Black Monday Nears For NFL Head Coaches
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The National Football League will wrap up its regular season this weekend and if you're the head coach of a team not headed to the playoffs, Monday could become Black Monday very quickly.
The term Black Monday was applied to the first Monday after the regular season ends because it's typically when most head coaches are fired. This year, there's a chance a lot of coaches will be looking for work in just four days.
At the top of the list is San Diego Chargers head coach Norv Turner. The Chargers are 6-9 heading into the final week of the season and have looked lost through most of the seasons. San Diego is 2-5 at home and just 4-4 on the road in 2012 and Turner, who is typically a good offensive coach, has seen his team score just 326 points this season.
Rumors have been swirling for several weeks that Turner would be out in San Diego and he may joined in the unemployment line by Chargers general manager A.J. Smith
The Buffalo Bills spent a lot of money to improve a pretty bad team, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Buffalo gave the biggest contract in NFL history to a defensive player, defensive end Mario Williams. They also signed Mark Anderson to team with Williams.
The Bills had previously spent a top five pick on defensive tackle Marcell Dareus and had Kyle Williams already in house. The Bills then used a top 10 pick on cornerback Stephon Gilmore out of South Carolina.
The Bills got a total of 5.5 sacks from Dareus, 10.5 from Mario Williams, 1 sack from Anderson, and 5 sacks from Kyle Williams, for a total of 22 sacks. For comparison sake, San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Aldon Smith has 19.5 sacks by himself this season.
With a 5-10 record, Bills coach Chan Gailey will likely be hitting the unemployment line on Monday.
Kansas City is expected to fire head coach Romeo Crennel after an abysmal season for the Chiefs. Philadelphia may fire head coach Andy Reid after having him on the sidelines for more than a decade.
The Browns may fire head coach Pat Shurmur as the team undergoes a likely complete facelift in the front office. Just a few years removed from the Super Bowl, Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt may be out after a horrid 5-10 campaign this season.
The Oakland Raiders go through coaches like some teams go through shoes and this year may be no different. The Raiders haven't been competitive this season and head into the final weekend of the season with a 4-11 record.
The Raiders have been outscored this season by a total of 419-269. The team will likely send out former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor on Sunday in the final regular season game to see if he's salvageable as an NFL quarterback and that could be the final game for head coach Dennis Allen.
One name that could be on the Black Monday list, depending on what happens Sunday, is New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan. The team has been awful at times this year and has no quarterback to speak of despite the presence of two former first-round picks on the roster, Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez.
Ryan's Jets teams the past two years have been the best soap opera not on daytime television, if you don't count ESPN's breathless coverage of everything Tim Tebow. Between Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum, the entire Jets front office may get a complete overhaul starting Monday.
Incidentally, one of the names being discussed as a possible savior for the Jets is Bill Parcells. Dolphins fans can tell you how that will turn out, and it won't be pretty.
Speaking of the Dolphins, the team is happy with the progress of the coaching staff in 2012 and no major changes are expected heading into next season.
