Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 1-10-20

Sports
Black Coaches Frustrated With Perceived Ceiling In NFL
Seahawks Likely To
There were five NFL head coaching firings and vacan- cies this season, and four of those spots have now been filled.
The Washington Red- skins hired Ron Rivera; the Dallas Cowboys hired Mike McCarthy; and on Tuesday, the Giants hired Joe Judge, while the Carolina Panthers hired Matt Rhule. Of the four, only Rivera is a mi- nority, while none of the coaches are black.
The hires of Rivera and McCarthy are mostly indis- putable; both have winning records, a resume of success, and Super Bowl appear- ances. Rhule is young and has shown himself adept at rebuilding college programs as a head coach.
The hiring of Judge may have been especially frus- trating for black NFL assis- tant coaches to see.
Judge, 38, does not have any previous head coaching experience at any level, and he has never been an offen- sive or defensive coordina- tor. Seeing Judge get hired
Chiefs offensive coordi- nator Eric Bieniemy has interviewed for jobs, but some may feel like that was to satisfy the Rooney Rule. Given the success of past Andy Reid offensive coor- dinators as head coaches (Doug Pederson, Matt Nagy), Bieniemy would have seemingly been in line for a promotion. Peter King believes Rhule being able to start the job earlier than Bieniemy, whose Chiefs could go deep in the playoffs, was a big advan- tage.
Kraft Hopes Brady Has The Patriots In His Plans For 2020
TOM BRADY
New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft is turning to prayer in hopes Tom Brady stays with the team for the 2020 season.
While Brady didn’t say one way or another that he had plans to play for the Patri- ots next season, Kraft told Peter King’s Football Morn- ing in America column that he’s given Brady free rein to make a decision on his own but hopes he has New Eng- land in his heart.
“Before the season started, it was very important to Tom that he be free to do whatever he wanted at the end of the year. You know what I said to myself? That any person who plays 20 years for this team and helps us get to six Super Bowls, and been really self- less, has earned that right,” Kraft said.
Lynch’s Workload
MIKE TOMLIN AND BRIAN FLORES
and Rhule fill another va- cancy led to sentiments of frustration among black NFL coaches, according to several reporters.
Multiple reporters passed along messages of frustra- tion they received from black coaches, who reportedly feel like there is a ceiling for them in the NFL.
Mike Tomlin, who has been with Pittsburgh since 2007; Anthony Lynn, who has been the Chargers’ coach the past three seasons; and Brian Flores, who just completed his first season with the Dolphins, are the only black head coaches cur- rently in the NFL.
Those clamoring for more Beast Mode are probably going to get it.
Appearing Monday on 710 ESPN, Seattle, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said that running back Marshawn Lynch is likely to see an in- creased workload.
“I think he’s doing great,” Carroll said, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “I’m really excited about it. I want to see him do more now. He’s made it through, again, two games. He felt good last night. I haven’t seen him today, the day after sometimes but he felt good again. And, so, I think we can increase his role and allow him to be a little more active part of it.
“He does bring an element that we love and it’s that style and that toughness,” Carroll
MARSHAWN LYNCH
continued. “We saw it on the sidelines when he’s dumping guys out of bounds. We saw it on the goal line when he’s smacking it in the end zone after getting hit on that 3 or 4 and still finished it off. But he’s got all those elements that we love, so I think we’ll see more of him in the next couple weeks here.”
Increase Marshawn
ESPN Could Pursue
Tony Romo In Possible
Monday Night Football
After another season of mediocre reviews, ESPN is reportedly looking at more aggressive changes to their Monday Night Football tele- cast.
According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, ESPN will be shifting MNF producer Jay Roth- man into a new role. The new producer may want to hire his own broadcasters, which could be bad news for play-by-play man Joe Tessi- tore and much-maligned commentator Booger Mc- Farland.
In a bid to add more star power and potentially in- crease their chances of get- ting a future Super Bowl broadcast, ESPN could re- portedly pursue Tony Romo when his CBS contract ex- pires. Romo could be the
TONY ROMO
subject of an ESPN offer of six years and over $10 million per year, and the Monday scheduling would also allow him to play in PGA tourna- ments without missing games. If he remains at CBS, which is still said to be the most likely scenario, it is pos- sible he would have to miss some Sundays to pursue that passion.
Overhaul
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