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Tag: nfl coaches fired

  • Lovie Smith Hired As Coach Of Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    After a slew of coaches were fired earlier this week, some teams have already started to hire the replacements. After a number of years with Chicago Bears, Lovie Smith has been hired as the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

    Lovie Smith served as the head coach for the Chicago Bears from 2004 to 2012, and in his tenure as coach, he took them to one Super Bowl, in 2006.

    While other teams have begun the interview process, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wasted no time in finding their next head coach.

    He comes in to replace Greg Schiano, who was fired this week during the black Monday firings, an event which saw several coaches lose their jobs on Monday.

    Before taking the job with Tampa Bay, Smith also interviewed with the Houston Texans. The Detroit Lions had interest in him as well after firing Jim Schwartz, but the Bucs made sure that he did not make it to Detroit, and as a result, he will be the head coach of Tampa Bay in 2014.

    It was reported that the Lovie Smith was the leading candidate to become the next coach of the Buccaneers, despite other coaches who might be interested in the job. He will also be returning to a team where he served as the linebackers coach from 1996 to 2000.

    The key firings that occurred on Monday involved the coaches of the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions.

    Of course, with the disappointments that the Houston Texans faced this season, they were forced to fire Gary Kubiak weeks ago.

    Following the departure of Rob Chudzinski, Josh McDaniels was reported to have set up an interview with the Cleveland Browns.

    Lovie Smith achieved a record of 81-63 in his nine seasons as the head coach of the Bears. With great success in Chicago, and after building a foundation around his defense, Smith will look to improve a Tampa Bay team that has continued to struggle in recent years.

    Does Lovie Smith have what it takes to turn the Buccaneers around? As the first new coach to be hired, he will have plenty of time to get to know the team, and get himself acquainted with the players, building a stronger team to compete in the 2014 season.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Black Monday Brings Bad News For 5 NFL Coaches

    With the end of the NFL regular season comes the dreaded Black Monday. Which coaches will get the call that their services are no longer needed? Will certain star college coaches be given a chance to step up to the elite level that is the National Football League? Or will the canned coaches, with their less than stellar performances, simply be shuffled around to different teams? The likely scenario is a combination of the two.

    The 2013 season’s Black Monday said goodbye to five head coaches: Washington’s Mike Shanahan, Minnesota’s Leslie Frazier, Tampa Bay’s Greg Schiano, Detroit’s Jim Schwartz and Cleveland’s Rob Chudzinski. The Houston Texans didn’t wait until Monday to fire their head coach; they released Gary Kubiak late in the season. The only silver lining for the Texans horrible season is that their 2-14 record buys them the top pick in the upcoming draft.

    Most of the firings came as no surprise to the public as the combined record of all six teams seeking to fill their head coaching spots are a whopping 24-71-1. Cleveland’s choice however did come as a shock to their now former coach, Rob Chudzinski, who said “I was shocked and disappointed to hear the news that I was fired. I am a Cleveland Brown to the core, and always will be. It was an honor to lead our players and coaches, and I appreciate their dedication and sacrifice. I was more excited than ever for this team, as I know we were building a great foundation for future success.” Unfortunately for him, any future success of the Browns won’t be attributed to his coaching.

    It seems there are several factors that come into play during the decision making process of “fire or hire.” The most obvious – the record. If your team is 2-14 two years in a row, the chances of you keeping your job are slim to none. Interestingly enough, the quarterbacks on all six teams turned in less than stellar performances during the 2013 season. This begs the question:

    If the QB tanks, is that a sign that the coach will get fired?

    Quite possibly. Unfortunately many coaches don’t have the luxury of choosing their QB – they inherit them. Which leads me to my next question.

    Are the owners not setting up their new coaches for failure when they dump a team with a dud of a QB into your lap and expect an immediate turnaround?

