Besides the driving forces of money and ego, two understandable allures, what could convince Dick Vermeil and Marty Schottenheimer to return to the NFL coaching grind?
Alex Gibbs provided a clue last week when he resigned as offensive line coach of the Denver Broncos and decided to spill his guts, ending a two-year vow of silence.
Gibbs believes he became as addicted to coaching football as an alcoholic is addicted to booze. Gibbs ended up seeing a psychiatrist. Among his remarks to Denver reporters:
“They talk to you about a basket and that you can put just so much in there. At some point, you’ve got to take some out. But those of us who don’t allow [ourselves] the privilege of getting out from under all that, we just keep stuffing it in there. We just keep packing it and packing it and packing it. You’re thinking, `I’ve got to do better, I’ve got to do more, I’ve got to accomplish more and see more.’
“I literally would go six months and never see my neighbors. I would live there and wouldn’t ever see them. I’d leave before they were up and I’d be home after they were in bed. Human beings in American society are not supposed to live like that. And I did it. And you do it to yourself. I have a sickness with achievement, I have a sickness with pressure, I have a sickness of trying to be successful. I was walking a balance beam that was going to break.
“I was going to fall. It was just a matter of time. Now I’m going to beat that. I’m going to get off that puppy and I’m going to watch it and see how I deal with it, and if I have to get back on, I’ll get back on.
“When you have mortgages and you have kids in college and you have pressures and responsibilities, you have no questions. You have to work. You have to. You never ask yourself, `Why am I doing this?’ You just go do it. You have no choice. Now, suddenly, you have a choice and you say, `Whoooa. Why am I doing this?'”
Gibbs, who will turn 60 next month, said the deaths of coaching colleagues Fritz Shurmur and Bobb McKittrick from cancer in the last 18 months sobered him.
“I knew that in the course of studying this little bit of depression issue that I’ve dealt with, looking at what happens to physical ailments when you put it with age, pressure and the environment, you are asking for a problem,” Gibbs said. “Tremendous pressure, not enough rest, and that mental torture of stress. We’re having a lot more of it in the NFL.
“The head-coaching exodus has already started, and it’s going to get worse. You’re seeing head coaches running from the jobs now–Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcells, Dick Vermeil, and I see where Al Groh already has [left] his. Why are they doing that? Well, they’re doing that because it’s not worth it. It’s too damaging, it’s too stressful, and I knew the way I was headed that I was a prime candidate for something bad.”
Gibbs said he isn’t going to a retirement home but might try something “more fulfilling,” like delivering Meals on Wheels.
A bye is good: First-round byes in the playoffs are beneficial. The four winners of last week’s wild-card round were underdogs this weekend for a reason.
Of the 40 first-round winners since the current format started in 1990, only three have made the Super Bowl. They have gone 7-33 in the first game against the bye teams. Tennessee made it last year, Buffalo made it in 1992 and Denver won the Super Bowl in 1997. Of the 20 Super Bowl teams since 1990, 17 have had first-round byes.
Whom to believe: If you think you’re paying too much for your cars, you’re right. The owners of the New Orleans Saints, Tom Benson, and Minnesota Vikings, Red McCombs, started their careers as car dealers in San Antonio.
“He was GM and I was Ford,” McCombs said. “He came into town in 1957, I came in 1958. We were fierce competitors as well as good friends. In fact, he was the first guy who called me to welcome me to the NFL after I bought the Vikings.”
Defense wins: When Tennessee’s defense, No. 1 in fewest yards allowed, meets No. 2 Baltimore on Sunday, it will mark the sixth time first- and second-ranked defenses have met in the playoffs.
The last time was Bears-New York Giants in the divisional round of the 1985 season. The No. 1 Bears shut out the No. 2 Giants 21-0.
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The other faceoffs: 1978 NFC title game, No. 2 Dallas beat No. 1 Los Angeles Rams 28-0; 1967 Super Bowl II, No. 2 Green Bay beat No. 1 Oakland 33-14; 1942 championship, No. 2 Washington beat No. 1 Bears 14-6; 1935 championship, No. 1 Detroit beat No. 2 Giants 26-7.
Raving Ravens: The Ravens are outtalking the Titans.
“Jim Brown couldn’t run on us,” Baltimore defensive end Rob Burnett said. “Tell Jim I said that.”
Said Baltimore cornerback Chris McAlister: “We know we’re the best. We’re the best team in history, the stingiest defense in the history of the NFL. It doesn’t come any better than that.”
Added defensive end Michael McCrary: “The whole country knows who has the No. 1 defense.”
Embarrassing: Since Dec. 1, 1996, the Detroit Lions are 2-5 in the Silverdome in December. Marshall University–playing in the Motor City Bowl in the Silverdome–has won three games during that span.
To the Matt: That December record is one reason the Lions are expected to name Fox TV commentator and former player Matt Millen their general manager this week. Lions Vice Chairman Bill Ford almost hired Millen a year ago, which didn’t sit that well with former coach Bobby Ross.
Millen’s hiring would put the Bears in a minority in the NFC Central Division in terms of organizational structure. Green Bay and Tampa Bay also have general managers. Minnesota has a head coach who calls his shots.
Of the final eight teams in the playoffs, only Baltimore has a structure similar to the Bears, with a president and a vice president of personnel working with a head coach. All the others have a general manager, a director of football operations or a strong head coach calling the shots.
Could be worse: Bears fans who buy permanent seat licenses in the new Soldier Field can pay over time. Packers fans were informed that PSL payments of $1,400 per seat for Lambeau Field’s renovation were due in full by March 15.
Mike Burris, owner of U-Make The Call tavern in Shawano, Wis., and his family control 331 season tickets. What will he do when the bill for $463,400 comes due?
“Pay it,” Burris said. “I’m going to talk to my friendly banker about a loan, and then pay it.”
Burris plans to spread the cost around. He sells individual game tickets to customers and season-ticket packages to bus companies.