Brian Schottenheimer could be headed To Miami

Schottenheimer in demand
Huizenga's plane makes stop at Republic Airport so Dolphins can talk to young offensive coordinator-see my end notes

BY TOM ROCK
Newsday Staff Writer

January 11, 2007

The Dolphins spoke with Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer about their vacant head-coaching position yesterday, the first of what could be many nibbles at the son of Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, who is an up-and-comer in the eyes of many NFL insiders.

Shortly after the private 737 owned by Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga spent the morning at Newark Airport, where the Dolphins spoke with Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, the plane flew to Farmingdale's Republic Airport for an on-board, tarmac-bound meeting with Schottenheimer, according to a Dolphins official who requested anonymity.

According to flight reports, Huizenga's plane was at Republic for approximately 2 1/2 hours before flying to Detroit and a meeting with Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Over the weekend, the plane also went to Costa Rica, where USC coach Pete Carroll was vacationing.

The search to replace Nick Saban is far from narrow, with more than a dozen coaches expected to meet with Dolphins ownership and management for pre-interviews in the coming days. After that, the group will be whittled down to three or four for more in-depth interviews in Miami, according to the Dolphins official.

Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum yesterday confirmed the Dolphins' interest in Schottenheimer and said the Jets have a "short list" of contingency candidates if they need to replace Schottenheimer - or any coach or player, for that matter. Running backs coach Jimmy Raye was offensive coordinator for five NFL teams, and wide receivers coach Noel Mazzone had that job at three colleges, but the Jets are just as likely to look outside the organization.

"If that situation were to present itself, we would consider in-house people and other coaches that would be available," Tannenbaum said. "It is like any other search. You want to get the best person that you can."

If Schottenheimer leaves, it would mean a fourth different offensive coordinator for the Jets in four years.

Schottenheimer is considered by many to have the makings of an NFL head coach, including a gregarious personality and a mind for the game. His limitation is lack of experience, but the Jets have shown that taking a chance on a young, developing coach can produce results.

Like Eric Mangini before he took the top Jets job last winter, Schottenheimer has only one year of experience as a coordinator. But in that year he impressed many around the league with his innovative no-huddle system based on the West Coast offense and loaded with shifts and misdirection.

The Jets' offense was ranked 25th in the NFL in yardage and 18th in scoring. Those are hardly staggering numbers, but Schottenheimer matched the system to his personnel very well, playing to strengths (Chad Pennington's intelligence) and sidestepping weaknesses (no feature running back). They used short passes to receivers as "extended handoffs" and tinkered with combinations of receivers, tight ends and running backs.

Schottenheimer, 33, was his father's quarterbacks coach for the Chargers from 2002-05 and for the Redskins in 2001. Under his guidance, two quarterbacks have won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award: Drew Brees in 2004 and Pennington in 2006. The Dolphins may hope to sprinkle some of that comeback magic on Daunte Culpepper for 2007.

When Saban bolted for Alabama last week, Mangini was asked about the possibility of members of his staff interviewing for the job at a division rival. His own such move is a main source of the tension between him and Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

"It's part of the nature of the NFL," he said. "People change and move on, and through success, opportunities are created. Sometimes those opportunities are at different places. That's just the nature of the business."

The Dolphins might wind up passing on Schottenheimer, but the first branch of the Mangini coaching tree could be springing forth in the very near future.

And my Slant: This Kid is the reason Why Pennington is the comback player of the year. From the moment i saw him operate at Jets camp last summer, I knew he was the real deal, like his Dad. Infact when the Jets Offense had a miscue he made them run a lap while he foamed at the mouth(also just like daddy)! It would be a big loss for the Jets if he left.

Arizona Cardinals Matt Leinart Parties With Britney Spears At Jackrabbit Lounge In Scottsdale, Az

Well, at least it's not the Pussycat Lounge, another hot spot. This comes from Perez Hilton.com. This happened before the New Year, so it's old news but still interesting given Matt's track record. Still does make you wonder about that newborn he's got. I'll also bet Paris Hilton had something to do with this hook up because she was partying with Matt last year.

