Black Monday

The day after the regular season is one of the most brutal of the NFL calendar year. It's the day that teams kick their coaches to the curb. A few general managers get their walling papers as well. It's a sad day. It's Black Monday. Some teams don't even wait for Monday to do that kicking.

It seems at least a half dozen teams are looking for a new coach about this time every year. Simple math would indicate that some teams are going through this process more than most. Some teams like the Cleveland Browns seem to enjoy the process. Here are the teams looking for new coaches and/or general managers in the coming days and weeks.

Miami Dolphins
Out:
Head coach: Joe Philbin
General manager: Dennis Hickey
-interim coach Dan Campbell is probably out as well
In:
General manager: Chris Grier
-the Dolphins found their GM from within in hiring director of college scouting Chris Grier.

Tennessee Titans
Out:
Head coach: Ken Whisenhut
General manager: Ruston Webster
-interim coach Mike Mularkey could be in the running for the full time job

Philadelphia Eagles
Out:
Head coach: Chip Kelly
-the Eagles also shook up their personnel department

Cleveland Browns
Out:
Head coach: Mike Pettine
General manager: Ray Farmer

San Francisco 49ers
Out:
Jim Tomsula

New York Giants:
Out:
Tom Coughlin
-this may or may not have been more Coughlin stepping down than an outright firing.

Detroit Lions
Out:
General manager: Martin Mayhew

It's a mystery as to why the 49ers even bothered hiring Tomsula. From my perch, the biggest problem with the 49ers is general manager Trent Baalke. How he maintains NFL employment is a mystery. The team was hit hard with retirements and such last offseason but Baalke did very little to address any of those losses. Tomsula was set up to fail. That was even more evident when he was only given a single, handicapped season. Baalke couldn't get along with the most successful coach that the team has known since the Bill Walsh/George Seifert days. His drafts have been mediocre at best. Baalke hired Tomsula. If that was such a poor decision that Tomsula got a single season why isn't Baalke paying for that decision?

If I were a coach looking for a head coaching opportunity I wouldn't go near the Browns. Here are few Brown nuggets concerning Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam collected by MMQB's Peter King:

-61 coaches have been hired and mostly fired in 3+ seasons
-fired 2 presidents/CEOs (Mike Holmgren, Joe Banner)
-fired 3 GMs (Tom Heckert, Mike Lombardi, Ray Farmer)
-fired 3 head coaches (Pat Schmur, Rob Chudzinski, Mike Pettine)
-18-40 record since the league approved Haslam's ownership of the Browns

Here's a puzzling quote from Jimmy Haslam concerning the, now annual, coach/general manager search:

"We understand the importance of continuity. But I think it's really important to hear this. We also understand the importance of getting it right."

Haslam has shown nothing resembling continuity in his brief ownership history. He's a walking, talking ownership disaster. A couple years ago he ordered an in-depth search for the best quarterback prospect in the 2014 NFL Draft. That search and study cost $100,000 and the results found Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville to be the top quarterback. The Browns drafted Johnny Manziel instead. I'm sure that the Browns will make the right coaching decision in a few weeks until the next coaching search to get it right.

Good luck to the teams looking for a new head coach and/or general manager and good luck to the people looking to fill those jobs. There's only 32 of each so it's a pretty exclusive group. A special helping of luck to the coach and general manager that takes the Browns job.