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In a world and a sports scene increasingly full of self-aggrandizing phonies, New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin is the real deal. He says what he feels, stands by what he believes and puts on no airs. He's refreshing for this, and the acclaim he's received after coolly and brilliantly coaching his Giants to a second Super Bowl title in five years has had the rare quality of being universally hailed as well deserved.

Coughlin's genuine away from the football field too, and that's a big reason why he was in Virginia on Wednesday night to be honored by the U.S. Army for his volunteer work with military personnel, veterans and wounded soldiers. Coughlin and Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh were honored at the ceremony, and Coughlin said he was humbled to receive the Outstanding Civilian Service Award. Per Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post:

"When the general was standing there reading off that stuff about me, it was almost like I was saying to myself, 'Who's he talking about?'" Coughlin told The Post after the hour-long celebration overlooking the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building.

"It was unbelievable to me," continued Coughlin, who was accompanied to the event by wife Judy. "The patriotism just came pouring out of me with all of the pomp and circumstance and standing there next to a four-star general. That's what you call humbling."

The Army honored Coughlin for allowing soldiers and the families to attend practices and games, for repeatedly visiting wounded soldiers at both Walter Reed Medical Center and other installations and for flying to Iraq in 2009 as part of a USO tour with John Harbaugh, Jeff Fisher, Bill Cowher and Jon Gruden.

Again, the real deal. Coughlin doesn't make a show of having military personnel at his games and practices. He'll drop a line here and there to make sure they're recognized and thanked for their service, but it comes from the heart. He feels this stuff deeply, and there's no doubt he means it when he says the ceremony Wednesday night ranked among his great professional thrills. The general who oversaw the ceremony, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Raymond T. Odierno, is a Giants fan from New Jersey. But he said that had nothing to do with the fact that Coughlin was honored.

"You're talking about someone who has really dedicated himself over a long period of time to caring about our soldiers and their families," Onierno told The Post. "His dedication to the military is quite significant."

Asked jokingly if the fact he also bleeds Giant blue had anything to do with Coughlin's award, Odierno smiled and shook his head.

"Absolutely nothing to do with that," he said. "Absolutely everything to do with what he's done for the military."

Not much more to say on this. I just really thought it was worth writing about, in case you guys missed it.

This is the time of the offseason when the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers shine. They build the foundation for Super Bowl-contending teams by finding players in April and not in March.

When it comes to drafting Pro Bowl players, the Ravens and Steelers rank among the top four since 1996, according to the Ravens' public-relations department. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have each selected 15 Pro Bowl players during that span, tied for third-most in the league. Only the New England Patriots (17) and Green Bay Packers (16) have produced more.

The secret to the Ravens' and Steelers' drafting success is establishing a vision of what type of player fits their teams. That philosophy comes from the stability of the organizations. Ozzie Newsome has been the Ravens' chief decision-maker since the team relocated to Baltimore in 1996, and Kevin Colbert has been the Steelers' general manager since 2000. The teams each have had two head coaches (Mike Tomlin and Bill Cowher for the Steelers, and John Harbaugh and Brian Billick for the Ravens) for the previous 13 seasons.

That type of cohesion builds a relationship to the point where the scouting department knows what players the coaches want. The front office has insight on what players succeed in their teams' offensive and defensive systems.

"I think that's one of the enjoyable things about Pittsburgh," Tomlin said at the Steelers' pre-draft press conference this week. "We don't get caught up in draft grades and the evaluation of the draft, and things of that nature like a lot of other things that could distract you. It's simply measured in terms of how we perform."

The Steelers have drafted four Pro Bowl players in the past five years: linebacker LaMarr Woodley (2007), wide receiver Mike Wallace (2009), center Maurkice Pouncey (2010) and receiver-returner Antonio Brown (2010).

Last season, seven of the Ravens' eight Pro Bowl players were drafted by the team: inside linebacker Ray Lewis, safety Ed Reed, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, running back Ray Rice and guards Ben Grubbs and Marshal Yanda.

This type of consistent success is more amazing when you consider the level of difficulty. The Steelers and Ravens are finding these Pro Bowl players despite annually picking toward the bottom of each round.

These division rivals don't like each other, but they tend to like the same type of player. The Ravens and Steelers target tough, physical and competitive players.

“His motor in the fourth quarter is really, really important,” Ravens director of player of personnel Eric DeCosta said. “A lot of the guys who impress me are the guys who are getting their butts kicked in the fourth quarter, losing by 20, 25 points, and he’s still making plays or trying to make plays."

DeCosta added, "How does a guy tackle? If it’s a cornerback, does he face up and use his facemask? Does he bring you down? Does he miss a lot of tackles? If he’s a running back, does he run through contact? Does he lower his pads and try to break tackles? You get a sense. When you talk to people, you get a sense. Then when you interview a guy, you get a sense for his toughness.”

The true measure of draft success isn't the number of Pro Bowl players produced. There is a higher standard.

"Super Bowl championships," Colbert said. "That's it. There is no scorecard. Never will be, never has been."

I’m just looking at the latest on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coaching search and starting to wonder if the Bucs are trying to set some sort of record.

