Governor sues NCAA over Penn State sex scandal

 Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett filed a lawsuit on Wednesday demanding that sanctions imposed on Penn State University over the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal be thrown out, saying they threatened to devastate the state's economy.
Corbett called the sanctions imposed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, which include an unprecedented $60 million fine, "overreaching and unlawful."
"I cannot and will not stand by and let it happen without a fight," the Republican governor, who was accused of dragging his feet on the Penn State scandal when he was state attorney general, told a news conference.
A lawsuit Corbett filed with U.S. District Court in Harrisburg called for all Sandusky-related sanctions imposed on Penn State to be thrown out.
Sandusky, Penn State's former defensive coordinator, was convicted in June of 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years, some in the football team's showers. The scandal implicated top university officials in a cover-up, including the late Joe Paterno, its longtime head football coach.
The NCAA, the governing body of U.S. collegiate sports, fined Penn State $60 million for failing to stop abuse by Sandusky. It also voided its football victories for the past 14 seasons and banned its football team from bowl games for four years.
Corbett's suit charged the NCAA and "competing colleges and universities represented on its governing boards" had "cynically and hypocritically exploited" the case "to impose crippling and unprecedented sanctions on an already weakened competitor."
The suit said stigma from the case would diminish recruitment of students and student athletes and the value of a Penn State education for decades.
According to Corbett's office, Penn State football was the second most profitable collegiate athletic program in the United States in 2010-11, when it brought in $50 million, generating more than $5 million in tax revenue.
Corbett, who spoke at State College, where Penn State University is located, said the NCAA had overstepped its bounds and the case was "a criminal matter, not a violation of NCAA rules."
Penn State University released a statement saying it was not party to Corbett's lawsuit and reiterated its commitment to comply with the NCAA sanctions. The university recently made the first payment of $12 million of the fine to a national fund to support victims of child abuse.
'WEAK CASE'
A Philadelphia-based attorney who has followed the case closely questioned its chances of success and said it was unclear if Corbett had the legal authority to file such a suit.
"It's not a frivolous lawsuit - there are real arguments to make - but, boy is it weak," said Max Kennerly, adding that courts had generally sided with the NCAA on sanctions issues.
James Schultz, general counsel for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, said the governor had a legal right to sue, as he was acting on behalf of residents and businesses "collaterally damaged" by the NCAA sanctions.
He said the sanctions harmed the state's tax revenue base and those relying on revenue from Penn State's football program.
NCAA General Counsel Donald Remy said the lawsuit appeared to be without merit and was "an affront to all of the victims" whose lives were destroyed by Sandusky.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a group that takes aim at sex abuse in the Catholic Church, but has also been vocal in other cases, criticized Corbett's action.
"At best, his lawsuit is frivolous," the group said in a statement. "At worst, it threatens to delay or derail millions of dollars that would otherwise be devoted to protecting children."
The Sandusky scandal was revealed by a grand jury Corbett convened in 2009 when he was Pennsylvania's attorney general.
State Attorney General-elect Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, has pledged to probe Corbett's handling of the case. She said last year that by convening the grand jury, Corbett failed to protect children by delaying prosecution for more than two years.
Corbett has said he would welcome an investigation.
Pennsylvania voters have also expressed dissatisfaction with Corbett's handling of the case. A Franklin & Marshall College survey of registered voters in September found that nearly two-thirds thought he had done a fair or poor job.
But Terry Madonna, a professor of public affairs at Franklin & Marshall and director of the poll, said the lawsuit would be popular among Pennsylvanians, even though Corbett might be accused of trying to further his own political ends.
The Franklin & Marshall poll found more than half of the Pennsylvania residents surveyed considered the sanctions unfair.
On Wednesday, Corbett denied any political motivation.
Kathy Punt, manager of a State College motel used by football fans, said her business had dropped 30 to 40 percent this past autumn as fewer people attended games. "We didn't get the Penn State fans who usually come in," she said.

Read More..

