12/03/24
December 08, 2002
Tom Coughlin, the longest tenured NFL coach who hasn't been to a Super Bowl, may be reaching the end of that streak in Jacksonville. Attendance was nearly an all-time low at Sunday's loss to the Browns, which assured the team of three straight non-winning seasons, and an anonymous fan's firetomcoughlin.com site is getting lots of attention in the local and national media.
As long as the Cardinals are still in Phoenix, the Jags won't be in the worst financial position. However, this team needs some new guidance, it seems. I have been trying not to place too much blame on Coughlin's shoulders, thinking that the players play and should get most of it. In the last couple games, though, he's really shown me some bad decision making when good decisions were crucial. I've seen a rumor (under News and Notes at the bottom, for now) that the Jags are looking at Randy Mueller, formerly of the Saints, to be the team's GM. I would gladly welcome him into the fold. Maybe then the Jags would actually draft a few Pro Bowlers. Or, at the very least, keep more than half of the people they did draft. Sorry for the rant there, but I'm still bitter about how that game went down yesterday...grrrrrr.
posted by bcb2k2 at 07:57 AM on December 09, 2002
Me too. How in the world do you let a receiver get single coverage in the end zone with the clock expiring? Call timeout before the snap. Tackle the receiver at the 10. Put half the team on the goal line and play centerfield.
posted by rcade at 02:46 PM on December 09, 2002
Coughlin and the Jags have been snakebit in close games, sometimes due to poor coaching, but as a Jags fan I think he's gotten more out of this team than anyone thought possible after the offseason salary cap purge. This team of rookies and free agent spares shouldn't even be in a position to lose five games by a total of 10 points. Either Coughlin's doing something good or the rest of the league is worse than I think. I was disappointed last year that owner Wayne Weaver made no attempt to go after Steve Spurrier, but at this point I think Coughlin's probably the best choice unless a fan-magnet like Bob Stoops becomes available (which seems unlikely). Things are pretty dire with ticket sales and fan interest here in Jacksonville, though. When the Super Bowl comes here in 2005, the franchise could be the most financially shaky in the league.