The latest is the Bucs will interview Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin and quarterbacks Tom Clements at some point soon. The Bucs are interviewing Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzkinski on Tuesday.

The Bucs previously interviewed former NFL head coaches Mike Sherman, Marty Schottenheimer and Brad Childress as well as Tennessee defensive coordinator Jerry Gray.

Check my math here, but assuming the Bucs do interview Clements and Philbin, that will bring the number of interviews to eight. And that also is assuming the media as reported every coach who has interviewed. We chase these things like crazy, but sometimes an interview or two can slip through the cracks. The Bucs also could decide to interview more candidates that are still involved in the playoffs. There’s been some speculation about New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell possibly being a candidate.

But, for now, the number will stand at eight, probably later this week. I seriously think that might be some kind of record. ESPN Stats & Information does a wonderful job, but does not keep numbers on how many candidates have interviewed for any given job throughout history.

I’ve been through a few coaching searches in my day. Generally speaking, most teams interview three or four candidates and I think five is the highest number I’ve ever seen.

But I’m not seeing any huge drawback with Tampa Bay’s methodical approach. Indications are, the Bucs could narrow their list and bring back a few candidates for second interviews. That makes it sound like we might not see a hire for at least another week.

Assistant coaches are being hired all over the league and the Bucs may be missing out on some good candidates. But there still are lots of other assistants available. The East-West Shrine Game is this week and the Senior Bowl is next week.

Ideally, you’d like to have your full coaching staff in place for those two events, so the coaches can get a good look at the college prospects. But any assistant that’s available will be at the Senior Bowl and will be watching players on their own.

Besides, the coaching staffs aren’t the ones who do the bulk of the work at the college all-star games. The scouting staff does that.

Yeah, there comes a point when coaches need to start evaluating the current roster and getting ready for free agency. But, as long as Tampa Bay has its staff in place by the end of the month, there’s plenty of time for that.

I know a lot of Tampa Bay fans are looking at the candidates and saying there’s no one with a “wow factor." That’s true, but was there anybody with a “wow factor’’ out there to begin with? Maybe Jeff Fisher, who ended up in St. Louis. But Fisher is a good, but not tremendous coach and his stock was elevated in a year when Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy and a few other big names refused to join the league-wide candidate pool.

The Bucs aren’t going for the “wow factor" and there’s nothing wrong with that. The deliberate approach might be the right thing. Maybe the Bucs will get a coach who is the right fit. Then, two years down the road or so, maybe fans will say “wow’’ at what that guy has done.

I’ve been on the road quite a bit and haven’t really gotten a feel for what Tampa Bay fans think of the Buccaneers’ coaching search.

But I was e-mailing back and forth with “The Fabulous Sports Babe’’ of ESPN Tampa Bay Radio (1040 AM) this morning and she said her callers aren’t excited about who the Bucs are talking to.

That’s understandable. Mike Sherman, Jerry Gray, Brad Childress, Wade Phillips and Marty Schottenheimer aren’t exactly Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy or Bill Parcells. Sherman, Childress, Phillips and Schottenheimer have been moderately successful in previous stops as head coaches, but none of them have won a Super Bowl. Gray, Tennessee’s defensive coordinator, never has been a head coach.

But it doesn’t look like Cowher or Parcells want to coach and Jeff Fisher, the hottest coaching candidate this year, isn’t coming to the Bucs.

They’re not going to get someone who is going to excite the vast majority of the fan base, but that is not entirely a bad thing. What is clear is the Bucs are looking for someone with extensive experience.

Gray’s a longtime assistant and the other four have plenty of experience. That’s what this young team needs right now. The Bucs apparently are going after the opposite of what they just had. They fired Raheem Morris, who didn’t have a ton of experience and wasn’t mature enough in his first stint as a head coach.

Going forward, the Bucs need maturity and experience. They also need structure and discipline. Sherman, Gray, Childress, Phillips and Schottenheimer may not wow fans.

But all of them are experienced and mature. Even more than “the wow factor,’’ experience, maturity and a steady hand at the top is what the Bucs need most.

Sherman, Gray, Childress, Phillips and Schottenheimer all fit the profile of coaches that could bring order to a franchise that had none in the 2011 season. In the long run, that profile could be better than bringing in a coach who can wow the fans.

TAMPA, Fla. — Now that Raheem Morris is out as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, let’s start taking a look at some of the possible replacements.

BIG FISH

Jeff Fisher: Will likely be the first person the Bucs call because he’s the best coach available that has made it clear he wants to get back into coaching. Even if it’s just for show, the Bucs need to make the call to show fans they care. Fisher’s a long shot, though. He likely will have his pick of jobs and coming to a team that hasn’t been willing to spend in free agency doesn’t work as a selling point for the Bucs.

Bill Cowher: He’s made it sound like he plans to stay in television. Even if that changes, there’s almost no shot of Cowher coming to Tampa Bay. If he coaches, it likely will be in a major market and not with a team that needs major rebuilding.

Tony Dungy: He’s said he doesn’t want to coach again and he’s told that to several teams that have inquired. The Bucs might even be one of those teams. It might be fruitless, but I say the Bucs make a run at Dungy (even if they already have) and beg him to return to the franchise he once made respectable. He could do it again, better and quicker than anyone else. Throw all the money and power you have at Dungy and if getting him means co-chairman Ed Glazer has to wash Dungy’s car three times a week, get out the bucket and the sponges. But this almost certainly won’t happen.