India may suspend lawmakers accused of sex crimes

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian lawmakers facing sexual assault charges could be suspended from office if the country's top court rules in favor of a petition submitted after a gang-rape and murder that shocked the country.
Six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape, said Jagdeep S. Chhokar, an official with the Association for Democratic Reforms, which tracks political candidate's criminal records.
The petition will be heard Thursday, the same day police plan to formally charge six suspects in the attack on a 23-year-old university student in New Delhi two weeks ago.
The rape triggered outrage and sparked demands for stronger laws, tougher police action against sexual assault suspect and a sustained campaign to change society's views on women.
As part of that campaign, Chief Justice Altamas Kabir agreed to hear a petition from retired government administrator Promilla Shanker asking the Supreme Court to suspend all national and state lawmakers who are facing prosecution for crimes against women.
She also asked the court to force the national government to fast-track thousands of rape cases languishing in India's notoriously sluggish court system.
In the past five years, political parties across India nominated 260 candidates awaiting trial on charges of crimes against women, Chhokar said. Parties ran six candidates for the national parliamentary elections facing such charges, he said.
"We need to decriminalize politics and surely a serious effort has to be made to stop people who have serious charges of sexual assault against them from contesting elections," said Zoya Hasan, a political analyst.
On Wednesday morning, several thousand women held a silent march to Gandhi's memorial in the capital in memory of the victim, holding placards demanding "Respect" and "Justice." Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit joined the women for a prayer session for the victim. The Gandhi memorial is a common protest site.
On Tuesday, the government set up a task force to monitor women's safety in New Delhi and to review whether police were properly protecting women. Two task forces already are examining the handling of the rape case and possible changes in rape laws.
The rape of the unidentified woman on a bus in the capital has horrified many and brought unprecedented attention to the daily suffering of women here, who face everything from catcalls and groping to rapes.
Six men arrested in the case were to be formally charged Thursday with kidnapping, rape and murder, said Rajan Bhagat, the New Delhi police spokesman. Police have said they would push for the death penalty. Another suspect underwent medical testing to determine his age since juveniles cannot be charged with murder in India.
The Bar Association of lawyers last week decided against defending the six suspects because of the nature of the crime, although the court is expected to appoint attorneys to defend them.
Media reports say 30 witnesses have been gathered, and the charges have been detailed in a document running more than 1,000 pages. Police also have detained the owner of the bus used in the crime on accusation he used false documents to obtain permits to run the private bus service.
The family of the victim — who died Saturday at a hospital in Singapore — is struggling to come to grips with the tragedy.
"She was a very, very, very cheerful little girl and she was peace loving and she was never embroiled in any controversies like this. I don't know why this happened to her," her uncle, Suresh Singh, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The family of the victim, whose name was not revealed, called for stronger rape laws to prevent such attacks from happening again and demanded swift — and harsh — justice for woman's assailants, Singh said.
"If the government can't punish them, give the rapists to the people. The people will settle the scores with them," he said.

Read More..

After ‘fiscal cliff’ drama, Republicans take it easy at closed-door meeting

WASHINGTON--Finally, a night of calm on Capitol Hill.
Beleaguered House Republicans held a closed-door meeting on the Hill Wednesday for what turned out to be a mundane gathering that followed weeks of battles over how to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. The members, many who just seemed relieved that the fiscal cliff ordeal was, for now, finished, discussed amendments to a series of procedural rules for the 113th Congress.
"It was kinda dull," said Georgia Rep. Phil Gingrey as he left the meeting after it was over. (Some members, who just seemed bored and tired by the process, had left early.)
For more than two hours, caucus members discussed 32 proposals that hardly a soul outside of Washington will ever hear about, or would likely care to hear about.
One discussion addressed the current House rule that bars lawmakers' children older than the age of 12 from joining their parent on the House floor. The proposal would allow "all children of Members of the House of Representatives, no matter what age, to accompany Members on the House floor." It failed. But the prospect that House Speaker John Boehner would publicly expel a 13-year-old from the House floor seems unlikely.
After so many emotional weeks of work on the fiscal cliff package, a dull gathering may well have been just what these lawmakers needed.
At least half a dozen members arrived at the meeting wearing open-collared shirts tucked into blue jeans, a sort of sartorial rebellion against the late nights of fierce and serious debate. Call it post-fiscal cliff chic.  Even South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had traversed the Capitol to the House side, sported an orange baseball cap on his head and a casual green wind breaker.
The caucus-wide meeting--the first such gathering since Boehner angered many conservatives by supporting a bill that allowed taxes to increase--could have gone much differently given the intense events of the past 48 hours.  Boehner, for one, could have addressed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's very public rant against him for not holding a vote to offer federal relief aid to victims of Superstorm Sandy.
Instead, the discussion focused on the amendments, and Boehner did not bring up the fiscal cliff drama, several lawmakers said.
But while members harboring ill feelings toward party leadership remained silent, not all wounds are healed. For instance, unconfirmed rumors prior to the meeting had hinted at a battle to unseat Boehner as speaker. And while most members said they hadn't heard anything of the sort and the speaker's office officially denies any such efforts, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who voted against the fiscal cliff deal, did leave the meeting saying he didn't plan to support Boehner for the position.
"I haven't made a decision on what to do yet, but as of now, I still haven't seen the changes I want to see," Amash told reporters when he left the meeting. "He's got until tomorrow."
The body will vote Thursday on Boehner's future.