    With salary caps and the constant onslaught of injuries, replacing that dud of a quarterback is easier said than done. Granted, a team CAN make it to the big game without a decent QB at the helm – as long as other facets of the team dynamic steps up. The 2010 Chicago Bears might as well of had their all-star middle linebacker Brian Urlacher at the QB spot instead of Rex Grossman, or Kyle Orton, or Grossman – it was hard to keep it straight. As the leader of the Bears defense, Urlacher and crew (with some help from rookie Devin Hester on special teams) dominated the field. Not only did they keep their opponents scoring at bay, they forced turnovers and scored on interceptions. All while Orton/Grossman rode the pine pony saying “thank you, thank you, thank you” under their breath. My father always said, “Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.” You can’t lose if the score is 0-0. Perhaps the six canned coaches could take a lesson from that ideology and focus more on their defense in their next coaching gig – instead of lament about their shortcomings in the QB spot or injuries or salary caps. Work with what you’ve got.

    But, in a billion dollar business that loves its show and flash, fans want to see something spectacular. They want to see Peyton break the all time passing TD record. They want to see Rodgers run it in, avoiding the likes of DeAndre Levy or Ray Lewis. And the coaches know that.

    So in this crazy world of million dollar salaries and divas for players the coaches take the brunt of it all. Either show up, or pack up. We may give you an awful team, less than enthusiastic coaching staff and fans who expect you to be a miracle worker but gosh darn it you’ve got two seasons to turn this club around or you’ll be out a job come game 16. But hey, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Just look at Andy Reid.

    Image provided by Wikimedia Commons

  • Black Monday Firings: Several NFL Coaches Lost Their Job Today

    After unfavorable results at the end of the season, several NFL head coaches have been fired from their jobs. At the end of the season, some teams move on to the post-season, and others have the unfortunate task of having to think about next season.

    In an event that has become known as the black Monday firings, each of the coaches that had been sitting in the hot seat recently found out if they would be keeping their jobs or not, and some teams will be looking at a new coaching staff in 2014.

    During the black Monday firings, a handful of coaches lost their jobs, and other teams who struggled throughout the year were able to retain their coach, which may surprise some people.

    It hit hard for a couple of teams that made the playoffs last year, and were kept out this year with embarrassing results. These teams of course were the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions, who fired Mike Shanahan and Jim Schwartz today, respectively.

    The fate of Jim Schwartz was discussed recently after the Lions continued to struggle. If there was any year for the Lions to win the NFC North, this was certainly the year, and they were not able to get it done, losing Jim Schwartz as a result.

    They were recently knocked out of the playoffs despite a strong start. After starting the season 6-3, the Lions fell apart, and ended their 2013 with a record of 7-9.

    Of all of the teams to fire their coaches, the Lions had the best chances of making the playoffs, and with Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, they clearly have the talent to become a great team with the right coach.

    Mike Shanahan led the Washington Redskins to the playoffs last season, but this season was much different. While Robert Griffin III did not play the way he did last year after getting injured in the playoffs, the team continued to struggle, and finished with a record of 3-13.

    In addition to Mike Shanahan and Jim Schwartz, the black Monday firings included Greg Schiano of the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, Leslie Frazier of the Minnesota Vikings, and Rob Chudzinski of the Cleveland Browns.

    Unfortunately, for some of these coaches, they hardly got a chance to help the teams that they were fired from, and while the teams started out badly, they cannot be expected to improve immediately. Rob Chudzinski, for example, was in his first season as the coach of the Browns, and it has been several seasons since the Cleveland Browns have had any success in the NFL.

    In addition to the firing of Greg Schiano, coach of the Buccaneers, the organization also fired their GM, Mark Dominik. After another upsetting season for Tampa Bay, the team will look to completely rebuild, and hope to improve next year.

    Weeks before all of the black Monday firings happened, the Houston Texans were in such a bad place that they were forced to fire Gary Kubiak before the season had ended. While the Texans started the season with high expectations, and hopes of winning the Super Bowl, they quickly became one of the worst teams in the league and finished the season with a record of 2-14.

    After a series of black Monday firings, several teams in the NFL will be looking for a new coach shortly, and hope that the replacement will be better than what each team had before.

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