THE RETREADS

Mike Sherman: When you fire a coach, you usually go hire the opposite. Sherman’s very different than Morris. He’s mature, he believes in discipline and he comes from an offensive background. He also won during much of his stint in Green Bay. Sherman’s name keeps popping up with this job, so don’t rule him out. There’s a good reason for that. Sherman has the same agent as general manager Mark Dominik, who is likely to have a big say in this story.

Mike Mularkey: The Atlanta offensive coordinator is going to interview for the Jacksonville job, but he could fit the profile for the Bucs. He’s done a nice job developing Matt Ryan and he has previous experience as a head coach in Buffalo. Mularkey’s got the resume to make people believe he can straighten out Josh Freeman. Plus, Mularkey started his coaching career with the Bucs under Sam Wyche.

Brian Billick: He once had a reputation as an offensive guru, but he won his Super Bowl in Baltimore with great defense. Billick’s also been out of the game for a bit. But he is a name and this franchise needs to sell tickets.

RISING STARS

Rob Chudzinski: The Carolina offensive coordinator is a hot name after Cam Newton’s stunning rookie year. He’ll get some interviews, but may need one year as a coordinator before he gets a job as a head coach.

Todd Bowles: He finished the season as Miami’s interim head coach and will interview for the permanent job. But, if Bowles is available, I’ve been told he could get a look. He doesn’t have the offensive background. But he’s viewed as a rising star who is older and more mature than Morris.

Mike McCoy: Like Chudzinski, McCoy could be a year or two away from a job as a head coach. But he’s done a great job as Denver’s offensive coordinator. He also has the charisma to win over players and fans. Oh, he also shares the same agent as Dominik and Sherman.

The good news is former Miami Dolphins quarterback and Hall of Famer Dan Marino is influential in Miami and wants Bill Cowher to be the team's next head coach.
The bad news is Marino, who works closely with Cowher as a fellow CBS football analyst, doesn't think it will happen.

"I would love to see (Bill Cowher) be the Dolphins coach or if he wanted to coach again because that would be great for the NFL,” Marino told Dolphins.com on Wednesday. "But I don't think his mindset is that he wants to coach again. And he may change that over time but my feeling is that he's a pretty straightforward guy that tells the truth all the time and he said on TV that he doesn't have any plans to come back (to coach) and I believe him."

The Dolphins fired former head coach Tony Sparano Monday after a 4-9 record and securing his third consecutive losing season. Owner Stephen Ross has deep pockets and wants to make a splash. So there's been a lot of speculation that Miami will go after the big names, such as Cowher and ESPN analyst Jon Gruden.

But getting an "A-list" coach could be an issue.

The Dolphins didn't handle the Sparano situation well and that will not look good among the coaching community. Miami also plans to retain general manager Jeff Ireland, doesn't have a franchise quarterback and has to compete with winning programs like the New England Patriots and New York Jets in the AFC East. Top coaching candidates may see other jobs around the league as more attractive.

In the past, NFL teams waited until the Monday after the season to announce their head-coaching firings. It’s called Black Monday.

When the Dolphins jumped into the mix by firing Tony Sparano hours after Todd Haley was let go by Kansas City, it was an indication how the shortage of head-coaching talent forced owner Stephen Ross to make a bold move. Ross didn’t want to fall behind other AFC teams looking for head coaches and reached out to close friend Carl Peterson to help run the Dolphins' operation.

The plan to hire Peterson is an indication the Dolphins will reach out to Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden and Jeff Fisher to start. Gruden is expected to stay with ESPN. Despite his good relationship with Peterson, Cowher might be reluctant to go to the Dolphins for several reasons. Cowher wants front-office control, big money and a top quarterback. The Dolphins have Matt Moore as their quarterback, which wouldn’t attract Cowher. Money might not be a problem, but power is a problem. The team is expected to keep Jeff Ireland as its general manager, and that might be enough to prevent Cowher from being a candidate. That leaves Fisher as a top candidate.

Teams in the hunt for coaches know there are three price tags for coaches. You can get your Cowhers and Fishers in the $7 million-a-year range. If you find the right college or former NFL head coach, he might go for $5 million a year. First-time coaches go for close to $3 million.

By firing Sparano on Monday, Ross is hinting he might be willing to pay top money to get a coach. He worries about the empty seats at home games. Now that pro basketball is back, the Dolphins take a back seat to the Miami Heat, so hiring a big name is important for marketing the team. Because Peterson is an aggressive recruiter and salesman himself, the Dolphins won’t be shy about going for the big names.

Firing Sparano now also gives Peterson and Ireland a chance to evaluate interim coach Todd Bowles, who had been the secondary coach. According to sources, Bowles had become more involved with the defensive play-calling over the past month. The Dolphins also played their best football over the past month. If Bill Parcells were running a team, sources indicate Bowles would have been a person he considered hiring as head coach.

