Mike Ditka and Dick Vermeil came back to the arena for the same reasons Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson did before them. One, they were asked. Two, they like it.
Coaching in the NFL never has been more demanding or volatile, two more reasons the profession remains attractive to certain personalities.
Vermeil, who invented the term coaching “burnout” when he walked away from the Eagles 14 years ago, acknowledged: “I could not get rid of the little fire inside burning. I just couldn’t fill up my gas tank broadcasting.”
“I had a pretty good life, but you get tired of it,” Ditka said. “If you’re goal-oriented in life, then you start trying to decide what your goal is.”
They are two of 11 new head coaches this year. Eight are recycled NFL head coaches, including the Rams’ Vermeil and the Saints’ Ditka, the Jets’ Parcells, the Falcons’ Dan Reeves, the Lions’ Bobby Ross, the Raiders’ Joe Bugel, the Bengals’ Bruce Coslet and the Patriots’ Pete Carroll. The Chargers’ Kevin Gilbride, the 49ers’ Steve Mariucci and the Giants’ Jim Fassel are first-time NFL head coaches.
The money is better than the security, but there’s more to it than money. Ditka took a pay cut.
Johnson expressed the lure best: “As much as I enjoyed TV, I never had the great feelings in television or the horrible feelings in television that I have coaching football. And I want that. In some ways, this may be masochistic. I want the horrible feeling occasionally.”
In Buffalo, Marv Levy, at 72 the oldest coach since George Halas and now the dean of NFL coaches, says the attraction is “the uncertainty of outcome.”
Ditka easily could have rested on his laurels–100 victories in 10 seasons and a Super Bowl championship. Instead, he confirmed that the highs and lows of the chase are at least as satisfying as capturing the prize.
“I want to climb the mountain again,” said Ditka, who starts in the valley of the only NFL team yet to win a playoff game.
Said Johnson: “The misery of being 1-15 (in 1989) made that first Super Bowl win fantastic.
“I feel sorry for individuals who go through life and they have a few bad days and have a few good days and they live about 70 years and they die. I have lots of horrible days and I have lots of great days, and when I lay down to rest I look back and say, `Hey, it was a heck of a ride.’ “
The 11 changes is the largest coaching turnover since 1978, when there were 15 changes, the most in the 28 years since the AFL and NFL merged. There were nine changes in 1992 and only three–the Vikings’ Dennis Green, the Packers’ Mike Holmgren and the Steelers’ Bill Cowher–remain.
“I think there is an impatience,” Levy said. “It comes from lots of sources–fans, talk shows. Everybody is allowed to be an authority. The grumbles spill over on people who make the decisions.”
“I think there is growing pressure,” Johnson said. “You have more ownership that is business-oriented, fewer family-owned franchises that were more likely to hang with a coach. Because of the business part, with owners trying to put more people in the stands, sell more suites and market their teams, owners become dissatisfied with the head coach quicker.”
Coaches always have had to win now and always will, but they never used to have to work so hard year-round. Free agency has turned the job into a 12-month grind of recruiting, evaluating and adjusting.
“No question this system puts the burden directly on the coach,” said Carolina General Manager Bill Polian, last season’s NFL executive of the year. “In the old days, coaching was a function of taking players, having them for a long period of time and creating a system that took advantage of their abilities.
“Now, you have to retool virtually every year, reteach and change your methods, because players turn over every year. It’s so much tougher on the coaches.”
When expansion teams Jacksonville and Carolina both came within a game of the Super Bowl in only their second years of existence, the noose tightened for every other coach in the league.
“When you have two teams who did as well as they did, it puts more pressure on everybody else,” said the Broncos’ Mike Shanahan, who lost to the Jaguars in the second round of the playoffs. “The average fan doesn’t understand the salary cap or the structure. All he knows is two organizations came in and played extremely well in their second year of existence. How come you didn’t?”
Here’s a look at the 11 new coaches:
– Coslet, Bengals
The former head coach of the Jets (26-39, 1990-93) took over for David Shula when the Bengals were 1-6 last season and finished 7-2. It probably helped the Bengals in their public vote for a new stadium. It also means Coslet raised expectations for a playoff team now.
– Parcells, Jets
From the Super Bowl runner-up Patriots to the bottom, Parcells goes to the “other” New York team in an effort to take a giant leap for a kind man–owner Leon Hess.
– Gilbride, Chargers
Buddy Ryan’s old sideline sparring partner brings his offense-minded ways to a team that has lost its way.
– Bugel, Raiders
The former Cardinals coach (20-44, 1990-93) takes over Jeff George and a bunch that led the league in penalties.
– Carroll, Patriots
The former Jets coach (6-10, 1994) was San Francisco’s defensive coordinator. He gets along with players better than Parcells did. Can he get as far with them as Parcells did?
– Ross, Lions
The former Chargers coach (50-36, 1992-96) was blamed by players for the Chargers’ downfall, but he expects to repeat his ability to resurrect in Detroit.
– Ditka, Saints
Tough coach, tough job. The former Bears coach (112-68, 1982-92) tries again with no Payton, no McMahon, no Suhey, no Singletary.
– Reeves, Falcons
For the first time, the ex-coach of the Broncos (117-79-1, 1981-92) and Giants (32-34, 1993-96) will be coaching in front of empty seats. Roster is pretty empty too.
– Vermeil, Rams
After resurrecting an old coaching staff, the former coach of the Eagles (57-51, 1976-82) now has to resurrect a young team.
– Fassel, Giants
The offensive coordinator of the Cardinals and a 1972 Bears draft choice takes over the worst offense in the league.
– Mariucci, 49ers
The 41-year-old former California coach and quarterbacks coach for the Packers replaces George Seifert with a simple mandate: Win it all now and every year.
