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Familiar NFL Faces

Aired January 08, 2004 - 15:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Some of the new faces in the NFL coaching ranks look suspiciously like the old ones.
Don Banks of SI.com joins us from Washington with the scorecard, where many in Washington are celebrating the return triumphant of one Joe Gibbs.

And good to have you with us, Don.

DON BANKS, CNNSI.COM: Thank you, miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, what does this say about the NFL? Joe Gibbs, first of all, not alone in this unyouth movement.

BANKS: That's true. Dennis Green out in Arizona, Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants, all three of those coaches, they have 12, 10, eight years of NFL head coaching experience.

The league loves trends. And the trends this year is to not take chances on the college coaches, but go for the experienced NFL head coaches. And that's really the way this thing is going. There's four more openings to come. I think that trend is going to continue. Clearly, the struggles of a Steve Spurrier and a Butch Davis at Washington and Cleveland have kind of soured NFL owners on going and paying a lot of money to a college coach who won at that rank, but has never proven they could win in the NFL.

O'BRIEN: Well, try to help us understand. The games are so different, the college and pro games. What are the key differences, aside from the huge paychecks? Or is that all that really matters here, is that these guys are making so much darn money?

BANKS: No.

I think the NFL game, obviously, the last 10 years, with free agency and the salary cap, it has become such a transient game. You have to be prepared to pick another 20 to 25 new players every year, because you're going to lose a good bit of your team, especially if you're a winning team. You're not going to be able to sign all your players. It's just made the personnel part of the game so much more important, so much more critical, with so much more at stake under the salary cap.

And I think the college game, it doesn't have that. And there's a lot of college coaches. The other day, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma came out and said, look, me and Nick Saban of LSU, we have great jobs. If we went to the NFL, maybe in two years, we'd be on the hot seat. I think a lot of coaches are going to figure that out pretty soon.

O'BRIEN: Well, but the college game, of course, is transient by the very nature of the talent. They're only there for four years. So you would think that would be translatable.

BANKS: Well, that's true. It's just that the college coaches kind of know that. They build that into the equation.

The NFL, in the last 10 years, has just become -- it's really hard. It's a still to build a team, keep it together for really three or four years at a time, take your shot and making the playoffs and going even further. And then you almost are constantly rebuilding.

I think there's just so much more pressure on an NFL head coach. College coaches have their own share of pressure. NFL coaches seem to get almost two years. And then, if they haven't done it, they're out already.

O'BRIEN: All right, but there has got to be some of the very rich spoiled brat factor in here. The theory was, you bring a younger coach in, they make a better connection with these young players, motivate them a lot more. Now they're saying father figure might work better. What's your take on all that?

BANKS: Well, look at the success of Bill Parcells in Dallas and Dick Vermeil in Kansas City and before that in Saint Louis. And, again, there's no new ideas in the NFL, really.

And the idea is that, if Parcells and Vermeil can do it at their age, maybe that's the way to go. I think this year's hiring season in the coaching ranks kind of clearly shows that that mind-set has set in. And, right now, with the college coaches not winning lately, young is not thought to be a better connection with the millionaires in the NFL.

O'BRIEN: Young is out. Old is in. If you're an old guy, I guess don't get any plastic surgery. The older you look the better, right? Is that it?

BANKS: Yes. And it's not so much old as much as just experienced. You better have done this job at least once before and been a proven winner. And all three of the guys hired this week fall into that heading.

O'BRIEN: All right, Don Banks with CNNSI.com, thanks very much for dropping by. Appreciate it.

BANKS: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 8, 2004 - 15:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Some of the new faces in the NFL coaching ranks look suspiciously like the old ones.
Don Banks of SI.com joins us from Washington with the scorecard, where many in Washington are celebrating the return triumphant of one Joe Gibbs.

And good to have you with us, Don.

DON BANKS, CNNSI.COM: Thank you, miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, what does this say about the NFL? Joe Gibbs, first of all, not alone in this unyouth movement.

BANKS: That's true. Dennis Green out in Arizona, Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants, all three of those coaches, they have 12, 10, eight years of NFL head coaching experience.

The league loves trends. And the trends this year is to not take chances on the college coaches, but go for the experienced NFL head coaches. And that's really the way this thing is going. There's four more openings to come. I think that trend is going to continue. Clearly, the struggles of a Steve Spurrier and a Butch Davis at Washington and Cleveland have kind of soured NFL owners on going and paying a lot of money to a college coach who won at that rank, but has never proven they could win in the NFL.

O'BRIEN: Well, try to help us understand. The games are so different, the college and pro games. What are the key differences, aside from the huge paychecks? Or is that all that really matters here, is that these guys are making so much darn money?

BANKS: No.

I think the NFL game, obviously, the last 10 years, with free agency and the salary cap, it has become such a transient game. You have to be prepared to pick another 20 to 25 new players every year, because you're going to lose a good bit of your team, especially if you're a winning team. You're not going to be able to sign all your players. It's just made the personnel part of the game so much more important, so much more critical, with so much more at stake under the salary cap.

And I think the college game, it doesn't have that. And there's a lot of college coaches. The other day, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma came out and said, look, me and Nick Saban of LSU, we have great jobs. If we went to the NFL, maybe in two years, we'd be on the hot seat. I think a lot of coaches are going to figure that out pretty soon.

O'BRIEN: Well, but the college game, of course, is transient by the very nature of the talent. They're only there for four years. So you would think that would be translatable.

BANKS: Well, that's true. It's just that the college coaches kind of know that. They build that into the equation.

The NFL, in the last 10 years, has just become -- it's really hard. It's a still to build a team, keep it together for really three or four years at a time, take your shot and making the playoffs and going even further. And then you almost are constantly rebuilding.

I think there's just so much more pressure on an NFL head coach. College coaches have their own share of pressure. NFL coaches seem to get almost two years. And then, if they haven't done it, they're out already.

O'BRIEN: All right, but there has got to be some of the very rich spoiled brat factor in here. The theory was, you bring a younger coach in, they make a better connection with these young players, motivate them a lot more. Now they're saying father figure might work better. What's your take on all that?

BANKS: Well, look at the success of Bill Parcells in Dallas and Dick Vermeil in Kansas City and before that in Saint Louis. And, again, there's no new ideas in the NFL, really.

And the idea is that, if Parcells and Vermeil can do it at their age, maybe that's the way to go. I think this year's hiring season in the coaching ranks kind of clearly shows that that mind-set has set in. And, right now, with the college coaches not winning lately, young is not thought to be a better connection with the millionaires in the NFL.

O'BRIEN: Young is out. Old is in. If you're an old guy, I guess don't get any plastic surgery. The older you look the better, right? Is that it?

BANKS: Yes. And it's not so much old as much as just experienced. You better have done this job at least once before and been a proven winner. And all three of the guys hired this week fall into that heading.

O'BRIEN: All right, Don Banks with CNNSI.com, thanks very much for dropping by. Appreciate it.

BANKS: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com