Britney Spears has been noticeably missing in action the past week.

Now, PerezHilton.com has all the details on where she's been and what star she was seen getting her groove on with at a club on Friday night.

This is good!!!

Sources reveal exclusively to PerezHilton.com that Britney has been spending some time in Scottsdale, Arizona, a town known for its many spas and retreats.

Spears has frequented Scottsdale in the past, most recently escaping there in 2005 with FedEx during her first pregnancy.

Britney has been unwinding with her family and on Friday night she really let loose!

The newly single pop star was spotted at Scottsdale hotspot Jackrabbit Lounge.

The awful hair extensions were gone and the chic blonde bob was back!

Plus....Spears was totally macking it with none other than Matt Leinart!



Britney came sans large entourage. Just two girlfriends and a big burly bodyguard.

However, her attention was focused on Matt all night long!

The quarterback, previously linked with Paris Hilton, plays for the Arizona Cardinals.

And Friday night he was playing Britney Spears!

Sources tell us that the pair were flirting hardcore on the patio area all night long, bumping and grinding and whispering in each others' ears.

Could a love match be in the air???

Possibly!

But before Britney gets too comfortable in Scottsdale, she is heading to Las Vegas, where Spears will ring in the new year at Pure in Caesar's Palace.

New year, new man? Big comeback?

We hope so!

Oakland Raiders Offensive Line Blocking Problems

49ers - Raiders, originally uploaded by JRR.

The Oakland Raiders offensive line was terrible. But as I've stated before, it wasn't because they're bad players, it was the way they were asked to block.

This photo -- of the Raiders in white against the SF 49ers -- is a textbook example of the problem. Here, all of the linemen are retreating, and thus giving space for the Niners pass-rushers to force themselves and manuever. This is a pass pocket that will fold quickly.

What they should do is almost run block and fire out early. This way shown is too old.

Arizona Cardinals Matt Leinart At The CES Show In Las Vegas

Matt Leinart, originally uploaded by Domain Barnyard.

What's Arizona Cardinals QB Matt Leinart doing now during the team's offseason? He's signing autographs at the Poloroid booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Domain Barnyard -- not the person's real name -- snapped this photo.

Donald Driver and Vernand Morency Thanking Brett Favre

Donald Driver and Vernand Morency 12.31.06 thanking Brett Favre, originally uploaded by planetexpress.

Regardless of what he does, it's clear that the Green Bay Packers enjoy Quarterback Brett Farve. I think he's going to come back for one more year. I have no inside information on that, just plain gut feeling. Remember, he's still got the gas in the tank, and the problems were not really his in the making.

Zennie At MacWorld In The Microsoft Bloggers Booth (Booth 702)

Well, here I am at the Microsoft booth 702 and I've just been branded as having "Mac Mojo." What that is I don't know, but if I've got it, I've got it.

The booth itself is pretty cool. It has couches to sit on -- overstuffed -- a bin with colas, computers, and a main table. Plus everything's in black.

I wonder who's idea this was at Microsoft? Well, the real main question is how did I find this? I just walked through the main Microsooft booth and started talking with one of the hosts there. She told me about their booth for bloggers and gave me a button -- the one I referred to above.

So I walked out in search of Booth 702, when a woman walked by with the Microsoft logo that's commonly associated with their office products. So I asked her and she happened to be headed over there. As it turned out, my tour guide was none other than "Jane" of Microsoft and "See Jane Direct" at seejanedirect.com

Later, Jane told me that it was Chris Kim who created the booth idea. He's the marketing manager and I guess head blogger at Microsoft.

Chris explained that what is now booth 702 evolved out of a need to have a kind of "team blog" program at the firm. But then he recognized that there would be a lot of bloggers at MacWorld, so he and his Microsoft team bought booth space, and set up shop where I am now.

Not bad.