Read More..

Son of LA Clippers owner found dead in Malibu

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The son of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was found dead of an apparent drug overdose at his Malibu home, authorities said Wednesday.
The body of 32-year-old Scott Ashley Sterling was found shortly after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz said.
The 77-year-old Donald Sterling, a billionaire real estate mogul who purchased the team in 1981, and wife Shelley released a statement thanking friends for sympathy, asking for privacy and saying their son was diabetic, but did not indicate what role, if any, that may have played in his death.
"Our son Scott has fought a long and valiant battle against Type 1 Diabetes," the statement said. "His death is a terrible tragedy, the effects of which will be felt forever by our family and all those who knew and loved him."
The death cast a pall on what has been a joyous season for the Clippers, normally an NBA doormat but now among the league's best teams. The team is in first place in its division and had a franchise-record 17-game winning streak that was snapped Tuesday night.
The Clippers were at Golden State on Wednesday night.
"All our thoughts and prayers go out to the Sterling family," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "Tough day for everybody in the Clippers' organization, but just thinking about Mr. and Mrs. Sterling with their loss. That's first and foremost on everybody's mind today when we had our meeting this morning. Not an easy situation. I just hope they know that we're thinking about them and that the team is, and we'll be back soon. Things like this put things in perspective real quick. I know a lot of good thoughts and prayers are in that locker room with them tonight. That's the first and foremost thing."
Team President Andy Roeser issued a statement saying "Scott was a friend to many in the Clippers' family and he will be greatly missed."
NBA Commissioner David Stern also expressed sympathies to the Sterlings.
"On behalf of the NBA family, we extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Donald and Shelly Sterling on the loss of their son, Scott," Stern said.
The death at a beachfront apartment building on Pacific Coast Highway was discovered after a friend of Scott Sterling called police after not hearing from him for several days, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies found the body and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
"Sheriff's homicide and Los Angeles County coroner's personnel at this time believe that Sterling died of an apparent drug overdose," the statement said.
Dietz said the death appeared to be accidental, but an autopsy was planned to determine the exact cause of death.
In 1999, the then-19-year-old Sterling was arrested for shooting his friend with a shotgun. Beverly Hills police said Philip Scheid was shot in the legs during an argument at Donald Sterling's mansion.
Scheid said he was shot from behind while running away. Sterling said he fired in self-defense after Scheid approached him with a knife. The county district attorney's office declined to file criminal charges, citing credibility problems with the victim.

Read More..

