It took Cameron almost precisely three weeks to find new employment in the NFL.
Cam Cameron was named Ravens offensive coordinator yesterday, becoming new coach John Harbaugh’s first and perhaps most important hire.
If Harbaugh wants to turn around the Ravens in the 2008 season, he’ll need Cameron to revitalize an offense that has consistently ranked among the NFL’s worst for a decade.
Before he was fired as head coach of the 1-15 Miami Dolphins three weeks ago, Cameron built a reputation for directing one of the NFL’s most explosive attacks. In his last three seasons as the San Diego Chargers’ offensive coordinator (2004-2006), the team finished in the NFL’s top five in scoring, averaging 28.3 points a game.
I think Cameron got less than a fair deal with Miami. Yes he made mistakes, but I would have been willing to give Cam another shot in 2008 with Miami. The Dolphins were long on the way to falling apart before Cameron’s arrival. Cameron had just the bad luck to be present at the collapse. With apologies to the late Dean Acheson. LOL
The playoffs aren’t even over yet but fans of 28 of 32 teams are already looking ahead to next year.
I read a lot about football and listen to Sirius’ NFL Radio on my daily commute but I’m not a professional scout. I can, however, see what the pros are saying and look for trends. It’s silly at this early stage to go beyond the 1st round, so I won’t; most of those who are linked below do, though, so you can click through if you’re interested.
Note: I’m a (bitterly disappointed) Cowboys fan, so I’ll highlight their picks in bold. I’ll also leave in explanations/discussion about picks that I remove for other teams for sake of brevity, not stealing all the thunder of the pickers.
Mel Kiper is the best known draft guy. Here’s his current Big Board (1/14). It merely ranks players without assigning them to teams, since sometimes teams draft based on need.
1. Darren McFadden Jr. RB Arkansas
2. Glenn Dorsey Sr. DT LSU
3. Jake Long Sr. OT Michigan
4. Chris Long Sr. DE Virginia
5. Sedrick Ellis Sr. DT USC
6. Matt Ryan Sr. QB Boston College
7. Ryan Clady Jr. OT Boise St.
8. Aqib Talib Jr. CB Kansas
9. Vernon Gholston Jr. DE Ohio St.
10. DeSean Jackson Jr. WR California
11. Calais Campbell Jr. DE Miami
12. Sam Baker Sr. OT USC
13. Kentwan Balmer Sr. DT UNC
14. Felix Jones Jr. RB Arkansas
15. Brian Brohm Sr. QB Louisville
16. Jonathan Stewart Jr. RB Oregon
17. Kenny Phillips Jr. S Miami
18. Dan Connor Sr. LB Penn St.
19. Mike Jenkins Sr. CB South Florida
20. Rashard Mendenhall Jr. RB Illinois
21. Reggie Smith Jr. CB Oklahoma
22. Keith Rivers Sr. LB USC
23. Pat Sims Jr. DT Auburn
24. Fred Davis Sr. TE USC
25. Leodis McKelvin Sr. CB Troy
From a need perspective, I’d much rather see the Cowboys take a CB and WR in the first, as they’d be more likely to see significant playing time than an offensive lineman or RB. But best available is the way to go.
18. Houston Texans – Jonathan Stewart, RB, Oregon °
19. Philadelphia Eagles – Calais Campbell, DE, Miami
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Kentwan Balmer, DT, North Carolina
21. Washington Redskins – Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida
22. Dallas Cowboys (from Cleveland) – DeSean Jackson, WR, Cal
DeSean Jackson is an enigma; trying to predict where he will go is a challenging thing. Jackson had a great performance (after sitting out for the first quarter due to a rule violation) in Cal’s comeback win over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, which should boost his stock. He waited until literally the final day to decide to go pro.
