Chicago Bears: fired Lovie Smith
Philadelphia Eagles: fired Andy Reid
Kansas City Chiefs: fired Romeo Crennel
Cleveland Browns: fired Pat Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert
Jacksonville: fired GM Gene Smith
San Diego Chargers: fired Norv Turner and GM A.J. Smith
Arizona Cardinals: fired Ken Whisenhut and GM Rod Graves
Buffalo Bills: fired Chan Gailey
New York Jets: fired GM Mike Tannenbaum
Fox rumor guy Jay Glazer said that he'd never heard negative player response to a coaching dismissal quite like he's heard from the Chicago Bears players following the news of Lovie Smith's fate. I usually like seeing trouble in Chicago but I hate to see it at the expense of someone's livelihood. There are a bunch of openings now. There could be more as Carolina's Ron Rivera and Jacksonville's Mike Mularkey might be on the hot seat. Lovie Smith won't be out of work for very long. If not as a head coach, he'll find work as a defensive coordinator. I really don't see any of the fired coaches being out of work for very long. Unless Reid needs a coaching break due to a rough year professionally and personally, he'll be in high demand.
So many things can lead to a change in coaches. The most common, of course, is failure. None of the teams that fired their coaches on Monday had a very good year. Most were horrible. The Bears and Lovie Smith were alive for the playoffs on the final weekend. One of several likely reasons for his firing was that Bears were sitting pretty at 7-1 at the midpoint of the season. The Bears fell off considerably and Smith was the scapegoat. According to Glazer, the Bears players didn't think so. Except for the first few weeks of the season, the Eagles were horrible. Eagles management probably had little choice but it's hard to blame that collapse solely on Andy Reid. Like the Minnesota Vikings of 2010 everything went wrong for the Eagles. Some of those things were outside of the play on the football field. It was a horrible year in general for Reid. Maybe a change, or even a break, will be good for him. Pat Shurmur probably got the worst treatment. He was new to the job to start and his Browns were showing some signs of life. An ownership change had more to do with his firing than team performance. His firing didn't seem fair but a new owner usually wants a coach of his own choosing.
Black Monday has always been a sad day. All these coaches know their football. Perhaps there's a better fit out there for them.
So many things can lead to a change in coaches. The most common, of course, is failure. None of the teams that fired their coaches on Monday had a very good year. Most were horrible. The Bears and Lovie Smith were alive for the playoffs on the final weekend. One of several likely reasons for his firing was that Bears were sitting pretty at 7-1 at the midpoint of the season. The Bears fell off considerably and Smith was the scapegoat. According to Glazer, the Bears players didn't think so. Except for the first few weeks of the season, the Eagles were horrible. Eagles management probably had little choice but it's hard to blame that collapse solely on Andy Reid. Like the Minnesota Vikings of 2010 everything went wrong for the Eagles. Some of those things were outside of the play on the football field. It was a horrible year in general for Reid. Maybe a change, or even a break, will be good for him. Pat Shurmur probably got the worst treatment. He was new to the job to start and his Browns were showing some signs of life. An ownership change had more to do with his firing than team performance. His firing didn't seem fair but a new owner usually wants a coach of his own choosing.
Black Monday has always been a sad day. All these coaches know their football. Perhaps there's a better fit out there for them.
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