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Coach's Corner By Jerry Fitzgerald

Many of us grew up playing the popular kids game musical chairs. There would always be one less chair than child, providing adults with sadistic entertainment. As Pop Goes the Weasel played each child would size up their competition in one of the earliest forms of survival of the fittest experienced by man.

Unfortunately for NFL coaches, the off-season has its own cruel version of Musical Chairs. The music starts on Black Monday, and this season was no exception. We had almost a third of the league hire new coaches which is big news for fantasy owners. New coaches bring new systems that can make a player’s value sky rocket or send them into fantasy purgatory. With 10 new head-coaches you can bet many players have been affected; some for the better and some for, well, you get the picture. Let’s see where some players ended up once the music stopped.

Buffalo Bills:

2005 Coach: Mike Mularkey 2006 Coach: Dick Jauron
Winner: Willis McGahee

It’s pretty safe to say that Willis McGahee has no where to go but up. His sub-par ’05 season could be blamed on a bad offensive line, a defense that gave up more scores than Jenna Jamison and a quarterback that looked lost for most of the season. Which quarterback? Pick one. All of that was a direct reflection on Mike Mularkey. The offense didn’t have an identity; the players seemed happy just collecting a pay check; the front office didn’t support anyone.

Enter Marv Levy. Buffalo’s favorite son brought in a disciplinarian whose players played hard for him in Chicago and Detroit, where he was a lame-duck coach. Jauron likes to run the ball and play defense which should suit Willis just fine.

Other Winner: Rian Lindell

Jauron is conservative to a fault; he could be this year’s Neil Rackers.

Loser: JP Losman

Losman’s arrogant attitude rubbed coaches, players, front office personnel, pretzel vendors, beer guys, ticket takers (you getting the picture?) the wrong way. Now it’s one thing if you’re confident and you can back it up like say (Brett Favre comes to mind), but when you’re looking up at Kyle Boller’s quarterback rating, you’d better shut your trap. Jauron is not one to put up with big egos, so Losman could not only find his way down the depth chart but he could find himself on a bus out of town.

Other Loser: Lee Evans

Jauron doesn’t take too many shots downfield and that’s Evan’s specialty.

Detroit Lions
2005 Coach: Steve Mariucci 2006 Coach : Rod Marinelli

Winner: Kevin Jones

That’s right folks Rod Marinelli is the HEAD COACH of the Detroit Lions, not Mike Martz. Sure, Martz will bring some imagination to the passing game, but make no mistake; this will be a run first team. That being said, Kevin Jones’ stock should see the greatest spike in all the fantasy players. Under Steve Mariucci, Jones was forced to share the ball and was part of a committee approach. Marinelli has already stated that he’d like to see Kevin tote the rock 20-25 times a game. If Jones can stay healthy we could be looking at a top 15 candidate.

Other Winners: Charles Rogers

Moves from Mooch’s doghouse as the number four receiver to a legitimate shot at starting.

Defense – Marinelli is a former defensive coach who will get the most out of Dre Bly, “Big Baby” Shawn Rodgers and rookie Ernie Simms

Loser: Mike Williams

The Lions picked Mike Williams number nine overall in last year’s draft. How did he reward them? Williams was late to meetings, fell asleep in meetings when he bothered to show up, and resembled a jelly doughnut for most of the season. When there were suggestions that Williams could be moved to tight end, he quickly refuted those rumors and stated that they would not only have a fat, out of shape, slow, poor blocking tight end, but that he would be unhappy too. How will Williams’ attitude go over with a disciplinarian like Marinelli? About as well as K-Fed’s Rap career. Big Mike also doesn’t fit Martz’s mold of a receiver but then again who’s really looking for a 250+ pound pile of non-production?

Other Loser: Shaun Bryson

Was at least part of the running back platoon but is probably moving to fullback.

Green Bay Packers
2005 Coach: Mike Sherman 2006 Coach : Mike McCarthy

Winner: Brett Favre

Now it’s finally safe to say that number 4 will be coming back to Title Town if just for one at last season. Part of the reason Mike McCarthy was brought in (other than the fact that they didn’t have to change the Head Coach’s name on everything) was that he and Favre had such a good relationship when he was in Green Bay. When McCarthy was Favre’s QB coach, Brett had his third highest passing totals of his career. It’s not just the former Something About Mary star who flourished, though. Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, Jake Delhomme, Marc Bulger, Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac and Joe Montana all worked with McCarthy in the past. That’s 25 total Pro Bowl selections and eight Super Bowl starts for those of you scoring at home.

Other Winner: Aaron Rodgers

Did you see the list of quarterbacks above?