At 6’0″ 180, he has decent height, but not the bulk that some other receivers in the draft bring to the table. What sets Jackson apart is his blazing speed. If he can really run a 4.35ish 40 at the combine, he could end up similar to Ted Ginn, Jr. last year as a surprise top ten pick. If Jerry Jones is looking for a kick return boost, he’d sure land that in Jackson.
Jones has been overlooked by many due to the presence of Darren McFadden, but should Bobby Petrino be unable to talk him into staying for his senior year, he could end up being a first round pick. He would be a particularly nice fit for the Cowboys, who are likely going to lose Julius Jones to free agency but have Marion Barber, III under contract.
While Barber is a bruiser, Jones would be a great contrast, given that he’s 6’0″, 200 pounds and runs a sub-4.4 40. Felix Jones has feature back ability, and he would be a great pickup by the Cowboys.
While the Cowboys may also look to add depth in the secondary and should have their choice from a number of good RBs in rounds two and three, a talent like Jones (or Rashard Mendenhall) at this spot in the draft may be too much to pass up.
30. San Francisco 49ers (from Indianapolis) – Malcolm Kelly, WR, Oklahoma
5. Kansas City Chiefs: Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State
6.New York Jets: Chris Long, DE, Virginia
7. New England Patriots: Mike Jenkins, CB, South Florida
8. Baltimore Ravens: Andre’ Woodson, QB, Kentucky
9. Cincinnati Bengals: Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State
10. New Orleans Saints: Kenny Phillips, FS, Miami
11. Buffalo Bills: Keith Rivers, OLB, USC
12. Denver Broncos: Sedrick Ellis, DT, USC
13. Carolina Panthers: Sam Baker, OT, USC
14. Chicago Bears: Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville
15. Detroit Lions: Dan Connor, OLB/MLB, Penn State
16. Arizona Cardinals: Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas
17. Minnesota Vikings: Quentin Groves, DE, Auburn
18. Houston Texans: Jonathan Stewart, RB, Oregon
19. Philadelphia Eagles: Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: DeSean Jackson, WR/PR, California
22. Washington Redskins: Kentwan Balmer, DT, North Carolina
22. Dallas Cowboys: Reggie Smith, CB/S, Oklahoma
This pick is from Cleveland. Terence Newman and Anthony Henry aren’t exactly young. Newman will be 30 in September 2008, while Henry doesn’t have many productive seasons remaining in the NFL. Jacques Reeves sucks. [Exactly right. Newman was a first round pick (#5 overall) in 2003 but a CB's career tends to be short. -JHJ]
23. Pittsburgh Steelers: Jeff Otah, OT, Pittsburgh
26. New York Giants: Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy State
27. Jacksonville Jaguars: Calais Campbell, DE, Miami
28. San Diego Chargers: Frank Okam, NT, Texas
29. Dallas Cowboys: Felix Jones, RB, Arkansas
It was rumored that Dallas was interested in Dwayne Jarrett in April, but Jerry Jones apparently liked Anthony Spencer a bit more. With Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn close to the end of their careers, the Cowboys would love to secure a top-notch wide out.
That said, if someone of Felix Jones’ caliber is available – which is plausible, given the depth at the running back position in this class – Dallas won’t be able to resist. Julius Jones likely won’t be back next year, and the Cowboys clearly don’t think Marion Barber can carry the load on his own; otherwise he’d be doing so already instead of starting his first game in the playoffs. [They should definitely draft best available and we need a second stud RB. All things equal, though, I'd like a corner and a wideout in this round. - JHJ]
30. San Francisco 49ers: Adarius Bowman, WR, Oklahoma State
31. Green Bay Packers: Antoine Cason, CB, Arizona
[32. New England: No pick. They're cheaters. - JHJ]
In the beginning, the Ravens had no choice. Brian Billick was fresh off orchestrating an offensive miracle in Minnesota. He whisked into town, met with Ravens owner Art Modell and vice presidents David Modell and Ozzie Newsome at a downtown steakhouse, and before long, the opening passages of the most exciting chapter of the team’s young history were being written.
