Jets, Bengals, Broncos, and More Fire Head Coaches as NFL Season Ends
Written by SOURCE on December 31, 2018
The NFL regular season ended on Sunday, and with it, the future of at least six head coaches as of this writing, not including the two coaches canned before the season could even conclude. Let’s go through them all first to catch you up:
In late October, the Browns fired Hue Jackson. Interim coach Gregg Williams is in the running for the top spot after leading the Browns to a 5-3 finish.
The Packers fired coach Mike McCarthy earlier in December, likely to the delight of Wisconsin denizens and Aaron Rodgers. They’re now looking to purloin a Pats coach.
Hours after the Pats put the smackdown on the Jets, New York coach Todd Bowles was out as head coach Sunday night, though his assistants are still on as of this writing.
Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter is also done.
The Cardinals fired head coach Steve Wilks almost a year after hiring him:
The Dolphins fired Adam Gase, but he should be in the running for all the other openings, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
Broncos coach Vance Joseph is also out, though he should be in the running for a defensive coordinator position.
And finally, the Bengals have parted ways with Marvin Lewis after 16 seasons as their coach. He could transition to TV work, or try his luck elsewhere, as there are now a bevy of openings around the league.
It seems Joseph might be in the running for the Cincy job, though, which might help take the sting off the Broncos termination.
All told, eight NFL head coaches are now gone as of Monday afternoon.
While head coaches are dropping like flies, most of the general managers who hired them appear safe.
In a league that’s faced accusations of racial discrimination from the top down, this particular shedding of coaches is more than a little suspect.
Five of the NFL’s seven African American coaches are now out of work. Yes, some will return to the sidelines with another team or as a coordinator, but for a league simultaneously battling Colin Kaepernick in court as well as the wider perception of bigotry between management and workers, it’s not a good look.
