Tuesday, December 31, 2013

It's That Time of Season: 6 NFL Teams Fire Head Coaches


Just hours following the conclusion of the 2013 NFL regular season, six teams have already fired their head coaches due to their team’s under-performance. When a team wins it’s because of the players, but unfortunately when a team loses, the head coach is to blame. The Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Washington Redskins have all fired their head coaches, after entering the season with much promise to succeed with the talent available on each team.

The Houston Texans fired head coach Gary Kubiak midway through the season even with a staring quarter back who was prone to throwing interceptions. But with a top wide receiver in Andre Johnson, running back Arian foster and a top ranked defense, a record of 2-14 is inexcusable. But it does look like they are trying to more forward and are in serious talks with Penn State football coach Bill O’Brien to become the new head coach.

The Buccaneers finished the season 4-12, but after a season full of controversy inside the locker room
with players not respecting their coach and trading starting quarterback Josh Freeman, they decided to fire Greg Schiano, who had three years remaining on his contract. The Buccaneers entered the season with hope of making a playoff push following a 7-9 season and signing Darrelle Revis to help improve their team already consisting of a promising your running back in Doug Martin and big play wide receiver Vincent Jackson.

The Cleveland Browns gave up on their coach Rob Chudzinski after just one season finishing with a
record of 4-12. The Browns have been struggling for years, and after trading one of the league’s top running back’s Trent Richardson to the Colts’, it can be said that their struggles will continue in the near future.

The Detroit Lions were in place to win their division just a few weeks ago, with a banged up Chicago Bear and Green Bay Packer teams behind them in the standings. But with all of the talent on their team consisting of Calvin Johnson, the best wide receiver in the game, Reggie Bush, Matthew Stafford and Ndamukong Suh, they still found a way to be eliminated from playoff contention entering the final week of the season. Finishing the season 7-9, the Lions were left with no choice but to fire head coach Jim Schwartz.

Unfortunately for Minnesota Viking’s coach Leslie Frazier, he was fired due to the teams’ inability to find a quality quarterback that can help take the team to the next level. Although there was much hype about the teams entering the season with a healthy Adrian Petersen and the addition of wide receiver Greg Jennings, there was still a question mark about who would throw the ball to their expensive players. The Vikings finished the season 5-10-1, even after trading for quarterback Josh Freeman from the Buccaneers.

After finishing 3-13 and plenty of quarterback controversy, the Washington Redskins fired coach Mike Shanahan. Rumors have been swirling for the past few weeks about his possible firing due to a difference in opinion on who should be the team’s quarterback with the front office. Maybe RGIII was rushed back before he was fully healthy, but the firing of Shanahan has been expected due to the teams overall poor performance this season.

When a team loses, someone needs to be blamed and the coach is usually at fault, except if the team is the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets. The Dallas Cowboys have been known to let their fans down when it matters most and always find a way to lose. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be a fan of the Cowboys when their postseason destiny was in their own hands and they could not pull out a victory.

With all of the firings, teams will be busy finding replacements that can help their team succeed and make a push for the Super Bowl.

---

Alexa Fontanella is a freshman Sport Management Major at Drexel University, from Totowa, NJ. This winter she will be working with Drexel Athletics on marketing strategies and game day operations for the Drexel Dragons basketball team. Alexa is looking forward to participating in her first co-op next fall and is excited for such an amazing opportunity. She is a huge New York Sports fan, specifically the Yankees and the Nets. 
 



No comments:

Post a Comment