I had the NFL Network on today while I was doing some things around the office (I'd call it work, but I try not to lie to the audience here). Early in the afternoon, Steve Mariucci was on the set with Bret Favre, Deion Sanders, and Rich Eisen. In a segment that was repeated several times throughout the afternoon and evening, Mooch asked Favre about his future and then Bret turned the tables on Mariucci, asking him about the Redskins job.
Mariucci is usually very smooth on TV, but the more Favre pushed him about a return to coaching, the more uncomfortable Mooch became. He kept issuing the non-denial denials he has been dispensing over the past few days. Soon, he looked like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
After seeing this a few times, it was obvious to me that there was more here than a potential interview in the next day or two. I think that Mariucci has been on Snyder's radar screen from day one and that there have been multiple conversations between the two. It's certainly possible that Zorn, who is of the Holmgren coaching family as is Mariucci, and Blache, whom Mooch wanted to hire when he went to Detroit, were hired with the blessing of Mariucci. Snyder's plane has been tracked landing at LAX on a few occasions; the airport is located near the NFL Network studios.
I'm not saying that Mariucci is the guy. But today on TV he didn't look like a guy who had a pending first interview; he looked more like a coach who was doing his best to dodge questions because he knew a whole lot more than he could say.
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