Carthon makes case for himself
Looking to become the latest Bill Parcells disciple to land an NFL head-coaching job, Maurice Carthon was at the Green Bay Packers’ offices to meet with General Manager Ted Thompson on Friday.
Carthon, 44, was a fullback for Parcells with the New York Giants from 1985 to 1990, then served on Parcells’ coaching staffs with New England (1994-96), the New York Jets (1997-99) and Dallas (2003-04). In 2005, he was the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns.
Carthon, who interviewed Thursday for the Detroit Lions’ top job, was a hard-nosed player who never missed a game because of injury in eight seasons in the NFL. He has a similarly hard edge as a coach, in the mold of Parcells.
Parcells mentored the NFL’s most successful coach, New England’s Bill Belichick; Cleveland’s Romeo Crennel, who earned good marks as a rookie coach with the Browns in 2005; and Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who had a good first season with the Irish.
“I try to emphasize discipline, toughness, smart players, doing things a little different way than it’s been done previously,” Carthon said Friday night after finishing his day-long interview with Thompson.
“That’s the system I came up in as a player, that’s the system I came up in as a coach. I learned it under Parcells. Belichick coached under the system, Romeo Crennel coached under this system, Charlie Weis, the list goes on. These are proven guys, head coaches running their programs, and it’s the same things we all learned from Bill.”
Carthon is the second candidate Thompson has interviewed, and the second with ties to Parcells. Sean Payton, the Cowboys’ assistant head coach and passing game coordinator, interviewed with the Packers on Thursday.
Various sources said Thompson has or will set up at least eight interviews in his search to replace Mike Sherman and probably will do one a day until next Thursday. Judging by the list of candidates, he appears to be looking for a coach with a strong presence and tough edge. Most, but not all, of the candidates also are young.
Today, Thompson will travel to Chicago to interview Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, who will be off limits after this week until the playoff-bound Bears’ season ends.
On Sunday, he’ll interview San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy, and on Monday, he’ll meet with San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.
Thompson also wants to interview Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm and New York Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, but they’re unavailable this week because their teams have playoff games this weekend. Thompson can interview them next week, and he’ll probably do so Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Thursday, he’s scheduled to interview Jim Bates, the Packers’ defensive coordinator.
Another potential candidate, Brad Childress, accepted the Minnesota Vikings’ coaching job on Thursday night. He is expected to hire former Packers quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell for his staff.
Sherman’s name has surfaced as a candidate for the New York Jets’ coaching job, which opened Friday after Herman Edwards left to become coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Among the Jets’ other candidates are former New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Fassel.
Carthon, in the meantime, can only hope his interviews are a result of his coaching reputation and not just so teams can meet NFL hiring guidelines. The NFL requires that any team hiring a new head coach interview at least one minority candidate unless it promotes someone from within.
Carthon is the first minority candidate Thompson has interviewed; Rivera and Lewis also are minorities.
Carthon, who is scheduled to interview with the Saints on Tuesday, said Thompson was attentive while spending the day with him and didn’t get the feeling it was a token interview.
“He was definitely into the things I had to say. It wasn’t anything like that,” Carthon said. “Both interviews, the interview I had in Detroit and the one I had (with the Packers), they were basically the same. The questions were the same. There wasn’t anything out of the normal that I didn’t get asked.”
Sources familiar with Carthon characterized his strengths as a motivator and a coach who’d bring toughness to a team because of his willingness to get on any and all players.
Though Carthon was Detroit’s offensive coordinator in 2002 and Dallas’ offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2003 and 2004, he never called plays until this season with Cleveland.
The Browns, who are rebuilding and spent the second half of the season breaking in rookie quarterback Charlie Frye, finished 26th in the 32-team NFL in yards and last in points.
source: packersnews.com
Carthon, 44, was a fullback for Parcells with the New York Giants from 1985 to 1990, then served on Parcells’ coaching staffs with New England (1994-96), the New York Jets (1997-99) and Dallas (2003-04). In 2005, he was the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns.
Carthon, who interviewed Thursday for the Detroit Lions’ top job, was a hard-nosed player who never missed a game because of injury in eight seasons in the NFL. He has a similarly hard edge as a coach, in the mold of Parcells.
Parcells mentored the NFL’s most successful coach, New England’s Bill Belichick; Cleveland’s Romeo Crennel, who earned good marks as a rookie coach with the Browns in 2005; and Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who had a good first season with the Irish.
“I try to emphasize discipline, toughness, smart players, doing things a little different way than it’s been done previously,” Carthon said Friday night after finishing his day-long interview with Thompson.
“That’s the system I came up in as a player, that’s the system I came up in as a coach. I learned it under Parcells. Belichick coached under the system, Romeo Crennel coached under this system, Charlie Weis, the list goes on. These are proven guys, head coaches running their programs, and it’s the same things we all learned from Bill.”
Carthon is the second candidate Thompson has interviewed, and the second with ties to Parcells. Sean Payton, the Cowboys’ assistant head coach and passing game coordinator, interviewed with the Packers on Thursday.
Various sources said Thompson has or will set up at least eight interviews in his search to replace Mike Sherman and probably will do one a day until next Thursday. Judging by the list of candidates, he appears to be looking for a coach with a strong presence and tough edge. Most, but not all, of the candidates also are young.
Today, Thompson will travel to Chicago to interview Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, who will be off limits after this week until the playoff-bound Bears’ season ends.
On Sunday, he’ll interview San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy, and on Monday, he’ll meet with San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.
Thompson also wants to interview Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm and New York Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, but they’re unavailable this week because their teams have playoff games this weekend. Thompson can interview them next week, and he’ll probably do so Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Thursday, he’s scheduled to interview Jim Bates, the Packers’ defensive coordinator.
Another potential candidate, Brad Childress, accepted the Minnesota Vikings’ coaching job on Thursday night. He is expected to hire former Packers quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell for his staff.
Sherman’s name has surfaced as a candidate for the New York Jets’ coaching job, which opened Friday after Herman Edwards left to become coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Among the Jets’ other candidates are former New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Fassel.
Carthon, in the meantime, can only hope his interviews are a result of his coaching reputation and not just so teams can meet NFL hiring guidelines. The NFL requires that any team hiring a new head coach interview at least one minority candidate unless it promotes someone from within.
Carthon is the first minority candidate Thompson has interviewed; Rivera and Lewis also are minorities.
Carthon, who is scheduled to interview with the Saints on Tuesday, said Thompson was attentive while spending the day with him and didn’t get the feeling it was a token interview.
“He was definitely into the things I had to say. It wasn’t anything like that,” Carthon said. “Both interviews, the interview I had in Detroit and the one I had (with the Packers), they were basically the same. The questions were the same. There wasn’t anything out of the normal that I didn’t get asked.”
Sources familiar with Carthon characterized his strengths as a motivator and a coach who’d bring toughness to a team because of his willingness to get on any and all players.
Though Carthon was Detroit’s offensive coordinator in 2002 and Dallas’ offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2003 and 2004, he never called plays until this season with Cleveland.
The Browns, who are rebuilding and spent the second half of the season breaking in rookie quarterback Charlie Frye, finished 26th in the 32-team NFL in yards and last in points.
source: packersnews.com
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