NFL Coaching Turnover: Youth Prevails

wall of shame

Out with the old and busted; in with the new and hot. 

That seems to be the common theme in the rollercoaster sometimes called the NFL coaching carousel.  Over the course of this past season, 9 coaches have been fired and 2 have retired/resigned.  That’s 11 out of 32 coaching positions that will by turning over between kickoff of the ’08-’09 season and the ’09-’10 season; also known as 34.4%.  Read that again…11 of 32…over 1/3 of the league’s coaches are out the door!

Let’s get acquainted with the new chefs in the kitchens, chiefs of the tribes, captains of the ships…you get the idea.

Oakland Raiders:
Fired – Lane Kiffin, 5-15 in two seasons (1-3 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Tom Cable (reportedly), interim head coach from games 5 – 16 (4-8 record), contract unknown.

St. Louis Rams:
Fired – Scott Linehan, 11-25 in three seasons (0-4 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Steve Spagnuolo, previously NY Giants defensive coordinator, 4 years and $12 million.

San Francisco 49ers:
Fired – Mike Nolan, 18-37 in four seasons (2-5 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Mike Singletary, interim head coach from games 8 – 16 (5-4 record), 4 years and $10 million.

Cleveland Browns:
Fired – Romeo Crennel, 24-40 in four seasons (4-12 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Eric Mangini, previously head coach of the New York Jets, 4 years and $20 million.

Detroit Lions:
Fired – Rod Marinelli, 10-38 in three seasons (0-16 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Jim Schwartz, previously Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator, 4 years and $11 million.

Denver Broncos:
Fired – Mike Shanahan, 138-86 in 14 seasons (8-8 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Josh McDaniels, previously New England Patriots offensive coordinator, 4 years and $8 million.

New York Jets:
Fired – Eric Mangini, 23-25 in three seasons (9-7 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Rex Ryan, previously Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator, 4 years and $11.6 million.

Tampa Bay Bucaneers:
Fired – Jon Gruden, 57-55 in seven seasons, (9-7 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Raheem Morris, previously defensive back coach for Tampa Bay Bucaneers, 4 years and $?? million.

Kansas City Chiefs:
Fired – Herman Edwards, 15-33 in three seasons (2-14 in ’08-’09).
Hired – ?????  No head coach has been named yet.

Seattle Seahawks:
Resigned – Mike Holmgren, 86-74 in ten seasons (4-12 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Jim Mora, previously assistant head coach/defensive back coach for Seattle Seahawks (head coach for Atlanta Falcons for three seasons, 26-22), 4 years and $?? million.

Indianapolis Colts:
Retired – Tony Dungy, 85-27 in seven seasons (12-4 in ’08-’09).
Hired – Jim Caldwell, previously Indianapolis Colts , 4 years and $10(?) million.

The trend in hiring coaches this offseason has definitely been toward guys with mostly coordinator experience, or less, with no previous head coaching experience – 8 of the 11 fit this description if you include Singletary and Cable (both were interims after their bosses were fired during the season). 

It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.  Several of these teams are already talented and probably in order of: Colts, Bucs, Jets, Broncos, Browns, and Seahawks.  The other five?  Well…all I can say is good luck with the 49ers, Chiefs, Rams, Raiders, and Lions.  I hope the five of you coaching those teams structured your contracts well…especially you, Tom Cable.