Al-Jazeera buys Current TV from Al Gore

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Al-Jazeera, the Pan-Arab news channel that struggled to win space on American cable television, has acquired Current TV, boosting its reach in the U.S. nearly ninefold to about 40 million homes. With a focus on U.S. news, it plans to rebrand the left-leaning news network that cofounder Al Gore couldn't make relevant.
The former vice president confirmed the sale Wednesday, saying in a statement that Al-Jazeera shares Current TV's mission "to give voice to those who are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the stories that no one else is telling."
The acquisition lifts Al-Jazeera's reach beyond a few large U.S. metropolitan areas including New York and Washington, where about 4.7 million homes can now watch Al-Jazeera English.
Al-Jazeera, owned by the government of Qatar, plans to gradually transform Current into a network called Al-Jazeera America by adding five to 10 new U.S. bureaus beyond the five it has now and hiring more journalists. More than half of the content will be U.S. news and the network will have its headquarters in New York, spokesman Stan Collender said.
Collender said there are no rules against foreign ownership of a cable channel — unlike the strict rules limiting foreign ownership of free-to-air TV stations. He said the move is based on demand, adding that 40 percent of viewing traffic on Al-Jazeera English's website is from the U.S.
"This is a pure business decision based on recognized demand," Collender said. "When people watch Al-Jazeera, they tend to like it a great deal."
Al-Jazeera has long struggled to get carriage in the U.S., and the deal suffered an immediate casualty as Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation's second-largest cable TV operator, announced it is dropping Current TV due to the deal.
"Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service. We are removing the service as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement.
Previous to Al-Jazeera's purchase, Current TV was in 60 million homes. It is carried by Comcast Corp., which owned less than a 10 percent stake in Current TV, as well as DirecTV. Neither company announced plans to drop the channel.
In 2010, Al-Jazeera English's managing director, Tony Burman, blamed a "very aggressive hostility" from the Bush administration for reluctance among cable and satellite companies to show the network.
Even so, Al-Jazeera has garnered respect for its ability to build a serious news product in a short time. In a statement announcing the deal, it touted numerous U.S. journalism awards it received in 2012, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Grand Prize and the Scripps Howard Award for Television/Cable In-Depth Reporting.
But there may be a culture clash at the network. Dave Marash, a former "Nightline" reporter who worked for Al-Jazeera in Washington, said he left the network in 2008 in part because he sensed an anti-American bias there.
Current, meanwhile, began as a groundbreaking effort to promote user-generated content. But it has settled into a more conventional format of political talk television with a liberal bent. Gore worked on-air as an analyst during its recent election night coverage.
Its leading personalities are former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Cenk Uygur, a former political commentator on MSNBC who hosts the show called "The Young Turks." Current signed Keith Olbermann to be its top host in 2011 but his tenure lasted less than a year before it ended in bad blood on both sides.
Current has largely been outflanked by MSNBC in its effort be a liberal alternative to the leading cable news network, Fox News Channel.
Current hired former CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman in 2011 to be its president. Bohrman pushed the network to innovate technologically, with election night coverage that emphasized a conversation over social media.
Current TV, founded in 2005 by former vice president Gore and Joel Hyatt, is expected to post $114 million in revenue in 2013, according to research firm SNL Kagan. The firm pegged the network's cash flow at nearly $24 million a year.

Read More..

