We’ve seen it a million times throughout sports. When a team is struggling and can’t find a way to win a game, the finger-pointing starts and everyone starts calling for the coach’s head. Can’t win? Fire the coach. Can’t score points? Fire the coach. Missed the playoffs? Again? Fire the coach. The list of baseball managers, basketball coaches and hockey coaches fired mid-season is extensive and many of those teams used the change as a stepping stone to bigger and better seasons under the new regime.
It’s a little different in football. Firing a head coach mid-season can be extremely complicated. Each coach brings in his own personnel and the offensive and defensive coordinators are usually working off schemes designed by their superior. Are there exceptions? Of course, but for the most part, head coaches and coordinators are in lockstep with how the squad is run. If you change head coaches and don’t simply promote a coordinator to finish out the season, you’re looking at the players being forced to learn an entirely new scheme. Not ideal.
Last year the Browns fired Hue Jackson and OC Tod Haley. They retained DC Gregg Williams and made him their interim head coach while they also promoted running backs coach Freddie Kitchens to offensive coordinator. For the most part, the system stayed intact.
In Green Bay, quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the power struggle and the Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy. They retained OC Joe Philbin and made him their interim head coach for the final four games. He too, maintained the system, though he put his own spin on things to appease his quarterback.
Since 2011, an eight-year span, we’ve seen 14 midseason firings in the NFL. Match that number up against the other three major sports and you’ll see just how low that number really is. Again, it’s a complicated move to make. But, of course, not beyond the realm of possibility here in 2019 which is why we are here today.
Below is a list of coaches who could find themselves on the hot-seat this year. If they were to be fired during the season, what type of an impact could that have on the players and, subsequently, their fantasy value? There were no real standouts after Jackson and McCarthy got the axe, so keep in mind, while the fanbase may be ecstatic over the change, there are very few immediate impacts made over the years.
Dan Quinn, Atlanta Falcons
This will be Quinn’s fifth season as the Falcons head coach, and while he led them to a Super Bowl in just his second year, it would seem that the team’s failures, both in that game (an epic collapse) and over the last two seasons, are more than the franchise and fanbase can handle. The most glaring change was when offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan left Atlanta to take the head coaching job in San Francisco. Quinn replaced him with former University of Alabama OC Steve Sarkisian and the offense just wasn’t the same. Quarterback Matt Ryan was frustrated by Sarkisian’s system, Devonta Freeman struggled with the run-blocking changes and Quinn was actually forced to bring in specific run and passing-game coordinators. By the end of the 2019 season, after two years, Quinn started feeling the pressure and fired all three of his coordinators. With former Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter as his new offensive coordinator, Quinn’s hot-seat just got a little hotter. A mid-season change may not upset the apple cart too much.
Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers
Over Rivera’s eight-year tenure with the Panthers, they’ve now failed to make the playoffs half the time. Last season, they started out 6-2, only to fall into a seven-game losing streak and ended up in third place in the NFC South and a 7-9 record. Rivera was a stand-up guy about it and blamed himself for, not just the losses, but also the failure to make the appropriate changes during the losing streak. There were struggles on both sides of the ball and with new coordinators, it was up to Rivera to help pull the team out from the abyss, especially on the road. He’s sticking with his same staff as last season, so the hope is that the team, overall, has learned from its mistakes. If not, look for the organization to make a change.
Mike Zimmer, Minnesota Vikings
This is the final year of Zimmer’s five-year deal with the Vikings and he will be heavily scrutinized after going from 13-3 with an appearance in the NFC Championship in 2017 to just an 8-7-1 record last season. One of the major differences, obviously, was the loss of OC Pat Shurmur, who left to take the Giants head coaching job, and subsequent change to John DeFilippo who was the QB coach for the Eagles when they won the Super Bowl. The team hovered around .500 throughout the entire season and Zimmer ended up firing DeFilippo after a Week 14 loss to the Seahawks where the offense failed to score in double-digits. He promoted QB Coach Kevin Stefanski to the OC position and the team averaged 26 points per game over their final three. Unless the Vikings struggle right out of the gate, it seems unlikely we’ll see a coaching change during the season, though if things get really bad, since he is on the final year of his deal, Zimmer could find himself ushered out the door a little quicker than he would like.
Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Heading into his 12th season as head coach of the Steelers, Tomlin could find himself at the end of his tenure if things don’t turn around for Pittsburgh. He’s just the 16th head coach of this organization so you know change doesn’t come lightly. However, as we’ve witnessed with the hold-out of Le’Veon Bell, the continuous feuding between Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster , the departures of both superstars (Bell and Brown) and the fractures within the locker room, it’s become apparent that Tomlin has lost some control over this team. If he can help turn things around internally and that translates to positive results on the field, then great. Everything should be good. If not, though, there’s a strong chance the organization makes a change to bring in a fresh perspective. UPDATE 7/25 -- The Steelers have signed Tomlin to a one-year extension. Technically, this keeps him safe for the season, but we've seen NFL teams tear up extensions in the past.
Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
He could be the one guy who really doesn’t belong on this list, despite a 5-22 record since taking over as the 49ers head coach. Major injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and Jerick McKinnon sabotaged the 2017-18 season and while Shanahan did the best he could to help patch this team up, his personnel choices for the team’s depth were a little on the suspect side. Shanahan signed a six-year deal, so he could simply get a pass on the first two years, but should everyone stay healthy this year and the team still fails to improve, then team CEO Jed York could hit the panic button and try to shake things up. Overall, that would probably be a mistake, but we’ve seen Bay Area teams do dumber things in the past, haven’t we?
Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins
Just how long of a leash will owner Dan Snyder give to Gruden this season? Under his tenure, the Redskins are one game below .500, they’ve missed the playoffs each year since 2015 and they haven’t finished higher than third in the NFC East during that span. Gruden claimed to not wanting to make excuses, but just the mention of Alex Smith ’s injury did just that. Other injuries, particularly to the offensive line certainly didn’t help either, but again, this team has been mired in mediocrity for quite some time. Snyder is not typically a patient man and the team has two potential rising stars in Dwayne Haskins and Derrius Guice . If he doesn’t like the way Gruden is directing this team, he could turn around and try to mix things up with a big splash.