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Bill Belichick the coach of the New England Patriots finally ended his silence on the twin taping controversies that affected his team and denied that he had told anyone to tape the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough before the XXXVIst Super Bowl and apologized for all the attention which had been generated by Spygate.  He also said he couldn’t pick Matt Walsh out of a lineup and said that he had never seen another team’s practice filming film before playing that team and further added that the Patriots do not film their own practice sessions.  Walsh is the person who is reportedly taped the practice session and also happens to be a former employee of the Patriots.

Scott Pioli, the vice president of player personnel for the Patriots also told the Boston Globe that Walsh was fired in early 2003 because he recorded a conversation between himself and Pioli without the latter’s knowledge.

Walsh’s attorney, Michael Levy on the other hand said that Pioli’s story is a complete fabrication and an attempt to smear Walsh’s character.  Levy has also said that Walsh is in possession of certain tapes and is willing to turn them over if the NFL guarantees that he will be protected from lawsuits or any other legal action. Commissioner Roger Goodell said that offered Walsh a deal that required him to tell the truth and return anything that he got by methods that were not proper in return for indemnity but Walsh was unwilling.

Belichick apologized saying that he had misinterpreted the rule as prohibiting taping which could be used during the same game. He apologized for the trouble caused and for not contacting the league and clarifying the practice with them.

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The Washington Redskins have been making their coaching staff which is headed by Jim Zorn stronger with a few more additions.  Sherman Smith who makes the move from the Tennessee Titans has been hired as offensive coordinator for the Redskins.  Smith had been the running backs coach to the Titans since 1995 and had also been assistant coach for the last two seasons.  Smith said that the make reason behind making the move was the opportunity to be reunited with Zorn. Zorn and Smith had played together for the Seattle Seahawks in the late 70s and the early 80s.

Smith had received the offer when he visited Washington on Tuesday and then went back to Tennessee to consider his options. He will join the Redskins at the NFL combine next week.

Stump Mitchell is the other addition to the new coaching staff.  He follows Jim Zorn from the Seahawks where he has been running back coach since 1999 and has worked with Zorn since 2001 with the Seahawks.  He will also have the title of assistant head coach at the Redskins.

Zorn expressed happiness at his inclusion and said that he was aware of his teaching methods and believed him to be an excellent teacher.  The deal with Mitchell took place before Smith joined the Redskins and together they complete a very solid looking coaching staff.

After talks with many coaches which didn’t quite reach anywhere, the Redskins were still looking a week ago when Steve Spagnuolo of the New York Giants withdrew from the race for coach. After many offers to many top names in the business, it appears that the Redskins have finally put together a combination which knows each other and has respect for each other’s game and methods.

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One’s loss is another’s gain. The Dallas Cowboys will now benefit from the Cleveland Browns’ loss. Todd Grantham who was fired unexpectedly earlier this month by the Browns has now found work with the Dallas Cowboys. He will now fill the post of defensive coordinator in the Cowboys camp.

He has been coaching NFL teams for nine seasons and has been with the Cleveland Browns for the last 3 years under Romeo Crennel.  He is also known to be comfortable with the 3-4 line up that Wade Phillips the Cowboys coach uses as it is the one used by Crennel and also the Texas Rangers.

Phillips said that it was important that Grantham was familiar with the strategies employed by the Cowboys but it was the fact that he had so much experience that worked in his favor.

Though the Browns did not have a very good defense record, Grantham’s dismissal still came as a surprise to most. Under him the Browns’ defense record was 30^th in total yards in 2007, 27^th in rushing defense, 26^th in sacks, 24^thin passing defense, 21^st in scoring defense and 14^th in interceptions. But towards the end of the season the Browns’ defense in games had improved noticeably.

He takes the place of Kacy Rodgers who was one of the 4 Cowboy coaches along with Paul Pasqualoni, Todd Bowles and Tony Sparano who left in a mass move to the Miami Dolphins. Though this position has been filled, the Cowboys are still looking for a secondary coach and a line backers coach.

What is left to be seen is whether Grantham is able to strengthen the Cowboys’ defense or whether his fate this time around too will be much the same as with the Browns.

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Because of the relatively short schedule of the NFL season, it is extremely rare to see any coach get canned before the season even ends. With that said, however, there are many coaches who are doing nothing to help themselves once the season is over. Here is a short list of which coaches should be feeling the heat the most after seven weeks of play.

Marvin Lewis - Outside of one playoff season, what has Marvin really brought to the Bengals? The discipline needed for the team hasn’t been there since day one. The team has become a league-wide laughingstock off the field and mediocre on it. With two great receivers and a top-five quarterback, it is a shame that the team itself is sitting at 1-4 (1-5 if the Jets score holds up today) and out of the playoff picture. Lewis would need a miraculous turnaround at this point to keep his job.

Cam Cameron - Maybe it isn’t fair to put an enormous amount of blame on a first-year coach arriving at a bad job. But the team is winless and doesn’t look like it is going to get much better soon. And even if they get the top pick in the draft, Cameron’s bungling of last year’s pick still remains vividly in my mind. No one in their right mind put Ted Ginn Jr. in the top-ten. But Cam, apparently wooed by what Devin Hester has done for the Bears, saw an opportunity to add a special teams playmaker and took it.

Look Hester is a needle-in-a-haystack type player and if your only explanation to drafting someone higher than they should have gone is that you think he might be like Hester, you made a pretty bad decision.

Tom Coughlin - Tom always seem to be on the hot seat, doesn’t he? Even though the Giants have won five in a row, it doesn’t help Coughlin’s job status much for the future. The team needs to progress past a first-round exit in the playoffs. They need to show they haven’t tuned Coughlin out completely. And they need to keep winning.

Can they keep doing all these things? Maybe, they do play in the NFC and they do have a pretty good offense and defensive line.

For now, those are the only three coaches in serious trouble. The majority of teams in the NFL are doing pretty well or average right now. After another six-seven weeks, however, I expect there to be more names to add to this list.

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