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(Dave) Shula fired after last trip to S.F.


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[quote][size=5][b]Shula fired after last trip to S.F.[/b] [/size]

By Kevin Goheen
Post staff reporter


The last time the Bengals played in San Francisco, Dave Shula was coaching what turned out to be his final football game and Willie Anderson was a rookie.

The Bengals return to play at the former Candlestick Park, now known as Monster Park, Saturday night for the first time since Oct. 20, 1996. The Bengals were 1-5 going into the game but jumped out to a 21-0 lead before the 49ers rallied for a 28-21 victory.

Shula was fired the next day, ending his tenure of four-plus seasons that resulted in a 19-52 record, and Bruce Coslet was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach.

Anderson was the Bengals' first-round draft choice out of Auburn that year and remembers being nervous about going up against 49ers defensive end Chris Doleman, a player who would finish his career with more than 150 sacks, including 11 that season. Doleman didn't get any sacks that day against Anderson.

"I was all excited about shutting him out. Then I got killed the next week by Clyde Simmons," said Anderson. "I remember (quarterback) Steve Young running a bootleg 25 yards with a pulled hamstring. We couldn't catch him. I remember a young Terrell Owens - we had no idea who he was - caught a long touchdown bomb on us. I was really excited to see Jerry Rice. I tried to watch Jerry Rice all game."

Owens caught a 45-yard touchdown from Young with 2:08 remaining in regulation to pull San Francisco even. On the Bengals' ensuing possession, quarterback Jeff Blake was intercepted at the Cincinnati 32, a turnover that set up what was actually a 15-yard touchdown run on a bootleg by Young with 1:08 left. Young started the game but a groin injury forced the 49ers to replace him with Elvis Grbac. Young returned when Grbac was forced to leave the game himself.

Players were told not to show up at Spinney Field, the team's old training facility, on Monday or Tuesday following the game, a clear indication to them that Shula would no longer be the head coach.

"Me being 21 years old, I had the energy," Anderson recalled this week. "I called two of my friends staying with me at the time and said 'Let's go back to Atlanta.' I got off the plane - I slept from San Fran to Cincy - got off the plane and drove back to Auburn. I found out Dave Shula got fired on ESPN on Monday in bed."

[b]LOTS O' POINTS[/b] - The Bengals have won their last two games against the 49ers, both played in Cincinnati. In the next-to-last game played at Cinergy Field in 1999, the Bengals won 44-30. When the teams played at Paul Brown Stadium in 2003, the Bengals won 41-38. The 153 points scored is the most in Bengals history for consecutive games against any opponent.

That record will be put to the test next week when Cleveland comes to town. The Browns beat the Bengals 51-45 in Cleveland on Sept. 16 and both offenses have the capabilities of putting up big numbers again.

[b]INJURY REPORT[/b] - Linebacker Rashad Jeanty returned to practice on Thursday, meaning every Bengals player other than Anderson worked out in team drills. Jeanty has started the previous five games at strong side linebacker and made 25 tackles, forced one fumble and recovered two fumbles since returning seven games ago from preseason arthroscopic knee surgery.

[b]MISS YOU BROTHER[/b] - Domata Peko is happy that Chicago signed Matt Toeaina to its 53-man roster off of the Bengals practice squad. But Peko will miss his fellow Samoan. When the Bengals drafted Toeaina in the sixth round this year it marked the third year in a row they picked a player from American Samoa in the draft. Defensive end Jonathan Fanene joined the team as a seventh-round pick in 2005, while the Bengals took Peko in the fourth round in 2006.

Toeaina spent the first 14 weeks on Cincinnati's practice squad, but by rule the Bears must keep him on their 53-man active roster for the remainder of the season.

"It's good for him," said Peko. "He's in a good situation there. Me and Fanene are going to miss him but you do what you've got to do. He's a hard worker, always on time and he was really good on the practice squad giving a good look for the O-line.

"He reminded me of myself from last year. He just wanted to learn and get better every day."

[b]FAN VOTING -[/b] No Bengals were among the top vote-getters in fan balloting for this season's Pro Bowl. The All-Star teams of the AFC and NFC are selected through voting by fans, players and coaches, with each portion of voting counting an equal one-third.

Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh leads the NFL with 96 receptions but New England's Randy Moss and Dallas' Terrell Owens were the top two vote recipients in results released Thursday. Voting for players and coaches was being conducted Thursday and today.

The AFC and NFC Pro Bowl teams will be announced next Tuesday at 4 p.m[/quote]


[url="http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/SPT03/712140307/1022/RSS0302"]http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...07/1022/RSS0302[/url]
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[quote name='Bengals1181' post='608587' date='Dec 14 2007, 08:43 AM']wait, I thought Mike Brown refuses to fire coaches because he's too cheap? :ninja:[/quote]


no, he keeps them around too long because he is cheap, and is compensating for the rampant nepotism in his franchise by being too loyal to weak chains on the link.

:noninja:

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[quote name='Bengals1181' post='608587' date='Dec 14 2007, 10:43 PM']wait, I thought Mike Brown refuses to fire coaches because he's too cheap? :ninja:[/quote]


Yeah, but notice *HOW* he did it. He fired Shula and told Coslet to move his shit over one office.
MULLY
thinks that's one of the most pathetic moves in sports history

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[quote name='Fulcher_33' post='608802' date='Dec 14 2007, 04:52 PM']Yeah, but notice *HOW* he did it. He fired Shula and told Coslet to move his shit over one office.
MULLY
thinks that's one of the most pathetic moves in sports history[/quote]


It's pretty common to promote a coordinator as interim HC to cover a fire mid season.


The problem was that he wasn't interim.


:(

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[quote][size=5][b]Last San Francisco trip forgettable[/b][/size]
[size=3][b]Bengals blew a 21-0 fourth-quarter lead 11 years ago against a Steve Young-led team.[/b][/size]

By Chick Ludwig

Staff Writer

Saturday, December 15, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO — The last time the Bengals visited Monster Park at Candlestick Point was Oct. 20, 1996 — a day that will live in infamy in Cincinnati franchise lore.

The Bengals lost to San Francisco 28-21, blowing a 21-0 lead as 49ers quarterback Steve Young passed for two touchdowns and scored on a 15-yard run with 1:08 remaining.

It was the final game for Bengals head coach David Shula, who was replaced by offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet the next day.

Willie Anderson is a 12-year veteran offensive tackle now. But he was a rookie first-round draft pick from Auburn then.

"I remember me playing left tackle and shutting down (49ers defensive end) Chris Doleman," Anderson said. "That was my first start. I was all excited about shutting him out. Then I got killed the next week by (Jacksonville's) Clyde Simmons.

"I remember Steve Young running a bootleg 25 yards with a pulled hamstring. We couldn't catch him. I remember a young Terrell Owens — we had no idea who he was — caught a touchdown bomb on us. I was really excited to see Jerry Rice. I tried to watch Jerry Rice all game."

[b]Breaking the news[/b]

Shula was doomed by the club's 1-6 start in '96. He finished 19-52 (.268) from 1992-96.

"Once he told us not to come in Monday or Tuesday, we kind of knew he was going to get fired," Anderson said. "I called two of my friends staying with me at the time and said, 'Let's go back (home).' I slept from San Francisco to Cincinnati, got off the plane and drove back to Auburn. I found out Dave Shula got fired on ESPN on Monday in bed."

[b]A bitter rivalry[/b]

The Bengals have appeared in two Super Bowls, losing both to the 49ers — 26-21 in Super Bowl XVI at Pontiac, Mich., (1981 season) and 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII at Miami (1988 season).

How well-versed is Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis on the rivalry?

"I am aware that this team lost in two Super Bowls," he said. "The last time we played against the 49ers, we won (41-38 on Dec. 14, 2003, in Cincinnati). So other than that, that's all I know."

[b]Back to back?[/b]

Cincinnati, coming off a 19-10 victory over St. Louis, hasn't won consecutive games since ripping off four straight from Nov. 19 to Dec. 10 in 2006.

"We have to put two good games back to back," Lewis said. "We haven't done that in awhile. The focus is this week, and the next week will take care of itself."

Next up: Cleveland. 1 p.m. Dec. 23. Paul Brown Stadium.


Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com.[/quote]
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