Campus Maximus » the Pacers, winners of six of nine, ri

It is somewhat amazing that within 24 hours of one of the best NFL Sundays in memory, six head coaches (and likely most of their staffs) are unemployed. Think about this though: Mike Shanahan leaves with $7 million in his pocket, while Greg Schiano and Rob Chudzinski had three more years on their contracts, and will be paid out handsomely. I realize not all are as fortunate, but the majority of the time if you reach the head coaching level in the NFL, your bills are paid and debts are nonexistent. Its not the financial blow that hurts. It is more of a punch to the ego and a humbling moment. When you realize your mission is not going to be accomplished, that is taken personally, and its hard to take. Now, full disclosure – in general, I am not a fan of football coaches. I have no doubt that is because my experience with most coaches was not very good. Most were anything but teachers. The majority of my coaches were experts at applying pressure and then dis-associating from the players when that tactic did not work or their own skill set did not provide an alternative. There are some great coaches in football – no doubt – but in my experience I have also seen a level of incompetence that is shocking. And it is prevalent at all levels. I often get asked why I dont coach, and I always answer with, "why should I?" Being a former player doesnt qualify me to be a coach, a teacher. That being said, there are a lot of good coaches without jobs today, and there are other teams still wavering on a decision. DECISION IN DALLAS In Dallas, I think they need to keep Jason Garret and stay the course. Look at Ron Rivera in Carolina and Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati. Logic may have dictated coaching changes for those teams in recent years, but they stuck with their people and now the Panthers are the NFC South winner and the Bengals are tops in the AFC North. Patience can pay off and too many teams dump good coaches too early. Take a close look at Dallas and you will see that almost getting to the playoffs was actually a pretty good accomplishment. Football teams are built around controllable programs that the coaches put in place, but much of their success comes down to pure luck. Things like drafting, teaching, developing and capitalizing on the "window of opportunity" are all relatively controllable. But luck can get in the way, especially when it comes to injuries. If you can keep your 22 starters completely healthy and on the field for a whole year – thats good luck, not good coaching. And Dallas was destroyed by bad luck for the second year in a row when it comes to injuries. This was highlighted Sunday when they had to play a winner-take-the-division game against Philadelphia without their best player on offence (QB Tony Romo) and their leader on defence (LB Sean Lee). Good coaching kept the controllable parts moving effectively, though, and Garrett almost got the Cowboys to the playoffs despite the injuries. KELLYS HEROES On the opposite side, how about the job Chip Kelly did with the Eagles? Hes an endearing personality and he "did it his way." Kelly is known as an offensive guy, but one of the most impressive examples of his coaching ability was reflected in the development of linebacker Mychal Kendricks, a second year player out of the University of California. Great linebackers have to know what is going to happen before it actually happens, and Kendricks has developed that ability. That is not just a natural talent – its partly a matter of studying and learning about your opponent in advance, which is a controllable issue – a coaching issue. There is no luck involved in his development under Chip Kelly. NEVERMORE We will see a new Super Bowl champion now that Baltimore failed to make the playoffs – something you could feel coming. After three narrow victories down the stretch, the Ravens lost by 34 to New England and then were dominated in Cincinnati on Sunday in a must-win game despite making four interceptions. I have all the respect in the world for Joe Flacco, but his body language on the bench sure seems to reflect disinterest. Compare his demeanor with Philip Rivers of the Chargers – there is no comparison! It makes you wonder if the Ravens were suffering from burn out. It is never expected but it does happen in many occupations, and following their success last year, they sure looked burned out in December to me. DEAD MONEY DANGER In Oakland, they played the 2013 season with an astounding amount of dead money (roughly $45 million). Thats money they had to pay former players – all of which counted against their salary cap. With the dead money off the books for 2014, the Raiders are suddenly cap rich. This