Now that the regular season is finished, whose coordinators and coaches will be let go?
Not wasting any time, the Falcons benched Arthur Smith just after midnight, and on Monday morning, they fired Ron Rivera.
The season ended with the firing of three coaches: Los Angeles Chargers’ Brandon Staley, Las Vegas Raiders’ Frank Reich, and Carolina Panthers’ Josh McDaniels.
Who is the hot-button coach of the moment? Rumors have surfaced from New England suggesting that Bill Belichick, the great coach, may not be sure what his future holds.
The Giants are in the market for a new defensive coordinator after the resignation of Wink Martindale.
Here are a few highly regarded candidates:
Antonio Pierce
Will he earn a permanent position as the head coach of the Raiders after finishing 5-4 in his interim role? In Las Vegas, that is the most wished-for thing, but it is up to the volatile owner, Mark Davis. As the astute and dynamic middle linebacker on the Super Bowl XLII winning squad, Pierce, 45, is a member of Giants regale. Despite being a born leader, he has never held the position of defensive coordinator at any level. Week 9 saw Pierce take over as temporary head coach, as his team destroyed the Giants 30–6.
Bill Belichick may turn to old pal Josh McDaniels to help his weather the storm in New England.
The Athletic reports that McDaniels is “considered a candidate to return” for a third go-round with the Patriots following his latest disaster head coaching stint with the Raiders this season.
He was fired by Las Vegas in October amid a dreadful campaign.
Now, McDaniels could be part of a dramatically overhauled Patriots team that finished 4-13 and in the basement of the AFC East.
Naturally, that would mean Belichick returns to the Pats for a 25th season after the team’s worst season since the 1990s; if Bob Kraft, the owner of New England, isn’t convinced by a redesigned Belichick squad, the coach might have to join up with McDaniels somewhere.
There was a coaching casualty even though head coach Doug Pederson implied that there wouldn’t be any staff changes this summer in the wake of a 1-5 record and missing the playoffs.
Greg Auman of Fox Sports reports that defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell is leaving Jacksonville.
With the defense surrendering 28 points or more in four of the final six games, the Jags’ struggles on both ends of the court ultimately cost them a postseason berth.
The Jaguars had a strong start that had many picking them for a rise, but they lost five of their last six games and were eliminated from the playoffs.
Jacksonville doesn’t appear to be planning to swap coaches this offseason, though.
Coach Doug Pederson, who is 19-17 in his two seasons in Jacksonville, said, “You only have so many windows in this league.” And we believe that our window is now open with the staff we already have and will continue to add. We must take full advantage of the opportunities we have.
You feel that the season is now kind of wasted, so we simply can’t have the collapse that we did this year. We missed our fantastic chance to win the division, and you did. Thus, we must survive with that and we have to own it and we got to learn from it. But I still feel like we have the best football ahead of us moving forward.”
There will be some roster decisions, but many of the Jags’ top players should be back next season — and the veterans know its on them to get the team over the hump.
“This has to become part of our story,” tight end Evan Engram said. “It’s happened. It’s the card that we’re dealt. It’s ultimately what we earned. Moving forward, this has to be a part of our story. … The leaders of this team, the foundation of our team, the guys that will be back in here, it’s up to us that we act on it and allow it to never happen again.”
At least one opponent team is considering a member of the Giants front office for a general manager position.
Numerous reports state that the Panthers have asked to speak with Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown.
Hired from the Eagles after Joe Schoen assumed the Giants general manager position, 35-year-old Brown recently concluded his second season with the team.
After moving up from director of pro scouting to director of player personnel, Brown was with the Eagles.
He was a personnel intern for the Jets in 2012 after having previously worked for the Colts and Boston College.
As the NFL’s Black Monday draws to a close, the Patriots coach, whose future with the team is still up in the air, is unsure of his job status.
Belichick’s contract with the Patriots expires after one season, although the team may decide to trade him, let him go, or give him less overall control over the team.
On Monday, the day after the team suffered its first defeat in 16 attempts against the rival Jets, he apparently had a meeting with owner Bob Kraft.
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