Another name to watch is Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Peterson reinvented the Chiefs and sold out Arrowhead with Brian’s father, Marty Schottenheimer, as Chiefs head coach.

John Clayton, a recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's McCann Award for distinguished reporting, is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

The championship window has closed in San Diego.

Once considered the best roster in the league, the San Diego Chargers have seen impressive depth dwindle, they’ve gotten old in key spots and they have lacked toughness. The result has been a steady decline in the last two years.

“They are one of the most confusing teams I’ve ever seen,” Gary Horton of Scouts Inc. said. “You expect so much from them and then they don’t deliver … They should be so much better, but then you watch them and they can’t do it. I just don’t get them.”

The Chargers -- widely considered as a Super Bowl contender going into this season -- stagger into a Monday night game at Jacksonville on a six-game losing skid. It is the Chargers’ longest such streak in 10 years.

After starting 4-1 and looking like a playoff team, San Diego is now 4-7 and apparently on course to miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season. After owning the AFC West for four years, the Chargers are 13-14 since the start of the 2010 season.

When a rift developed between general manager A.J. Smith and coach Marty Schottenheimer after the Chargers went 14-2 in 2006, Smith hired Norv Turner to take a stacked roster to the Super Bowl. That probably won’t happen. Turner, who is 45-30 as Chargers coach, is expected to be fired unless the Chargers, who are three games behind in both the AFC West and the AFC wild-card races with five games to go, make a miraculous playoff run. Smith's job could also be in danger, particularly if San Diego ownership wants to break the bank and make a run at someone like Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden. There have also been indications that the team is open to continuing with Smith as the top football decision-maker.

However, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday that the team may be leaning toward firing Smith.

The Chargers have long been lauded for their roster of big-name talent. In the past decade, they drafted potential Hall of Famers in LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, and Philip Rivers and signed potential Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates. They also drafted Shawne Merriman, who had a strong first three years as a premier pass-rusher before disappearing because of injuries.

All the Chargers have remaining from that group is Rivers, who turns 30 this month, and Gates, who is 31 and who has been dealing with serious foot injuries for three years.

Whoever coaches the Chargers in 2012 – Cowher and Jeff Fisher are already being mentioned as potential candidates – will have some work to do. Some solid core players remain, starting with Rivers, who is struggling through his worst NFL season. Still, the Chargers probably will have to be rebuilt in several areas.

“They aren’t as deep as we always thought they were,” Horton said. “They have problems on the offensive line, their receivers aren’t that strong and the defense doesn’t pass rush anymore."

Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. thinks San Diego has some core players -- but not a ton of them, and some of them have question marks. Williamson says Rivers, receiver Vincent Jackson, Gates, guard Kris Dielman, defensive tackle Antonio Garay, linebacker Shaun Phillips, cornerback Quentin Jammer and safety Eric Weddle are all players who can help the team in the future. Williamson also thinks the team’s last two first-round picks, running back Ryan Mathews and defensive lineman Corey Liuget, have a chance to be core players.

Jackson, who has been inconsistent this year, is a free agent after the season. The Chargers may place the franchise tag on him. Rivers, Gates, Dielman (out for the season with a concussion), Garay, Phillips and Jammer will be 30 or older next season. Still, Williamson believes a coaching change could help provide a spark.

“It’s not all Norv’s fault, but he is not maximizing his team’s potential, which is obviously a key component to his job,” Williamson said.

Horton said he believes that if the Chargers do make a coaching change, they need to bring in a taskmaster. There have been whispers among scouts the past couple of years that the Chargers get outmuscled too often. There have been times when San Diego has been manhandled on both lines, including a few instances against the more physical Raiders.

“I like Norv, but I get the feeling they are not playing hard for him,” Horton said. “They always look soft to me, and they often don’t play with a sense of urgency.”

Still, the Chargers have not been blown out this season and they could have won all seven of their losses; indeed, they have made crucial fourth-quarter (or overtime) mistakes in each of their losses. Turner said this week that effort is not a problem.

“Go through the tapes and there’s great effort,” Turner said. “These guys play hard.”

The players I have talked to in San Diego’s locker room know that change is likely to come, and they say they feel bad that Turner is probably going to be the person to pay for the team’s failures. But it is clear that the Chargers’ time as elite playoff contenders is over. If they are going to re-open their Super Bowl window, it will probably be with new leadership.

Ten weeks into most NFL seasons we have a good sense of head-coaching jobs coming open and the prime candidates for them.

This year feels different.

Jim Caldwell may coach a potential 0-16 team. But to hear Bill Polian talk, the Colts’ coach may well survive. In Jacksonville, Jack Del Rio’s got one year left on his contract and a lame-duck staff.

It’s widely held that Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver will make a change if he judges the team to have shown insufficient improvement this season, and it’s hard to envision a giant turnaround now for the 3-6 Jaguars based on how poorly the offense is producing.

As for prime head-coaching candidates, I sense no buzz about the hot, young offensive assistant who’s the next big thing. In previous years -- no matter if they panned out or not -- we’ve seen guys like Josh McDaniels, Jason Garrett, Todd Haley and Ken Whisenhunt tabbed as up-and-comers who were ready.

Who are those guys now?

