Black Monday is the coldest day of the year for many coaches and GMs They are strewn across the NFL landscape like fresh road kill.
Andy Reid. Lovie Smith. Ken Whisenhunt. Norv Turner. Romeo Crennel. Chan Gailey. Pat Shurmur.
Those are just the head coaches who were kicked to the curb on Black Monday.
Most striking this time around is that five general managers were forced to walk the plank, too. In three cases -- with the Arizona Cardinals, San Diego Chargers and Cleveland Browns -- the teams double-dipped and canned the coaches and GMs.
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Goodbye, A.J. Smith, Rod Graves, Tom Heckert, Mike Tannenbaum, and Gene Smith.
In another case, with the Tennessee Titans, neither the coach nor GM were fired (yet), but the football man above them, CEO Mike Reinfelt, was given his walking papers by owner Bud Adams.
More moves surely are pending.
Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, in firing Crennel, will head the search himself for a new coach, which leaves GM Scott Pioli on shaky ground.
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The Jacksonville Jaguars fired Gene Smith, but first-year coach Mike Mularkey can hardly be assured that he'll survive when the new GM arrives.
Gailey is out in Buffalo, but GM Buddy Nix, who spent more than $100 million to upgrade a defense in free agency that got worse, must still meet with owner Ralph Wilson.
The common thread in all of these cases is what you'd expect.
It's about winning. Fast and now.
Reid once took the Eagles to five NFC title games, but that's history. He hasn't been to the playoffs in three years, out in Philadelphia after a 4-12 finish this year. So much for that "lifetime" job.
Hard-luck stories can be found in many outposts. Crennel got just one season as Todd Haley's replacement, after players lobbied for him to get the job. He drew rave reviews for his handling of the team amid the murder-suicide tragedy involving linebacker Jovan Belcher.
The Chiefs were 2-14. Gone.
A recent chat with ousted San Diego Chargers GM A.J. Smith comes to mind. The topic was job security.
"It's a bottom-line business," Smith said.
The Chargers have just missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season. So Smith, who stumbled with recent high draft picks and didn't hang on to a few other talented producers, is out the door with Turner -- fired as a head coach for the third time.
With so many GMs fired along with or instead of the coaches -- as was the case with the New York Jets, who kept coach Rex Ryan and ran Tannenbaum out -- the movement reflects increasing pressure upstairs.
Gone are the days, apparently, when GMs get to cycle through three or four head coaches. That was another generation.
In a salary cap era flush with the biggest revenues in league history, and with "football people" wielding less power, patience with GM tenures is waning.
What's evident now is that a GM had better get it right on the two most crucial hires -- the head coach and the quarterback -- or else.
And the GM may get just one crack at both -- if that. New Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said Monday that in his new order, he'll hire the coach first.
A.J. Smith might have been an exception. He lasted 10 years in the GM seat for the Chargers and had a quarterback to build around in Philip Rivers.
Yet it still wasn't enough, given other blunders.
So many of the firings on Monday, though, were linked by the common denominator of poor quarterbacking. The Jaguars, who have had a series of draft-day blunders and a few glaring cases of free agency overspending, are floundering with Blaine Gabbert.
Buffalo re-upped with Ryan Fitzpatrick, and now Gailey's gone after three years.
The Cardinals? Whisenhunt won more playoff games than any coach in franchise history and took Arizona to a Super Bowl, when he had a legit quarterback in Kurt Warner. But injury-riddled Kevin Kolb has flopped, and the replacements were even less impressive. And after plummeting to a 5-11 finish following a 4-0 start, the Cardinals missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season.
Then again, Lovie Smith had a decent quarterback in Jay Cutler.
That quarterback, it turns out, played under three offensive coordinators and never seemed to have an offensive scheme that was consistent enough to win big.
So they'll start over again. Like Whisenhunt, Smith has a Super Bowl appearance on his resume. No matter. What he didn't have was enough victories, especially after the Bears faded from a 7-1 start to miss the playoffs. Would one more win have saved his job? Smith is the rare coach to get fired after a 10-win season.
Then again, Marty Schottenheimer was fired by the Chargers following the 2006 season after 14-2 campaign resulted in an early playoff exit.
It's a cold business. Especially on Black Monday, which for many NFL coaches and GMs is the coldest day of the year.
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Jon Gruden, former Buccaneers head coach: Gruden's name has been floated around for just about every NFL vacancy and high-profile college gig since Tampa Bay fired him after the 2008 season. The ESPN analyst reportedly will speak to teams, and some possible landing spots include Philadelphia and San Diego.
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Jim Caldwell, Ravens offensive coordinator: Caldwell took the Colts to the Super Bowl in his first season as head coach. He was promoted to offensive coordinator late in the 2012 season.
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Kyle Shanahan, Redskins offensive coordinator: The 33-year-old certainly has had a lifetime of experience under his father and will likely get a head coaching opportunity at some point thanks to his work with the young Skins offense. A team looking for a bright offensive mind (Chicago, Kansas City?) could be the best fit if that time comes in 2013.
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Joe DeCamillis, Cowboys special teams coach: Even though his unit had several high-profile screwups this season, DeCamillis was courted by the Raiders for their assistant head coaching job last season (the Cowboys denied permission) and might be a darkhorse candidate by some team looking for an unconventional hire.
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Todd Haley, Steelers offensive coordinator: Haley was 19-26 in Kansas City from 2009-2011, guiding the Chiefs to the playoffs in 2010.