is very dangerous as rarely can a football team be bought. Teams have to be developed, and the Raiders need to remember that they are exhibit A in that discussion. So how do they use that money wisely and successfully? Well if youre going to overpay somebody, than overpay a good quarterback. That is obvious. But depth players are critical. Your fifth defensive lineman, your sixth offensive lineman, those fourth and fifth receivers who can push for starting spots. On a 53 man roster, you have to project that the bottom third will eventually be your starters. Some may have to step in sooner than later because injuries always happen in football, so these players need to be ready and able. This off-season for the Raiders is critical for making decisions on these key personnel. They need to find a quarterback and then build a roster that can develop over time into a winning team around that quarterback. They cant shoot for the moon all at once. Ask Washington owner Dan Snyder how that works out. Speaking of the Redskins, Snyder has an interesting dilemma with quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins. With RG3 shut down for the season, Cousins played well against Atlanta, was okay against Dallas and not so good against the Giants. There is no doubt that RG3 will be the starter next year, but what does the team do with Cousins? Do you keep him as an above average back-up or test his increasing value on the open market? Just one of many problems facing the Redskins. KEEP CUTLER Marc Trestman has a similar problem with the Bears. He inherited a 10-6 team from Lovie Smith and finished 8-8. But under Trestman, the Bears offence flourished . Receiver Brandon Marshall is already a star, and Alshon Jeffery looks like another one. Matt Forte is a Pro Bowl back. Kyle Long and Jordon Mills played 16 games as rookies and played well. Jermon Bushrod and Matt Slauson earned their free agent value. The problem is what to do with the quarterback position after two players did well in the role. Jay Cutler is a pending free agent and after the big money has been thrown at Brees , Manning, Rogers, Flacco and Romo, he will looking for his fair value. Can the Bears afford his expensive ticket, and the mistakes that come with his gun-slinging ways? Especially when the much-cheaper Josh McCown was so good while Cutler was hurt? I think its a no-brainer for both sides. The Bears need to bring Cutler back, and he needs to re-sign fast. With all the weapons in Chicagos arsenal, and Trestman to guide the way, its a great fit. Especially because of Terstmans ability as a developer of quarterbacks. He may deserve a critical comment or two about the way the Bears defence folded, but he was brought in to turn the offence around and he succeeded in spades. Look for the Bears to go after defensive help in the off-season, something that is easier and cheaper to find than offensive skills players. REX STILL KING I usually watch the NFL Network for an hour a day to keep updated, and when I saw Woody Johnson announce that Ryan was to be back next year as coach of the Jets, I expected mild applause and pats on the back. What I saw instead was a unique reaction of adulation and sincere appreciation. That surprised me. Maybe Ryan is better in dealing with motivating and generating positive energy than I could understand, but that reaction said a lot of positive things about him. So from 32 teams starting the season as Super Bowl hopefuls, we are down to 12. All logic says it will be Seattle and Denver in New York come the 2nd of February, but if I had to pick to surprise participants, I like the Eagles and the 49ers. And finally, I always have to take a moment and remember that for 20 teams, the season is over. For the players, that means going from complete structure to no structure at all. No meetings, no practices, no games, no responsibility. Its a great feeling and dangerous time wrapped up into one. For these players, next season starts now. And off-season responsibility is step one to a championship. Cheap Jerseys From China . Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad. Wholesale Jerseys Authentic . By then it was clear: The 76ers were going to win for the first time in two months, and they were going to do it with ease. The 76ers snapped their NBA record-tying, 26-game losing streak, routing the Detroit Pistons 123-98 on Saturday night to avoid establishing the longest skid in U. http://www.wholesalejerseyschinastitched.com/. Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. He played with Class AA Binghamton of the Eastern League in the New York Mets system last season. