Should have started this earlier, but the Jets jump the gun and fire Adam Gase before Black Monday.
For the record, these in-season firings are all almost certainly open positions.
Detroit fired Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn in Week 12. Interim coach Darrell Bevell is unlikely to keep the job.
Houston fired head coach/GM Bill O’Brien after Week 4. Interim coach Romeo Crennel is unlikely to keep the job.
Atlanta fired Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff back after Week 5. Interim coach Raheem Morris is unlikely to keep the job.
While not yet official, the Jaguars are reportedly ready to hire Urban Meyer to replace Doug Marrone tomorrow. They fired their GM Dave Caldwell after Thanksgiving and it’s unclear if Meyer will assume the GM role as well. I would assume he will demand it if his health can handle the added stress.
As suspected, Doug Marrone gone from Jacksonville.
I figure this thread is as good a place as any to post this shower thought.
People are talking about the Eagles canning Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman. Not sure if that happens or not, but I had this thought. Three years ago after the Super Bowl victory the Eagles offensive coaching staff was pillaged, Frank Reich left to coach the Colts. John DiPhilippo left to be the OC in Minnesota (after taking a number of HC interviews as well). At the time this seemed like the typical course of events for a title team, they always lose coordinators when people take promotions. But maybe this exodus was a sign that those coaches saw the writing on the wall, that Pederson was in over his head and that Wentz and Foles were smoke and mirrors. DiPhilippo specifically choosing an OC job in Minny instead of taking the same promotion to stay in Philly seems like a red flag. Why wouldn’t he have wanted to stay with Wentz and Pederson? It’s not like the Vikings job was some plum gig in comparison.
Anyways, if Pederson is fired in the next couple days…it’s a interesting question to me at least.
The Chargers have decided to fire Anthony Lynn. This will be a really interesting landing spot for Eric Bieniemy. Division rival facing off with Reid and Mahomes twice a year may be a little be daunting, but it’s LA and they have a franchise QB and plenty of talent on the defensive side of the ball.
I like Anthony Lynn, but you don’t lose so many close games without a good chunk of the blame falling on the coach. 9 of their 11 losses in 2019 were by one score, and 6 of 9 this year were too. That, to me, indicates that the talent level is there, but something (preparation, game planning, play calling, clock management) is stopping them from winning. And that usually falls on the coach.
If I were Bieniemy, this would be a great, talented landing spot. Other than the fact their in Los Angeles now.
Lynn reminds me a little of Nagy. Seems to connect with players and seems to have a really good locker room and team culture. But simply screws up way too often when the bright lights are shining. Though to be fair, Nagy’s record is close games is actually pretty good in spite of some embarrassing collapses this season.
Not a coach, but Elway has fired himself as GM of the Broncos. He’ll be President of Ops and he’ll hire a GM.
John Elway is most definitely not being fired or being stripped of his GM duties thanks to a rough run since his defense won him a Super Bowl. He’s going to “step up” to an “elevated” role of President of Football Operations and is going to hire a new GM, who will have final say on roster construction, including the draft.
Ninja’d.
I think Raheem Morris has a shot at the HC job in ATL. If they decide to keep most of the team and coaching staff intact, I think he’s a good choice. On the other hand, if they decide to blow it all up and start over then they have to look elsewhere.
I’m kind of surprised that Zac Taylor wasn’t fired by the Bengals. While I didn’t see too many of their games I remember hearing that the way they were using him was going to get Burrow injured a few weeks before he actually got hurt. Constantly putting your potential franchise savior in bad situations isn’t conducive to keeping your job.
Urban Meyer is your new coach of the Jaguars.
I dislike the guy (he enabled Aaron Hernandez) and wish him nothing but failure.
Robert Saleh (49ers DC) is the new coach of the Jets.
And it looks like Arthur Smith (Titans OC) will be the new coach of the Falcons.
I think Saleh is a good hire. Whether he can work out the riddle that is the Jets, I don’t know, but he’s as good an assistant as any out there.
