There is a common theory hanging heavily in the holiday air that, with the Giants on the cusp of another collapse, that Bill Cowher is waiting quietly to be called to replace coach Tom Coughlin.
To his credit, Cowher has stayed away from the fray and adhered to the unwritten coach’s code by not attaching his name to a job that’s currently occupied. Cowher repeatedly has said publicly that he’s happy doing TV and has no imminent plans to return to coaching.
The specter of his return, however, looms large because the future of a number of NFL coaches in question, and the former Steelers Super Bowl-winning head coach is considered the best available candidate.
The Giants, with their New York cache, stable ownership and a franchise quarterback in place, look like the most likely landing spot for Cowher should Coughlin be fired.
Don’t, however, rule out the Chargers.
I was told this week by an in-the-know source with intimate knowledge of the San Diego sports scene that Cowher already had “an interview’’ with high-ranking people inside the Chargers organization who were gauging his interest and that he expressed his interest in the job should Norv Turner be fired.
Despite all of their talent and regular-season prowess, Chargers fans have been waiting for Turner to be fired for years because of his lack of postseason success.
This season, with the Chargers struggling to make it into the playoffs (and a long shot to do so with two games remaining), the talk from unhappy fans in San Diego has grown louder.
Let’s not forget, too, that the Chargers are the same team that fired Marty Schottenheimer after he failed to win a playoff game after going 14-2 in the regular season in 2006.
Should the 7-7 Chargers miss the postseason, it would be the second consecutive year they have failed to make the playoffs.
So it stands to reason based on the pattern of Chargers ownership, which fired Schottenheimer after five years, that Turner, who is in his fifth year in San Diego and hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2008 season, has a good chance of being replaced.
Based on Cowher’s believed interest in the job, which comes with a talented team and a franchise quarterback Philip Rivers already in place, don’t rule out the former Steelers coach as Turner’s replacement.
Cowher’s future in the TV booth or with the Giants is no lock.
* Romeo Crennel is one of the good guys in the NFL. Having worked his way up the coaching ranks under Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, Crennel finally got his chance as a head coach with the Browns from 2005-08 before being fired without having led them to the playoffs.
He got his second chance last Sunday, as the interim coach in Kansas City following Todd Haley’s firing, and Crennel made the most of it, leading the Chiefs to a shocking upset victory of the 13-0 Packers.
If Crennel isn’t being seriously considered for the full-time job in Kansas City once the season ends, it would be a shame, because everyone deserves a second chance.