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A lot of interesting comments on Chris Palmer's reported decision to go the UFL route to an NFL coordinator or head coaching job. I can understand his decision to coach the Sentinels, if that's what ends up happening. Word is, he feels the best way up the ladder is to go outside the NFL and work his way back in.
It's not a novel idea, having been tried with some success before. Jim Haslett, Mike Shanahan's new defensive coordinator in Washington, came there via his head coaching stint in the UFL. And I remember that other alternative league, the XFL, that led a talent-challenged Tommy Maddox back into the big league.
The largest pool of alternative talent, of course, came from the USFL. But then, they originally promoted themselves as a competitor to the NFL with an attempt to sign away legitimate draft talent. These other leagues were strictly for the lower weight classes -- the outright washouts and borderline rookie free agent-type guys.
Whatever the case, don't be too quick to look down the nose at Palmer and others like him. As a general manager once told me, as long as you're playing -- or in this case coaching -- any experience is good, even if it's not in an NFL organization.
EP
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Apples and oranges, Ernie. Haslett couldn't get arrested in the NFL, so he really had no option but the UFL. Palmer was an established NFL coach in NO danger of being fired. Add on to that, I would bet a significant sum of money that the UFL is NOT a viable league. Where's the revenues? No TV contract worth discussing, so no ad revenue either, and no attendance. How long can it bleed red ink? Bottom line, if Palmer felt the need to make a move in order to get a shot at a HC job in the NFL, he should have went the college route. Finally, Palmer is an old guy. Fair or not, the older the guy is without being a ring bearing ex-NFL HC, the more likely he will get passed over. Schottenheimer, Billick, and Cowher are all out there. None of them got a whiff. But Palmer will somehow turn a HC job with the UFL into a HC job in the NFL? While the above mentioned guys are ignored? I often dream that I will wake up next to Marisa Miller or Penelope Cruz, but that never happens. I think the odds of my dream coming true are just slightly higher than those of Palmer's.
ReplyDeleteJim Haslett would have had that job UFL or no UFL. The UFL is fir coaches who want to be irrelevant. Jim Fassel can't even get the Bills job. They hired a guy who was fired intraining camp.
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