Black Monday was rough on several coaches, as expected. From top to bottom, obvious to least expected:
• Marvin Lewis - Well liked by many people, he never won a playoff game, and too many teams under-performed.
• Dirk Koetter - Promoted from OC to HC, he never did much in three seasons.
• Steve Wilks - Only one season, Wilks position didn't seem stable even before week 1. The worst record in NFL did him in.
• Vance Joseph - While the players really liked him, impatient and intolerant management did not. More on this below. He should fairly easily get a DC or college job.
• Todd Bowles - His calmness gave the Jets some decent play but the team never got over the hump with him at the helm. I'd be really surprised if he doesn't fairly quickly land a DC, or college job.
• Adam Gase - Once a boy wonder and QB guru who learned under Mike Martz, he made QBs Josh McCown and Brock Osweiller look quite good. But he never was able to string together enough wins, and supposedly rubbed enough people the wrong way. I have to wonder if the dismal loss to Buffalo was the coup de gras, or knee jerk reaction. Either way, to fire someone for political reasons is as bad as firing someone for not being a yes man if that's what happened.
Now, what isn't said here is management. I think the case in Denver may be most obvious. John Elway, as great of a player he was, seems to have unrealistic exceptions, and made several poor decisions himself about bringing QBs in to lead a team. While he did snare Peyton Manning, and PM did play quite well a few years (under Gase!), though at a very high cost (one Elway seemed to be oblivious to), the team he lead really won a SB on defense. Elway was the one who thought Paxton Lynch was the solution. He stuck with him even when Trevor Siemian was the only alternate option then seemed to pretend that situation wasn't his fault. Then brought in Case Keenum, who, outside of one really nice year on a deep Viking team, had been average his entire career.
But I'd also like to know what kind of accountability management will take in Arizona. They are the ones who brought in Sam Bradford, who can't move much anymore, and for whatever the reason, couldn't throw the ball downfield much anymore. They also did nothing to set-up Josh Rosen to succeed, as if still having the great Larry Fitzgerald around was enough. Now, they need OL help, in a heavy defensive laden draft.
And how was Doug Marrone allowed to keep his job in Jacksonville? Was that team's problems really all Blake Bortles fault? It also looks like the team will not retain Fourette, and is trying to dump Jalen Ramsey, so they look to do some sort of rebuild, but are they really good doing it under Marrone? Maybe they looked at the alternatives, and didn't see anyone they liked on the horizon? Maybe they think Pops McLaughlin can simply do magic with personnel decisions.
How exactly did Jet GM Mike Maccagnan shift all the blame for the team's woes to Todd Bowles? The team has been stacked with mediocre talent for some time, and barely gave Sam Darnold time to grow under Bowles. My understanding is that Chris Johnson has a hand's off mindset as the chairman (co-owner) of the team, and his first thought is to support and encourage the players, but he also has to look at the big picture.
I'll also make the argument that the Radiers never should have fired Jack DelRio. The team was considerably worse and more dysfunctional under Gruden, and DelRio not only took them to the playoffs, still played respectable in 2017 with Carr hurt much of the time. I was also never fully sold on Reggie McKenzie, who had one good draft, but they just hired...Mike Maycock as the new GM?? Yes, the TV analyst you'd often see on draft day. From what I can tell he was once a player long ago with a short career, but has zero office experience, zero coaching experience, none, not even in college as a scout.
Of course, Washington is maybe the worst managed team in the NFL. But what they need is a new owner.
Having typed all that, my gut tells me every team I just typed will finish under 500 next season and miss the playoffs. It's like we're looking at a lot of losing teams, who simply taking continued action of what made them a losing team in the first place. This is another example why a team like the Steelers or Seahawks have been so successful. They run into some bumps, emotional people say the coach is done, has lost the team after a few losses or missing the playoffs one year, but the ship gets righted, and the winning returns.
I'll write about some potential hirings later.