Chiefs fire Crennel, make no move on GM Pioli

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs fired coach Romeo Crennel on Monday, but made no move on embattled general manager Scott Pioli despite a 2-14 season marked by blowout losses, fan rebellion and a murder-suicide involving one of their players.
Crennel was fired after one full season as coach, and one day after Kansas City matched the fewest wins in franchise history with an embarrassing 38-3 loss to the Denver Broncos.
"I am embarrassed by the poor product we gave our fans this season, and I believe we have no choice but to move the franchise in a different direction," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "I will immediately begin the search for the next head coach of the Chiefs. The entire football operation will remain under review and there may be additional changes to come."
Hunt said that "no final determination has been made" about Pioli's future.
The Chiefs' only victories this season came against New Orleans and Carolina, the latter coming one day after linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend to death and then drove to the team's practice facility and turned the gun on himself as Crennel and Pioli looked on.
Crennel seemed to know the end was coming Sunday night when he was asked to defend his job and said, "If your criteria is wins and losses, there's not much defense."
Kansas City will have the No. 1 pick in the draft after the most disappointing season in its 53-year history. The only other time the Chiefs finished 2-14 was 2008, the year before Pioli was hired. They were 2-12 in 1977, the only other time they've failed to win at least three games.
"Words can't describe it, to be honest with you," cornerback Brandon Flowers said. "We have to do the best we can to block this out and start from scratch next year."
With five players voted to the Pro Bowl last week, there are certainly pieces in place for the Chiefs to make rapid improvement. But four of them were inherited by Pioli's regime, and that haul of Pro Bowl players may have been Crennel's biggest indictment.
The only other teams with at least five players voted to the all-star game made the playoffs.
The Chiefs' inept offense managed 18 touchdowns in 16 games, finished minus-24 in turnover ratio and lost nine times by two touchdowns or more. Along the way, they broke an 83-year-old NFL record by not holding a lead in regulation until their ninth game.
Crennel, whose career record as a head coach is 28-55, was hired in 2010 to be the Chiefs' defensive coordinator. Respected by his players, he was appointed interim coach last December when Pioli fired Todd Haley with three games left in the season.
Crennel immediately brought a sense of stability to a floundering franchise, defeating the previously unbeaten Green Bay Packers and winning at Denver in the season finale — after which, players spontaneously started chanting his name in the visiting locker room.
"That's my guy. Everybody knows that," defensive tackle Shaun Smith said. "That's not only my coach, that's my role model. My father figure. We don't just talk football, we talk life."
With the support of the players, Pioli made Crennel the permanent coach a few weeks later, giving him another opportunity as a head coach after going 24-40 in four seasons with the Browns.
The season wound up being a disappointment from the start.
The Chiefs were blown out by the Falcons in their opener, trounced on the road by the Bills and needed an 18-point comeback to force overtime in their win over the Saints.
Then a stretch of eight consecutive defeats.
Empty seats began to multiply at Arrowhead Stadium, once one of the most intimidating venues in the NFL. An organized fan rebellion paid for banners to be towed behind airplanes asking for Pioli to be fired, and the majority of fans dressed in black for a home game against Cincinnati.
Nothing Crennel did seemed to work, either.
He began the season as the defensive coordinator, but fired himself and turned those duties over to linebackers coach Gary Gibbs. He benched Matt Cassel, in the fourth year of a $63 million contract, and went with Brady Quinn, who played just as poorly the rest of the season.
Injuries were numerous, turnovers plentiful, penalties crippling and blown assignments became the hallmark of a team that was rarely in games into the fourth quarter.
Then came the morning of Dec. 1, when tragedy struck.
Belcher, a part-time starter, shot the mother of his 3-month-old daughter, Kasandra Perkins, multiple times at a home not far from Arrowhead Stadium. The linebacker then sped to the team's practice facility and was confronted by Pioli, who tried to talk him out of more violence.
After thanking Pioli and Crennel for his chance in the NFL, Belcher shot himself in the head.
The Chiefs played the following day against Carolina, and Crennel was praised for the way he stoically led a team in turmoil. Kansas City put together its best performance in a 27-21 victory.
It wound up being their last win, though.
The Chiefs were blown out by Cleveland, shut out by Oakland and beaten by the Colts before an embarrassing season finale against the Broncos.
It was enough to finish Crennel, and enough to put Pioli's future in jeopardy.
"I want our fans to know that I will do everything I can to provide them a dramatically better team," Hunt said, "both next season and in the seasons to come.

Read More..

Reid among 5 NFL coaches sacked in firing frenzy

By lunchtime Monday, five NFL coaches were looking for work.
With the regular season ending the day before, the firings came at a furious clip and within a span of 90 minutes the following were sacked: Andy Reid in Philadelphia, Lovie Smith in Chicago, Pat Shurmur in Cleveland, Romeo Crennel in Kansas City and Chan Gailey in Buffalo,
Though he also had a losing record, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan held onto his job while general manager Mike Tannenbaum was let go. Jacksonville fired its GM, Gene Smith. And the Browns made it a clean sweep, dismissing GM Tom Heckert along with Shurmur.
Reid was the longest tenured of the coaches, removed after 14 seasons and a Super Bowl appearance in 2005 — a loss to New England.
Smith spent nine seasons with the Bears, leading them to the Super Bowl in 2006 — a loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Gailey was dumped after three seasons with the Bills; Shurmur after two; and Crennel had one full season with the Chiefs.
Reid took over a 3-13 team in 1999, drafted Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 overall pick and quickly turned the franchise into a title contender.
He is the winningest coach in club history and led them to a run of four straight NFC championship games, a streak that ended with a trip to the NFL title game. But the team hasn't won a playoff game since 2008 and after last season's 8-8 finish, owner Jeffrey Lurie said he was looking for improvement this year. Instead, it was even worse. The Eagles finished 4-12.
Shurmur went 9-23 in his two seasons with the Browns, who will embark on yet another offseason of change — the only constant in more than a decade of futility. Cleveland has lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and made the playoffs just once since returning to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999.
Crennel took over with three games left in the 2011 season after GM Scott Pioli fired Todd Haley. Kansas City will have the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft as a result of having one of the worst seasons in its 53-year history. The only other time the Chiefs finished 2-14 was 2008, the year before Pioli was hired.
Gailey, the former Dallas Cowboys coach, compiled a 16-32 record in his three seasons in Buffalo, never doing better than 6-10.
Smith and the Bears went 10-6 this season and just missed a playoff spot. But Chicago started 7-1 this year and has struggled to put together a productive offense throughout Smith's tenure. His record was 81-63 with the Bears.