While Northern Florida might hold out hope that Weaver will want a name and would be able to lure one, I don’t see Bill Cowher or even Jeff Fisher heading for EverBank Stadium.

The franchise should re-sign general manager Gene Smith, allow him to decide on Del Rio and make the recommendation on the next coach.

And if Smith's in the market, that next coach should be a young offensive mind who likes Blaine Gabbert and has the best shot at developing him. Smith needs to hit a home run finding the next Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton or, this year aside, Andy Reid.

I asked around this week, talking to a couple coaches and an executive about which NFL assistant qualifies as a QB guru who’s ready to be a head coach.

Through those conversations, I present this list of possibilities:

Mike Mularkey, Atlanta offensive coordinator -- Mularkey posted a 14-18 record as Buffalo's head coach in 2004-05. But he’s got enough distance from that now that he could be worthy of a second act.

He took over as offensive coordinator in Atlanta in 2008, when quarterback Matt Ryan was a rookie. He has a bruiser of a running back in Michael Turner to go with Ryan. Ryan became just the second rookie quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 3,000 yards, and the Falcons won 11 games.

There is a connection to Smith: Mularkey’s son, Patrick, is a scouting assistant in Jacksonville’s player personnel department.

Jay Gruden, Cincinnati offensive coordinator -- Gruden’s done fantastic work this season with rookie QB Andy Dalton. But is one good year enough to vault him to a head coaching job?

He worked on his brother Jon’s staff in Tampa Bay from 2002-08, but as an offensive assistant he wasn’t a year-round guy. He stacked the work on top of his duties quarterbacking and then coaching the Orlando Predators of the AFL.

Jay Gruden has head coaching experience in the AFL and the UFL, where he led the Florida Tuskers to the 2010 championship game as head coach and GM.

Word is he’s different than his brother, calmer with a better presence with his players.

Rob Chudzinski, Carolina offensive coordinator -- His first tour as an offensive coordinator came in Cleveland from 2007-08. The 2007 Browns won 10 games with Derek Anderson shining at quarterback.

Now Chudzinski’s been lauded for his work with Cam Newton, revising and shaping the offense to feature what the rookie quarterback does best. He’s got a strong background with tight ends, too, and is regarded as a rising star by many around the league.

He’s also a quieter, unassuming type.

Tom Clements, Green Bay quarterbacks coach -- Clements worked in the same post for New Orleans (1997-99), Kansas City (2000) and Pittsburgh (2001-03). During those stops he worked with Tommy Maddox during his comeback player of the year season in 2002 and with Kordell Stewart and Elvis Grbac during their best seasons.

He also worked as offensive coordinator in Buffalo in 2004 and 2005.

With Green Bay, Clements guided Brett Favre in his final Packers' years while helping prepare Aaron Rodgers. He’s also had a hand in the progress of highly regarded backup Matt Flynn.

But does he have the qualities of a good head coach?

Pete Carmichael, New Orleans offensive coordinator -- He’s in his third year as Payton’s top offensive lieutenant after three seasons as the Saints' quarterbacks coach.

Carmichael’s been closely involved with an offense that has excelled with Drew Brees as quarterback, with a specific role in routes, protection schemes and quarterback responsibilities.

Like Clements in Green Bay, Carmichael works for a strong coach with an offensive background and so he doesn’t function as the play-caller. While very smart, he comes across as bland and that could be a big issue for a guy expected to be the face and the personality of a franchise.

Let's take a look at the New York Giants' 20-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

What it means: The Dolphins blew a fourth-quarter lead for the second straight week and fall to 0-7. Miami, which led 17-10 after three quarters, gave the Giants all they could handle but still dropped its 10th straight game, dating to last season. The Dolphins remain firmly in the hunt in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. One winless team -- the St. Louis Rams -- won Sunday. That leaves Miami and the Indianapolis Colts (0-8) as the NFL's two winless teams.

What I liked: Just one week after saying the Dolphins "stink," Dolphins running back Reggie Bush responded with a big game against the Giants. Bush rushed for 103 yards on 15 carries. It was his first 100-yard game of the season. Rookie tailback Daniel Thomas was inactive with a hamstring injury, leaving Bush to get most of Miami's carries. Overall, I also thought Miami was energized and played with good effort most of the game under embattled head coach Tony Sparano.

What I didn’t like: Once again, the fourth quarter was the difference. Miami played very tentatively in the final period -- and much of the blame should go to the coaching staff. The offensive play calling was no longer aggressive with the lead and the defense laid far off New York's receivers most of the game, trying to prevent the big play. The result was New York scoring 10 straight points in the fourth quarter without much resistance. Miami tried to open things up offensively after New York finally took control. But Miami's offensive line couldn't pass protect for quarterback Matt Moore, who was sacked five times.

Bad news from Cowher: Perhaps the most important thing that happened to the Dolphins Sunday wasn't on the field. Former Pittsburgh Steelers and Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Cowher said he will not return to the NFL in 2012 and will stay in television. Cowher was widely regarded as being at or near the top of Miami owner Stephen Ross’ wish list. Ross, who has deep pockets, may still approach Cowher at a later time to see if the time is right.