Loser: Defense

The talent isn’t there, the scheme isn’t there, and the coaching isn’t there either. McCarthy doesn’t have much of a defensive mind and he’s brought back the same coaching staff from last year that lead the team to four wins. Green Bay gave up an average of 125.6 yards on the ground last season, good for 23rd in the league. Their 344 points allowed put them 19th in the league. Even the good news from this unit is tainted. They only allowed 167 yards through the air; good for first in the league…but that’s because everyone was busy running all over them. They have gained depth through free-agency but they need more talent. Look for more rookies in the starting lineup again this year.

Houston Texans
2005 Coach: Dom Capers 2006 Coach : Gary Kubiak

Winner: Dominic Davis

Houston surprised everyone by not taking Reggie Bush number one overall in the 2006 NFL draft. The team’s loss could be Dominic Davis’ gain. Kubiak is part architect of the Denver running game and fantasy folks don’t need to be reminded of their success. Kubiak will use stretch plays which favor small, patient, quick backs like Davis. It will also take pressure off a Swiss-cheese offensive line that has been beat up for the past five years. Dom Capers tried to pound the ball with a terrible offensive line, limiting the success of the Houston running game for the past few years.

Other Winner: David Carr

Should finally spend less time on his back then Paris Hilton this season.

Loser: Houston TE

It’s really hard to find a loser when your team won two games last season but I’ll say the tight end spot by default. Jeb Putzier came over with Kubiak from Denver where he was able to go out in patterns because of Denver’s dominant offensive line. How does Houston stack up to Denver’s line? That’s like comparing Jessica Tandy to Jessica Simpson; it’s in name alone. Eric Moulds was also signed and should steal some looks that were formerly intended for tight ends.

Kansas City Chiefs
2005 Coach: Dick Vermeil 2006 Coach : Herm Edwards

Winner: Kansas City Defense

Dick Vermeil may be a lot of things: Super Bowl winning coach, offensive guru, crybaby (sorry about that last one Dick). Whatever he was, though, defense just wasn’t his thing. The last four seasons Vermeil brought in free-agents, spent high picks on defensive players and tried different coaches; still the KC defense couldn’t get it done. Edwards is a former Defensive Back who brings that mentality to his team, especially his defensive unit. He will mold this unit into his image and make them much more fantasy worthy than they’ve been in years.

Other winner: Lawrence Tynes

A less explosive offense leads to more field goals.

Loser: Larry Johnson

L.J. is the poster-boy for this article. People are assuming Larry Johnson will gain 2000 yards and score 30 TDs but let’s not forget an important coaching change. Dick Vermeil and, maybe more importantly, Al Saunders have taken their prolific offense elsewhere. When they left St. Louis, Marshall Faulk’s value took a major hit. In fact, if not for Mike Martz’s pass-happy offense (which includes the famous Faulk swing pass), Marshall would have been an average fantasy back. Of course, Edwards is a Vermeil disciple and he likes to pound the ball as well, but his offense is nowhere near as explosive as Al Saunders’. Shaun Alexander and Ladainian Tomlinson still deserve to be ranked ahead of LJ this year.

Minnesota Vikings
2005 Coach: Mike Tice 2006 Coach : Brad Childress

Winner: Chester Taylor

There were two reasons Mike Tice didn’t run the ball in Minnesota; 1. Randy Moss, and 2. Daunte Culpepper. Unfortunately for Brad Childress, he has neither. Enter this season’s recipient of the Lamont Jordan award; Chester Taylor. Some would argue that Childress’ former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, ran the ball less than Minnesota and they’d be right. However, when you have Donavon McNabb, TO (for most of the season at least) and no workhorse back you don’t have much of a choice. Childress hand-picked Taylor, and has already said he plans to use him early and often. Besides, what’s his other option, 37-year-old Brad Johnson and a hand full of underachieving wide outs?

Loser: Brad Johnson

You knew that was coming, didn’t you? Guess what Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, Trent Dilfer, Jon Kitna, Trent Green and Moses all have in common. That’s right, they’re all younger than BJ. Okay… maybe not the last one, but you get the point; Johnson is OLD! Tice knew Johnson was no Culpepper but he still insisted on throwing the ball way more than running it. I know what you’re thinking; Tice had Michael Bennett, Ciatrick Fason and Onterrio “Wizzinator” Smith, so what did you expect? He had ample opportunity to upgrade the position through higher draft picks, free-agency, and trades. Childress went out and got a bruising back, let Michael Bennett go, upgraded the O-line and added a great blocking full back in Tony Richardson. Something tells me he didn’t do that to throw the ball 40 plus times a game.

Other Loser: Minnesota WRs

When a quarterback suffers, so do his receivers.

