Johnson Confirms Interest In Succeeding Don Shula
For the first time in 26 years, the job Jimmy Johnson wants most is vacant.
“I’ve got to sit down with Wayne Huizenga,” Johnson said Saturday on Fox-TV, referring to the owner of the Miami Dolphins. “Obviously I’m interested. Obviously I love living in South Florida. But until you sit down, you can’t say what you might do.”
It may take someone of Johnson’s stature to succeed Don Shula as coach of the Dolphins.
Johnson tops Huizenga’s list of candidates and often has said that if he returns to the NFL, he’d prefer to do it in Miami. Opportunity knocked Friday when Shula resigned, ending his record-setting reign with the Dolphins that began in 1970.
Johnson said he had yet to visit with Huizenga about the job.
“I have talked to Tampa Bay and some other teams,” Johnson said. “Until I talk to everybody, I don’t know what I might do.”
According to a report in the Boston Globe, however, the Buccaneers may already be out. Longtime NFL reporter Will McDonough said Johnson was ready to accept the job, but Tampa Bay officials could not assure him that the team would not move.
Johnson was deluged with reporters Saturday. The situation became so fierce that Fox had to close the parking lot of its Los Angeles studio and kick out the reporters who were camping out for Johnson. Underlings at the network were instructed not to forward messages to Johnson.
“You wouldn’t believe how tight things are around here,” a Fox employee said. “It was all we could do to get Jimmy to say what he did. We could barely get him to talk about anything.”
According to a source close to the Dolphins, other candidates include Florida coach Steve Spurrier, Kansas City Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer and Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher.
Huizenga will try to have someone in the job by Feb. 8, when the NFL scouting combine begins in Indianapolis. The free-agent signing period starts the following week.
Packers GM: Favre the best
Packers general manager Ron Wolf once said he would take only Steve Young and Troy Aikman ahead of Brett Favre at quarterback. Then he amended it to only Aikman, considering Young is eight years older.
Before Sunday’s playoff game against the 49ers - in which Favre sparkled as the Packers upset San Francisco to advance to the NFC title game Wolf went all the way:
“Would I now?” Wolf asked. “He’s a signed player, so I can’t comment. I’m surprised I didn’t get fined. The answer would be no. Favre’s the best.”
Packers coach Mike Holmgren, who coached Young and Joe Montana in San Francisco, is “reluctant to compare.”
“Brett is not as experienced as Steve or Joe, and he’s still learning,” Holmgren said before Saturday’s game. “He had a great year this year and a great year last year. But the other two led the league in passing and won Super Bowls. I want to see him do it a few more years.”
But with Favre at the tender age of 26, nobody is reluctant to put him “into that elite area,” as Wolf said.
“He takes what you give him now,” Wolf said. “He wasn’t doing that before. He tried to make the play. He’s calmed down in that sense. You can see the maturation of Brett Favre. It’s his team, his locker room.”
Around the leauge
Giants quarterback Dave Brown will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this week, and is expected to need two to four months to recuperate. … Buffalo had been 10-0 in AFC playoff games in the ‘90s. … The Indianapolis Colts said that running back Marshall Faulk underwent successful arthroscopic surgery Friday as doctors removed two loose particles from his left knee. He will not play today. … One personnel director describes Nebraska junior running back Lawrence Phillips as another Eric Dickerson.