2013 NFL Coaching Carousel

The Game Room
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Well, the 2012 NFL regular season is over and Black Monday is upon us. Time to start talking about the GMs, Head Coaches and Coordinators being hired and fired before the start of the 2013 regular season.

There are a lot of hot coaching candidates coaching in the playoffs right now and a few of the guys recently fired will be hot commodities. Coaches for teams on a bye can be interviewed this week, coaches for teams playing cannot until after elimination so that will dictate the pace of at least some of the hiring.

Before we go into speculation on the hires, let’s outline who we know has been fired so far.

Here’s a nice Coach Tracker on NFL.com.

Lovie Smith fired by Chicago Bears

Philadelphia Eagles fire Andy Reid after 14 seasons

These are the 2 big ones so far. The 1st and 4th longest tenured coaches in the NFL get the axe on Black Monday. Reid was a foregone conclusion, Lovie somewhat more of a surprise but not a shocker. Both will almost certainly get a lot of attention in the market and probably will be coaching somewhere in 2013.

Norv Turner, A.J. Smith to be fired

Pat Shurmur, Tom Heckert fired by Cleveland Browns

Norv getting fired was a no-brainer and is probably 2 or 3 years too late. Those two or three years apparently cost A.J Smith his job too, which might be considered a mild surprise.

The new owner in Cleveland cleans house. Holmgren left the position of President earlier this season and to no one’s surprise Heckert and Shurmur also get the axe. Holmgren has already been replaced by Joe Banner and there have already been a lot of rumors about who will be be stepping in on the personnel side.

Chan Gailey relieved of duties by Buffalo Bills

Kansas City Chiefs fire head coach Romeo Crennel

These two dismal franchises lop off their head coaches after disappointing seasons. The Crennel firing was probably inevitable to anyone who watched him in Cleveland starting the day he was hired. Chan Gailey seems like a bit of a shock to me, I thought he did an admirable job of making the Bills competitive in spite of a dearth of talent. That said, this year they spent some coin in free agency and there was no improvement. He’d apparently plateaued.

GMs Buddy Nix and Scott Pioli both still have their jobs, at least for now. We’ll see if that changes as the day wears on.

Mike Tannenbaum out as Jets GM; Rex Ryan still coach

Carolina Panthers fire general manager Marty Hurney

These two teams are the inverse of the Bills and Chiefs, wasting no time in canning their GMs following some atrocious roster moves in the offseason. The Panthers pulled the trigger on Hurney back in October after he signed 3 mediocre RBs to big money contracts, obviously he thinks it’s still 1942. The Jets dumped Tannenbaum today and most people will say that it’s due to his complete mismanagement of the QB situation, both is trading for Tebow against all better judgment and then bafflingly extending Sanchez’s contract right before he imploded. Needless to say both guys deserved to go.

Ryan is going to stay in New York, a fact that may undermine any attempt to get a new GM. Rivera’s fate will probably be uncertain until a new GM is hired, which makes for a really shitty situation for Rivera and the Panthers if it drags on too long. I wouldn’t be shocked if this weird situation is simply prelude to the hiring of Cowher.

Gene Smith fired as Jacksonville Jaguars GM

Tennessee Titans keep coach Mike Munchak - Owner Bud Adams fires executive vice president Mike Reinfeldt

Two more teams who let go of their GM/VP while keeping their HC. In both of these cases, like Rex Ryan, the Head Coaches will be keeping their jobs giving them more time to fix bad QB situations. The Titans look to promote their GM to VP and may or may not be in the market for a personnel guy to fill the void.

There are a few other question marks out there. Ken Wisenhunt in Arizona is on a pretty hot seat and news reports have the Cardinals as a cozy landing spot for either Reid or Smith. Jim Schwartz looked to be safe, but there’s some chatter out there that that may have been premature. Personally I think the owners would be crazy to keep him if they want to avoid being some bizarre combination of the Bengals of the recent past off the field and the Raiders of the less recent past on it.

Jason Garrett’s job is apparently safe but his play-calling duties will be revoked as they look to add an Offensive Coordinator. Norv Turner maybe? Hmm.

Report: Oakland Raiders expected to fire Greg Knapp

Many thought rookie HC Dennis Allen would be shown the door after floundering in Oakland, but apparently their OC will be scapegoated instead.

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I can’t believe Scott Pioli hasn’t been fired.

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Minutes after I posted, there’s new news. Predictable.

Cardinals fire Ken Whisenhunt, GM Rod Graves

Not a huge surprise considering the disaster the QB position has been in general there and how this season ended. I think the sudden availability of some solid, experienced HCs was all the extra push Bidwell needed to make the call. Not to sound like a broken record but I think this job is either Lovie’s or Andy Reid’s if they want it, and I think they should.

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The Cardinals have apparently fired Whisenhunt and GM Rod Graves.

Gailey did better than I thought early on, but this season was a big disappointment. The defense didn’t come even close to reaching expectations and Ryan Fitzgerald has been moving in the wrong direction since they gave him that huge contract after a string of good games. If Gailey’s expertise is offense, that’s even less tolerable.

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Early on it looks like Dirk Koetter is the prettiest girl at the ball. The Falcons OC is being courted by the Eagles, Chiefs and Browns.

As I mentioned in the NFC North thread the Bears are looking to interview Mike McCoy the Broncos OC. I confess he has me somewhat intrigued.

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Why would Oakland fire Allen? Didn’t people say around this time last year that the Raiders actually did something smart when they hired their GM (McKenzie), and in turn thought Allen was a good hire? They’re screwed for a couple years on draft picks because of the people before McKenzie, so it’s going to be a slow process there. They’re also going to be a year ahead of SD and KC in implementing whatever schemes they run if they keep Allen.