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Jack Del Rio, Broncos defensive coordinator: Del Rio was 68-71 from 2003-2011 as Jacksonville's head coach, leading the Jaguars to postseason appearances. His work transforming the Broncos defense into one of the league's best will surely make him a hot candidate.
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Josh McDaniels, Patriots offensive coordinator: McDaniels didn't make it through two seasons as Denver's head coach, returning to the Patriots in 2012. The 36-year-old is still highly regarded, but count him out of the Bears job given his history with Jay Cutler.
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Andy Reid, former Eagles head coach: Reid has indicated that he’d like to coach in 2013 but it might be better for him to take a year off to recharge after a grueling year on and off the field. San Diego would probably be an ideal landing spot for the Southern California native but the Chargers may not have mutual interest.
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Mike McCoy, Broncos offensive coordinator: After adjusting his team’s gameplan to suit Tim Tebow (and win) and then revamping for Peyton Manning, the 40-year-old McCoy is one of the hottest candidates out there. He’s never been a head coach, but Chicago has reportedly already requested an interview and several other teams will likely follow.
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Lovie Smith, former Bears coach: Smith is out in Chicago after a 10-6 season and may find an organization happy to pursue someone with his career bonafides. Smith would be a bigger name than any of the Bills’ recent hires and Arizona might kick the tires as well.
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Doug Marrone, Syracuse head coach: The former Saints offensive coordinator has turned the Orange football program around and is seen as similar to Tampa Bay’s Greg Schiano, who wrapped up his first year in the NFL after bolting Rutgers. With only seven openings, Marrone will have to really wow in interviews to get a job over other potential college guys like Chip Kelly or Nick Saban.
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Nick Saban, Alabama head coach: If Saban wins another national title, there’s always a chance that he might decide that he wants another shot at winning a Super Bowl. The former defensive coordinator in Cleveland under Bill Belichick, Saban is likely to at least get a few call from new owner Jimmy Haslam to gauge his interest.
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Bill O’Brien, Penn State head coach: O’Brien, the former offensive coordinator in New England, is reportedly high on Cleveland and Philadelphia’s wish lists. Any team who gets him would likely have to pay Penn State a hefty buyout fee to get him out of his contract, which automatically extended to 2020 after the school was hit with NCAA sanctions this summer.
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Chip Kelly, Oregon head coach: Kelly has gone to BCS bowls in each of his four seasons leading the Ducks, but many question whether or not his spread-option offense would translate to the NFL. Still, he'll probably get some calls from teams looking to mane a splash.
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Winston Moss, Packers assistant head coach/linebackers coach: Moss was considered the early front-runner for the Oakland Raiders job last January, which eventually went to Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. He may get a look in Buffalo.
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Jay Gruden, Bengals offensive coordinator: His brother will get most of the press but Jay Gruden could also be in line for several head jobs after helping mentor the Bengals young offense to two consecutive playoff berths. Cleveland, Buffalo and Philadelphia could all have him on their radar.
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Perry Fewell, Giants defensive coordinator: The Giants defense has been maddeningly inconsistent under Fewell, but he could get a look in Buffalo, where he was offensive coordinator for four years and the interim head coach at the end of 2009.
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Vic Fangio, 49ers defensive coordinator: Under Fangio’s direction, the 49ers defense has become one of the best in the NFL. He’d be a little old (at 54) for a first-time head coaching job but the eastern Pennsylvania native might be an appealing fit to the Eagles, who’ll look to reestablish their defense.
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Bruce Arians, Colts offensive coordinator: Arians served as interim head coach while Chuck Pagano was away and the Colts went from 2-14 to the postseason. His work with Andrew Luck this year could make him a good candidate for the Chiefs, who hold the No. 1 pick.
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Kirk Ferentz, Iowa head coach: The Hawkeyes are 100-74 in Ferentz's 14 years at the helm. Rumors have circulated tying Ferentz to the now-vacant Chiefs job.
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Brian Billick, former Ravens head coach: Billick hasn't coached since 2007, but his name always seems to get floated around.
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Bob Stoops, Oklahoma head coach: In Norman since 1999, Stoops has no NFL experience and has frequently turned down potential opportunities to make the jump. Only he knows whether his mindset has changed. Stoops did grow up near Cleveland in Youngstown, Ohio, so it would make sense that the Browns might see where his head’s at.
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Brian Kelly, Notre Dame head coach: Kelly has never coached in the NFL, and is unlikely to leave South Bend. Still, Kelly has been known to jump ship if a better offer comes up.
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Mike Zimmer, Bengals defensive coordinator: Now in his fifth season in Cincinnati, Zimmer was a candidate to get his first head-coaching job in both Indianapolis and Tampa Bay last year. Zimmer’s proven NFL pedigree could put him in the running somewhere like Buffalo.
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Mike Holmgren, former Browns president: Holmgren, who hasn't coached since 2008, has left the Browns organization and will probably get a call for some team looking to make a safe hire.
Mark Duncan, AP Related story Fullscreen ![None]()
Rick Dennison, Texans offensive coordinator: The former Broncos player and assistant was among the early names for Denver’s vacancy two years ago and may get some attention depending on how the Texans’ playoff run ends up.
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Bill Cowher, former Steelers head coach: Cowher has been out of coaching since 2006, but his name will probably come up for the Eagles job.
Nick Ut, AP Related story Fullscreen ![None]()
Mike Nolan, Falcons defensive coordinator: Nolan was 18-37 in three and a half years as the 49ers head coach but could get another opportunity somewhere due to his guiding of the Falcons defense.
Greg Trott, Getty Images Related story
