Black Monday Hits NFL

As a coach in any sport, its something you never want to hear. You had a year or so at the helm of a sports team and then, all of a sudden, you are now out of a job. Its never a fun experience, whether you're a coach, a construction worker, or have any other job for that matter. Nobody likes to lose their jobs. For coaches, it could be something that could be self inflicted. It could mean that he had nothing to do with how the season went. Either way, as a coach, its never fun to lose your job. It happens every year, the first Monday after the end of the regular season. Coaches, and General Managers as well, will get the ax for how things went. This year, a lot of new coach openings took place before the end of the season, so this is somewhat considered a light day for coach firings as we have had by comparison to seasons past. That being said, here's a look at the coaches that are looking for new jobs, and teams that are looking for new coaches.

San Diego Chargers fire Mike McCoy
This just didn't go very well for McCoy in San Diego this season. The first couple of years went well for McCoy in San Diego. He wen't 9-7 and lead the Chargers to a wild card spot. The next year, the same exact record, 9-7, but this one wasn't good enough for a playoff spot. Then, the wheels fell off the last two seasons. San Diego slipped to 4–12 and 5–11 in McCoy's final two seasons with the club, giving him an overall mark of 27–36.Yeah, that's not good, and it looks even worse when you look at how well the first two seasons went. Some of the biggest problems the Chargers had were the trouble closing out close games late and getting hit with injuries. The biggest sign that McCoy could be in trouble came in the first week of the season, when San Diego was 27-10 against KC, only to lose the game in overtime, 33-27.

Now the question is, who is the best to take over the head coaching job for San Diego?  Some names that are being thrown around for the job are: Jim Schwartz, Sean McDermott, Dave Toub, Austin, Matt Patricia, Kyle Shanahan, and Josh McDaniels. The one name it sounds like that could be the best fit would possibly be Matt Patricia. He's got a good defensive mind, which is something that the Chargers could really use some help with.

San Francisco 49ers fire Chip Kelly, General Manager Trent Baalke
It alomst doesn't seem right for Chip Kelly to be coaching in the NFL. Look some coaches are made to be coaching in the best football league in the world. Others are more suited to coach in the college ranks rather then in the pros. Kelly, I don't think, can really be able to coach in the NFL and would probably be better off going back to college. San Francisco finished just 2–14 this season, with their only two wins coming against the Rams. They also featured one of the worst run defenses in NFL history. The defense in San Francisco was just bad, and some of that could be connected to the high octane offense that Kelly likes to run. San Francisco's offense can't stay on the field for very long, meaning that more is relied on the defense, which means that the defense will run out of gas faster.

Baalke’s run at GM, which began ahead of the 2011, included a successful breakthrough early on. He did a good job at the start, as the 49ers improved from 6–10 to 13–3 in his first season. Then advanced to the Super Bowl the following year. But Baalke then pushed Jim Harbaugh out of his coaching post and replaced him with Jim Tomsula, who, like Kelly, lasted just a year. That's not exactly a good thing. To be fair, Baalke lasted a little bit longer in town then Kelly did.

So now, if your the 49ers, what are you going to do at this point? First things first, you need to hire a GM, which is going to be a tough sell, as well as head coach, because of how tough things are with all the drama going on in San Francisco. Here's some of the names that are going thrown around in San Francisco: San Francisco R=requested interviews with Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, Bills interim coach Anthony Lynn. Harold Goodwin, Matt Patricia, Teryl Austin, Jim Schwartz, David Shaw, and Mike Shanahan are other names that are being thrown around as possible intervies for this job.

Gary Kubiak resigns as Denver Broncos Head Coach
This was one of the more interesting moves that took place on Black Monday. I mean think about it, the guy went 12-4 during the regular season last year, got into the playoffs and won the Super Bowl. Now, in year two, it didn't go as well. Denver lost four of its final five games, finished the year at 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Now, for the record, Kubiak wasn't fired at all from this job, he stepped down on his own terms. It was health issues that lead to wanting to leave the position. He just couldn't take the coaching pressure anymore I guess.