In the end, though, the Ravens again had no choice. For the better part of nine seasons, Billick had orchestrated an offensive disaster here in Baltimore. The crescendo — the 2007 season — was long and painful, and it ends today with the news that the Ravens are parting ways with the best coach the franchise has ever known.
It’s a bold move for team owner, Steve Bisciotti, but a move that he had to make. The slips, falls and missteps over the entirety of the 2007 season made it clear that Billick’s effectiveness in Baltimore had expired.
Without diminishing Billick’s accomplishments Maese writes that Billick’s “shelf-life” had expired. This is a sentiment I heard on a sports talk show last night.
Read those paragraphs again. Billick was hired after engineering “an offensive miracle” but in Baltimore he was in charge of “an offensive disaster.” Even in the Ravens Super Bowl year, the teams strength hasn’t been the offense during the Billick era. In 2000 it was defense and special teams that carried the Ravens to their one Super Bowl championship. I never quite understood how someone who had been known for his offensive acumen, never put together sustained offensive success as a head coach.
Several players said Billick lost the confidence of the locker room with his questionable play calling and stale message. According to two players, they were asked by some staff members – presumably prompted by Bisciotti – whether Billick had lost the team.
Bisciotti declined to discuss the reasons for his decision, saying it boiled down to a “gut feeling.” Newsome and team president Dick Cass recommended to Bisciotti that Billick be fired.
“I just changed my mind,” Bisciotti said. “I can’t explain to you how tough a decision it is. It’s the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make.”
Asked whether he had specifically told Billick earlier that he would return, Bisciotti said, “There were indications but no promises.”
Finally there are names being bandied about right now
The team is expected to focus its search on NFL coaches. Potential candidates could include Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, former San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, University of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan.
Newsome said Ryan would be interviewed for the vacancy, and several players expressed support for him yesterday.
I assumed that Ryan would be the team’s first choice. If he doesn’t get the job in Baltimore, he’ll likely head elsewhere. Still on a talk show last night, Hensley said that based on Bisciotti’s statement, he figured that the team would be looking for a head coach from outside the organization.
The Raven website has reactions from Todd Heap and (likely retiring) Jonathan Ogden.
The biggest concern I have is that the problem wasn’t Billick but the talent. The team suffered a lot of injuries this year. Given that it’s an older team that’s a problem that’s not likely to go away. Firing Billick may solve one problem but it may fail to address a more significant one.
Less than a year after signing him to a contract extension through 2010, the Baltimore Ravens on Monday fired coach Brian Billick. Billick’s dismissal was confirmed to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen by owner Steve Bisciotti and to ESPN.com’s Len Pasquarelli by an assistant coach and a front office official. The Ravens will discuss their decision at an afternoon news conference at team headquarters.
Only a few weeks ago, Billick proclaimed that he would return in 2008, but Bisciotti, who does not speak to the media during the season, made no statement to that effect. “I just changed my mind,” the owner told The Baltimore Sun on Monday. “I can’t explain it to you. It’s the toughest decision I’ve had to make.”
Billick, 53, compiled an 85-67 record in nine seasons. The Ravens, who won the AFC North championship in 2006, struggled to a 5-11 mark this season, a year that included a nine-game losing streak that ended with Sunday’s 27-21 win over Pittsburgh.
In his second season with the franchise, Billick led the Ravens to the Super Bowl XXXV title in 2000, but never got the club back to the title game.
A world championship earns a certain amount of loyalty but six years of failure is simply intolerable in the win-now NFL.
The Ravens completed a disappointing 2007, with a 27-21 upset win over the Steelers last night. The win followed the news, by a few days, the offensive co-ordinator Rick Neuheisel was headed back to the college ranks to be head coach at UCLA.
This brings up the question, what the heck has Neusheisel been doing the past 3 years with the Ravens?
