With Joe Gibbs announcing he will return and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believing that Bill Parcells may stick around for 2007, this could turn out to be a below-average season for head coaching changes.

Yes, Arizona looks like it will fire Denny Green and Pittsburgh believes Bill Cowher may retire. But Tennessee will pick up the $5.4 million option on Jeff Fisher, and probably is leaning toward giving him total control of personnel, too.

Another guy who appears to be safe is Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. And, if the Giants make the playoffs as a wild card, Coughlin may even get a one- or two-year extension. Coughlin is currently signed through next season.

Coughlin is only in jeopardy if the Giants don’t make the playoffs. But it isn’t a certainty that he will be fired if that happens, either. Remember, the Giants aren’t a knee-jerk reaction outfit. Coughlin won the division last season and his team has been wracked by injuries, too.

Of course, Coughlin may be asked to make some offensive coaching changes because of Eli Manning’s roller-coaster development.

Do Coaches Fib?

Recently, I was discussing this very subject with Jimmy Johnson. In my business, where I want to be able to trust people, Johnson made the point that since I’m in the gossip business that coaches -- or anyone for that matter -- may take advantage of not telling me the truth, especially if the little fib suits their interests.

This thought brings us to Miami coach Nick Saban and his response to Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, who asked him point blank about all these Alabama rumors after last Sunday’s 24-10 loss to Jacksonville.

Saban told Huizenga that he wasn’t going anywhere, let alone Alabama, and that he hadn’t finished his job in Miami. Right now, Saban is 14-14 with the Dolphins. He made a huge mistake on his starting quarterback, choosing Daunte Culpepper over potential 2006 MVP Drew Brees. Now, he’s stuck with Joey Harrington, who is no Brees, either.

Huizenga may be one of the best owners in the NFL and he worked extremely hard to lure Saban from LSU almost two years ago. I mean, he waited and waited in Baton Rouge for more than a day while Saban made up his mind about his offer. Not too many NFL owners would have had that kind of patience to stick around and wait on some football coach.

But until Alabama announces that it has hired a head coach to replace Mike Shula, we still believe the top choice in Tuscaloosa is Saban.

Throwing the fade pass

Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme should know better. But Delhomme heaved an ill-advised fade pass to Keyshawn Johnson at the end of the game in Philadelphia even though Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard had deep inside position on the receiver.

There were two other prime examples this weekend when this pass should be and not be thrown. Tampa Bay rookie Bruce Gradkowksi was intercepted on the same play in his loss to the Steelers. But Eli Manning wasn’t when he was prepared to throw a fade to Plaxico Burress and didn’t. Say what?

Well, when a quarterback has a receiver like Burress, and the cornerback is over-playing to the inside anticipating the fade, the best thing to do is throw a rocket to the receiver’s inside. The receiver can then use his size and position to shield the defender from the ball. Basically, it’s like stealing. If you witnessed the Manning touchdown pass to Burress, you know what I’m writing about.

Delhomme had the same advantage with Keyshawn, who like Burress has size and strength over most cornerbacks. If Delhomme would have thrown a hard, inside fastball to Johnson, he would have had a touchdown and won the game. With experienced players like those two, it should have been an automatic throw. Football is a simple game, but both Delhomme and Gradkowski failed to read the defenders and looked miserable being intercepted.

Favre will decide early

Packers coach Mike McCarthy is confident that by the end of this brutal season in Green Bay that quarterback Brett Favre will tell him and the franchise well before the Super Bowl about his intentions to play or not play next season.

This is Torry Holt’s first Rams training camp without Marhsall Faulk in eight seasons with the team. “We miss him now,” Holt said Sunday. “But we really won’t know how much until we go through camp and get into the season. Marshall was so intelligent. He passed on so much knowledge to the other backs, on how to set up a defender, how to run a certain play. As a player, he played hurt. He was a such great back.”

Faulk, the league’s MVP in 2000, is now dealing with the possibility of retirement. “I can’t imagine how tough that is,” Holt said.

The Rams have placed Faulk on the PUP (physically unable to play) list and believe he will start the season on the reserve PUP. They recently also reduced his base salary from $2 million to $1 million for this season, meaning they don’t believe Faulk will be playing this year.

Giant expectations

LaVar Arrington made some tabloid headlines his first day in training camp, defending his play with the Washington Redskins, but the best news out of Giants training camp was Tiki Barber talking Super Bowl or bust. Barber believes the Giants have all the pieces in place to make a serious run. He said he also settled things with coach Tom Coughlin quickly after he had criticized his play-calling in the 23-0 playoff loss to Carolina.

“Tom and I settled it the next day,” Barber said. “I criticized everyone, not just him. Afterwards, I asked him, ‘Tom, do you think I don’t have the same ideals, the same beliefs, the same direction that you have?’ He said we did. I said, ‘Well, we don’t have a problem. There’s no argument. We’re seeing exactly the same thing.

“I know he’s getting old as a coach and I’m getting old as a player (31). He doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring and I don’t have one either. That’s why I want to win it now.”