Posted on 01/11/2003 9:35:13 AM PST by doosee
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:34:56 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
With just one season remaining on his contract, and at a base salary of $2.2 million, the 49ers head coach has been quietly seeking an extension. What is likely to occur in the wake of Sunday's loss, though, is the continued doubt about where Mariucci will be in 2003.
| Fuel on the fire | |
| Even if the San Francisco 49ers and head coach Steve Mariucci eventually reach an accord on a contract extension, there could be one more critical area that might need addressed. The fragile truce between Mariucci and Terrell Owens unraveled a bit here at halftime on Sunday, with ESPN.com learning through other players that the wide receiver was vocally critical of the coach's decision to run out the clock in the second quarter. San Francisco trailed 28-6 when it regained possession with 50 seconds left in the half and the ball at its own 41-yard line. Tailback Garrison Hearst ran for nine yards on first down and then the 49ers allowed the clock to expire rather than use a timeout. San Francisco had all three timeouts remaining. "(Owens) didn't like it and he didn't try to hide that, not from 'Mooch,' either," said one player. "It wasn't a real long (argument) or anything. Just, you know, 'T.O.' being 'T.O.' But, man, he was pissed." Mariucci deftly sidestepped a question about Owens' unhappiness in his postgame press conference, and explained that he didn't consider using his timeouts, because he needed to regroup his battered team at the time. "We didn't know who we had left to line up with, who could go back out, anything," Mariucci said. "I thought we needed to get to the locker room and figure things out a little better." In the past, the Owens-Mariucci relationship has been a stormy one. But this year has produced none of the bile of past seasons. Owens had just four receptions for 35 yards in the 31-6 defeat. -- Len Pasquarelli |
This much, ESPN.com has confirmed, is solid: Mariucci won't be fired over Sunday's defeat.
The more plausible scenario is that Niners ownership and general manager Terry Donahue will offer Mariucci an extension, but at a salary below the current market value for a coach of his tenure. Then rather than accept such a deal, Mariucci could simply announce that he will enter 2003 as a lame duck, and become a free agent after that season.
Management would then be forced with the decision of whether or not to keep Mariucci around for the final season of his contract.
"If that's the scenario that is most acceptable to everybody . . ." Mariucci began to explain of the lame duck status, and then his voice trailed off as he turned the subject of a battered team readying to limp home.
His sentiments for his team, to be sure, were genuine. San Francisco is a hurting bunch right now, and essentially ran out of players in the secondary during the 31-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs, and Mariucci was emotional in praising his young roster.
Mariucci insisted the team made progress, acknowledged its need to get far better, concluded that the best thing he could do was get his bunch into the offseason and allow it to heal mentally and physically. "I need to get this team settled down," he said.
But settled may be the last thing that Mariucci becomes in coming weeks.
Despite the alleged rift between Mariucci and the other top football men in the organization -- Donahue and consultant Bill Walsh -- ownership has said it prefers the coach return. Dr. John York, whose title is director and who is the husband of owner Denise DeBartolo York, has publicly noted the parties will sit down at the end of the season and hash things out.
There have been several discussions between management and Mariucci's agent but no substantive negotiations and Mariucci and York are scheduled to sit down Tuesday.
Weeks ago, it seemed Mariucci and his wife were adamant about staying in the Bay Area, even if it meant accepting a modest deal. But sources close to the coach have told ESPN.com that Mariucci is now convinced he merits a market value contract, one probably worth at least $3 million per year.
At first blush, his 60-43 record, and ability to put the team in the playoffs, would seem to suggest $3 million might be reasonable. But the 49ers are all about winning Super Bowl championships and Mariucci has yet to steward the team to so much as a conference title game.
One would think that 49ers management glanced across the field Sunday, saw Jon Gruden standing on the Tampa Bay sideline, and played a painful game of "what if." Had Mariucci accepted the Bucs coaching job last year when it was offered by the Glazer family, it would have been San Francisco, and not Oakland, that wound up with a cache of draft choices.
The Raiders, remember, netted a pair each of first- and second-round picks, along with $8 million, for allowing Gruden out of the final year of his deal. And there is still a chance, albeit a longshot one, that Mariucci could exit in such an endgame.
There is suspicion around the NFL the Jacksonville Jaguars have purposely dragged their heels in finding a successor to the deposed Tom Coughlin. A coach like Mariucci -- enthusiastic, community-oriented and, most important, with a track record that would sell tickets -- might be a nice fit for the Jags. Of course, the 49ers would seek compensation, but anything is possible in an NFL that has increasingly become a coach's league.
Chances are that "Mooch" will go nowhere. That he and his new agent, Gary O'Hagan, will sit down with 49ers management in the next few weeks and hammer out an extension. But if that doesn't occur, then Mariucci strongly suggested Sunday evening he will just coach under his current deal in 2003, then explore his options.
Asked if he was prepared to return to San Francisco next season, even minus a new deal, Mariucci left little doubt about where his heart lies.
"Yeah, I am," he said. "I am."
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
Did you know that he drives a school bus now?
BTW, ewing's are still going, and going, and going ;-)
They all know karma's coming back to tackle them after last week's Game That Never Ended.
Bad calls can work both ways, that's the game. Karma notwithstanding, the 49ers are a young team, in rebuild mode, and paying for the salary cap maneuvers that DeBartolo and others made for many years TO GET THEM FIVE SUPERBOWL RINGS. Does your home favorite have five Superbowl rings? I thought so. Anyway, the Niners are not as good as the Buccaneers, to be sure. The best team won today.
As a Bay Area resident, I can also root for the Raiders, who kicked some serious butt this afternoon. I didn't even spill my Chardonnay when Jerry Rice scored a touchdown. My bet going forward: Raiders defeat the Titans (38- 28) and Buccaneers defeat the Eagles (31- 24).
FReegards...
See you in the playoffs next year? We'll be happy to be the hosts again.
FReegards
:-D
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