New Orleans Saints
2005 Coach: Jim Haslett 2006 Coach : Sean Payton

Winner: Drew Brees

Brees may not have the weapons he had in San Diego, but he does have a couple of factors in his favor. The Saints give up tons of points so Brees should be trying to play catch up for most of the game, his running-back is coming back from an ACL tear, and nobody is more conservative than his old coach, Marty Schottenheimer. Oh yeah, then there’s that draft pick, Reggie Bush, who should help in the passing game however they use him. Payton is an upgrade from Haslett and Schottenheimer, both of whom relied heavily on the run. He has been Bill Parcells’ offensive coordinator in Dallas and New York and also worked under John Gruden in Philly, all of which had explosive passing games at times.

Other Winners: Joe Horn and Donte Stallworth

Payton won’t force the ground game like Haslett did.

Loser: Duce McAllister

Payton is a very good QB coach, in the mold of Jim Fassel. And much like Fassel’s teams the ground game seems to suffer in his offense. Payton is much more apt to move the ball through the air, rather than try to pound the ball like his predecessor, Jim Haslett, did. Of course there are the issues of McAllister’s ACL injury and somebody named Reggie coming to town. Look for Payton to use Bush out of the backfield in passing plays which should be early (and often) when the Saints get down.

New York Jets
2005 Coach: Herm Edwards 2006 Coach : Eric Mangini

Winner: Chad Pennington

Eric Mangini is expected to bring in an offense similar to the one he used in New England. That offense doesn’t rely on throwing the ball deep, which has never been Pennington’s strong suit. Chad will be forced to line up and recognize the mismatches rather than focus on one receiver the way Edward’s offense calls for. Pennington is relatively the same size as Tom Brady and, much like his divisional foe, he’s also a smart quarterback. Pennington should excel in this system, as long as his arm can stay intact.

Other Winner: Laveranues Coles

It can’t be any worse than last year…can it?

Loser: Curtis Martin

Herm Edwards was a big fan of C-Mart, but is Mangini? The fact is Martin is 33 years old and has carried the ball carried the ball over 3,500 times in his 11 year career. Want more evidence of Martin’s decline? Last season was the first time Curtis failed to reach 1,000 yards rushing is his career. Now his strongest supporter has gone to Kansas City to win the game for them. C-Mart may now be used like Marshall Faulk last year, a far stretch from the guy that led the league in rushing just two short years ago.

Oakland Raiders

2005 Coach: Norv Turner 2006 Coach : Art Shell

Winner: Randy Moss

It’s tough to imagine Randy Moss not faring better his sophomore season in Oakland regardless of who the coach is. Art Shell runs a very similar offense to Norv Turner, which produced some good games for Moss when he was healthy. Shell has brought back his former assistant coach, Tom Walsh, to be his offensive coordinator so his offense shouldn’t change much from when we last saw it 12 years ago. The signing of Aaron Brooks is more proof that the offense shouldn’t change much. Brooks has the arm strength of Kerry Collins, but he can move around in the pocket better than his statuesque predecessor. Let’s just hope Brooks can pass forward this season.

Other Winner : Sebastian Janikowski

Shell takes points where he can get ‘em.

Loser: Lamont Jordan

It’s tough to have a loser when every fantasy player on a team let you down last year. Moss, Porter, Jordan and Collins were supposed to be like the ’97 Vikings, the ’99 Rams or the ’04 Colts. Shell has never had one running back carry the load for an entire season. Of course when you have Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen, who rides the pine? Jordan has no competition right now but if the Raiders sign a late free-agent we could be looking at dropping Jordan from 10-12 to 15-20.

St. Louis Rams
2005 Coach: Mike Martz 2006 Coach : Scott Linehan

Winner: Steven Jackson

No one was happier to see “The Greatest Show on Turf” leave town than a certain Mr. Steven Jackson. Saying Mike Martz kind of enjoys passing the ball is like saying Brittany Spears has a little white trash in her. Remember that playoff game against Carolina? He could have run the ball for a first down, used a time out, and then taken a couple of shots in the end zone to win the game. Instead, he ran down the clock, kicked a field goal, forgot to cover Steve Smith and watched the Super Bowl from the comfort of his own home. No one has underutilized their running back like Martz so no matter who got this job, Steven Jackson was going to benefit.

Other Winner: Torry Holt

Linehan’s offense tends to focus on one receiver, especially if he has good hands and speed. Is that Holt or what?

Loser: The number two receiver

Notice that I said Scott Linehan’s offense focuses on one receiver? That’s right; Isaac Bruce will go from a savvy vet to an old man in one offseason. It won’t be his fault either, the secondary receiver just gets lost in this offense. Kevin Curtis will be high on most people’s draft boards and sleeper lists but don’t get too excited about him either as his value will undoubtedly take a hit.

Other Loser: Marc Bulger

50 pass attempts per game left town with Mike Martz.

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