Cody Spencer mentioned in Startelgram

[FirefightnRick]

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/columnis...ms/15368545.htm

McGinnis waiting for a shotBy Charean Williams

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

NFL VIA GETTY IMAGES

Dave McGinnis, a TCU graduate, appreciates the job the current Horned Frogs staff has done.CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- It's been three years since Dave McGinnis was an NFL head coach. He was fired by the Arizona Cardinals after a 4-12 season in 2003.

In three full seasons with the Cardinals, he was 16-32. (He was 1-8 as the interim coach after Vince Tobin was fired in the middle of the 2000 season.) McGinnis' last game as head coach was his most memorable as Josh McCown completed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Poole on fourth-and-25 as time expired to give the Cardinals an 18-17 victory that kept Minnesota out of the playoffs.

"Our guys fought their [butts] off to win that game," said McGinnis, who turned 55 on Aug. 7. "I'll carry that with me for a long, long time. That just kind of shows what we were building there."

Now the assistant head coach and linebackers coach for the Tennessee Titans, McGinnis hopes to become a head coach again.

As a former Horned Frogs defensive back and a 1973 TCU grad, what do you think of the job Gary Patterson has done in his five full seasons at your alma mater?

Gary has done a tremendous job. I stay in touch with quite a few of those guys on a consistent basis, and I can tell you that the TCU-exes I'm associated with, who are some of the guys heavily involved in that program, are very, very happy.

This is your third season in Tennessee. Do you feel at home now?

This has been a very, very good place for me. Once I got fired there at Arizona, I had several offers around the league. All of them were good. I've been in this league 21 years, and I love it. Everything I've done, it's all been fulfilling for me.

But you would like to get another shot at being a head coach?

Absolutely, I would. Even though I got fired there at Arizona, the thing that makes me feel good is they were left with the best salary-cap situation in the league. We suffered three years clearing the salary cap. We helped get them a new stadium, which was huge. I'm very proud of some of the players I brought in as young players -- Adrian Wilson, Leonard Davis, Anquan Boldin. We gained some respect there league-wide with what we had to go in and clean up cap-wise.

Would you consider going back to the college ranks as a head coach?

I think I would. I've had some feelers with that the last two years. I don't want to leave Jeff [Fisher] here right now. As long as I'm not going to be the boss, I really like working for Jeff Fisher.

Do you have a timetable when you'd like to become a head coach again?

Not really, and I never have my whole career. I've been fortunate. In 21 years, I've interviewed for three head coaching jobs in this league. I've gotten two of them. I was the head coach of the [Chicago] Bears for seven hours and didn't know it for three. I just want to do a really, really good job here and see what good comes of it.

One of your linebackers, Cody Spencer, is from Grapevine and played at North Texas. He's entering his third NFL season. How is he doing?

Cody was a sixth-round pick for Oakland [in 2004]. He joined us late his first year, and he never really knew the defense. Then, he had two sports hernias. This is really his first year for him to be here in training camp and be healthy. He's been a good special teams player for us. This camp is his chance to see if he can make that progression to become a competent player behind the line of scrimmage.

He's worked very hard at it, and I'm pulling for him.

Rick