What’s next: The Dolphins will stay on the road next week. Miami will play at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs (3-3). The Dolphins, including next week, will have played on the road in five of its last six games.

When Brandon Jacobs came out a few weeks ago and said there was no chance Plaxico Burress would return to the Giants upon his release from prison, I kind of dismissed it. Jacobs is not Burress, Burress' agent or a member of the Giants' front office, so his opinion didn't seem to matter very much. So when Burress was released a week ago, it seemed wise to keep the possibility of a reunion with the Giants alive in the speculation on where Burress might land.

This latest, however, is a bit of a different story. In a wide-ranging interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Burress spoke about a number of things, including what he perceived as a very poor relationship with Giants coach Tom Coughlin:

"That was one of the biggest problems when I left Pittsburgh when I came here," Burress said. "I had a relationship with Bill Cowher inside of football and outside of football. He always had an open-door policy to where you could come talk to him or tell him what was on your mind. When that was taken away from me, I kind of felt it was like: I'm the coach, you are the player. It doesn't matter what you have to say. You just do what I tell you to do. This is not college. This is professional sports. If you can't sit down and go talk to a man that you are busting your tail for, not even have the respect for anything that you have to say, like I said, the only thing I knew then was to rebel."

So, Burress' explanation for his disruptive behavior while with the Giants (leaving out, of course, the nightclub gun incident that resulted in his incarceration) is that he didn't have the kind of relationship he wanted to have with his head coach, and so he felt the best way to deal with that was to skip meetings. Yeah, that sounds really good. I can see a bunch of coaches wanting to sign up for this.

Burress wouldn't be the first player to have had an issue with Coughlin, who's known as a tough, my-way-or-the-highway kind of coach. But Coughlin has toned down his act in recent years, and reports of difficult relationships between him and his players have more or less dried up since the Super Bowl championship season. Coughlin is also extremely well respected by his fellow coaches around the league, so it's possible that a player's inability (or unwillingness) to get along with Coughlin could injure the opinion other coaches might have of said player.

I have no doubt that there will be some level of interest in Burress from at least one team if not a handful. He mentions Rex Ryan and the Jets as a possibility, and I think that would make a lot of sense. I also think he makes sense in Philadelphia, where they could provide a strong, supportive environment and put him in the kind of smaller, specific role that would suit him at this point in his career. But in light of his comments today about Coughlin, I think you can pretty much rule out a return to the Giants. And I wouldn't be surprised if those comments ended up hurting his chances with one or two other teams in the league either.

Colleague Kevin Seifert showed some daring by sending TCU quarterback Andy Dalton to the Minnesota Vikings at No. 12 in a recent ESPN.com mock draft.

He wasn't arguing for Dalton's value so much as saying the Vikings' need for a quarterback might compel them to take one there.

"To me," Seifert later wrote with first-year Vikings coach Leslie Frazier in mind, "there is no better time to jump to the other side than in a coach's first year, giving him a building block for the rest of his program."

The key, of course, is not mistaking anchors for building blocks.

Steve Mariucci was the San Francisco 49ers' first-year coach when the team used a 1997 first-rounder for Jim Druckenmiller, a blunder softened only by Steve Young's presence on the roster. That experience should not directly influence the 49ers' thinking as they consider first-round quarterbacks for new coach Jim Harbaugh, but it's a reference point.

With Harbaugh and the 49ers in mind, I went through recent drafts to see which teams with first-year head coaches used first-round selections for quarterbacks. More precisely, I looked at all first-round quarterbacks since 2000 to see which ones had first-year head coaches.

Six of the last eight first-round quarterbacks -- Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and JaMarcus Russell -- joined teams with first-year head coaches. All but Russell remain franchise quarterbacks in their teams' eyes. All but Russell are still playing for their original head coaches. Four of the six had winning records in 2010.

For most of those franchises, value and need lined up pretty well, and first-year coaches benefited.

"If you don't have a quarterback, you're drafting maybe a different kind of running back, maybe a different kind of offensive lineman, than if you have somebody," Lions coach Jim Schwartz told reporters at the scouting combine. "We had Calvin Johnson, but our ability to get Jahvid Best, Nate Burleson in free agency, to draft Brandon Pettigrew -- those pieces were because of the quarterback that we have."

We could also argue that the St. Louis Rams were better off building their offensive line and other areas of their roster before making Sam Bradford the first overall choice in 2010. They could have drafted Sanchez or Freeman instead of defensive end Chris Long in 2009, then spent subsequent selections on players to build around one of those quarterbacks.

Bradford and Denver's Tim Tebow were the "other" first-round quarterbacks in the eight-man group featuring Stafford, Sanchez, Freeman, Ryan, Flacco and Russell.

In general, getting the right quarterback for a first-year head coach puts a franchise in strong position for the long term. There's no sense forcing the issue, however, because the wrong quarterback can drag down any coach, regardless of tenure.

A coach such as the Vikings' Frazier might have a harder time waiting. His contract runs only three seasons and ownership expects quick results. Harbaugh has a five-year deal with the 49ers. Expectations are high, but there's less urgency for immediate results.

The first chart shows the 14 first-round quarterbacks since 2000 that landed with returning head coaches.