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . The Leafs were back on the ice Wednesday following an 10-day break. It apparently wasnt long enough, as Team Canadas 2-1 win over Latvia didnt conclude before the Leafs began practice. "I was thinking we might get a little delay, but it was nice to get out there," said Tyler Bozak of watching Wednesdays game.SALT LAKE CITY - Roy Hibbert helped the Indiana Pacers to a big lead and then had to nervously watch his teammates withstand Utahs furious comeback bid.Hibbert scored 22 points — his first game over 20 in nearly two months — to help the Pacers outlast the Jazz 105-101 on Monday night.I told my guys I believed in them and it was going to just come down to a free-throw game and rebounds, said Hibbert, who fouled out with 55.7 seconds to play.The embattled centre, who got in a skirmish with the Lakers Carlos Boozer in a one-point loss to Los Angeles on Sunday, again played with a fiery edge and repeatedly went over 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert for inside baskets before fouling out.Im trying to be as effective as possible and take good shots. Looking back at the end of last year and the summer, I can see things arent always going to go my way but I need to always be locked and mentally strong, Hibbert said.The Pacers centre had four scoreless post-season games, setting an NBA record for most NBA post-season games with zero points by a current All-Star, and hasnt returned to his former productive self — except when he plays the Jazz.He was great tonight. He was scoring in the post and making moves from the mid-post in the pick-and-roll game. Thats why hes a special player for us, Indiana coach Frank Vogel said.Derrick Favours had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Gordon Hayward scored 24 for the Jazz.For the most part, I think we played extremely hard but we just seemed to miss a lot of shots. We turned it up defensively and were more active and urgent at the end, Hayward said.The Pacers led 98-90 with 1 minute remaining when they Jazz nearly came all the way back from 12 points down with a 39-point fourth quarter.Trevor Booker had a three-point play and a 3-pointer while Hayward and Favours each made two free throws to get Utah to 101-100 with 9.0 seconds left.We never gave up and that was impressive, said Utah rookie Joe Ingles, who had eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists.CJ Miles and Solomon Hill each made two foul shots in the final seconds to clinch the game for the Pacers.We are learning to finish games with this group, Hibbert said. Last year with Paul (George) and Lance (Stephhenson) and those guys, we knew how to win, how to finish out games.dddddddddddd Wed been through it all together.Reserve forward Luis Scola scored 16 points on a variety of crafty moves when Indianas offence bogged down.Miles, who played his first seven seasons in Utah, had 11 of his 13 points in the first half when the Pacers raced to a big lead.The Jazz began the fourth quarter with a 12-4 run that brought Utah to 78-74. The run was capped by an emphatic dunk by Booker that brought the crowd to its feet.But Donald Sloan answered with a 3-pointer, Scola made two free throws and Solomon Hill converted a three-point play to lift the Pacers, winners of six of nine, right back into a double-digit lead.Hibbert had 29 points the first time these teams met on Nov. 10 and has 52 points and 26 rebounds in the first three games of Indianas four-game road trip.The Pacers led by as many as 19 in the first half before Jazz started closing the gap.TIP-INSPacers: Rodney Stuckey left the court with a sore right groin just 4 minutes into the game but returned to score 13 points in 20 minutes. ... George Hill did not dress for the Pacers for the third straight game due to a left groin strain. ... Hibbert pushed Gobert and pointed at him after a foul call in the second quarter and both were assessed technical fouls.Jazz: Elijah Millsap just signed a 10-day contract Monday but appeared in the first quarter. His first shot was an air ball but he scored his first NBA basket shortly thereafter. ... Jazz missed their first nine 3-point attempts. ... The Jazz have now dropped four straight to the Pacers.JUST STARTING OUTDante Exum, the No. 5 overall pick of last summers NBA Draft, made his first start and tied his career-high of 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting. Fellow rookie Ingles made his second start and second-year player Gobert made his fourth. Gobert is so athletic. He is so much better than I was my second year, Hibbert said.FREE THROWS ARE FREEThe Pacers made 28 of 30 free throw attempts. We were able to get to the free throw line and knock down some big free throws and that was the difference, Hill said.UP NEXTPacers: At Golden State on Wednesday.Jazz: At Chicago on Wednesday. ' ' '