dancing right now.”

PFT also suggested there was a rift between Heckert and Banner, with one of the primary reasons they passed on Heckert being an over-exuberant recommendation from Lurie. Apparently Blank found it odd Lurie would push so hard for Blank to hire Heckert if he really believed everything he was saying.

The final little piece of funny from the whole story is after all that searchign and drama from the Falcons, they hired this Patriots scout based on a phone interview. Never sat down with him. Never looked into his eyes. That organization is a joke.

Early talk on the league grapevine is that Eagles G.M. Tom Heckert might have come on too strong for the Falcons when he interviewed for the team’s G.M. position.

But, then again, it’s difficult if not impossible to compare the impressions made by Heckert and Tom Dimitroff, who ultimately got the job, because Heckert had a face-to-face interview and Dimitroff was only interviewed by video conference.

Meanwhile, it’s obvious that Dimitroff is second fiddleto team president Rich McKay, even though Dimitroff supposedly has final say over personnel. Amazingly, the team’s press release announcing the move was sure to point out the fact that Dimitroff reports to McKay.

Thus, Dimitroff will be “G.M. Lite,” for as long as McKay is around.

(From PFT.COM)

I thought I read somewhere that Lurie and Reid had good relationships with the Falcons...

The nice thing about ATL is it usually is super easy and super cheap to get seats if you root for the opposing team. Fans practically give the seats away..

The SEC while rife with good coaches has not sent anyone to the NFL recently from Spurrier on who has made it in the "big leagues" that I am aware of.. Someone feel free to correc that..

After being down here a couple of years it is easy to see why the SEC continues to be one of the strongest college conferences. Next year aint gonna change things with TN, GA, UFL all picked to be top 10 football programs.. Wonder where that leaves my adopted "Carolina Gamecocks?" SOL thats where. Outside of the major cities CLT, ATL most fans are more into college than pro football. I do agree with the serious number of transplants from the north.. One has to wonder if there is anyone left in Pittsburgh.. Between NOVA and Columbia SC I have met more people from the PIT area than anywhere else...

Oh well, still pull for PSU and VATECH.. No back to your regularly scheduled programming.

I look back at some of the bad moves Arthur Blank has made over the past few years and I wander how a guy like him ever became wealthy in the first place...

Rumors are the Ravens want to sign Jason Garrett as HC; if that falls through (and it should), then Harbaugh may be one of their top candidates.

Hardly seems like a fair trade if that goes through, does it?

I don't see how they DON'T get Garrett unless he refuses to coach anywhere but Dallas or they fire Wade Phillips.

Otherwise, there's no way the Cowboys can block it.

Ravens' job is officially offered to Garrett. Too lazy to link.

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