It must be difficult to make the decision to fire an NFL head coach.
It doesn’t look like it, from the outside. But it must be tough.
To make that call and pull the plug on someone you once considered worthy of leading your franchise and start again. To admit, in a way, that you were wrong.
Because at some point the owners or management stood up in front of the media and talked at length about why coach x was the best man for the job. Why he could lead the team back to its former glory.
In the modern era of the sport, coaches are fired with such regularity that quite often they don’t last long enough to put together their own roster or install their own system.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula lasted one bad season in northern California before he was fired this month. Less than a year ago, after Tomsula was named head coach, 49ers management had this to say.
“After conducting a thorough coaching search, and meeting with a number of outstanding candidates, Jim Tomsula clearly is the right man to lead this team,” 49ers CEO Jed York said.
“Jim is a great teacher and a tremendous mentor who conducts himself with great class and integrity.”
“Our organisation is excited to have Jim Tomsula leading this football team,” 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said.
“We have had the privilege of working alongside Jim for the past eight seasons. He is a proven leader, teacher and mentor, and we look forward to seeing him apply his craft and vision to our team.”
That was January 14, 2015. I guess a lot changed that year.
As well as Tomsula, Chip Kelly is out of Philly after some big gambles blew up in his face. The Browns have a revolving door system in place for their head coaching position.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans aren’t much better. It’s a cut-throat business. As cut-throat as they come and the ‘win now’ attitude is only intensifying.
As Pro Football Focus points out: in 2014, seven new NFL coaches were hired. Four of those coaches have made the playoffs, and the other three have been fired.
That’s life for a coach in today’s NFL: you’d better win quickly because you won’t get time to build a team slowly.
(The exception to the rule is Mr 8-8 Jeff Fisher, who must have nude photos of someone at St Louis headquarters.)
But there are some coaches who seemingly can’t get fired. I’m talking about those who have won a Super Bowl with that franchise.
Tom Coughlin helped bring two Lombardi trophies to New York during his 12 years at the helm of the Giants. But in between were seasons of mediocrity. Between 2006 and this season the Giants made the playoffs three times. They won two titles.
The other years they were a combined 46-50. Do you think if any other coach, save for those Super Bowl winners we talked about, produced a winning percentage similar to that then they would be continually given more chances?
No, of course not. Every now and then, after a particularly poor season, there were whispers Coughlin might be on the outer in New York. But they quickly dissipated and he kept on coaching.
Because it’s hard to fire a Super Bowl champion head coach. Just ask the Saints, who recently re-signed Sean Payton despite two sub-par seasons. Or John Harbough, who has now finished third in the AFC North three straight seasons since winning the title with the Ravens.
In fact, you have to go back to John Gruden, who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first season in 2002 to find a coach who won a title and then was later fired.
The others have either retired or resigned. Because franchises have a real problem sacking a mentor who brought them a title.
First there is the potential backlash from the fan-base. But more importantly, there is the fear of firing a coach when he could be on the cusp of winning you another title. He’s done it before, why can’t he do it again?
So Coughlin remained in place in New York during four ordinary seasons. That was until last week when he announced he was resigning. It must have been a huge relief for Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch.
The decision was taken out of their hands. They won two titles with Coughlin and can now make a clean break. There has been a lot of talk about where Coughlin, the league’s oldest coach, might end up. He’s reported to be meeting with Philadelphia, an intriguing marriage if it were to occur.
But if Coughlin does indeed decide to continue coaching, he should head somewhere else.
The Eagles are officially in a rebuilding phase after the Chip Kelly nightmare year and need to make a decision about retaining or releasing Sam Bradford and Demarco Murray. That’s too much of a headache for Coughlin, who might share the NFL ownership mantra of ‘win now’ at this point of his career.
So what about Cincinnati instead? The Bengals look set to fire Marvin Lewis after that disaster of a Wild Card game against Pittsburgh on Sunday (AEST).
Lewis is now 0-7 in the playoffs with the Bengals and it might be time to cut the cord. If so, Coughlin could be a good fit. He’s a leader and considered a player-coach, someone who has a great bond with his players. He could be good for Andy Dalton, for that insubordinate but talented Bengals defence.
The Bengals looked the goods for much of the year, but fell apart towards the end. Give Coughlin a few years and he could win you a title. He’d be happy with that.
If it doesn’t work out then fire him. It should be easy. It’s not like he’s won you a title.
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