It’s Teacher Vs. Student In Nfc

There are many captivating story lines in the NFC championship, perhaps none as compelling as rising-star pupil coaching against Super Bowl champion teacher.

First-year San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci was quarterbacks coach in Green Bay for four seasons under Mike Holmgren, who grew up in San Francisco and was offensive coordinator for the 49ers before being hired by the Packers in 1992.

The teams square off Sunday in San Francisco for the right to advance to the Super Bowl.

“I am very proud of the job Steve has done,” Holmgren said Monday. “Both coaching staffs know one another. There are friends in both organizations. It makes the game that much more interesting, really.”

Holmgren said he and Mariucci talked only once during the season, when Holmgren called about three weeks ago to congratulate his coaching rival.

“I purposely had not phoned him,” Holmgren said. “He certainly didn’t need anything from me. I said, ‘I am proud of the job you are doing.’ I feel good about that. But there are no phone calls going this week. Both teams want this game desperately and it is going to be one of those great games.”

Mariucci, 42, left the Packers after the 1995 season to become head coach at the University of California. He replaced George Seifert last winter to become the 13th head coach of the 49ers.

“I remember standing in the Ontario, Calif., airport talking to Carmen (Policy),” Mariucci said. “He said, ‘Do you want to coach the 49ers?’ And I stand there, going, ‘Err, aah. Well, yes.’ Then I hang up and the first thing that comes to my mind, ‘How do we beat the Packers?”’

Green Bay has beaten San Francisco three straight times, including 35-14 a year ago in the playoffs at Lambeau Field as Green Bay marched to its first Super Bowl title in 30 years. Two years ago, the Packers upset the 49ers 27-17 in San Francisco before losing to Dallas in the NFC championship game.

Mariucci, who grew up as a Packers fan in Iron Mountain, Mich., played an important role in the Packers’ development. During his tenure in Green Bay, Mariucci tutored Brett Favre. He also coached Mark Brunell, who now starts in Jacksonville, and Philadelphia’s Ty Detmer.

“He’s a great friend and a great coach,” Favre said of Mariucci. “What he has done out there is unbelievable. They’re a great team and it will be the toughest game we’ve played all year.”

Raiders interested in Belichick

The Oakland Raiders have received permission from the New York Jets to talk to defensive coordinator Bill Belichick about their head coaching job, the Contra Costa Times reported.

His previous head coaching experience came in a less-than-successful stint with the Cleveland Browns from 1991-95, when he went 36-44.

The Raiders’ job is not open yet, since the team has yet to announce its plans for Joe Bugel, who led Oakland to a 4-12 record in 1997 - their worst in 35 years.

Hearst cleared to practice

San Francisco 49ers running back Garrison Hearst was cleared by doctors to return to practice, although it isn’t clear whether he’ll play in Sunday’s NFC championship game against the Green Bay Packers.

Hearst, the 49ers’ leading rusher, missed the past four games with a broken collarbone.

Hearst will return to practice today, although he’ll undergo a CAT scan on Thursday to determine if he can play against the Packers.

Giants GM to step down

George Young will confirm in a news conference later this week what has long been expected - that he is resigning as New York Giants general manager to accept a high-ranking position with the NFL, the New York Times reported.

Young, who has guided the Giants as the team’s top football executive since 1979, met with NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue last week, completing most of the details of his new job.

Young, 67, will be given a title similar to deputy commissioner for the NFL.

Bronco played despite mother’s death

Denver Broncos defensive tackle Keith Traylor came out of Sunday’s 14-10 playoff win over Kansas City with a slight knee strain and a broken heart.

Neither a solid performance in stuffing the Chiefs’ running game nor being awarded the game ball afterward could ease Traylor’s emotional pain. Traylor played less than 48 hours after his mother died of heart failure in Malvern, Ark.

On Friday night, Traylor learned his mother, Vernistine, 45, had died in his hometown. Traylor flew home alone on a team-chartered jet Saturday, then flew to Kansas City on Saturday night. Somehow, he turned in his best performance of the season on Sunday.

“After the game,” coach Mike Shanahan said, “I told Keith his mother hasn’t been able to watch him play in a long time because she’s been sick. But she had one of the best views in the house, being able to watch him play the game of his life. I know he knows she got a chance to watch him every play, and she has to be very proud.”

Traylor, a former Chief, called the game the “sweetest” victory of his career.

“Maybe she was helping me,” Traylor said. “You couldn’t have held me back. My mom was on my mind every second I was out of the game. She gave me the strength to go on. She wanted me to play this game, I know it.”

League fines Dolphins

The NFL fined the Miami Dolphins $40,000 in the case of the missing slippery shirt.

The league will never know if guard Jeff Buckey’s jersey actually had an illegal slippery substance on it during the Dolphins’ 33-30 win over the Detroit Lions on Dec. 7.

The jersey was mysteriously removed from the officials’ locker room and washed before it could be sent to the NFL front office to be inspected.

The officials had ordered Buckey to the sideline on the game’s opening drive when they suspected he may have had silicone on his jersey.