Which NFL coaches are feeling the flames in the last few weeks of the season?
There are 11 legitimate NFL teams who could be looking for a new coach after this season.
That’s truly amazing when you actually stop and think about it. More than one-third of the league could be looking for new coaches. I can’t even believe that.
More from FanSided
- NFL rumors: Aaron Rodgers sets Jets up for Super Bowl run with new contract
- MLB Trade Grades: Dodgers land Amed Rosario from Guardians
- Colorado gives Pac-12 a possible death knell with move to Big 12
- NFL rumors: Dalvin Cook suitor maintaining very ‘real’ interest
- Braves get dose of bad news on Max Fried as ace nears return
With so much pressure to succeed and win, it’s easy to see why these teams fire their coaches after one, two, or three seasons. Even teams that have success might start looking for a new coach, if it’s not a Bill Belichick-type fit.
Every situation is slightly different, and that’s what makes it so hard about finding a good coach and sticking with them. It’s the “grass is always greener” philosophy until it isn’t.
Ask the Chicago Bears fans if they would have Lovie Smith rather than Marc Trestman.
It’s a cutthroat business, the NFL, and it’s especially hard for coaches who have little influence, at times, in what actually happens on the field.
I’ll stick with the Trestman example; Trestman can call the perfect play with a route that gets Brandon Marshall wide-open across the middle of the field, but if Jay Cutler doesn’t make the pass, it doesn’t even matter.
In that scenario, Trestman becomes the fall guy because it’s much easier to replace a coach than a starting quarterback with “potential.”
Of course, I’m using Trestman because there’s like 99.7 percent chance he gets fired this offseason– I’ll get to it in the slides–and Cutler will likely be the starting quarterback of the Bears next season unless they can trade him.
It’s not a great time to be an NFL coach in the age of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. It seems like poor Jay Gruden and Mike Pettine is on ESPN every day to talk about their quarterbacks and why they suck.
Regardless of how hard it is to be a coach, the coaches need to get their teams to perform. When they don’t, they run the risk of ending up on the coaching hot seat and being fired.
So, who are the top coaches about to be fired after this season? I’ve ranked the top eight!
Next: 8. Riverboat Ron
8. “Riverboat Ron” Rivera, Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers smashed the New Orleans Saints in Week 14, but that doesn’t mean they’ve magically turned their season around.
Carolina is still 4-8-1 and has easily been one of the worst teams in the NFL this season. It’s especially disappointing considering how good Carolina was last season and finished with a 12-4 record. The Panthers missed out on a chance to go to the NFC Championship game, but they were the second-best team in the NFC for the majority of last season.
This season, however, has been a nightmare, and that start with “Riverboat Ron” Rivera. Obviously, it’s not his fault the Panthers haven’t played well, but he has to be the one to figure out how to right that wrong. That’s what he gets paid to do. Multiple times this season, Carolina has shown up uninterested and have been run off the field. In Week 13, the Panthers got beat 31-13 by the Minnesota Vikings. That can’t happen.
It’s especially painful for the Panthers because an 8-8 record would have won this division out right. 7-9 would have won the division out right. While the Panthers are still in consideration, the organization has to view this season for what it is: a massive failure.
As the coach of the Panthers, Rivera has a 29-31-1 record through Week 14 of this season. That’s not good enough.
I don’t know if Rivera gets fired this season, but I can’t say he deserves to stay, not with a three losing seasons out of his first four.
Next: 7. Sean Payton
7. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
After New Orleans’ 41-10 loss at home to the Carolina Panthers, Sean Payton’s days in New Orleans may be numbered, according Peter King of Sports Illustrated.
Personally, I think this rumor is blasphemous.
New Orleans has been absolutely terrible this season, but it’s the first time they’ve been bad under Payton’s control since 2008. That’s five seasons in a row– not counting 2012 when Payton was suspended for the Bounty Gate scandal– that the Saints have made the playoffs.
After years of irrelevancy, the Saints are seriously considering firing a coach who led them to the playoffs five years in a row as the coach but had one bad season? That doesn’t make much sense to me.
Sean Payton is the only coach to bring a Super Bowl to the New Orleans Saints, and he was there through the thick-and-thin during one of the worst natural disasters in US history. Even if just for the sentimental value, Payton deserves to stay with the team for at least another couple of seasons.
Payton’s seat is starting to heat up, though.
Next: 6. Tom Coughlin
6. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
Has there ever been a year that the Giants didn’t consider firing Tom Coughlin?
Though, after a second-straight losing season and the third-straight season in which the Giants missed the playoffs, it really does seem like the end of the road for Tom Coughlin in New York.
Honestly, I’m surprised the Giants aren’t better. They have the talent to be a decent team, but they aren’t executing, which is the exact reason I think Coughlin is done after this season.
The Giants started the season 3-2, but after Victor Cruz tore his patellar tendon in Week 6, the Giants went on to lose seven straight games before winning in Week 14.
That losing streak will ultimately cost the most famous goblin from Harry Potter his job because the Giants weren’t even competitive over that seven-game span and even lost to Jacksonville Jaguars.
Coughlin did win two Super Bowls with the Giants, but it’s time for both parties to move on.
