Wait so ALL the head coaching vacancies were filled...and Lovie Smith wasn't hired???

[hulk1914]

Tomlin, Lewis, Frazier... what's funny about that though if it were true?

That's right I forgot about those guys I guess its ok now since there is 4 brothers that are HC.

[Luka_GoBills]

That's right I forgot about those guys I guess its ok now since there is 4 brothers that are HC.

The majority of the league is black.

[CJ Triller Spiller]

Lol @race having anything to do with anything.

The NFL is a business and financially its in your best interest to hire the best man for the job.

Race= irrelevant
Rooney Rule=joke

[Adkbillsfan]

Maybe he'll be the next head coach at Syracuse.

[HappeninNow]

Lol @race having anything to do with anything.

The NFL is a business and financially its in your best interest to hire the best man for the job.

Race= irrelevant
Rooney Rule=joke

Rooney rule isn't a joke. Ask Mike Tomlin.

[Luka_GoBills]

Rooney rule isn't a joke. Ask Mike Tomlin.

You should probably ask Jerry Gray first. How many times has he been interviewed for a head coaching position and never been hired? The Rooney Rule is more racist than anything I've seen and if I were black I would insulted at being asked to interview just because I'm black with no real chance at actually landing the job.

[ASCREEN07]

How can this possibly be? Nobody else wanted a decade of futile offense? Nobody else wanted a .333 winning pct against teams over .500? Nobody else wanted ultra-conservative "any possession that ends with a kick is a good one" football straight from Dick Jauron University?

I'm just asking. I heard so much praise around here about how incredible he is, I'm just absolutely stunned that this happened. It's unfathomable. I wonder if these teams knew this jewel was out there, right out in the open for the taking. Truly stunned.

Clearly fashion and trend dictated an offensive minded coach was the direction teams needed to go this off season. These things are cyclical. Fans are fickle so there will be calls for Lovie and defense soon enough. The assumption here is that teams didn't want Lovie while at the same time being initially turned down by Chip Kelly. If Kelly turned down offers it's reasonable to assume that Lovie probably didn't like all the offers that came his way either.

I see your point but it's not a given that it's accurate.

Bills fans would cream their pants if you promised them 9 yrs of the success and OPPORTUNITIES Lovie produced in Chicago, esp. given the offensive weapons they lacked most of those years. That a fan would poo-poo Lovie's accomplishments as something they'd refuse just highlights how idiotic we fans can be.

[BuffaloSuperBowlParade]

You should probably ask Jerry Gray first. How many times has he been interviewed for a head coaching position and never been hired? The Rooney Rule is more racist than anything I've seen and if I were black I would insulted at being asked to interview just because I'm black with no real chance at actually landing the job.

Oh, so you mean if you were Mike Tomlin you wouldn't have a job right because you would have been so self righteous you wouldn't have even interviewed?

Obviously"if you were black" you might be a lot less offended than "if you were white and pretending to be black." (as you fail to mention any other races in your entire post... how racist of you...)

save us the self righteous white guy rants on the boards, please.

[ASCREEN07]

Steven A Smith, First Take in response to Skips comment that there were no sure thing minority candidates this year:

"It's a shame, why is it that a black coach has to be viewed as a "sure thing" to merit a head coaching job today? Marrone in Buffalo is no sure thing..." Steven goes on to speak on cronyism within the league, how that Andy Reid, whose team lost the last 11 of 12 games, was out of work for all of four days while Lovie, who enjoyed success very similar to Andy Reid goes unhired. Wow!

[BuffaloSuperBowlParade]

Steven A Smith, First Take in response to Skips comment that there were no sure thing minority candidates this year:

"It's a shame, why is it that a black coach has to be viewed as a "sure thing" to merit a head coaching job today? Marrone in Buffalo is no sure thing..." Steven goes on to speak on cronyism within the league, how that Andy Reid, whose team lost the last 11 of 12 games, was out of work for all of four days while Lovie, who enjoyed success very similar to Andy Reid goes unhired. Wow!

Stephen A's argument doesn't cover the possible case that Lovie didn't feel any of the jobs were a fit for him. Lovie hasn't come out and said, "Man, no one wanted me! All I wanted was a 2nd chance!". Everyone was all over Kelly to coach, and look how long it took for him to pick a place that he felt was a good fit. Maybe Lovie decided none of the offers were worth it.

I will admit that I'm surprised to an extent that he didn't get hired, but I truly don't believe it's because he's black... I just feel like after Dungy, Tomlin, Caldwell, and Smith's successes, no one would say 'well they're black, so they must be bad'.

[fanick82]

Every coach hired this year is an Offensive minded coach. The league knows that this is an offensive league and that if they have a good OC then they will just get hired away in a year or so.

[THE SLAMMER]

We can always hire him in 3 years.....

[garrickcc]

League is racist.

lol I knew someone was going to say it.. ESPN has been saying this exact thing all morning.. I think it's a bunch of malarkey.. The NFL isn't racist the coaches,who happened to be black, just weren't the men for the job.. Is that so hard to believe.. African Americans are so quick to shout racism.. It's 2013..

[old timer]

Rooney rule isn't a joke. Ask Mike Tomlin.

Rooney appears to be the only one who cares about the rule enough to use it properly.

The biggest loser in all this was Ray Horton. He was used by at least 3 teams, including the Bills, as the Rooney Rule candidate & is now Cleveland's DC with no head coaching job in sight. When I 1st heard Horton was on all these lists to be interviewed I couldn't imagine the NFL teams in need of a head coach really considered him head material after being on the staff of a team that went 5-11 and gave up 51 offensive points in Seattle. When was the last time a coordinator of a 5-11 team where the head coach got fired got a head coaching job for the next season? He was nothing more than this year's Jerry Gray.

[sjhbillsfan]

None of the coaches who were hired were black either!

Kind on interesting, really.

There are very few black coaches now.... Marvin Lewis Leslie Frazer and Mike Tomlin are it.

[hulk1914]

The majority of the league is black.

Are u serious? The majority black population that u speak of are either players or assistant coaches

[Patrick Bateman]

Teams reviewed tape of the Bears 2012 Offense. Even Dick Jauron thought their offense was garbage