Now the question is, who's next to take over as coach in Denver? There are a few names that have been thrown around for the job: Denver has requested an interview with Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan. Other potential names thrown around for an interview are Teryl Austin, Vance Joseph, Darrell Bevell, Jim Bob Cooter, and Anthony Lynn. Kyle Shanahan maybe the best fit to take over as coach in Denver. The reason Shanahan might be the best fit is because of what he has been able to do with Matt Ryan. Denver doesn't feel really comfortable with the quarterback right now, and Shanahan maybe able to best help develop him under center. They have weapons on offense in Denver, they just need to get the quarterback comfortable and Shanahan is probably the best fit to help him out and get the offense clicking.

Then we have other coaches who were let go before the season even ended.

Los Angeles Rams fire Jeff Fisher
In Jeff Fisher's time in St. Louis/Los Angeles, he was asked to try and turn around a 2-14 football team. Well in four years, he was never able to do that, never finishing with a record above .500. Fisher finished his time as Rams coach with a record of 31-45-1. He is now 173-165-1 all-time, tied for the most coaching losses in NFL history. One of the biggest problems that Fisher had was quarterback. I mean look at the number of quarterbacks that the Rams have gone through with him at the helm: Sam Bradford, Kellen Clemens, Austin Davis, Shaun Hill, Nick Foles and finally Case Keenum. It wasn't just the quarterback. The line wasn't very good and Todd Gurley was average at best.

Now, if you're the Rams, what do you do with the position? Well, there have been a few names tossed around for the job. Requested interviews for the Rams are with Cardinals OC Harold Goodwin, Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan, Buffalo interim coach Anthony Lynn, Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, Patriots DC Matt Patricia, Washington OC Sean McVay, Jacksonville's Doug Marrone. Other potential names for the job are Jon Gruden, David Shaw, Sean Payton. It will be interesting to see where the Rams decide to go with this job.

Jacksonville Jaguars fire Gus Bradley
Jacksonville has a ton of talent on their football team, they really do if you look at it. Things just never really seemed to click with Gus Bradley running the ship. In four years as head coach of this Jacksonville squad, Bradley won a total of 14 games. Yes you did read that number correctly. During that time frame, Jacksonville never more than five in any one season.  His .226 overall win percentage (14–48) is one of the worst in NFL history. Rather amazingly, despite those numbers, this will be the first season under Bradley’s watch that the Jaguars finish in last place in the AFC South. Which goes to show how weak that division really is. There has been so much wrong with the Jaguars that it would take way too long to really dive into the problems with this team to accurately describe what happened in Jacksonville. One of the biggest things that you can put your finger on, is that he lost the locker room, and his players weren't really trusting of him. That can't happen in this league.

Now, the big question is: Who's gonna take over as coach in Jacksonville? There have been quite a few names thrown around. Jacksonville has already requested interviews with Cardinals OC Harold Goodwin, Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan. Other potential names for the Jaguars job include Tom Coughlin, Matt Patricia, Doug Marrone, Sean Payton. Josh mcDaniels, from the Patriots, amybe the best fit for the Jags, as his experience, both as a head coach and within the Patriots’ organization, give him a leg up.

Buffalo Bills fire Rex Ryan
Buffalo didn't work out quite the way Rex wanted. he went 8-8 in his first year and was 7-8 before his firing this year, as Buffalo finished the season 7-9, missing the playoffs both years. Its been quite some time since the Bills made the playoffs, 17 years to be exact. Fans in Buffalo are growing a little aggravated waiting for their team to play playoff football again. And it seemed like no matter what Rex was able to do as head coach, nothing ever really seemed to click at the right time. The offense would be playing good, but the defense would suck, and if the defense was playing well, the offense would suck. That's just the way it seemed to go under Rex. So he was dismissed.

Now what do you do if you are the Bills? Well, there are a few options. Buffalo already scheduled an interview with Cardinals OC Harold Goodwin. They have also requested to speak to Panthers DC Sean McDermott. Other potential names to land in Buffalo are Anthony Lynn, Tom Coughlin, Teryl Austin, Todd Haley, Kyle Shanahan, Josh McDaniels, and Sean McVay.

Only time will tell what coach is going to land with what organization, but I can tell you one thing. It's going to be fun to watch to see who ends up where.