Read More..

Jaguars fire GM Gene Smith after 4 seasons

 After four years of futility, the Jacksonville Jaguars are heading in a different direction.
Coach Mike Mularkey might not be around for the move.
The Jaguars fired general manager Gene Smith on Monday after four disappointing seasons, including the worst year in franchise history.
Mularkey could be next.
Owner Shad Khan is waiting to decide Mularkey's fate until he hires a new general manager, which could happen this week.
Mularkey failed to make the Jaguars (2-14) better in his first season, setting a team record for losses and dropping eight games by 16 or more points.
Smith was the architect of the roster. He had been with the team since its inception in 1994, working his way up from regional scout to general manager. He has been GM since 2009, compiling a 22-42 record. Not one player he acquired made the Pro Bowl.
"Now it is time for the Jacksonville Jaguars to begin a new chapter," Khan said in a statement. "We're not looking back. I've made it clear from Day One that we pledge nothing less than to deliver the first Super Bowl championship to Jacksonville. Our fans have been remarkably loyal over the years, and they were truly outstanding this past season. We simply must do better for our fans."
Khan said the search for a new GM will begin immediately.
Arizona director of player personnel Jason Licht, San Francisco director of player personnel Tom Gamble, and Atlanta director of player personnel David Caldwell have been mentioned as potential replacements.
"I'm determined to find the right man to lead our football operations, someone who shares my vision, understands the commitment we will demand and is qualified and ready to seize this opportunity," Khan said.
Khan informed Smith of his decision Monday morning and then delivered the news to Mularkey.
Mularkey said he received no assurances he would be retained for a second season.
"It was a conversation about Gene's status," said Mularkey, the former Buffalo Bills head coach who now has lost 20 of his last 23 games. "My status was not discussed, and I won't go into detail what was. But until I'm told otherwise, I'm the head coach of this team."
So the Jaguars are in limbo again, much like they were late last season when Khan bought the team from Wayne Weaver for $770 million. Weaver fired coach Jack Del Rio the same day he gave Smith a three-year extension despite Smith's numerous mistakes in the draft and in free agency.
Smith handled the coaching search, which started and ended with Mularkey.
But the Jaguars made no progress under Mularkey, finishing the year ranked 29th in offense and 30th in defense.
"You knew something was going to happen," defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. "You didn't know where it was going to start. It obviously started from the top and it will probably make its way down."
Knighton is one of numerous free agents who could make the Jacksonville job enticing for prospective GMs. The new GM would be able to rebuild the roster, and the Jaguars have plenty of room under the salary cap and few dead-money contracts.
Nonetheless, changes are never easy inside a locker room.
"With a year like this, you can point fingers everywhere," tight end Marcedes Lewis said. "I'm not sure what the final straw was, but it happened. Kind of got to move forward and do what you do."
Smith changed the way Jacksonville approached personnel moves. He made character as important as ability, but it never paid off the way he envisioned.
Finding talent seemed to be the main issue.
Smith whiffed on offensive tackle Eben Britton (39th overall pick in 2009), defensive tackle Tyson Alualu (10th pick in 2010) and quarterback Blaine Gabbert (10th pick in 2011). Smith traded up to select Gabbert even though several teams with quarterback needs passed on the former Missouri starter.
He also drafted a punter in the third round in April, a move that was mocked locally and nationally.
Equally alarming for Khan had to be Smith's penchant for overpaying in free agency: Torry Holt, Aaron Kampman, Paul Posluszny, Clint Session, Dawan Landry, Laurent Robinson and Aaron Ross.
Smith did hit on some players, including left tackle Eugene Monroe (eighth pick in 2009), cornerback Derek Cox (73rd pick in 2009) and receivers Cecil Shorts (114th pick in 2011) and Justin Blackmon (fifth pick in 2012). But none of those starters has become a star. And Smith gave up a second-round pick to get Cox and a fourth-rounder to trade up and get Blackmon.
Smith's most controversial act came in April, when he chose punter Bryan Anger in the third round (70th pick). Anger was terrific as a rookie, but adding him never seemed like the best call for a team that needed talent and depth at so many other positions.
Smith defended the pick by saying he would "rather take a starter over a backup." Terry McDonough, the team's personnel director, challenged reporters to compare Anger to other third-rounders in four years and see who has been more productive.
Eight months later, quarterback Russell Wilson (75th pick) has Seattle in the playoffs. The Jaguars, meanwhile, are out of the postseason for the 11th time in the last 13 years. And they're looking for a new GM and maybe a new coach.
"Obviously, 2-14 isn't the season you want to kind of hang your hat on," running back Maurice Jones-Drew said. "When you don't produce, this is what happens.

