Post by prossman on Jan 20, 2009 11:38:18 GMT -7
FWST: Williams: Cardinals’ assistant Todd Haley has found a home in Arizona, but for
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Cardinals’ assistant Todd Haley has found a home in Arizona, but for how long?
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
It didn’t take long to make the connection: Todd Haley should be the Dallas Cowboys’ next head coach. The Web site Pro Football[
Talk was among those to float the idea Monday.
Haley is the new flavor of the month among assistant coaches, and there is never a better month to be the favorite than January.
The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl for the first time, and the city is acting like it.
Fans jammed the team’s training facility Monday, shelling out $25 to buy Cardinals NFC Championship T-shirts.
This is Haley’s first Super Bowl, too.
He had expected that to come with Bill Parcells. Parcells became Haley’s "mentor" when Haley was a Jets receivers coach for three years under Parcells, including a 12-4 campaign in 1998. Parcells and Haley reunited in Dallas, but they never could get the Cowboys to the NFL’s promised land.
The closest they came was in the 2006 postseason when Tony Romo bobbled the snap on a chip-shot, go-ahead field-goal try against Seattle. The Cowboys would have beaten the Bears the next week to get to the NFC Championship Game. Maybe the Cowboys would have gone on to the Super Bowl and things would be different at Valley Ranch today. Who knows?
But that game in Seattle was Parcells’ and Haley’s final game with the Cowboys.
Jones interviewed Haley and two other assistants for the head coaching job after Parcells "retired," but Haley never was a serious candidate, and two days after the interview, Haley joined Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona.
It was the best move of Haley’s career.
If you can revive the Arizona Cardinals, a team with a 60-year history of losing, then anything is possible.
"It’s the reason I came out here," Haley said. "I had a job in Dallas. I was the passing game coordinator. They didn’t want to let me go. I kind of pushed and prodded to come out here and be the full offensive coordinator, and that was the thinking: A lot of guys have come out here and failed, and some of my friends said, 'You sure you want to do that? You’re with the Dallas Cowboys.’ If you have confidence in yourself and your abilities, and if you could ever get it done the way we’ve gotten it done, it’ll be the greatest feeling in the world. Whenever you do something that nobody else has been able to do, I can’t even tell you how good that feels."
Leaving Dallas got Haley away from Terrell Owens, with whom Haley had openly feuded during the 2006 season. In return, Haley inherited one of the best receivers in the game who now, two years later, arguably is the best receiver in the game.
On the podium during the Cardinals’ celebration Sunday, Larry Fitzgerald leaned over to Haley and said, "Thank you for keeping your foot on my throat for two years." (Haley probably isn’t holding his breath that he’ll ever hear that from T.O.)
Not that it’s been all confetti celebrations and hugs here for Haley.
Edgerrin James has complained about his playing time since Week 9 when rookie Tim Hightower replaced him. Haley got into a heated shouting match with Anquan Boldin on the Cardinals’ game-winning drive Sunday, and Boldin didn’t participate in the team’s on-field victory celebration. Haley downplayed it as "a heat of the moment" argument.
Kurt Warner called Haley "competitive" and "fiery" Monday when I asked about his sideline exchanges with Haley, including one in the first quarter Sunday.
"My wife asks me every week, 'What in the world were you and Todd yelling at each other about this week?’ " Warner said. "It happens. Sometimes you see things differently. Sometimes coaches will say something that they don’t really know what happened on the field or you have a different perspective."
Haley, 41, won’t be here long. Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock is campaigning for Haley to get the Chiefs’ job. Scott Pioli, the Chiefs’ new general manager, is Parcells’ son-in-law, and Pioli was with the Jets when Haley was there.
The Chiefs don’t have Warner or Fitzgerald or Boldin, but two other ex-Cowboy’ offensive coaches have won just fine without T.O. and Jason Witten and Marion Barber. Sean Payton has taken the New Orleans Saints to an NFC Championship Game in three seasons, and Tony Sparano inherited a 1-15 Dolphins team and took it to the playoffs in his first season.
Unlike Jason Garrett, who should now realize what a huge mistake he made last year in turning down the Ravens and the Falcons, Haley will accept the first owner who offers. As Whisenhunt said about his own situation two years ago when he left the Steelers, "You have to be very careful about passing things up, because you never know if you will get another one."
Haley isn’t Mike Shanahan or Mike Holmgren or Jon Gruden, but two weeks from now, he might have a Super Bowl ring just like they do. He also then might have something they don’t — a head coaching job.