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49ers assistants are sure to get interviews for all these coaching jobs. Their pro personell scout, Tom Gamble, is already getting interest in GM jobs. It would be interesting to see if OC Greg Roman moves up, and if Alex Smith goes with him.

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Da’ Bears need some fire and passion back in dat’ team. I says they get dat ther’ Mike Ditka back on da’ sideline and Da’ Bears will be back!

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I still say for Schwartz the same thing I have said since halfway through the season, unless you can get someone better, don’t dump him for a lateral move.
On the other hand, They might be able to get someone better though. They have as good of a young core as anyone in the league. They underperformed their talent by a wide margin, and it might be tempting for a good couch to know that if he just cuts out the fucks ups it’s good for a 5 win swing.

I would love to have a real QB mentor type to come in and work with Stafford(that’s probably OC rather then HC these day’s though). He just hasn’t improved, he is still what he always was, a pro bowl arm, with a college understanding of the game.

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Just thinking out loud, I think a bad team, say like the Chiefs, could probably do worse than a Michael Vick/Chip Kelly/Mike Wallace combo.

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I was indifferent to Shurmur, but I am pissed about the Heckert firing. It’s very unlikely they’re going to replace anyone of his competance level. Especially with so many firings this year, the incoming candidates would spread too thin, and who’s going to work for Banner?

I met Haslem briefly, he seems like a really cool guy that’s living a lifelong dream to own a football team, but everything about Banner seems slimy and shitty. He seems like a business guy who thinks he can do anything and meddles in football affairs. That’s why the Lombardi rumors ring true - he just wants a yes-man to put a football face on his decisions.

If this team fires Heckert for Lombardi… I don’t want to be one of those guys who says “that’s it, I’m done” - and I probably won’t be done entirely - but right on the eve of a big ownership change that gives me some hope that something would change for the future, it would be a gigantic shit sandwich. It would be completely spirit crushing. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a dedicated fan of the Browns? FFS.

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Not quite RIP to Coach Love… You did a very good job coaching my Bears… I was prouder even as a black man to see another black man running the football team i grew up loving…
It was time probably… Phil Emery deserves the right to guide his ship in the direction he wants to take it… note to Phil… this shit is on you now… the draft picks and offensive schemes have to get better…
Lovie took us to the playoffs several times… Super Bowl appearance… and was rock of stability and character for the boys from Halas Hall… easily probably the third greatest coach in the team’s history… As Chicagoans are wont to do… as time goes on… Lovie will occupy a place in the heart of even the most hardened Bear fan… (Just like Ozzie with the Sox)
My choice… my pick if I could get anyone at all… would be Bill O’Brien… I think that guy is the shit…

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Heckert getting fired because he missed on RGIII.. Haslem simply can’t trust his judgement.. When Haslem hired Banner it was fait accompli .. If they find a way to tempt Nick Saban into returning to finsh the job they started in the mid 90’s.. it’ll be fascinating to watch the AFC North..

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THIS.. seriously.. i can see everyone else.. but if Scott hangs on it. It’ll be why the Chiefs fuck over their fans year after year..

Reminds me of the kid owner emulating his old man.. just let Carl Peterson come back year after year after year.. Sometimes I wonder if KC wants to win at all (Chiefs Royals.. )

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Unless Lovie Smith has more drafting authority than I’m aware of, I feel he’s a Bears Woe Scapegoat. Did he draft J’marcus Webb? Or Gabe Carimi? Or the countless other Bear’s drafts who were busts?
The true Bear culprit is whichever man calls the final shot on drafting, for the last tree/four/five years.
(And I’m no expert, so forgive me if J’marcus Webb wasn’t a draft pick. But Jay Cutler is lucky to be alive.)

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Rumors of the Browns interest in Chip Kelly growing stronger.

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Amen, brother.

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It was never clear who had final say in Chicago on draft day. Angelo and Lovie always presented a unified front and there always seemed to be complete agreement on who was drafted. Obviously this isn’t reality, but it was never clear who what doing the picking. With Lovie being there for a decade I’d be shocked if the last 4 or 5 drafts weren’t almost entirely him with final say or at least full veto power.

The mix of picks, tons of small school guys and a surfeit of DBs, really smells like a Lovie draft.

Also, while talent was the Bears first problem, the complete lack of creativity on the field was a close second.

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One of the big reveals of the post-Reid era was that Banner had primary say (not to be confused with final say) in the Eagles’ near-disastrous 2010 and 2011 drafts. So if Banner gets to call the shots… watch out.

Here’s a fun shit-against-the-wall article with a series of predictions about which team will land which coach/GM.

For the Eagles, he’s predicting Chip Kelly. This jives with all the rumors going around about the same. I’ve never followed the Eagles closely through a coaching change, so I have no idea how to interpret the rumors and separate the wheat from the chaff.

I’d be thrilled with Kelly for a lot of reasons. Primarily is that, though he’s widely lauded as an innovative offensive mastermind, he seems committed to the run game in a way that Reid obviously never was. And if you’re coming to Philly, Vick and Foles might not excite you, but LeSean McCoy and Bryce Brown should. With the options being tossed about, most are offensive guys. So the real interesting part will be what happens with the defense. The coordinators are all staying put until the new coach has a chance to interview them, which could end up taking so much time that the high potential coordinator options are all gone.

I know the Eagles will interview Mike Nolan, along with every other Falcons’ coordinator (seriously). I’m a bit worried by Nolan because of his head coaching history… but he’s really good with the defense (which would be nice to see again) and there’s some thought out there that the second chance guys tend to shine that second time around. And his 49ers drafts produced Patrick Willis, Joe Staley, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, and Alex Smith… so very strong at the top. I just hope Nolan would bring in an offensive guru to take the reins of the offense.

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Why would Kolb want to play for Reid, the guy already dumped him once.