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Danny More is convinced Mike Tice should be the NFL's coach of the year ahead of Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick and anyone else you care to promote. Of course, as Tice's agent, More is somewhat biased.
His bias will be put to a test Sunday when the Vikings play the Arizona Cardinals.
Danny More, you see, has two clients who are NFL head coaches. One is Tice.
The other is Arizona's Dave McGinnis.
"I started thinking about this game the day the schedule came out," More said.
He started fretting, too.
"The thing I hoped was that one wouldn't bump the other one out of the
playoffs," More said. "I hoped one team already would be in and the
other team could get in with a win. Or that they both would be in when they
met."
As it turns out, the Cardinals are 3-12 and losers of seven consecutive games.
Meantime, the Vikings might need to win in order to get into the playoffs. Adding
drama to the game, not to mention antacids to More's diet, McGinnis is likely
to be fired if the Cardinals lose.
Actually, with the kind of season the Cardinals have had, he's likely to be
fired even if they beat the Vikings. McGinnis' career record as Arizona's coach
is 16-40, making him the latest in a conga line of Cardinals coaches with losing
records. (Since 1927, only four Cardinals head coaches who lasted at least an
entire season have had winning records.)
"I would have a really great feeling about this game if Dave was winning,"
More said.
More has known McGinnis longer than Tice. They go back nearly a decade, back
to when McGinnis was coaching linebackers for the Chicago Bears. They have more
than an agent-client relationship, so much more.
Four years ago, Danny More was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He's fine now,
but back then was a scary time. McGinnis was there for More, helping him cope.
"He would call me every day and give me a pep talk," More said. "He's
special. Both he and Mike are special people."
Tice knows More is fond of him. He also knows how More feels about McGinnis.
"I think he's pulling for Dave because he doesn't want Dave to lose his
job," Tice said. "Dave is a good man. I just told Danny to tell Dave
not to give any 'Win one for the Gipper' speeches."
McGinnis won't need any speeches if the Vikings continue to struggle on grass
— they have lost 15 of their last 16 games on the real stuff, which is
what they will find Sunday at Arizona's Sun Devil Stadium.
"It's not a matter of rooting for one or the other," More said. "I
just hope it's a really good football game."
Actually, there's more to this game for Danny More than just Tice and McGinnis.
He also represents both offensive coordinators — the Vikings' Scott Linehan
and Arizona's Jerry Sullivan — as well as Vikings running backs coach
Dean Dalton and Cardinals offensive assistant Mike Devlin.
The interesting twist in all this is that if McGinnis is fired by the Cardinals,
his next job could be as the Vikings' defensive coordinator. It's not something
Tice or More want to discuss, but it makes sense.
Tice will need a new coordinator with George O'Leary leaving to coach the University
of Central Florida, and there aren't any standout candidates on his current
staff. Tice knows McGinnis. He knows McGinnis knows how to run a defense. McGinnis
was the Cardinals' defensive coordinator before he became their head coach.
Tice and McGinnis have been on friendly terms for years, and have become even
closer because of More.
"The great thing is, both are doing what they set out to do," More
said. "Dave got into coaching and always wanted to be a head coach in the
NFL. That was his dream in life. Once Mike got into coaching, being a head coach
became a burning desire."
After Sunday, McGinnis' dream may end while Tice's is likely to continue, maybe
even with the help of McGinnis.