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760
__________________
Cowboy Fan since 1960.......You young-uns stay outta my yard.
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Cardinals’ assistant Todd Haley has found a home in Arizona, but for how long?
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
It didn’t take long to make the connection: Todd Haley should be the Dallas Cowboys’ next head coach. The Web site Pro Football[
Talk was among those to float the idea Monday.
Haley is the new flavor of the month among assistant coaches, and there is never a better month to be the favorite than January.
The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl for the first time, and the city is acting like it.
Fans jammed the team’s training facility Monday, shelling out $25 to buy Cardinals NFC Championship T-shirts.
This is Haley’s first Super Bowl, too.
He had expected that to come with Bill Parcells. Parcells became Haley’s "mentor" when Haley was a Jets receivers coach for three years under Parcells, including a 12-4 campaign in 1998. Parcells and Haley reunited in Dallas, but they never could get the Cowboys to the NFL’s promised land.
The closest they came was in the 2006 postseason when Tony Romo bobbled the snap on a chip-shot, go-ahead field-goal try against Seattle. The Cowboys would have beaten the Bears the next week to get to the NFC Championship Game. Maybe the Cowboys would have gone on to the Super Bowl and things would be different at Valley Ranch today. Who knows?
But that game in Seattle was Parcells’ and Haley’s final game with the Cowboys.
Jones interviewed Haley and two other assistants for the head coaching job after Parcells "retired," but Haley never was a serious candidate, and two days after the interview, Haley joined Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona.
It was the best move of Haley’s career.
If you can revive the Arizona Cardinals, a team with a 60-year history of losing, then anything is possible.
"It’s the reason I came out here," Haley said. "I had a job in Dallas. I was the passing game coordinator. They didn’t want to let me go. I kind of pushed and prodded to come out here and be the full offensive coordinator, and that was the thinking: A lot of guys have come out here and failed, and some of my friends said, 'You sure you want to do that? You’re with the Dallas Cowboys.’ If you have confidence in yourself and your abilities, and if you could ever get it done the way we’ve gotten it done, it’ll be the greatest feeling in the world. Whenever you do something that nobody else has been able to do, I can’t even tell you how good that feels."
Leaving Dallas got Haley away from Terrell Owens, with whom Haley had openly feuded during the 2006 season. In return, Haley inherited one of the best receivers in the game who now, two years later, arguably is the best receiver in the game.
On the podium during the Cardinals’ celebration Sunday, Larry Fitzgerald leaned over to Haley and said, "Thank you for keeping your foot on my throat for two years." (Haley probably isn’t holding his breath that he’ll ever hear that from T.O.)
Not that it’s been all confetti celebrations and hugs here for Haley.
Edgerrin James has complained about his playing time since Week 9 when rookie Tim Hightower replaced him. Haley got into a heated shouting match with Anquan Boldin on the Cardinals’ game-winning drive Sunday, and Boldin didn’t participate in the team’s on-field victory celebration. Haley downplayed it as "a heat of the moment" argument.
Kurt Warner called Haley "competitive" and "fiery" Monday when I asked about his sideline exchanges with Haley, including one in the first quarter Sunday.
"My wife asks me every week, 'What in the world were you and Todd yelling at each other about this week?’ " Warner said. "It happens. Sometimes you see things differently. Sometimes coaches will say something that they don’t really know what happened on the field or you have a different perspective."
Haley, 41, won’t be here long. Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock is campaigning for Haley to get the Chiefs’ job. Scott Pioli, the Chiefs’ new general manager, is Parcells’ son-in-law, and Pioli was with the Jets when Haley was there.
The Chiefs don’t have Warner or Fitzgerald or Boldin, but two other ex-Cowboy’ offensive coaches have won just fine without T.O. and Jason Witten and Marion Barber. Sean Payton has taken the New Orleans Saints to an NFC Championship Game in three seasons, and Tony Sparano inherited a 1-15 Dolphins team and took it to the playoffs in his first season.
Unlike Jason Garrett, who should now realize what a huge mistake he made last year in turning down the Ravens and the Falcons, Haley will accept the first owner who offers. As Whisenhunt said about his own situation two years ago when he left the Steelers, "You have to be very careful about passing things up, because you never know if you will get another one."
Haley isn’t Mike Shanahan or Mike Holmgren or Jon Gruden, but two weeks from now, he might have a Super Bowl ring just like they do. He also then might have something they don’t — a head coaching job.
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760
__________________
Cowboy Fan since 1960.......You young-uns stay outta my yard.