For NFL clubs that are doing great, there is cause for celebration. Sadly, like some NFL clubs and players things aren’t going so well. As the losses pile up, disgruntled fans and the media start pointing fingers. More often than not, it’s the most expendable team member who winds up in the cross hairs: The Head Coach.
NFL coaches who are mere moments away from getting their pink slips:
Greg Schiano, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano just made an absolute mess in Tampa. The fact that the Buccaneers are coming out of their bye week at 0-4 would probably be enough to land Schiano in hot water, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Schiano’s relationship with former quarterback Josh Freeman deteriorated to the point that the team released the former first-round pick last Thursday. That came on the heels of reports that Schiano had alienated several Bucs players with his hard-nosed coaching style, including star cornerback Darrelle Revis, who the team acquired in the offseason.
In fact, one Bucs player said on Schiano’s chances of losing his job, “Unless we start winning games ASAP, absolutely. There’s too much goshdarn talent in our locker room for us to keep losing.”
Indeed, Schiano is in danger of losing the locker room, which is on par with such revelations as “Bobby Petrino could leave Atlanta” or “Steve Spurrier has some issues in Washington”.
Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers
With a 13-19 record in two seasons as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Ron Rivera wasn’t exactly standing on the thickest of ice to begin with entering the 2013 season.
In fact, as the Panthers were preparing to face the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, it was reported that the Panthers have begun doing background checks on potential replacements for Rivera. An embarrassing 22-6 loss to the Cardinals and an offense in disarray isn’t helping his chances of sticking around.
Hot seat plus thin ice equals sunken coach.
Leslie Frazier, Minnesota Vikings
Leslie Frazier is doing whatever he can to get the most out of his talented team. The Minnesota Vikings head coach has floundered under the postseason expectations and has found difficulties getting his team’s aerial game going.
To add to his problems, he has a quarterback situation to handle with three good ones that has shown they can start anytime. Good for him that the Vikes had a bye this week, plenty of time for him to figure everything out before everything goes down… way down.
Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
It appears that even the best of NFL coaches would be under the hot seat, no matter how successful they were.
Coaches like Andy Reid, Tom Landry and Mike Ditka wore out in teams where they are most successful in.
It looks like Tom Coughlin will soon be joining them.
The New York Giants are sliding on a trash chute right now. It has gone horribly wrong. The offense is terrible. The defense is getting putrid.
At least, the Giants are, in theory, only two games out of first place in a weak NFC East.
Yet, the thought of the Giants as being a playoff teams is far far away right now. Chances are if Coughlin is not let go on 2013, most likely he will be in 2014.
Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Speaking of dumpster fires, how about those Pittsburgh Steelers? The Steelers used the bye week to try to right the ship after a winless September that left head coach Mike Tomlin fuming.
The Steelers then shopped to improve a leaky offensive line by trading for struggling left tackle Levi Brown, who ranks near the bottom of the NFL at his position.
The Brown deal was symbolic of a franchise in panic-mode, clinging to the hope that they can still contend rather than going on full-on rebuild.
Like Coughlin, Tomlin is a Super Bowl winner, but if Pittsburgh’s death-spiral continues the Steelers may well decide to start from scratch in 2014.
It may not make sense to fire Tomlin now, but stranger things have happened.
Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys head coach went from wanting to hug Tony Romo to wanting to strangle him in about 30 seconds on Sunday. Had Romo and the Cowboys pulled out a win over the Denver Broncos, it would have been the sort of signature victory that could have put the Cowboys on a collision course with an NFC East title. However, Romo threw a late interception, Dallas came up just short, and for many people the game is a microcosm of Garrett’s tenure in Dallas: Good, but not good enough.
Team owner Jerry Jones called the loss a “moral victory,” according to Clarence Hill of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Unfortunately, “moral victories” does not reflect on the win column, and because of Jones’ impatience, he will likely to be let go if the Cowboys don’t win the NFC East.
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