Title says it all. Who will be the first NFL coach fired this season? Must be post regular season firing.
Correct answer will win 2 Internets complete with rapid ignore features.
My prediction.
SD Chargers Mike McCoy. Fired immediately following game 16. Fired before he makes it to the locker room.
(okay that was an easy one, so I’m ineligible for the prizes)
I’ll say the Bengals finally cut the cord with Marvin Lewis. I don’t know when, let’s go with the day after their final game.
Looking at teams at all the sub-.500 teams:
Ron Rivera in Carolina, Sean Payton in New Orleans, Bruce Arians in Arizona, and Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati all have a history of success and are probably all safe.
I’d like to say Chip Kelly is doomed, but I have a feeling he inexplicably survives through next year.
I would have said Jeff Fisher, but he just got an extension.
Doug Pederson seems pretty safe in Philadelphia.
John Fox probably gets another shot at turning it around in Chicago, sans Cutler, as does Todd Bowles in New York (possibly with Cutler!).
Chuck Pagano probably sticks around another year in Indianapolis.
I feel like Gus Bradley in Jacksonville is in a similar boat to Hue Jackson, in that he can only do so much with what he’s got, and he ain’t got much. However, unlike Jackson, Kelly, Fox, and Bowles, Bradley’s been there a while and the team has shown only marginal improvement, at best.
That said, I’m going with Gus Bradley. I’m surprised he’s still got a job right now.
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I’m going to second Gus Bradley. 4 years is long enough and it seems like they’ve actually regressed. Plus it’s being reported that they’ve reached out to Coughlin for some sort of role. Even if not as head coach, probably leading a rebuild.
Another vote for Gus Bradley. Their final game is a 1pm ET start on Sunday, January 1st, let’s say that he’ll be fired that evening.
Todd Bowles and Gus Bradley, both great defensive coordinators in Seattle, both look like goners to me.
Hands down Gus Bradley.
Probably McCoy, too.
To elaborate… Bowles isn’t far along in his contract, but I think he’s lost the team. The Jets THOUGHT they’d be contenders and that Bowles would get the most out of them, but they’re not contenders.
They need a complete overhaul. And I don’t think they’ll keep Bowles around for the rebuilding job.
Bill Polien has been rumored to be interested in heading a front office again. Sources say Chicago is a possible fit.
Not if the ownership keeps Ryan Grigson, I don’t think.
According to the crawl on ESPN 2, Rex Ryan found out from the media that he may be fired as early as today.
And, the winner is Jeff Fisher, today:
http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/12/12/los-angeles-rams-fire-head-coach-jeff-fisher
I think Jeff Fisher DESERVED to be fired, but I thought he was safe.
Fisher doesn’t qualify, since the OP specified post-season firing.
Bradley is canned.
I’ve read that Bradley was fired immediately after the Texans game, but then had to fly back to Jacksonville with the team, which, if true, must’ve been incredibly awkward.
There’s been a lot of chatter around my pick, Marvin Lewis. And I know the Bengals’ ownership is cheap, but that was supposed to be a good team and they’re in a pretty weak division.
And Todd Bowles. Ugh. I like him. But man, he looks like a deer in headlights every time they show him on the sideline. I feel bad for him.
I wonder if having a bad season might actually save him one more year. The narrative changes from “Coach who just can’t win a playoff game” to “Perennial playoff coach has one bad season.”
What if all the coaches are fired before the season ends?
My father and I were watching Super Bowl XLII. My mother, who is not a football fan, asked us if New England’s coach might get fired for losing the game. I said if he did he’d be out of work for about thirty seconds before some other team hired him as their head coach.
Correction: Todd Bowles was DC for the Seahawks’ rival, Arizona. You may be thinking of Dan Quinn, he’s the other former Seattle DC now running a team (Atlanta who at this point is doing just fine).
I will agree that Bowles seems to be on thin ice. It’s not just a lack of success; there have been really poor decisions made this season, especially at quarterback.