A lot of college coaches can’t make their shit work in the NFL, often because they try to use stunts and schemes that work against inferior talent and also because they’re used to being the college equivalent of coach/GM/team president, powers which they don’t often quite have in the pros.
From what Meyer’s former players who have ended up in the pros have said, they basically liked playing for him and respected him, and not just because he was a powerful college-level coach. I’ve read that he has a good feel for what players and coaches are thinking and will often turn the heat up on his coaches before putting it on his players.
Meyer also doesn’t run any gimmicky crap on offense or defense. He uses a “power spread” on offense and he will use the usual 3-4, 4-3, cover-2 combination of defenses. He is somewhat ‘philosophical’ as a coach, but it’s a philosophy that, with the right personnel, is going to be very successful: use the ability to pound the ball for 4-6 yards, and then spread the ball to different targets vertically and in the slot.
I think it’s a good hire
If anything I worry about such a good coach being wasted on that franchise. But maybe he can work a miracle. I guess he might get their defense in better shape while they work on getting a better QB.
The questions with Meyer are not scheme focused. I think most folks are in agreement with you that he’s not a Chip Kelly-esque guy who runs gimmicky college style offenses. His game should translate, and I agree that he won’t likely run afoul of players the way Schiano did.
The issues are with this “health” and his propensity to cut and run. Whether he’s a rat leaving a sinking ship or whether he just doesn’t have the constitution to be a HC, either way he may leave the the Jags in a lurch in a few years time. I also wouldn’t rule out a Nick Saban like heel turn should the NFL be not what he was expecting.
So I offered a little diatribe over in So the Bears still suck, but I figure this thread is a better place to talk about the non-changes in Chicago.
While Pace and Nagy are coming back, Pagano “retired” so the Bears get a nice little scapegoat. Sure, Pagano was utterly terrible as a DC, but that doesn’t change the fact that his leaving is a face saving event for Nagy. It also means the Bears need to make a really important hire under some really disadvantageous circumstances. Is a blue chip DC candidate really going to be excited to come to Chicago and work for a GM and HC who both may be 1 more mediocre season away from being canned?
Who the Bears May Consider For Vacant Defensive Coordinator Position - Windy City Gridiron
The above covers most of the popular candidates for DC in Chicago. I won’t restate the discussion there but some of the names to look for are Jay Rodgers, the Bears current DL coach. He apparently has a close relationship with Brandon Staley who was just hired as HC in SD. Rodgers contract is also up so if the Bears want him, and he wants to be here, they’ll probably need to lock him up quickly. I’m in favor of hiring a fast rising young guy and his track record here is good, but the Bears need some fresh ideas. There are a couple other internal candidates, DBs coach Sean Desai is a popular one and I really don’t want him. The regression of Eddie Jackson and frequent turnover in the position group are both big red flags.
Looking outside the organization, James Bettcher seems like a nice fit. Can’t say I know him well, but the bio and track record look good. He sounds like the anti-Pagano which sounds like a move in the right direction. Keith Butler is the dream candidate but honestly, I can’t imagine why he’d take a job here. He’s too accomplished to risk hooking his trailer to the smoking carcass that is Pace/Nagy. If the Bears want to fully alienate the last few fans they should hire Gregg Williams.
Anyways, hope we have news soon.
Ravens Passing Game Coordinator and WR Coach Dave Culley is the new coach of the the Texans. The Ravens, who had a pretty terrible passing game this year. He was also WR coach of the Chiefs the infamous year where they had no WR touchdowns.
In completely unrelated news, Watson has officially requested a trade.
Yeah, you get the strong feeling Cal McNair and Jack Easterby went the reductive route of hoping a coach from the offensive side of the ball and a black coach to boot would be enough to get back in Watson’s good graces, i.e. the exact sort of ham-fisted, idiotic maneuvering that had him requesting a trade in the first place.
I had a half-decent impression of the Texans franchise before this crap started, but it’s pretty clear that Watson has legit grievances. He might be setting himself up for intense scrutiny and a career crash but I can appreciate someone who tries to take command of his career instead of letting shitty execs waste it away. All indications - at least what I’ve seen - are he’s been a good QB and leader.