The second chart shows the 14 first-round quarterbacks since 2000 that landed with first-year head coaches.

With two Super Bowl appearances the past three seasons, Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers has quickly placed himself among the NFL's coaching elite.

Tomlin finished second in ESPN.com's coaching Power Rankings following four consecutive winning seasons, two Super Bowl appearances and one championship. He trailed only New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who received all eight first-place votes from our panel.

Tomlin's rapid ascension up the coaching ranks is impressive. He was a relative unknown when the Steelers hired him in 2007. But his energy, charisma and passion for the game led to the Steelers not missing a beat following the switch from longtime Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher.

Tomlin's biggest strength is his leadership. He commands respect and knows how to push the right buttons within his locker room. But Tomlin also gives his players enough rope when needed and relates to them extremely well. That tough balance is where a lot of head coaches fall short.

I don't know if any coach could have handled quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's off-the-field issues and subsequent suspension as well as Tomlin last year. There was a dark cloud hanging over the Steelers the entire offseason. Most people, including your AFC North blogger, wrote off Pittsburgh, which had to play a quarter of the season without its franchise quarterback. But Tomlin masterfully coached the Steelers to a 3-1 record which catapulted the team's Super Bowl run.

Despite falling one scoring drive short of the title, last season was Tomlin's best coaching job, in my opinion. He won the Super Bowl following the 2008 season. But Tomlin's resolve through extreme circumstances in 2010 cemented his status as one of the league's top coaches.

The Steelers do not botch coaching hires. Chuck Noll, Cowher and Tomlin are the only three people to hold that position in Pittsburgh since 1969. In just four seasons, Tomlin is already on the fast track to filling those huge shoes left by his predecessors.

ESPN.com's coaching Power Rankings

1. Bill Belichick, Patriots

2. Mike Tomlin, Steelers

3. Andy Reid, Eagles

4. Mike McCarthy, Packers

5. Sean Payton, Saints

6. Tom Coughlin, Giants

7. Rex Ryan, Jets

8. Lovie Smith, Bears

9. Mike Smith, Falcons

10. (tie) John Harbaugh, Ravens; Mike Shanahan, Redskins

Walker's coaching Power Rankings

1. Bill Belichick, Patriots

2. Mike Tomlin, Steelers

3. Andy Reid, Eagles

4. Mike McCarthy, Packers

5. Sean Payton, Saints

6. Tom Coughlin, Giants

7. Mike Shanahan, Redskins

8. John Harbaugh, Ravens

9. Rex Ryan, Jets

10. Jim Caldwell, Colts

Our Power Rankings for NFL head coaches are out and Tim Graham has the full breakdown on the AFC East blog.

General thoughts: These rankings were easier than the positional ones we've done. There are only 32 head coaches, for starters. Five have never coached an NFL game. Eight others have losing career records. Four with winning records have coached two or fewer seasons and only two of those, Rex Ryan and Jim Caldwell, have enjoyed postseason success. It became clear early that we were working from a relatively short list. Only 13 coaches received votes.

My top 10: Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Tom Coughlin, Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, Mike Tomlin, Rex Ryan, Ken Whisenhunt, Lovie Smith and Mike Shanahan.

What mattered to me: I favored coaches that had taken over losing teams, turned them around quickly and then enjoyed success over multiple seasons, including in the playoffs.

Why Tomlin was only sixth: No one else ranked him lower. As I told Graham, Tomlin took over a healthy operation and kept it going. He deserves credit for that, but not as much credit as if he had produced similar results after taking over a struggling franchise. We should view the success Bill Cowher enjoyed in a similar context. Both worked for an outstanding organization.

Why Mike Shanahan was on the list: Shanahan hasn't produced a winning record since 2006. His teams own one postseason victory since his 1998 Broncos defended their Super Bowl title. The way he misread Donovan McNabb worked against him, too. In the end, Shanahan's 152-108 regular-season record, 8-5 postseason record, nine winning seasons and two Super Bowl titles commanded recognition, albeit in the 10th spot.

Toughest call: Leaving off the Atlanta Falcons' Mike Smith hurt. He walked into a brutal situation and helped revive a flagging franchise. The Falcons have won 68.8 percent of their games under him without posting a losing record in any of his three seasons. Had Smith made my top 10, however, he would have been the only one without a postseason victory. The Falcons are 0-2 in the playoffs under Smith, with both defeats coming against teams that had inferior records during the regular season. That opened the door for others.

A vote for Whisenhunt: Arizona's Ken Whisenhunt ranked eighth on my ballot, 10th on three others and 12th among the 13 coaches receiving votes. His regular-season record dipped to 32-32 after a rough 2010 season. Overall, though, Whisenhunt gets credit for producing an immediate turnaround for a historically inept franchise. Kurt Warner had a 3-12 starting record for the Cardinals before Whisenhunt arrived. His record was 24-18 in the regular season and 4-2 in the postseason with Whisenhunt. Taking the Cardinals to a Super Bowl gave Whisenhunt the edge over some other candidates, including the Falcons' Smith.