Neuheisel’s tenure, though, will be a footnote in Ravens history, and as much as he praised the team for giving him a second chance as he left for his new gig at UCLA, he’ll likely view Baltimore as a steppingstone, too. As for the offensive coordinator position he vacated, his replacement will surely have far, far more on his plate than Neuheisel did. He’d better.
Yes it was nice for the Ravens to give Neuheisel the position, but did it benefit the team at all. Neuheisel was originally brought on as quarterbacks coach and yet Kyle Boller seems no closer to being anointed the team’s starting quarterback than he was 3 years ago. Maybe he just doesn’t have the ability.
The offense of the Ravens was not very good in two of the three years. Especially this year. So why didn’t Billick give the play calling duties to Neuheisel when Billick’s play calling didn’t pan out this year?
While programs all across the country are hell-bent on making sure a coaching hire has some ties to the school instead of getting the best possible candidate available, UCLA was able to do both.
“Being in the NFL for the last three years is like going to grad school and I think that will be a great asset to him as he returns to college,” said legendary for NFL and UCLA head coach Dick Vermiel. “I am very excited about this decision.”
He’ll get the quarterbacks and will coach them up so there won’t be another disaster like this year when injuries struck Ben Olson and Pat Cowan. He’ll get the offense moving and will make the Bruins one of the more exciting teams in the Pac 10. He’ll get the wins to make UCLA a powerhouse again. With a .688 winning percentage, he has a decent on-field resume to earn instant credibility, and he isn’t going to ask for, or receive, any sort of a grace period.
I get the impression that the Ravens job benefited Rick Neuheisel. Given the circumstances of his firing from the University of Washington, I can understand giving him a chance. But did Neuheisel get the positions with the Ravens for the Ravens? Or for Neuheisel?
Surely this is one more event that requires some investigation when considering Brian Billick’s future.
Rick Neuheisel is coming back to UCLA — this time as head coach. Neuheisel, who quarterbacked the Bruins to victory in the 1984 Rose Bowl and later served as an assistant under Terry Donahue, was hired Saturday as his alma mater’s 16th coach.
The 46-year-old Neuheisel succeeds Karl Dorrell, who was fired Dec. 3 after five seasons on the job.
“Rick has enjoyed great success throughout his career and we believe he is the coach who can take our program to the next level,” athletic director Dan Guerrero said. “His teams at Colorado and Washington continually challenged for conference championships and national rankings, and that is what we are looking to do at UCLA.”
Neuheisel spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, who finish the season Sunday against Pittsburgh. He served as quarterbacks coach in 2005-06, and was promoted to offensive coordinator last January.
He had a 66-30 record as a head coach at Colorado from 1995-98 and Washington from 1999-2002. He hasn’t been in the college game since Washington fired him in 2003 for participating in a betting pool on the NCAA basketball tournament. He sued for wrongful termination from Washington and settled in March 2005 with UW and the NCAA for $4.5 million.
A great hire. He’s had some problems, to be sure, but he’s a superb college coach. And I suspect he’ll be less anxious to leave UCLA, not only his alma mater but a storied program in a great city, than his previous stops.
Vinny Testaverde has finally had enough, calling it quits after a 21-year NFL career.
The 44-year-old quarterback said Saturday that he’ll retire after Carolina’s season finale at Tampa Bay on Sunday.
“I just feel like it’s time,” Testaverde told The Associated Press before boarding the team bus for the airport. “Obviously at 44 it does get a little bit tougher as the weeks go by. I’m glad I’m able to do it on my own terms and walk away from the game not only healthy, but to experience some of the things I’ve been through.”
Testaverde was out of the league until the Panthers, desperate for quarterback help after injuries to Jake Delhomme and David Carr, signed him on Oct. 10. Four days and only three practices later, Testaverde became the oldest starting QB to win a game when he led the Panthers to a victory at Arizona.
