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| | Tuesday, January 25 | |||||
| ASHBURN, Va. -- Ray Rhodes just wants to coach football,
even if it means a demotion.
Rhodes, fired two weeks ago as head coach of the Green Bay Packers, signed a two-year contract Monday to become defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins.
The same day Nolan left, the Redskins also fired defensive backs coach Tom Hayes, and defensive line coach Earl Leggett announced his retirement after a 24-year NFL coaching career. Consultant Bill Arnsparger also will not return. In Nolan's three seasons, the Redskins dropped from 16th to 24th to 30th in overall defense. Washington allowed more yards than any team this season except the expansion Cleveland Browns. But as starters adjusted to the system, the defense began playing well over the final eight games. In the postseason, the unit allowed one late touchdown in a 27-13 playoff victory over Detroit and 186 total yards in a 14-13 playoff loss at Tampa Bay. Turner met three times with Nolan over two days trying to work out a scenario under which Nolan would return. Nolan, whose three-year contract expired at the end of the season, said there were no discussions whatsoever about defensive strategy. Instead, Nolan cited nonspecific personal issues, using words such as "responsibility" and "input" to describe his decision not to return. "If I were to go in there and say, 'Please give me a job and I'll do anything to stay,' you can probably hang on," Nolan said. "That's not me. And I don't think anybody really wants somebody like that, because all you do is get a puppet. I'm not a glutton for punishment. This was a difficult year for a lot of people. It was difficult for myself. "You want to be wanted, and you want to want to be where you're going, and that's more what it was than anything else." Nolan has never been a favorite of Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who took over the franchise six months ago. Snyder called Nolan's defense "vanilla" and asked Turner to fire Nolan at least once during the season. Asked if Snyder's ownership played any part in his decision, Nolan said: "I'd rather not answer that." The Redskins also hired Foge Fazio as linebackers coach on Monday. Fazio, 60, is also moving down the ranks, having resigned last week as defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. Fazio said he had no hard feelings toward Vikings coach Dennis Green, who this month fired inside linebackers coach Tom Olivadotti without telling Fazio first. Fazio cited personal reasons for his move. "My mom lives in Pittsburgh. She's 91 years old," Fazio said. "It'll give me a chance to drive up there. I wasn't around when my dad passed and my older brother passed, so I wanted to get some quality time with her." Rhodes said there was no truth to reports that he was a candidate to replace Fazio in Minnesota. "I don't know where the rumor came from," Rhodes said. "But Minnesota was not a team that I talked with." In the Dan Snyder era of the Redskins, Rhodes took an unusual interview route to get the job. The owner traveled to Mobile, Ala., where Rhodes was attending the Senior Bowl, and had a face-to-face interview before Turner did. Director of player personnel Vinny Cerrato also met with Rhodes in Mobile. Turner spoke to Rhodes on the telephone last week before Rhodes' Monday visit to Redskin Park. The two have been coaching against each other for 15 years, when Turner was an assistant with the Rams and Rhodes was on the staff of the 49ers. "This profession is wild," Turner said. "It can make partners out of guys under unusual circumstances." | ALSO SEE Vikings continue to add ex-Packers coaches to staff His Green Bay days over, Lewis to lead Vikes' offense Fazio resigns from Vikings, bound for Redskins Jesse Jackson says Pack GM wants more black coaches in NFL  | |||||
