Firing NFL Coaches Midseason Rarely Works

Albert Breer - SportingNews.com

In the NFL, "Black Monday" arrives the day after the season ends and pink slips rain on the league's coaches.

This year, things might be getting dark earlier. And the ineptitude of a cadre of teams is just one reason for the pending bloodshed.

First, with the remarkable 2008 debuts of Mike Smith, Tony Sparano and John Harbaugh, and '09 neophytes Rex Ryan and Josh McDaniels in first place now, the waiting period for success shrunk. Second, the 49ers' example -- where Mike Singletary was installed in midseason last year, setting the foundation for this season's renaissance -- looms over those struggling coaches.

"I don't agree with it," former NFL general manager Charley Casserly said. "Football's not like other sports -- you can't just change things midstream. You have too many players, too many coaches, a system. Maybe if you have your next coach on staff, you want to let him be in charge, running the meetings, practice. But that's rare."

Along with Singletary, Casserly cited Marty Schottenheimer as another example of an assistant coach taking over in midseason, taking the reins in Cleveland in the middle of the '84 season.

The Browns made the move because they knew Schottenheimer would become a head coach and figured that waiting to promote him from defensive coordinator didn't make sense. Cleveland made the playoffs the following year and went to the first of three AFC title games in four years in 1986.

Normally, the pitfalls of such a move prevent midseason firings. Here are three concerns any team might have before pulling the trigger:

• You'll likely lose the interim coach, unless you permanently promote him after the season. If you give a valued coordinator the top job, there rarely is any going back. He can be a coordinator elsewhere but usually not in that place again.

• There's the chance the situation turns ugly and could influence potential free agents to a) depart or b) stay away. Casserly, though, did say that players would be a peripheral concern. "Players have short memories," he said. "They get over things quickly and say, 'OK, you made a change, now is the next guy better?' "

• The fans, rightly, will see a midseason firing as a sign of surrender. The players might not quit, but it looks like the front office has given up hope. If in a market where ticket sales are a struggle, this can be a factor. 

The upside? The list of coaches-on-sabbatical is as long and prestigious as it ever has been.

Super Bowl champions like Jon Gruden, Mike Holmgren and Bill Cowher are out there. And some teams -- we're looking at you, Redskins -- might see a midseason firing as an avenue to get a head start on the market.

The possible places where heads could roll soon:

Buffalo Bills

After a blowout loss in Miami and a home defeat to lowly Cleveland, the Bills seem to be in disrepair. Dick Jauron is on watch. The problem is the team fired its offensive coordinator a week before the season and might not have anyone ready to assume the role. The two naturals, presumably, would be special teams coach Bobby April and defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.

So Jauron might get a chance to right the ship. He also understands why people would blame him for steering it off course.

"I clearly haven't been able to reach them, to help them particularly in these last three games to get them over the hump to get us where we win," Jauron said Monday. "So, yeah, I understand that criticism."

Oakland Raiders

Firing the coach here would be a little bit like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. But the Raiders might be forced to, if Tom Cable's legal issue with ex-assistant Randy Hanson continues to escalate.

And then, there's Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce saying on Sirius NFL Radio that Sunday's beatdown of Oakland "felt like a scrimmage, felt like a practice."

Good as the Giants are, the Raiders players looked like they'd thrown in the towel on the season. If Cable is fired, Oakland could turn to quarterbacks coach Paul Hackett for the rest of the season.

Washington Redskins

Sherm Lewis' arrival last week as an offensive consultant might have cleared the path for Jim Zorn's firing. Lewis could be named head coach or run the offense if defensive coordinator Greg Blache is elevated.

The problem in Washington, though, appears to be more organizational than directly related to one person. "I don't know if we've got the right personnel here to do it," is the way DeAngelo Hall explained it to the D.C. media. 

Which is to say the franchise has been through so many coaches it's worth considering pointing the finger elsewhere. 

Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.

----

More football news

More sport news

Sports home

Copyright 2012 by SportingNews.com