Lord Lucan
Footballguy
So are the gentlemen of the AP going to vote for Belichick, or McCarthy (or maybe Phillips, but I doubt it)?
Whether Belichick should be COTY or not has been done to death on here - just want to know if people think he will now they've got the 16-0? Pure self-interest on my part as I have a 50-1 voucher on Belichick (placed just after Spygate).
I know we'll know tomorrow, but I read the piece below and wasn't sure which way the wind might blow.
Again, I'm looking for insights on how the AP guys might vote, not how they should vote. Please don't turn this into another haters/lovers thread.
McCarthy earns strong consideration for coach of the year
By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com
In less than two years, Mike McCarthy has gone from obscure to renowned.
Panned by some as a questionable hire when the Green Bay Packers made him their head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, McCarthy had just completed his only season as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, who ranked last in the NFL in total offense under his watch. In five previous seasons, McCarthy had only moderate success as offense coordinator of the New Orleans Saints.
Thirty-one games into his head-coaching career, McCarthy sports a 20-11 record, including 12-3 this season heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field. Since starting 4-8 last season, the Packers have gone 16-3 under McCarthy’s watch. Regardless of what happens Sunday, the Packers will be the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs and have a first-round bye for the first time since the 1997 season.
The remarkable turnaround has not been lost on longtime observers of the NFL. Late Sunday night or early Monday, 50 veteran NFL writers will cast their ballots for Associated Press NFL coach of the year, and indications are McCarthy has a legitimate shot at the honor, which hasn’t been won by a Packers coach since Lindy Infante in 1989.
In a sampling of nine voters earlier this week, three said they planned to vote for McCarthy regardless of what happens during the final weekend of the regular season. One said he would vote for New England coach Bill Belichick and two others said they planned to vote for Belichick if the Patriots won their finale today against the New York Giants to finish the regular season with a 16-0 record. Two voters said they were trying to decide between Belichick and McCarthy and one other said he was considering Belichick, McCarthy and Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips.
Voting must be completed by Monday. Voters are instructed to make just one choice, although the AP said voters have split their choice in previous years. The winner will be announced on Jan. 12.
Perhaps no candidate will be more scrutinized than Belichick, given the Patriots were caught using video cameras to record an opponent’s defensive coaching signals, which is against league rules. The NFL fined Belichick $500,000 and the Patriots another $250,000 and took away their first-round draft pick in 2008.
“I would not vote for Belichick because of Spygate,” said CBS Sportsline.com’s Clark Judge, one of the voters who planned to pick McCarthy. “The NFL already weighed in with its thoughts on the subject, which was a stiff fine and severe penalty. Obviously, they thought the Patriots were cheating. I don’t believe we should hold Belichick to a lesser standard. Therefore, he was never considered.”
One voter, John Clayton of ESPN, said he is considering Belichick in spite of the spying issue, which was uncovered during their Week 1 game against the New York Jets.
“He was caught before he could use anything for any game in the 2007 season,” said Clayton, who said he was deciding between Belichick, McCarthy and Phillips. “They nabbed his cameraman before the half of the first game. From that standpoint, he was clean of having use of the info for 16 games this season.”
Larry Weisman of USA Today said the spying scandal would not be a deciding factor for him.
“Spygate bothers me a little,” Weisman said. “But I think there is an awful lot of sneakiness in the NFL, and it is surprising to me that someone as smart as Belichick would get nabbed doing something like this.”
Peter King of Sports Illustrated said factoring in the spying issue was “a very tough call for me.”
“I think, in the end, I believe Belichick should be marked down for Spygate but not eliminated from contention because I don’t think what he did tilted the field in any season, and certainly not this one, so much to make much of a difference in who won and lost games,” said King, who said he will decide between Belichick and McCarthy. “That’s just my opinion, and I realize evidence in the future could make me wrong.”
Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star said he was leaning toward Belichick with McCarthy a close second and didn’t believe the spying mattered.
“In any other year, McCarthy would have been my gut, but New England is so far ahead of the rest of the league that I feel Belichick is the only real option here,” Teicher said. “Whether they beat the Giants or lose, that won’t change my pick.”
Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline.com, one of the three who had decided to vote for McCarthy, said he didn’t downgrade Belichick for the violation but passed him over because “people expected him to win.” Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also picked McCarthy because he “has done more with less than anyone else.”
Oftentimes, that’s the deciding factor in the award. Last year, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was the winner after going 10-6 as a rookie coach with a team that went 3-13 the previous season. In 2005, Lovie Smith was the winner after going from 5-11 to 11-5.
“(McCarthy) took the youngest team in the league and has it in the No. 2 seed in the NFC,” said Prisco, who considered Belichick, Jacksonville’s Jack Del Rio and Tampa Bay’s Jon Gruden. “Nobody thought he could do that.”
In addition to the two voters — Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News and John McClain of the Houston Chronicle — who said they would pick Belichick if the Patriots went 16-0, Weisman said a perfect record could entice him to vote for Belichick over McCarthy.
“My head is telling me to vote for Belichick; my heart is telling me to vote for McCarthy,” said Weisman, who also considered Gruden. “I think Bill does an amazing job getting and keeping his team’s attention on the immediate task. But I am still very much swayed by Mike’s work, with the faith in the system and discipline Brett Favre has shown and the way the Packers labored at creating a ground game from nothing.”