The show's pretty cool this year, but I wonder if the producers aren't getting enough vendors. It seems to get smaller and smaller each year. I don't think it's a matter of less product or interest, but something the show's producers aren't doing. I think Apple should basically own the show, since it features their products.

Well, more soon.

Giants 2006 season wrap-up

Ok so the Dust has settled, the pressers are over, and WFAN's Mike(Francessa) and the Mad Dog(Chris Russo) have even gotten in their licks(if you call Russo a "Broadcast Journalist"). Tom Coughlin is staying, at least for 2007, and probably 2008 as well. But I would have told you that if you had asked me, even after Sunday, even as i was leaving "the Linc", even as i was riding Amtrak back to New York's Penn Station. No reason to make a change. Sure, the coach might be considered abrasive at times. What does that have to do with running a football team? Most of the Coaches i have met in this business were nasty so-and so-s because they had to be. Football is a tough business, Wimps go home, period. Did you really believe that Bill Parcells was coming back to NY? Never. He wasn't even called. HE called John Mara early this morning to ask him where the rumors were coming from. No one in the Giants organization, thats for sure.

Point is, no matter how dissapointed you are over the Giants 8-8 finish(2-6 in the second half of the regular season) you can't blame the coaching staff or the Front office for the Injury bug that hit for the second year in a row. Ok, so there will be some Scapegoats among the assistant coaches. John Hufnagel is already gone, and infact, was released December 18th, the day after the Loss to the Eagles. He was asked to finish that week out to help prepare for the transition to Kevin Gilbride as play caller and offfensive coordinator. You could argue that his play selection could be vanilla at times(hey vanillia is my favorite flavor of icecream!), but no one said a word when the Giants were winning games. No one ever said "hey this offense with Tiki Barber running the ball reminds me of...of...Joe Morris and the 1986 Giants offense." That's because it wasn't. The 1986 and 1990 teams were so different then the 2000, 2002, and 2005-06 teams. The offense was better at times and the defense, while loaded with Quality, just wasn't there when they had to be.

And what of young Eli Manning? He surely suffered some setbacks this year, he even tired some with his "aww shucks" look on the sidelines. Guess what? All the Mannings look that way when things are bad. Doesn't mean they don't care. Peyton is probably a bit more emotional, and does better in commercials(That Sprint one is a pisser!). Dad Archie is more stoic, and Eli takes after Dad a bit more. He said it himself in his closing presser " i have to continue to learn and get better" Ok Kid, better said then done in the NFL. Former NFL coach Jerry Glanville once said "NFL" means "Not for Long" if you keep that up. I hear all the Giants fans(and probably my former self as well) groaning now " Phillip Rivers is still in the Playoffs." Quit your moaning folks. Eli is a quality NFL QB. It's just taking him longer to get himself together. It doesn't happen overnight. Greatness that is. "What about Vince Young?" Ok so he picked it up a bit faster. Some do and some don't. I don't see the Giants drafting another QB unless a Scouting report tells them they have to get Eli's replacement for 5 years from now and he's available with the Giants next pick. They have needs far beyond QB out of this draft.

So what about the Giants Defense that was supposed to be improved this year? Hey, they hung together when half of them were getting treatment and buying knitting needles to scratch the inside of their casts. Who knew Mathias Kiwanuka would be that good(I knew, but i'm supposed to know)? Mike Strahan will give it another go, but his statement of last summer at the Giants Kick-off affair for charity "i'm not going anywhere until we get rings" is getting hollow. He's going to be 36, and his replacement is already on the team. Surely this will be his last shot, if he gets it at all.

The few Giants players i truly feel sorry for are Tiki Barber, and the Offensive Line. Tiki because he deserved one last hurrah on his way out, and The OL's because they did all they could to get it for him and it wasn't enough. I also feel for the Giants fans that had to take it every week while they were slipping back down to reality in November and December. So that's it for the 2006 New York Giants. All they need to do now is replace the retiring Ernie Accorsi. He was only the second best GM the Franchise ever had, the first being the Late George Young. The announcement won't be this week.