Read More..

Reid among 6 NFL coaches sacked in firing frenzy

With the regular season ending the day before, the firings came at a furious clip and within a two-hour span the following were sacked: Andy Reid in Philadelphia, Lovie Smith in Chicago, Norv Turner in San Diego, Pat Shurmur in Cleveland, Romeo Crennel in Kansas City and Chan Gailey in Buffalo,
Though he also had a losing record, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan held onto his job while general manager Mike Tannenbaum was let go. Jacksonville fired its GM, Gene Smith, and coach Mike Mularkey could go soon, too.
The Chargers and Browns made it a clean sweep. San Diego dismissed GM A.J. Smith along with Turner. Cleveland fired GM Tom Heckert along with Shurmur.
Reid was the longest tenured of the coaches, removed after 14 seasons and a Super Bowl appearance in 2005 — a loss to New England.
Smith spent nine seasons with the Bears, leading them to the Super Bowl in 2006 — a loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Turner went 56-40 with the Chargers, the third team to fire him as head coach. San Diego won the AFC West from 2006-09 — he was 3-3 in the playoffs — but didn't make the postseason the last three years.
Gailey was dumped after three seasons with the Bills; Shurmur after two; and Crennel had one full season with the Chiefs.
Reid took over a 3-13 team in 1999, drafted Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 overall pick and quickly turned the franchise into a title contender.
He led them to a run of four straight NFC championship games, a streak that ended with a trip to the NFL title game. But the team hasn't won a playoff game since 2008 and after last season's 8-8 finish, owner Jeffrey Lurie said he was looking for improvement this year. Instead, it was even worse. The Eagles finished 4-12.
"Andy Reid won the most games of any head coach in Eagles history and he is someone I respect greatly and will remain friends with for many years to come," Lurie said. "But, it is time for the Eagles to move in a new direction. Andy leaves us with a winning tradition that we can build upon."
Shurmur went 9-23 in his two seasons with the Browns, who will embark on yet another offseason of change — the only constant in more than a decade of futility. Cleveland has lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and made the playoffs just once since returning to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999.
"Ultimately our objective is to put together an organization that will be the best at everything we do," Browns CEO Joe Banner said. " On the field, our only goal is trying to win championships."
Crennel took over with three games left in the 2011 season after GM Scott Pioli fired Todd Haley. Kansas City will have the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft as a result of having one of the worst seasons in its 53-year history. The only other time the Chiefs finished 2-14 was 2008, the year before Pioli was hired.
"I am embarrassed by the poor product we gave our fans this season, and I believe we have no choice but to move the franchise in a different direction," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement.
Gailey, the former Dallas Cowboys coach, compiled a 16-32 record in his three seasons in Buffalo, never doing better than 6-10.
"This will probably be, and I say probably, but I think it will be the first place that's ever fired me that I'll pull for," Gailey said.
Smith and the Bears went 10-6 this season and just missed a playoff spot. But Chicago started 7-1 this year and has struggled to put together a productive offense throughout Smith's tenure. His record was 81-63 with the Bears.

