5 NFL head coaches who may be gone by Thanksgiving

Ah, the life of an NFL head coach. A life like no other with guarantees that you can find in no other profession.

Like…no sleep, peptic ulcers, off the charts stress, family that you don’t recognize and…oh yeah, zero job security.

Well, some coaches have job security, at least in the here and now. But even the greatest of NFL head coaches can be tossed aside like yesterday’s newspaper if things aren’t going in the right direction with the team.

Don’t believe me? Go ask Tom Landry’s family.

Every year we hear about coaches who are on the (overused phrase alert) hot seat, and who may not survive the season. Generally teams will wait out the year, but if front office personnel and fans are impatient enough, a coach can be pink-slipped before season ends.

Sometimes — although rarely — you’ll see a coach fired within the first six weeks of the season, but that has to be the exception, and generally reserved for coaches who have a history of failing with their given team, and who have been given an ultimatum of success by their general manager or team owner.

We’re still waiting to see that mythical sideline firing. Rumor was, Bobby Petrino was a candidate for this long-awaited spectacle, but cleared out his locker and vamoosed before the cameras could catch Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank escorting him from the Falcons bench area to the back door of the Georgia Dome.

One day….one day.

This year there are a few coaches who have been mentioned as candidates for overwarmed lounge chairs, and the way the season has started, there are at least a handful who may not make it to Thanksgiving dinner with a steady paycheck coming in.