Next: 5. Tony Sparano
5. Tony Sparano, Oakland Raiders
Tony Sparano took over as interim head coach of the Oakland Raiders after head coach Dennis Allen was fired after Week 4.
Since then, Oakland has actually made some improvements and even won two games, which came as a surprise everyone, literally everyone.
It’s widely assumed that Sparano will not be the Raiders coach by the time next season rolls around, but if he keeps getting the Raiders to play hard, I don’t know why the Raiders wouldn’t keep him around.
By all indications, Sparano isn’t a good head coach, but after all the problems the Raiders have had hiring coaches since John Gruden was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2002. From the outside, the Raiders need someone who is respected in the locker room and will get those players to play hard. The talent is there for this team, especially if Derek Carr keeps improving and doesn’t “pull a David,” which is what happens when a high draft pick turns out to be a bust. It’s named after Derek’s brother, David Carr.
I don’t think Sparano is the guy for Oakland, but he has got them two wins this season and that has to count for something.
Next: 4. Marc Trestman
4. Marc Trestman, Chicago Bears
I thought the Bears were actually going to be good, so maybe I should be fired along with Marc Trestman.
Chicago is 5-8 and has only beat one team with a winning record the whole season.
The Bears have been one of the most banged up teams in the league and haven’t found their rhythm the entire season. It’s simply been a mess, and Trestman hasn’t had any answer for their problems.
It’s not Trestman’s fault that anyone got injured, and it’s definitely not his fault most of their free agent signings on defense have been underwhelming all season.
It is Trestman’s fault, however, that the Bears have no identity. They’re basically the New York Giants of the last few seasons. They’re supposed to be a team who can air it out with Alshon Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall and pound it on the ground with Matt Forte. While all of those players are having decent seasons individually, there’s no cohesion within the offense.
The defense was always going to be mediocre while Trestman was the head coach, but if the offense isn’t any good under a guru like Trestman, what is the point of all of this for the Bears?
The Bears need an identity and a new coach.
Next: 3. Jay Gruden
3. Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins
Poor Jay Gruden. Talk about the worst situation in professional sports.
If I was Gruden, I would be begging to be fired. Everything has gone wrong this season for Gruden and literally none of it is his fault.
Robert Griffin III is in the middle of a major funk and is probably on the outs with the organization. Other than DeSean Jackson, the offense has no real threats that scare an opponent. The defense is garbage. I just can’t imagine who would want that job, and I haven’t even talked about the worst owner in professional sports, Dan Snyder.
Gruden was doomed when he took this job, and there’s no way he survives the offseason.
Next: 2. Jim Harbaugh
2. Jim Harbaugh, San Francisco 49ers
By all indications, Jim Harbaugh will not be returning as the coach of the San Francisco 49ers next season, and it honestly doesn’t make any sense to me.
I get that Harbaugh rubs guys the wrong way with his weirdo, blunt, always-mad, khaki-pants-wearing attitude, but he led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in each of his first three seasons with the team. This will be the only season the 49ers miss the playoffs under Harbaugh, and that’s because of injuries and off-the-field stuff than anything else.
Sure, Colin Kaepernick has looked awful this season and has only got worse as the season has gone on. Consider the circumstances, though. I found three:
- The offensive line is not playing half as well as they have in recent years and they haven’t had a center all season. Jonathon Goodwin, who had played center for the past three seasons, signed with New Orleans in free agency. Dan Kilgore, the replacement for Goodwin, broke his ankle early in the season.
- Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde haven’t been as effective as everyone thought they would. Call it the offensive line, or whatever, but San Francisco can’t run the ball with consistency.
- The 49ers really missed Aldon Smith, and they still miss Navarro Bowman, who hasn’t played this season after the gruesome knee injury he suffered last season.
Those three things are enough to derail your team and get the people talking about what the problems are.
As far as I’m concerned, Harabaugh is not the problem, but that doesn’t mean his job is safe.
Next: 1. Rex Ryan
1. Rex Ryan, New York Jets
Other than Jay Gruden, has there ever been a coach more set to fail than Rex Ryan this season with the New York Jets?
During his six-year tenure with the Jets, Ryan’s teams have always struggled on offense. They simply haven’t had the skilled players or quarterback to ever score enough points to consistently win games.
So, what does John Idzik, General Manager of the Jets, do?
He leaves $21 million in cap space on the table and trots out a second-year quarterback with no one for him to throw the ball to. It’s one of the biggest tank jobs the NFL has ever season.
What’s Ryan supposed to do in that situation?
I know Ryan is an outspoken, sometimes idiotic, sometimes funny football coach, and that rubs people the wrong way, but it’s not his fault this season or the last few seasons that the team has struggled this bad.
I don’t know if Ryan will survive this offseason. I’d like him to get a shot with a good offensive coordinator and actual weapons before he’s fired because his defenses have always been one of the best in the league. I want to see if he can get it done when it matters most, which is in the playoffs.
Ultimately, Idzik is the one that deserves to be fired, but there’s a good-to-great chance Ryan is the one who falls on the sword. Even if he is fired, I guarantee Ryan lands a head coaching job with another team, like the Oakland Raiders…