Raiders are hiring Pete Carroll as their new head coach

My intuition tells me that Mike got a phone call during that last day with Dallas. Sure he also heard that Chicago was interested. But, to me, he seems like a smart guy, that wouldn't jump ship from Dallas for Chicago. Especially knowing that Ben Johnson made it clear he wanted to coach Chicago. So for Mike to basically fire himself, by leaving the negotiation table w/ Dallas, tells me he got word from a real serious player. A player that wouldve had to say: "Mike if you walk away from Dallas you are our guy 100%. We will go through some motions, but in the meantime, start arranging your staff. Its only a statement this strong that would give Mike the confidence to fire himself in Dallas. Dont forget all of the people he made friends with players and coaches. If he were fired he'd have to walk away. But he wasnt he chose to walk away. If we hire Brady, then I couldn't be more wrong on this. But my gut tells me its been Mike since before he walked from Dallas

Agreed. The FO is going through the process while MM is developing a plan and organizing his staff. He's also going to bring in his culture guys, all HCs do. I'd be curious what FAs are out there with ties to MM. One name to watch is Noah Brown who was developed under MM in Dallas. He's currently on Washington's IR, but he's a FA after the season. He's a Big X WR who does all the dirty work, but he very well could be a MM culture guy. His experience with Houston last year and Washington this year is a bonus.