Whether Belichick should be COTY or not has been done to death on here - just want to know if people think he will now they've got the 16-0? Pure self-interest on my part as I have a 50-1 voucher on Belichick (placed just after Spygate).
I know we'll know tomorrow, but I read the piece below and wasn't sure which way the wind might blow.
Again, I'm looking for insights on how the AP guys might vote, not how they should vote. Please don't turn this into another haters/lovers thread.
McCarthy earns strong consideration for coach of the year
By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com
In less than two years, Mike McCarthy has gone from obscure to renowned.
Panned by some as a questionable hire when the Green Bay Packers made him their head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, McCarthy had just completed his only season as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, who ranked last in the NFL in total offense under his watch. In five previous seasons, McCarthy had only moderate success as offense coordinator of the New Orleans Saints.
Thirty-one games into his head-coaching career, McCarthy sports a 20-11 record, including 12-3 this season heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field. Since starting 4-8 last season, the Packers have gone 16-3 under McCarthy’s watch. Regardless of what happens Sunday, the Packers will be the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs and have a first-round bye for the first time since the 1997 season.
The remarkable turnaround has not been lost on longtime observers of the NFL. Late Sunday night or early Monday, 50 veteran NFL writers will cast their ballots for Associated Press NFL coach of the year, and indications are McCarthy has a legitimate shot at the honor, which hasn’t been won by a Packers coach since Lindy Infante in 1989.
In a sampling of nine voters earlier this week, three said they planned to vote for McCarthy regardless of what happens during the final weekend of the regular season. One said he would vote for New England coach Bill Belichick and two others said they planned to vote for Belichick if the Patriots won their finale today against the New York Giants to finish the regular season with a 16-0 record. Two voters said they were trying to decide between Belichick and McCarthy and one other said he was considering Belichick, McCarthy and Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips.
Voting must be completed by Monday. Voters are instructed to make just one choice, although the AP said voters have split their choice in previous years. The winner will be announced on Jan. 12.
Perhaps no candidate will be more scrutinized than Belichick, given the Patriots were caught using video cameras to record an opponent’s defensive coaching signals, which is against league rules. The NFL fined Belichick $500,000 and the Patriots another $250,000 and took away their first-round draft pick in 2008.
“I would not vote for Belichick because of Spygate,” said CBS Sportsline.com’s Clark Judge, one of the voters who planned to pick McCarthy. “The NFL already weighed in with its thoughts on the subject, which was a stiff fine and severe penalty. Obviously, they thought the Patriots were cheating. I don’t believe we should hold Belichick to a lesser standard. Therefore, he was never considered.”
One voter, John Clayton of ESPN, said he is considering Belichick in spite of the spying issue, which was uncovered during their Week 1 game against the New York Jets.
“He was caught before he could use anything for any game in the 2007 season,” said Clayton, who said he was deciding between Belichick, McCarthy and Phillips. “They nabbed his cameraman before the half of the first game. From that standpoint, he was clean of having use of the info for 16 games this season.”
Larry Weisman of USA Today said the spying scandal would not be a deciding factor for him.
“Spygate bothers me a little,” Weisman said. “But I think there is an awful lot of sneakiness in the NFL, and it is surprising to me that someone as smart as Belichick would get nabbed doing something like this.”
Peter King of Sports Illustrated said factoring in the spying issue was “a very tough call for me.”
“I think, in the end, I believe Belichick should be marked down for Spygate but not eliminated from contention because I don’t think what he did tilted the field in any season, and certainly not this one, so much to make much of a difference in who won and lost games,” said King, who said he will decide between Belichick and McCarthy. “That’s just my opinion, and I realize evidence in the future could make me wrong.”
Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star said he was leaning toward Belichick with McCarthy a close second and didn’t believe the spying mattered.
“In any other year, McCarthy would have been my gut, but New England is so far ahead of the rest of the league that I feel Belichick is the only real option here,” Teicher said. “Whether they beat the Giants or lose, that won’t change my pick.”
Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline.com, one of the three who had decided to vote for McCarthy, said he didn’t downgrade Belichick for the violation but passed him over because “people expected him to win.” Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also picked McCarthy because he “has done more with less than anyone else.”
Oftentimes, that’s the deciding factor in the award. Last year, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was the winner after going 10-6 as a rookie coach with a team that went 3-13 the previous season. In 2005, Lovie Smith was the winner after going from 5-11 to 11-5.
“(McCarthy) took the youngest team in the league and has it in the No. 2 seed in the NFC,” said Prisco, who considered Belichick, Jacksonville’s Jack Del Rio and Tampa Bay’s Jon Gruden. “Nobody thought he could do that.”
In addition to the two voters — Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News and John McClain of the Houston Chronicle — who said they would pick Belichick if the Patriots went 16-0, Weisman said a perfect record could entice him to vote for Belichick over McCarthy.
“My head is telling me to vote for Belichick; my heart is telling me to vote for McCarthy,” said Weisman, who also considered Gruden. “I think Bill does an amazing job getting and keeping his team’s attention on the immediate task. But I am still very much swayed by Mike’s work, with the faith in the system and discipline Brett Favre has shown and the way the Packers labored at creating a ground game from nothing.”
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And that's why he won't win it. With some of these people, BB's integrity isn't a factor, but with the writers it will be. They have already written their "Why I didn't vote for BB." articles for the local fish-wrap.
