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| Joe Montana was named the seventh head coach in Black Dogs history on Friday. |
Associated Web Press
In what can be best described as a Friday evening news dump, East Nashville owner Bill Money announced a number of key personnel moves in a press release emailed to media outlets late Friday afternoon.
It will be no surprise to many that Rex Ryan is out as the Black Dogs head coach and new offensive coordinator Joe Montana is in. What is surprising is Money named Ryan as the team's GM, replacing his daughter Maris "Mo" Money. As Money himself explained in the press release, he “wanted to see if he could catch lightning in a bottle twice.”
“Fifteen or so years ago, our head coach became the team's GM and a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback became the team's head coach,” Money said. “The result was a string of successes that have made this the winningest franchise in NFFA history with four championships including a perfect 16-0 season in 2008 and twelve division titles over the past fifteen seasons. The name of that GM was Buddy Ryan, Rex's father, and the head coach of course was Jim McMahon.
“Needless to say, this is a franchise unaccustomed to losing four games in a row at any point in the season, much less at the beginning. I spoke with Rex about it, told him I thought I needed to make a change, but I wanted him to take over as GM. It took a little persuading, but he has agreed to continue in that role with Joe taking over as head coach. Mo will become vice president of league relations and will be the team's liaison to new commissioner Sanders.”
A source inside the Black Dogs organization who spoke on condition of anonymity told AWP that the final straw for the owner came when Ryan overruled Montana last weekend on starting running back Joe Mixon, who totaled nearly 40 points. Montana liked Mixon's matchup, but Ryan thought he had been dogging it.
The source went on to say that Mo Money was furious about being replaced as GM and her new position may be the first step toward her replacing Meadow Soprano as assistant commissioner.
Rex's brother Rob remains with the team as defensive coordinator. More on this story as it develops.
