Fassel? Seriously?

The Redskins seem to be thinking outside the box for their next head coach, with ex-Giants head coach and ex-Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Fassel now perhaps the leading candidate. First, in their defense, five of the final eight teams alive in the playoffs this year were coached by guys who have been fired (Bill Belichick fired by Cleveland, Tom Coughlin fired by Jacksonville, Norv Turner fired by Washington and Oakland, Wade Phillips fired by Buffalo, and Tony Dungy fired by Tampa Bay). Fassel also led an overachieving Giants team to the Super Bowl in 2000, a run which began with his famous "chips to the center of the table" speech. However, in his most recent job, the Ravens averaged 18.3 points in 2006 with Fassel as coordinator, 24.3 points after he was fired.

But he'd have to be a better choice than Jim Mora, Jr., who seems to follow in Larry Brown's wanderlust footsteps more than his father's. Mora got the pink slip from Atlanta for his musings about the UW job, and may have leveraged the Redskins' interest into becoming Holmgren's successor. And at this point it's safe to say Gregg Williams will be elsewhere next season, and (this is pure conjecture) a Gregg Williams/Rex Ryan swap isn't out of the question, based on what's transpired in their respective interviews.