I've long enjoyed the Coors Light coaching commercials. Well, I take that back. I enjoy the coaches part, but the actors who play the dudes in the crowd are terrible. They should really just play the original clip and be done with it. Anyway, ESPN analyst Herm Edwards will be the latest to get a commercial, and naturally it will feature his famous "You play to win the game!" speech, from 2002. Via Sports Business Journal....

Former Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets coach Herm Edwards is the latest coach to sign on for the Coors Light team. Edwards, now an ESPN football analyst, will join the lineup of former NFL coaches whose press conference clips are used in ads touting the NFL’s official beer. Other coaches in the series have included Bill Parcells, Bill Walsh and Brian Billick. Bill Cowher, another Super Bowl-winning former coach, turned down an opportunity to appear in the campaign. The campaign, from Draft FCB, uses actual press conference footage to construct fake exchanges between the former coaches and Coors Light fanatics posing as reporters.

I can't wait. Now if there was only a way to get a message to Coors that the douchebags in the crowd need to not be involved. Oh and just for old times sake, let's relive that wonderful moment in Jets' history....


Herm Edwards joining Coors Light’s ‘postgame’ press room (Sports Business Journal - $)

Herm Edwards will take his first spin on ESPN this afternoon. He'll be making his debut on NFL Live today at 4pm, and while I'm still skeptical about his ability to say anything controversial, he tells USA Today that he won't be holding anything back.

Herm Edwards, fired weeks ago as the Kansas City Chiefs' coach, makes his ESPN debut Wednesday on NFL Live. He says he'll be "critical" but not "condescending." He won't rule out returning to coaching but sounds resigned to having no chance of future Gatorade baths: "I'm really going to put my heart and soul into this. If this can take me for the rest of my life in football, I'm OK with that."

Edwards, who'll show what he can do by regularly appearing on NFLLive, SportsCenter and ESPNews before ESPN's regular-season assignments are finalized, says he got feelers from other networks. But ESPN allowed him to feel "at home" and carry on his larger purpose: "We're all in this, at the end of the day, to promote the game of football."

ESPN producer Seth Markman says that, after Edwards did some ESPN cameos last season, "We knew right away" that Edwards would be a good recruit. And Edwards suggests wearing TV makeup at work doesn't mean he expects to get by with a wink and a smile: "Even in this job, you still have to work at it. Those are your words."

Not that I would tell Mr. Markman who to do his job, but that statement was the exact opposite of how fans felt about Edwards' previous performance on the network. He was a current coach at the time, so it was understandable that he wouldn't burn bridges, but he brought nothing to the table. I think his personality fits an analyst role, and the above state of mind he has is the right way to approach the role as an ex-player/coach.

Hopefully this go around will work out better for ESPN, but I still find it funny that networks are scrambling to hire recently fired GMs and coaches. They were fired for a reason, you know?

Herm Edwards eager to leap from sideline to ESPN airwaves (USA Today)

Herm Edwards was said to be taking a year off, but that will just be from coaching. The former Jets and KC Coach will be joining ESPN starting in mid-February, and will be under contract for one year. Via ESPN PR....

Former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards is joining ESPN as a NFL studio analyst. Edwards will appear on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and other programs throughout the year in addition to contributing analysis on ESPN Radio and other platforms. He is scheduled to start in mid February.

A head coach for the last eight NFL seasons, Edwards coached the New York Jets from 2001-05 and most recently the Chiefs (2006-08). He led his teams to four playoff appearances, including 2004 when his Jets squad finished with a 10-6 regular season record and advanced to the AFC Divisional Playoffs. Edwards, who also guided the Chiefs to a Wild Card berth in 2006, is one of only four NFL coaches to lead two different teams to the playoffs in his first season as head coach with those teams.

“Herm is well-liked and highly respected throughout the league, and his insights and opinions as a former coach will make a tremendous addition to our year-round NFL coverage,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production.

Edwards, who worked a brief stint at ESPN during the 2008 NFL offseason as a guest analyst, added: "I'm excited about the opportunity to join the ESPN team and offer my insight as a former player and head coach. I'm going to be truthful with my opinions on all the issues that take place on and off the field of play."

I wasn't a fan of Edwards' brief stint on ESPN in 2008, but that was mainly because current coaches and players are afraid to say anything controversial while still in the league. Hopefully Herm can provide a little bit more this go around, and the addition of another NFL analyst can mean the eventual dropping of a current someone who doesn't belong on the network (*ahem* Emmitt *ahem*)

Unsurprisingly, Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards got the ax not too long after new GM Scott Pioli came into town, because it's been an NFL and coaching truism that you are what your record says you are, and Edwards was 2-14 last season and 15-33 in his KC tenure. That will get anyone fired in three season of work, particularly when he had a team split between the aging and the very young, and Edwards, for whatever reason, wasn't able to build them up.

