In the NFL, this week is commonly known as the week a ton of coaches get fired. That’s because the playoffs have begun, which means some team’s season is done. Last weekend’s winners, in this case the Texans, Vikings, Seahawks and the Titans are all moving forward past the Wild Card Round. But a bunch of teams, including the Patriots, aren’t. Don’t expect to see the Patriots’ Bill Belichick filling out an application at Starbuck’s, but do expect just about every other losing team’s coach to be feeling the heat right about now.
So who’s in and who’s out this post season? The Washington Redskins fired Jay Gruden in October, then hired Ron Rivera after the Panthers fired him in December. Jason Garrett is out as head coach of the Cowboys and was quickly replaced by Mike McCarthy who as fired last year by the Packers. The Cleveland Browns fired coach Freddie Kitchens after just one season. And the NY Giants cut ties with coach Pat Shurmur, who was fired by the Browns in 2012, after just one season as well. The Giants hired former Patriots Assistant Coach Joe Judge and the Cleveland Browns have hired the Vikings Offensive Coordinator Kevin Stefanski so they can undoubtedly fire him next year.
Since the average tenure of an NFL coach is 4.3 seasons, it’s safe to say none of these guys should fill out a change of address form anytime soon. And with so many NFL teams doing downright terribly and so many coaches getting fired, maybe it’s time the owners tried something new. The Browns have had ten coaches since the year 2000. The Giants have had five. Maybe it’s time the NFL hires its first female head coach. Despite the school of thought that one can’t really coach well if they’ve never played the game, also known as a lame excuse to keep female football coaches from being hired, there are plenty of male coaches who did play football and are still coaching their teams into losing seasons. So why not give women more full time coaching jobs in the NFL so they can rise through the ranks to become a head coach and do just as badly, or as well, as the guys.
And since coaches like the 49ers’ Katie Sowers did play pro for the Women’s Football Alliance, that pretty much takes care of the argument that you have to have played to coach.
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