Before we get into what happened today, lets not forget that there are other teams that put coaches on the chopping block before the season even ended.
Miami Dolphins fire Joe Philbin (October 5)
This happened way early in the year, coming after a 1-3 start for the Fish. This was after getting blasted by the Jets over in London. The Dolphins' high-priced defense, starring off-season score Ndamukong Suh, was an undisciplined, erratic wreck to start the year. Not surprisingly, defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle was handed his walking papers shortly after Philbin. Those were a pretty big factor as to why Philbin was dumped. I'll give credit where its do to Dan Campbell, he did a good job helping the Dolphins finish the year out at 5-7 under his watch. I could see Campbell come back in town next season if possible but who knows.
Tennessee Titans fire Ken Whisenhunt (November 3)
Yeah the Titans are that bad. Think about this. Tennessee was 3-20 under Whisenhunt before he was let go after week eight. To make matters worse, if you take out their week one wins last year and this year, the Titans are just 1-20. Even with a roster in need of significant rebuilding, that's a tough sell in this league. Marcus Mariota's arrival also could not save Whisenhunt, despite Whisenhunt's reputation as a bit of a QB guru. The Titans simply were not competitive, on either side of the football. It kind of became obvious that this team wasn't very good, when they could not gain traction in a downtrodden AFC South race, which we saw this year was one of the two most pathetic division races this year (the other being the NFC East). Mariota is the key to this franchise's future, and Titans ownership understandably wants to ensure it has the right guy running the show.
Philadelphia Eagles fire Chip Kelly (December 29)
He's a good coach, but I think the writing was on the walls in Philly. Kelly's Eagles made the playoffs in his first year as head coach. He manage to take this Eagles team to the NFC East title with a 10–6 record. They followed that up by finished with the same 10–6 record in 2014, but they took a step backwards by not winning the division and missed the playoffs. Philadelphia was 6–9 this year when Kelly was fired, apparently firing the team up, because Philly won in Week 17 against the Giants under interim coach Pat Shurmur. One thing that always stuck out to me from this whole situation was that Kelly wanted, and was given, almost complete control over the franchise's personnel decisions ahead of this season. The power grab negated any work Kelly had done as coach over the 2013 and ’14 campaigns. This year, he pissed away a lot of talented players and it cost him his job. I think a lot of his moves really alienated a lot of his players, which made it hard for them to play for him.
Now here's the list of guys who got their walking papers today.
Cleveland Browns fire Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer
There's no sugar coating this thing, the Browns flat out suck (sorry to break the news to you Cleveland, but come on you know its true). Pettine posted a 10–22 record over two seasons, including 3–13 this year. Yeah that's not very good. To be fair he didn't have the greatest talent in the world to work with. Farmer was promoted from assistant GM to GM prior to the start of that tenure. Take a look at this year for a moment. The Browns’ three wins this season came against the Titans, Ravens and 49ers, all of whom will hold top-10 draft picks. Arguably, the high point of the season was a 26–23 overtime loss to the then-undefeated Broncos. There were issues all over the roster and on up through the front office, but Pettine’s inability to coax anything out of Cleveland’s defense led to his undoing as much as anything else. He spent five years as a defensive coordinator before arriving in Cleveland, four with the Jets and one in Buffalo. What made me scratch my head this year is the fact that he could never keep a steady starting QB on the field. If he had a solid, set #1 Quarterback, then he MIGHT have saved his job (but I could be wrong).
San Francisco 49ers fire Jim Tomsula
I kind of think giving a guy only a year to turn a team around is short. Then again when your in a crappy situation like San Francisco, you might be happy to be out of the situation. The team finishing the year 5-11 is what helped get Tomsula out the door, but I think there's more to it than that. You had a team that had three deep playoff runs from 2011 to 2013. The management team that lead them there were let go, that being Jim Harbaugh, offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The 49ers also saw an almost unprecedented number of key retirements last off-season: Patrick Willis, Chris Borland, Justin Smith and Anthony Davis all stepped aside (though Davis has said he may return). Instead of going out and finding somebody you know who can run an NFL team, they hire the defensive line coach (who did have head coaching experience but it clearly wasn't going to be a good fit this year). The truth is, though, that Tomsula never stood a chance.
Tom Coughlin steps down as Giants’ coach
Only Bill Belichick and Marvin Lewis have longer head coach tenures with their current teams than did Coughlin, who took the Giants’ job in 2004. He won nine games and qualified for the playoffs in 2005, en route to 102 career regular-season wins with New York. Coughlin also delivered two Super Bowls (2007 and ’11), but the Giants have missed the playoffs four straight years since that second title. Maybe Coughlin’s approach grew a little stale after a decade, this is considered an eternity in NFL coaching circles these days. Maybe embattled GM Jerry Reese set up Coughlin to fail over the past two years by allowing the Giants' defense to evaporate into nothingness. Who knows the exact reason. It should also be noted that he walked away and he was not fired.
Tom Coughlin is going to go down as probably the 2nd greatest coach the New York Giants have ever had, behind only Bill Parcells. I mean the guy did win you 102 regular season games and a pair of Super Bowls. The following shows you the class of Tom Coughlin. Here's the full statement he released today:
“I met with John Mara and Steve Tisch this afternoon, and I informed them that it is in the best interest of the organization that I step down as head coach. I strongly believe the time is right for me and my family, and as I said, the Giants organization. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as head coach of the New York Football Giants. This is a not a sad occasion for me. I have spent 15 years with this organization as an assistant and head coach and was fortunate to be part of three Super Bowl winning teams. A Lombardi Trophy every five years is an achievement in which we all take great pride. Obviously, the past three years have not been what any of us expect, and as head coach, I accept the responsibility for those seasons.
I think it has been evident these last 12 years here how much pride I take in representing this franchise. I am gratified and proud that we were able to deliver two more Lombardi trophies to the display case in our lobby during that time. That is a tribute to our players and staff, and it was truly fulfilling to be the leader of those teams. I appreciate the support of John and his family and Steve and his family, and of Jerry Reese and his staff. I think our organization is a great representation of what I mean when I talk about ‘team’. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not thank my wife Judy and our four children and their spouses and our 11 (soon to be 12) grandchildren. None of this would have been possible without their unconditional love and support.”
So we will wait and see what happens among NFL coaches from here on out.
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