Coaches on the hot seat
There’s no denying it, there will be more NFL coaches fired by the end of this season. There’s no job security for an NFL coach and the bottom line is, if the team’s not winning, the coach is sent walking.
This year the Seattle Seahawks, the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins all have new coaches. Several other teams had new coaches last year and there will be more new coaches by next season or possibly during this season. What coaches are in danger of losing their jobs? Who’s in the hot seat?
Jack Del Rio of the Jacksonville Jaguars has been in the hot seat for several seasons now. He’s only led the Jaguars to the play-offs twice in seven seasons, the last time in 2007. He released Byron Leftwich just before the 2007 season, giving David Garrard the starting job. Garrard led the Jaguars to an 11-5 record and threw a league-low three interceptions that season amongst starting quarterbacks. The Jaguars then upset the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round before losing to the undefeated Patriots the following week.
That proved to be the highlight season of Del Rio’s coaching career and the Jaguars have been madly inconsistent throughout his tenure. The Jaguars are having trouble filling their stadium and the only way to turn things around may be winning. If Del Rio can’t turn them into winners, then not only is the Jaguars future in Jacksonville in jeopardy, but so may be Del Rio’s future.
You have to wonder how much longer John Fox will be the coach of the Carolina Panthers. He’s in the final year of his contract and the Panthers have not discussed an extension with him. Fox has led the Panthers to some great seasons and some so-so ones.
Fox started as the Panthers’ coach in 2002, leading them to a 7-9 finish after the team had been 1-15 the year before. The next year, he took them all the way to a Super Bowl, winning the NFC South, and the team narrowly lost to the New England Patriots 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
The Panthers then fell to 7-9 the next year in a disappointing season. IN 2005, they rebounded to an 11-5 record and once again won the NFC South. The Panthers then went to the NFC Championship before being knocked off by the Seattle Seahawks.
The Panthers narrowly missed the play-offs in the 2006 and 2007 seasons before finishing as the 2nd seed in 2008 with a 12-4 record. The Panthers then lost their first play-off game to the Arizona Cardinals before once again missing the play-offs last year.
With no play-off wins in five years, the Panthers may start to look in a new direction for a head coach. They’re undergoing a youth movement on the roster so you have to wonder if that will transfer to the coaching staff by next season.
Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears cannot be too comfortable either. The Bears brought in their long-time need of a franchise quarterback when they traded for Jay Cutler last season. That didn’t lead to much improvement as the Bears were not able to regain their 2006 form when they went to Super Bowl XLI and lost to the Indianapolis Colts. That game was lost essentially because Peyton Manning surprisingly proved to be a better quarterback than Rex Grossman (insert punch-line here).
The Bears have struggled and their once-dominant defence has dropped off the map in the league.
Smith’s philosophy is to have a power running game and a dominant defence. He’s had neither and the Bears brought in passing specialist Mike Martz to be their new offensive coordinator. The Bears have to rediscover their history of dominant defence to get better and to save Smith’s job. You can only ride one great season for so long.
These are just a few examples of coaches walking on thin ice. Arguments can be made for other coaches with questionable records, but most in this league are relatively new or have been assured faith by the owners of their teams. Only one thing’s for certain; the 32 head coaches we see this year will not be the same 32 head coaches we’ll see next year.
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