Jim Mora Fired from Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks jumped onto a slowly spinning coaching carousel Friday, firing Jim Mora after just one injury-riddled season. But the Seahawks’ next move might be an even bigger surprise. ESPN reported that the Seahawks are pursuing Southern California Coach Pete Carroll, who -– given the absence of a Seattle general manager –- could assume power over all facets of the Seahawks’ football operations.
This would be Carroll’s third stint in the N.F.L. He went 6-10 in his lone year with the Jets, but was 27-21 in three seasons with the Patriots, which he took to the playoffs twice. Carroll’s greatest success has been at U.S.C., where the Trojans have been perennial national title contenders. He has repeatedly rebuffed prior interest from N.F.L. teams. But Carroll has most likely seen the storm clouds gathering over USC because of potential NCAA violations. And Seattle is an attractive situation for Carroll: it allows him to remain on the West Coast, its owner, Paul Allen, has the deepest pockets in the N.F.L., and the Seahawks have two first-round draft picks this spring.
The Seahawks had asked for permission to talk with Minnesota’s defensive coordinator, Leslie Frazier, who will interview on Saturday, according to The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. That puts the Seahawks in compliance with the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate.
Pete Carroll’s Seahawks Future
OK, there has been a lull in the news developments. In checking with John Wooten of the Fritz Pollard Alliance about the Rooney Rule ramifications of a coaching change, I also asked for clarification about how that policy applies to front-office positions.
He explained that the rule applies to high-level football operations positions such as general manager, executive vice presidents. It did not, however, apply to presidents because many of the presidents across the league — perhaps most — don’t have any involvement in football operations. Now that wasn’t the case in Seattle with Tim Ruskell, who was both president and general manager. Wooten then said that the indications from Seattle would be that those positions would be split.
Read that last sentence. Now, it’s not the final word on what Seattle plans to do because the Seahawks could always change their mind, but with Pete Carroll now firmly identified as part of Seattle’s future, it could be a hint as to what will happen.
Andre Dawson is 33rd Sox player to enter Hall
Andre Dawson became the 33rd player to have worn a Red Sox uniform to be elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Dawson served as Sox DH for two seasons (1992-93). He becomes the second Sox player from the ‘92 team to enter the Hall, joining third baseman Wade Boggs.
Dawson had 12 knee operations during his career. Two of those surgeries came when he was with the Sox, giving fans only glimpses of his Hall-worthy skills. He played just 121 games in his first season with the Sox, 75 the second, and hit a total of just 29 home runs in that span.
“I hurt my knee in the beginning of my first season [with the Red Sox] in Texas,” Dawson told me in a 2006 interview. “I got caught between sliding and standing up on a passed ball. I was on second base, and I took a chop step between strides and hit the corner of the third-base bag.
“I had knee surgery and they decided to use me in the DH role. Then I had knee surgery the following year, too. I never got untracked the way I wanted to in Boston, which was disappointing because I was a free agent then and Boston had shown a lot of interest.”
Dawson was teammates with Terry Francona on the Montreal Expos, and was the first player to Francona’s side when the Sox manager blew out the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. Francona, after double-digit surgeries, underwent knee replacement surgery in 2006. Dawson has had replacement surgery on one knee, and has plans to have the same procedure on the other.
