Black Monday in NFL

[Slammin' Sammy]

5 coaches get the axe. Reid, Shurmur, Crennel, Gailey and Smith. Rumors are Turner is gone too. Expected most but am a bit surprised by Lovie Smith. They missed the playoffs but finished 10-6. I thought they might get a better o-line and give him another try. A lot of new faces in '13 should be interesting.

[Slammin' Sammy]

Officially 6. Add Whisenhunt.

[Vegas]

I know Arizona is interested in him too, but I wonder if Andy Reid will go home to San Diego and coach the Chargers since they have an opening?

[tystates]

I saw the number reached 7 coaches.

[marktaggart]

Dec 31, 2012 11:24:15 GMT -5 Slammin' Sammy said:

Expected most but am a bit surprised by Lovie Smith. They missed the playoffs but finished 10-6. I thought they might get a better o-line and give him another try.

I wasn't. They got a new GM at the beginning of the year, and he was forced by ownership to keep Lovie on for at least one year. Most figured that at least one more year probably meant only one more year unless they made it deep into the playoffs. Going 10-6 after the strong start they had is not good.

A lot of Bears fans wanted him gone years ago after the"Rex is our quarterback" debacle that cost them the Super Bowl when he elected to let Grossman come back and implode the team instead of letting the guy who got them there in his absence (Kyle Orton) keep winning. The fact that they never got back to the Super Bowl after that, and have barely sniffed the playoffs since then despite having several great starts to the season only to go on multiple game losing streaks and blow it, didn't help his cause.

As far as "get him an o-line and give him another try", that card has been played a few times. First it was "go out and get a running back and give him another chance". Then there was "get him a quarterback and give him another chance". And finally, "the quarterback needs a good receiver to throw to, and give Lovie another chance".

He just finally ran out of chances. He had a long and slightly above average coaching career in Chicago (which equals a great coaching career for The Bears), made a lot of money, is generally well liked, and by most reports a nice guy. I don't think he'll wait too long for another job if that's what he wants. It was just time for him to go.

[vx]

I think sometimes teams fire coaches for the sake of firing coaches. Those same teams will go through three, four, five or more coaching regimes and never see a turnaround in the W/L department.
The Raiders over the last decade have really stood out as a franchise doing that.
These organizations first need a direction they want to go and then find someone they think can take them there.
Firing the coach to appease the fan base or media will keep some of these teams below 8-8 for many years to come.

[Phoenix]

I'm not sure what i think of Reid coming here. There's still possbility they'll give the job to Ray Horton the defensive co-ordinator. I just hope the new GM is better and makes the Offensive line a priority. Usually every year the draft another RB, CB , etc. As far as i'm concerned they can draft 6 O linemen in the draft and a QB.

[TTX]

An offensive lineman would help a lot. Giants need the same thing.

I think Bruce Arians deserves a shot somewhere. I'm no Colts fan, but he did a really good job in a super tough situation regardless of the quality of the Colts opponents.

[jmelton]

My possibilities to fill coaching vacancies:

Jim Haslett-Bills
Mike McCoy-Eagles
Todd Haley-Cardinals
Bruce Arians-Chargers
Chip Kelly-Browns
Tom Clements-Bears

[jrgoldman]

As a Browns fan, I will be very happy with Chip Kelly. I would also be pretty happy with Doug Marrone, the Syracuse coach. I think Whisenhunt is a great coach, but not a good fit for a team with a hopeless QB situation like the Browns.

I think Chip Kelly may be a huge failure, but I would rather risk that than hire a known mediocrity.