“It’s going to be, for me, one of my special moments in the NFL,” Testaverde said. “To come in with three days of preparation and go out and help a team win a football game and contribute, I’m proud of the fact I was able to do that.”
Testaverde started five more games for Carolina and completed 94 of 172 passes for 952 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions. But his body wore down late in the season, and he was sidelined by back pain and a right Achilles tendon injury that kept him out of games and practices the past month.
Testaverde said he started contemplating retirement several weeks ago. “You want to be able to go out there and perform the way you think you can,” Testaverde said. “When you have some things that hinder you from doing that, it makes it tougher.”
Testaverde’s final game will come where his pro career started. The 1986 Heisman Trophy winner at Miami, Testaverde was the No. 1 overall pick by Tampa Bay in the 1987 draft. He got off to rocky start, throwing 13 touchdown passes and 35 interceptions in his second season with the Buccaneers, his first as the full-time starter.
Testaverde weathered the criticism for three more seasons before moving to Cleveland. After the franchise moved to Baltimore, Testaverde made his first Pro Bowl in 1996. Testaverde made the Pro Bowl two years later with the New York Jets, when he had 29 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions. Late in his career he played with Dallas and New England.
Testaverde ranks sixth in the league for career attempts (6,701), completions (3,787) and yards passing (45,233). Testaverde has thrown 275 touchdown passes and 267 interceptions. Testaverde also holds the NFL record by throwing at least one touchdown pass in 21 straight seasons.
“I think my years in Tampa Bay have taught me a lot, not only about football, but about life,” Testaverde said. “It kind of helped me grow a tough skin. I went through some tough times as a professional athlete there, but it’s a great place, a great town. It’s come full circle.”
I don’t think he’s quite a Hall of Famer but he had a heck of a career and was a class act.
Miami pulled it off today, making my prediction look like a stroke of genius.(Just dumb luck really) The team avoided the infamy of 0-16 but are unlikely to go better than 2-14 this year which guarantees the Dolphins the #1 pick in next year’s draft. Considering the team’s recent draft history, I don’t trust the team not to make another blunder in April when selection time comes.
Time to enjoy the victory. The team certainly did afterwards. From the way Miami was acting, you think they had won the Super Bowl.
Baltimore plays at Miami this afternoon. Baltimore has lost seven in a row, Miami 16 in a row. Thirteen of which came this year.
Lets get to the point. Can Miami avoid the infamy of 0-16? If they are going to do it, it has to be this week with games against the Patriots and Bengals left. I’ll go out on a limb with my prediction- Miami 17, Baltimore 13.
The Miami Dolphin quarterback shuffle continues on.
A source close to the Dolphins told The Palm Beach Post on Tuesday that Cleo Lemon will be the starting quarterback Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens and may have already been given the job for the Dec. 23 game against the New England Patriots, too.
Lemon would replace rookie John Beck, who started the previous four games but failed to lead the Dolphins to an offensive touchdown. An announcement is expected from coach Cam Cameron today.
The Dolphins were 0-9 when they handed the offense to Beck with the intention of the move being permanent. Now with only three chances left to avert infamy as the only NFL team to go 0-16, the Dolphins have opted to go with experience.
“Even when we made that change (to make Beck the starter last month), we felt like we needed a spark,” Cameron said at his Monday news conference, “and we were going to play the guy that we felt, at that time, gave us the best chance to win.”
Cameron pulled Beck after eight snaps in Sunday’s 38-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The second-round draft choice from Brigham Young was on the field for two possessions that both ended without a first down and a fumble that went for a Bills touchdown.
As much as I want Beck to succeed, he looked horrible against the Jets and at the beginning of the Bill game. I wouldn’t put him in there against New England at all, but would consider playing the QB against Baltimore and Cincinnati.
Bottom line- There isn’t much grounds for criticizing a change of heart by Cameron at QB. However I don’t think either Lemon or Beck will win a game for Miami this year.