It's not that Edwards isn't a decent coach who won't get another shot in 2010. He can get mediocre teams to the playoffs, I think; he just isn't great with rebuilding teams that have hit bottom. He's too cautious with the play calling late to take chances that might result in wins. KC could have scraped out five or six wins but for some heartbreaking collapses, and some of those go on the coach.

Now, as the last coaching vacancy in the NFL this off-season that anyone sane would want (yes, that's another jab at the Raiders), there are a bunch of names being thrown about, including former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan -- but that one was quickly debunked by NFL.com's Adam Schefter. Who's left? Arizona OC Todd Haley may be the hot candidate, Jon Gruden is out there, Minny DC Leslie Frazier could be a candidate -- and if anyone will take Jason Garrett off Jerry Jones' hands, he'd probably be relieved.

Chan Gailey is already on the staff, familiar with QB Tyler Thigpen, and probably cheap. Pioli is smarter than that, though. Dark horse? Miami DC Paul Pasqualoni, the former Syracuse head coach (pre-GERG) who used to work with Pioli when the latter was a GA at the 'Cuse. A name not mentioned in any of the articles is San Diego DC Ron Rivera, who helped orchestrate the rock-ribbed Super Bowl defense of the Chicago Bears and salvaged the detritus of what Ted Cottrell had wrecked this year.

The person I'd like to see least in the division (as a Broncos fan) is probably Haley, although he'd be a first time head coach.

It still continues to amaze me that Baseball steroid users are sent into purgatory but with Football ones the transgression is almost forgotten entirely. But that's a discussion for another day. Shawne Merriman of your San Diego (Super)Chargers has just been hired by FSN to be an analyst for their Sunday Football show, Pro Football Preivew. Via the LA Times....

The Chargers linebacker will be an in-studio analyst for FSN's Pro Football Preview, which Fox says will be the first time a current player has served in a full-time capacity for any national pregame studio show for any sport.

The show will be taped in Los Angeles on Thursdays, and Merriman will be flown by private plane to and from San Diego so that he doesn't miss practices. He will be joined on the show by host Jay Glazer and analyst Eddie George.

"It is one thing to have somebody who played talk about what's going on each week, but to have somebody who is still playing takes our show to another level," Fox Senior Vice President Rick Jaffe said in a written statement. "The insight he will bring just raised the bar for every NFL pre-game show on television."

It's not really a new concept to have a player sit-in for a show or two during the season, but to have someone on every week on a national show, is a pretty big deal. I'm not the biggest Eddie George fan in the world, and I'm not sure how Glazer is as a host, but it might actually be worth checking out. Merriman might just be able to give some good middle of the season insight. Well unless he's cut of the Herm Edwards mold.

Chargers' Shawne Merriman will be in-studio analyst (LA Times)

So they had a little coin flip to figure out picks 3-5 in the Draft this April and Kansas City ended up with number five after Atlanta won the first toss. If Atlanta had lost that first toss there would have been another toss between the Chiefs and Falcons for #4.

Well according to genius KC coach Herm Edwards, he didn't even want that opportunity....

“I didn’t want a chance to flip,” Edwards said. “I wanted to be five. That was a good number for us. Five is good. I just felt all along we were going to be five. I thought Atlanta would win the coin toss.”

Right Herm...riiiight. Because that makes complete sense. I mean four is higher than five, but who cares right? And you wondered why I made fun of ESPN's decision to hire him as an analyst for the playoffs.

Sure you can argue the more money factor, but I always thought that was a bunch of b.s.

Chiefs get No. 5 pick in NFL draft (KC.com)

I was really hoping that this would be a one week thing especially after providing absolutely nothing last week, but alas....that doesn't appear to be the case....

This week’s NFL line-up will include Saturday and Sunday editions of Sunday NFL Countdown pre-game show, weekday editions of NFL Live, and weekend editions of NFL Matchup and the NFL PrimeTime highlights show. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards (pictured between Stan Verrett and Sean Salisbury) is scheduled to make a guest analyst appearance this week. He will appear on NFL Live Thursday and Friday at 4 p.m. ET and the Saturday morning SportsCenter.

Yes folks he'll provide even more hard-hitting commentary like this....

Question: " What AFC team has the best chance to beat the Patriots?"
Herm's Answer: "Everybody has a chance. It's according to how you play the day you play. The Pats are on a great run. They have a great QB. There are probably some teams out there that have a chance to beat them, but I'm not going to say who they are".

Amazing.

(Thanks to reader Mal for the quote)