NFL Nfl Coaching

It's impossible to find an NFL head coach or general manager who is willing to say that he wants to sign Michael Vick, but former NFL coach Dennis Green, now coaching for the start-up UFL, thinks he knows where Vick will end up.

As he sees it, Bill Parcells wants Vick, and if Parcells wants something, he's going to get it. So he thinks Vick will end up as a Dolphin.

"I have a hard time believing that Michael Vick is not going to wind up with Bill Parcells, simply because he has that creativeness that says that no matter what it takes, he's going to find a way to get Michael Vick," Green told Sirius NFL Radio. "Now, whether it means convincing the commissioner or whatever it takes, Michael Vick is probably going to wind up at Miami because of the fact that Bill Parcells is Bill Parcells."

This just in from the "No Duh" department: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would prefer that rookie quarterback (and renowned "project" guy) Josh Freeman not be forced to start this season.

At least that's what GM Mark Dominik said recently, despite the recent word floating from the Tampa streets that Freeman could potentially be the team's in 2009.

---

---

In Mike Wise's Washington Post column from this morning, you'll find a story about Jim Zorn and Joe Gibbs hanging out and shooting the proverbial, uh, well, you know. In it, you'll find discussions ranging from charity work to Zorn's admiration about the legacy Gibbs left as a great coach for the Washington Redskins.

Invariably, the subject of the Redskins' polarizing quarterback came up. Gibbs was specifically asked about how Jason Campbell handled the situation this offseason where the Redskins tried to replace him, not once, but twice. Alas, Jay Cutler is in Chicago and Mark Sanchez is in New York. The Redskins are "stuck" with Campbell and his big arm.

The following excerpt, including Gibbs' quote after he was asked if Campbell was mistreated, grabbed my eye.

Coaches try all sorts of odd motivational tactics, especially when faced with a task like the one in front of new Lions boss Jim Schwartz.

Turning around a team that was 0-16 in 2008 is likely to leave any coach open to any idea. For Schwartz, banging home a message that his players have to continue to get better, no matter their "status" on the team, is very important. It's the only chance Schwartz has to deliver a much-improved product on the football field this fall. The delivery of that message starts in earnest on Monday as the Lions open a three-day minicamp.

Last week, the Denver Broncos' Brandon Marshall requested a trade. Just like former teammate quarterback Jay Cutler a few months before. Cutler got his wish (he's now in Chicago), but head coach Josh McDaniels says he has no plans to grant Marshall his wish.

Of course, that's what McDaniels said about Cutler right up till he was traded, so who knows how this works out. In the meantime, the 33-year-old, first-year head coach, like the rest of us, will have to wait and see on Marshall, who left Denver yesterday to resume his holdout.

Wade Phillips isn't much to look at, but neither is Bill Belichick. The difference: one comes off as a grandfatherly Gomer Pyle, the other dresses like a hobo -- but has three Super Bowl rings. The point: people don't care how you clean up when you're winning.

So while the "Aw, shucks" persona is perfectly acceptable if you're running a roadside vegetable stand, it's less so as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, an outfit that last won a playoff game in 1996. Fans used to winning are fickle that way.

But according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Mac Engel, don't let Wade's cuddly exterior fool you. Despite appearances, he really does know what he's doing.

I can understand why a room full of grown men might not respond well to daily dressing downs, particularly from a new head coach not much older than than they are. But that's the situation in Kansas City.

Herm Edwards got his walking papers after a 2-14 effort last season, which, inexplicably, was only half as many games as he won the year before. Scott Pioli, who replaced Carl Peterson as the team president and general manager, hired former Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley to help turn things around.

The Chiefs got right to work on the rebuilding: they sent a second-round pick to the Patriots for Matt Cassel, giving them a franchise quarterback and somebody for Haley, whose success in Arizona landed him this gig, to build the team around.

I'm guessing Mike Singletary doesn't have much of a poker face. Of course, he probably doesn't need one, either. He just wills himself good cards, or, worst case, he intimidates his opponents into folding, even with high-percentage hands.

Singletary is an NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champ, and now he's the 49ers head coach. He took over for Mike Nolan last October, and one game into his tenure (a 34-13 loss to the mighty Seahawks), Singletary ordered Vernon Davis to the showers early in the fourth quarter for pouting.

Bill Belichick is a lot of things, both real and imagined, but he rarely uses the media to take shots at opponents. Yes, he went off on Freddie Mitchell, but I'm not even sure that counts. Mitchell was flapping his gums about the Patriots prior to Super Bowl XXXIX and it prompted this response from Belichick: "All he does is talk. He's terrible, and you can print that. I was happy when he was in the game."

I mention that encounter because despite Belichick's sometimes tumultuous relationship with the New York Jets -- he resigned a half-hour after accepting the gig in 1999, and didn't appear to be particularly fond of former assistant Eric Mangini once he took the job in 2006 (This probably didn't help; on the upside, Bill and Herm never had any problems, and there's video evidence as proof. [Waves at camera, mouths "hello," laughs hysterically.]) -- he has yet to go "FredEx" on anybody associated with the team.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Before Ravens head coach John Harbaugh immerses himself in Baltimore's training camp, and the rigorous NFL season, he's going to take a few days out to gain some perspective.

Harbaugh will join Tom Coughlin, Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher and Jon Gruden on the inaugural NFL-USO Coaches Tour. The event will take the five current and former coaches to the Persian Gulf, where they will spend nearly a week visiting with U.S. troops.

"The Persian Gulf trip is going to be a great experience," Harbaugh said with an excited smile on his face after Baltimore's Tuesday OTA. The trip runs June 30-July 5, "so it will be over the Fourth of July, and I think that's going to be pretty amazing," he added.