Read More..

UPDATE 2-NFL-Heads roll on Black Monday as seven coaches fired

* Eagles' Reid pays for disappointing season
* Bears surprisingly drop Smith after 10-6 record (Adds Cardinals, Chargers, Chiefs, Bears firings)
Dec 31 (Reuters) - Heads continued to roll for under-achieving head coaches across the National Football League as the Philadelphia Eagles' Andy Reid, Buffalo Bills' Chan Gailey and Cleveland Browns' Pat Shurmur were all fired on what has become known as Black Monday.
The unemployment ranks swelled even further later on Monday with the Chicago Bears' Lovie Smith, Kansas City Chiefs' Romeo Crennel, San Diego Chargers' Norv Turner and Arizona Cardinals' Ken Whisenhunt also getting the axe to bring the total to seven teams with head coaching vacancies.
The 5-11 Browns, who closed out the season on Sunday with a 24-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, were among the first to begin house cleaning by announcing Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert had been relieved of their duties.
The news was quickly followed by the 6-10 Bills confirming they had sacked Gailey and the 4-12 Eagles announcing Reid was being relieved of his duties after 14 years in charge.
Reid's departure had been widely expected but still came as shock to many after a mostly successful tenure in Philadelphia leading the Eagles to six NFC East titles, five NFC championship games and a Super Bowl appearance in 2004.
His 140 victories are a franchise record and rank 22nd on the all-time NFL coaching list.
But a bitterly disappointing 2012 campaign that ended in a 42-7 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday signaled to owner Jeffrey Lurie that is was time for a change.
"Andy Reid won the most games of any head coach in Eagles' history and he is someone I respect greatly and will remain friends with for many years to come," said Lurie in a statement. "But, it is time for the Eagles to move in a new direction.
"Andy leaves us with a winning tradition that we can build upon and we are very excited about the future."
UNEXPECTED FIRING
If there was a surprise it came in Chicago where Smith was sacked despite guiding his team to a respectable 10-6 record and narrowly missing out on a playoff berth.
In nine seasons in Chicago, Smith posted a record of 81-63 in leading the team to an NFC championship and Super Bowl appearance in 2006.
But in five of the past six seasons, the Bears have failed to make the playoffs and after a sparkling 7-1 start to the 2012 campaign stumbled down the stretch to again miss out on the post-season.
After a league worst 2-14 season, that earned the Chiefs the number one pick in 2013 draft, it came as no surprise that Kansas City would be looking for a new head coach.
It was a difficult season on and off the field for Crennel, who watched the losses pile up then looked on as linebacker Jovan Belcher shot himself dead at the team's training facility after killing his girlfriend.
San Diego fired both coach Turner and general manager A.J. Smith after the team went 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
Arizona also removed its coach and general manager with Rod Graves dismissed along with coach Whisenhunt.
The Cardinals started the season 4-0 but won only one other game as quarterback problems beleagured the team.
Black Monday began with the Jacksonville Jaguars announcing they had fired general manager Gene Smith and was followed by the New York Jets dumping GM Mike Tannenbaum.
The Jets, however, ended the speculation swirling around Rex Ryan by confirming the under-fire head coach would be back next season.
"Rex Ryan will remain the head coach of our football team. I believe that he has the passion, the talent, and the drive to successfully lead our team," said Jets owner Woody Johnson on the team's website.
After a tumultuous 6-10 season, overshadowed by a quarterbacking controversy around the use of incumbent Mark Sanchez and polarizing Tim Tebow, Ryan was widely expected to pay for the Jets under-achieving results with his job.
With Ryan back for next season the speculation will now center on the futures of Sanchez and Tebow in New York.
The Jets' sputtering offense ranked 30th among 32 teams, generating an average of just 299 yards per game.
Changes had been expected in Jacksonville after the toothless Jaguars finished the season tied with the Chiefs for the NFL's worst record (2-14).
"Now it is time for the Jacksonville Jaguars to begin a new chapter," new owner Shahid Khan said in a statement. "We're not looking back.

Read More..