The NFL regular season ends, and the coaching carousel spins.  Some coaches are tossed off, some get a reprieve, and some are dragged on.  And the most surprising kid reaching for the brass ring is Jon Gruden.  After nine years as the color man on Monday Night Football, and after almost as many years of rumors that he would be returning to coaching, Gruden seems bound for Oakland (and then presumably Las Vegas).  I am not entirely sure why Mark Davis is so hot to bring back someone who hasn’t coached in nearly a decade and who, as far as I can tell, wasn’t that great a coach. But it does make an interesting story.

So do these topics:

• NFL playoffs set to begin.  How on earth is Buffalo in? Will Minny be the first Super Bowl home team? Can anyone stop Tom Brady?
• The SEC championship FBS championship game is set, as Bama and Georgia meet next week in ATL. Meanwhile, UCF stews because if they beat Auburn, and Auburn beat Bama, shouldn’t UCF be playing Georgia?
• IT returns, even as the Beard goes down.
• The hot stove league remains as cold as the rest of the country, only without the frostbite.  Won’t someone sign Arietta already?

As ever, all sports topics are welcome.