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Friday’s coaching news brings hot seats into better focus
Posted by Mike Florio on December 30, 2017
With three teams making it known on Friday that their coaches won’t be getting fired after the last game of the season, the list of hot spots is shrinking. But they’re also becoming more glaring, since it would have been easy for other teams to say that they won’t be firing their coaches before Week 17.
So with the Redskins reportedly keeping Jay Gruden and the Jets extending Todd Bowles and the Bucs telling Dirk Koetter he won’t be supplanted by Jon Gruden (for now), other guys are left to wonder whether they’ll be leading their teams into action for the last time.
Here’s a list of the coaches who remain on the hot seat, with no eleventh-hour effort to give them a reprieve.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis: His contract expires after Week 17. Though he has addressed his future status and plans several times, the Bengals haven’t said a word about whether they want him back.
Colts coach Chuck Pagano: He delivered what was interpreted by some to be a farewell address this week. Ownership has said or done nothing to contradict the widespread belief that Pagano will be out after six years.
Texans coach Bill O’Brien: O’Brien has said he’s not quitting, but the Texans haven’t said they aren’t firing him. There’s a belief that O’Brien will be back without an extension on a contract with one year remaining, as each side waits for the other side to be the one to end a relationship that remains dysfunctional.
Titans coach Mike Mularkey: Some believe that a failure to make it to the playoffs means he won’t be back. The Titans have said nothing to push back against this possibility.
Raiders coach Jack Del Rio: Believed as of a week ago to be a 50-50 shot at sticking around, owner Mark Davis has not declared that Del Rio definitely will return in 2018.
Broncos coach Vance Joseph: Eight double-digit losses and four losses by 20 or more points could mean that Joseph will be one and done in Denver. G.M. John Elway has said he’ll wait until after the season before making any final decisions. A day before the finale, Joseph’s fate already may be sealed.
Bears coach John Fox: If Fox weren’t out after three disappointing seasons on the job, someone with the Bears surely would have said so by now.
Lions coach Jim Caldwell: Ownership and G.M.
Bob Quinn declined to comment on Caldwell’s status after last week’s postseason-killing loss to the Bengals. Their silence since then has become even more deafening.
Not on this list is Browns coach Hue Jackson, because ownership has said publicly and privately that Jackson will be back. However, a loss on Sunday means an 0-16 season. Which could make it even easier for new G.M. John Dorsey to make a case for change.
That leaves the current list of potential new members of the FFCA at nine. With an asterisk for the surprise firing/resignation/retirement that always seems to happen.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/12/30/giants-looking-for-experienced-coach/
Giants looking for experienced coach
Posted by Mike Florio on December 30, 2017
The best way to conclude a search in the preferred destination is to set the parameters of the process accordingly. And if the Giants have predetermined that Eagles defensive coordinator
Jim Schwartz will be the next head coach of the team, the best way to get there is to make it known that the Giants want to hire a coach with experience.
That’s precisely what they’ve done. Via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY, co-owner John Mara said Friday that the team is looking for a coach who
has been a head coach in the past. At a minimum, the Giants want someone who “has been a coordinator for a significant period of time.”
Schwartz fits both bills, thriving as a defensive coordinator in Tennessee, Buffalo, and Philadelphia. And then there’s the fact that he coached the Lions for five years. Sure, the team went 29-52 on his watch. But he inherited an 0-16 squad that had few bright spots on it.
Vacchiano lists other potential candidate who fit the parameters, from Texans coach Bill O’Brien (if he doesn’t stay in Houston) to Patriots offensive coordinator/former Broncos coach Josh McDaniels (the thinking in league circles is that he won’t take the job if it’s offered to him) to Buccaneers defensive coordinator/former Falcons coach Mike Smith to Steelers offensive coordinator/former Chiefs coach Todd Haley (who for whatever reason can’t generate interest in a second stint) to Vikings offensive coordinator/former Browns coach Pat Shurmur (whose 9-23 record in Cleveland suddenly looks pretty damn good) to pipe-dream candidates like Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban.
The hiring of Gettleman on Thursday means that interviews can commence as of Monday with Schwartz, McDaniels, Haley, and (if the Vikings secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC) Shurmur. Which suggests that the Giants hired Gettleman on Thursday so that they could get a jump on talking to one or more of those four. Which continues to point the compass in the stock toward Schwartz.
Of course, it’s no surprise that the Giants want a coach with experience. Most teams who have just fired a coach typically look for a replacement who is in one or more ways the opposite of the guy who just got dumped. Ben McAdoo was not previously a head coach, and he’d spent only a couple of years as a coordinator before getting the promotion.
