Coaches Feel Domino Effect

By SAM FARMER and DAVID WHARTON

Jan. 5, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Steve Spurrier and Dennis Green. Two of the biggest names in the coaching ranks. On Friday, they suddenly had one more thing in common.

Both were out of football.

Spurrier shocked the University of Florida by tendering his resignation and Green was forced out of his job after a decade with the Minnesota Vikings, seemingly unconnected developments, occurring within hours of each other, that combined to send a shudder through the game.

The dominos could tumble from Washington, D.C., west to San Diego and Stanford, influencing several prestigious jobs that are open--or could be open soon.

Spurrier’s decision came days after he led the third-ranked Gators to victory in the Orange Bowl. His 12-season record of 122-27-1--including six conference titles and a 1996 national championship--ranks him among the winningest coaches in college football.

“I just feel my career as a college head coach after 15 years is complete,” Spurrier, who coached three years at Duke before taking over at Florida in 1990, said in a statement. “And if the opportunity and challenge of coaching an NFL team happens, it is something I would like to pursue.”

Green recently has been on the hot seat despite being in the vanguard of African American football coaches and leading his team to the postseason eight times in the last 10 years.

Twice the Vikings lost in the NFC title game.

But this season, they have slipped to 5-10 and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

They have also endured controversy, first with the training camp death of lineman Korey Stringer, then when receiver Randy Moss said he plays hard only when he feels like it.

The only surprise in Green’s announcement is that it came a few days early.

“This year we had to fight our way from close to the bottom, and that’s life in the National Football League,” Green said.

“You cannot love something and have passion for something only when it goes the way you want it to go.”

The two high-profile departures resonated throughout the college and professional ranks, with speculation rampant about where all the chips might fall.

Spurrier said he has no job lined up, but that assertion was met with skepticism from an NFL executive who suspects the coach’s unemployment will be brief.

“Steve’s too smart, in my mind,” he said. “He wouldn’t give that [Florida job] up unless he had something in his back pocket.”

So where might Spurrier go?

Washington is a possibility, according to two league executives. There has been friction this season between Coach Marty Schottenheimer and Redskin owner Daniel Snyder. Having failed in an attempt to hire Spurrier last year, Snyder reportedly spent this week in Florida.

But Washington does not offer the sun and golf that Spurrier favors, so a perhaps stronger possibility would be Tampa Bay, if Coach Tony Dungy is fired or, in another twist, goes to Minnesota. Carolina might be another option, if George Seifert is fired. And there’s even speculation in NFL circles that Spurrier might end up replacing Dan Reeves in Atlanta. Any job opening closer to home would probably be a plus. Spurrier’s mother lives in Jacksonville, Fla.

A dark horse? San Diego has the sun and the fairways, not to mention a promising young quarterback in Drew Brees. But the Chargers also have the domineering John Butler as general manager.

Green is rumored to be a candidate at Stanford, where he formerly coached.

But the Cardinal already tried hiring back a coach for a second stint--Bill Walsh--and that did not work out.

Athletic Director Ted Leland is believed to want a cheaper, up-and-coming coach. Harvard’s Tim Murphy or Buddy Teevens, the assistant offensive coordinator at Florida, would fit that mold. Teevens won two Ivy League titles at Dartmouth when Leland was athletic director there.

With the distinct possibility that Seifert and Indianapolis Coach Jim Mora will be fired at the end of the season, Green might wait to see what develops.

He also might sit out a year and live off the $5.4 million Minnesota has reportedly agreed to pay him.

Either way, Minnesota needs a coach and, if not Dungy, then who?

Owner Red McCombs said he has no short list. However, Texas Coach Mack Brown is prominent among potential candidates. Viking assistant Mike Tice, the interim coach for Monday night’s season finale against Baltimore, is another possibility.

In San Diego, the early favorite is Jet defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. Butler is thought to prefer a defense-minded coach, and Cottrell worked under him with the Buffalo Bills from 1993-2000, the last three seasons as defensive coordinator.

The final piece in this puzzle is former Charger Coach Mike Riley, who might have had the USC job last season and is now rumored to be a candidate at Indiana and Nevada Las Vegas, where Coach John Robinson might choose to devote himself to being athletic director.

The odd team out might be Florida, which was startled by Spurrier’s abrupt departure. Will the Gators take a run at San Francisco Coach Steve Mariucci, who has chafed with his front office this season? Would Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops return to his old stomping grounds?

His brother, Mike, Oklahoma’s defensive co-coordinator, told The Daily Oklahoman the opening “means a lot for Bob.... It will be a tough decision for him.”

Athletic Director Jeremy Foley is also believed to be looking at Mike Shanahan of the Denver Broncos and Brigham Young Coach Gary Crowton.

“It’s certainly a sad day for our program,” Foley said of Spurrier’s departure.

“It’s a passing of an era. It’s been a lot of fun for a lot of people. He brought us a program that we could only dream about.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Something’s Missing

NFL head coaches with 10 or more seasons who didn’t reach the Super Bowl (only including coaches whose careers started after 1966, the first season that finished with a Super Bowl or AFL-NFL championship game):

CHUCK KNOX

22 Seasons Record: 186-147-1, .558

MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER

16 Seasons Record: 145-85-1, .620

JIM MORA

15 Seasons Record: 124-106-0, .539

DON CORYELL

14 Seasons Record: 111-83-0, .572

TED MARCHIBRODA

12 Seasons Record: 83-86-1, .491

JACK PARDEE

11 Seasons Record: 87-77-0, .530