The rest of the NFC West: Seattle's Pete Carroll produced a division title and playoff victory during a rebuilding season. He's on the rise if Seattle continues to improve. ... St. Louis' Steve Spagnuolo has a .250 overall winning percentage thanks to a 1-15 inaugural season with the Rams. He'll move into consideration if the Rams start winning division titles with Sam Bradford at quarterback. ... San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh inherits enough talent to compete in his first season as an NFL head coach, provided he finds even a serviceable quarterback.

Bill Belichick is the great unifier.

For the first time in ESPN.com's individual Power Rankings series, the eight panelists reached unanimity. Each of us voted Belichick the NFL's best head coach, and there's little room for argument.

As someone who has scrolled through their comments for the past three years, I can hear the Spygate whiners already.

But Belichick hasn't won anything since the New England Patriots were caught videotaping defensive hand signals ...

That's true, I suppose, if you don't consider 51 victories, a .797 win percentage, three division titles and a trip to the Super Bowl not winning anything. I'm pretty sure fans of any team other than the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants gladly would trade their past four years for the Patriots' so-called embarrassments.

And I'm guessing fans would find ways to justify those three Lombardi Trophies if their teams were in the Patriots' situation.

Belichick wasn't the only coach voted on with conviction. Head coaches are the fifth installment of our Power Rankings series, and the 13 combined nominees from our ballots were the lowest number of nominees so far. Our panel nominated 17 tight ends, 17 pass-rushers, 16 wide receivers and 15 running backs.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was second in the Power Rankings, and the lowest he rated was sixth on NFC West blogger Mike Sando's ballot. The minus-4 differential from Sando -- not a substantial disparity at all -- was the largest negative margin relative to final placement in the entire process.

Sando explained his deviance from the pack.

"I favored coaches that walked into tough situations, won relatively quickly and then sustained the improvement over more than one season," Sando said in a statement issued through an NFC West blog spokesman. "Tomlin took over a healthy operation and kept it going. He deserves credit for that -- I ranked him sixth -- but not as much credit as if he had produced similar results after taking over a struggling franchise.

"We should view the success Bill Cowher enjoyed in a similar context. Both worked for an outstanding organization."

To be honest, I actually considered putting Cowher on my ballot just for the heck of it. But I opted against getting cute.

Let's take a closer look at how we voted:

We ranked Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid third, and he was listed no lower than fifth -- on AFC West blogger Bill Williamson's and mine -- on anyone's ballot.

Tomlin led the way with four second-place votes. Reid received three. Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy got the other one and came in No. 4.

To further illustrate how closely the voting breakdown turned out, four coaches received third-place votes, four received fourth-place votes and four received fifth-place votes.

Our top seven head coaches were listed on every ballot.

The highest-rated coach not to be universally nominated was Chicago Bears boss Lovie Smith at No. 8. He didn't make AFC North blogger James Walker, AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky and Williamson's ballots.

"Consistency is very important for head coaches, and Smith has more non-playoff seasons than playoff seasons," Walker said. "Smith seems to be on the hot seat every other year in Chicago, and he missed the playoffs three consecutive times from 2007 through '09. Despite a good run last year, Smith is a pedestrian 34-30 since '07."

Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith came in ninth. He didn't appear on NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert's ballot because Smith hasn't won a playoff game yet. Seifert swore it had little to do with that Falcons school bus commercial that gets played incessantly on NFL Network. Three other panelists omitted Smith, too.

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh and Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan tied for 10th.

What helped narrow the field is the constant turnover the NFL coaching profession experiences annually.

Eight teams have new coaches for 2011, ostensibly reducing the number of Power Rankings candidates to 24 from the jump. Nine more coaches have been with their current teams for two seasons or shorter.

A two-year stint didn't prevent the panel from voting for Shanahan, whose body of work includes a pair of Super Bowl titles with the Denver Broncos, or Rex Ryan, who has guided the New York Jets to the AFC Championship Game in each of his two campaigns.

Williamson and Walker had Shanahan rated seventh, his highest placement. Shanahan was absent on four other submissions, mine included.

"Shanahan may not have looked like a brilliant coach in his first year in Washington, but he deserves to be on this list," Williamson said. "He is not some old retread. With so much turnover in the coaching ranks, he is truly one of the last remaining of the old guard 'Super Coaches.' The guy has two rings and a lot of playoff appearances. I don't think he's a top-five guy at this particular time, but he belongs in the top 10."

Williamson and I each thought Ryan deserved to be rated fourth, although none of our comrades had Ryan higher than seventh.

My reasoning is that Ryan, despite not winning the Super Bowl, has a tractor-beam pull on his players -- and even other teams' players -- unlike any other coach in the league. Ryan carries serious clout with the people who matter most of all, the ones on his roster. That's powerful, and these are Power Rankings.

Another to receive votes despite two years at the helm was Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Caldwell. He came in 13th overall, eighth on Kuharsky's ballot and 10th on Walker's.

"I do not think he's a particularly good game-day coach," Kuharsky said of Caldwell. "The rationale he had for the late timeouts that helped the Colts lose at Jacksonville and to the Jets in the playoffs was flawed.

"But in terms of delivering a consistent message, setting expectations and holding a team together through an injury-riddled season, he did excellent work. And those are very important elements to the job."

The floor is yours. Let us know if you agree or disagree.