For the most part, being a NFL head coach is not a place to be for long term job stability. The odd guy lasts forever, but for the most part they have precious little time – usually too little – to try to prove themselves before they get replaced by the next big thing. This season will be no different than others – some really bad coaches, and a few pretty good ones, will run out of time. The stakes are particularly high for coaches this year because of all the talent that is on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity – MikeShanahan, Jon Gruden, Bill Cowher, and so on. If I was anyone of these guys I would be looking over my shoulder all year:
1. Marvin Lewis – I know you’ve heard this from me before – Lewis is the worst coach in football. All of football, too, not just the NFL. I seriously doubt that there is a single Pop Warner coach out there who is worse than Lewis. He has managed to stay in Cincinnati far, far longer than he deserves to, and he has driven the team into the ground while he has been there. Hisgameplans are dull, his talent consistently underperforms , and he’s far better at producing criminals than champions. Terrible. They badly, badly need to get rid of him, but that has been the case for years, so I am not convinced that anything will change this year. I’d love to see what could happen if Carson Palmer had a real coach before it’s too late.
2. Wade Phillips – I was pretty sure that Phillips had to win last year to save his job. I’m certain he does this year. He has no excuses and he has a decent team to work with. At the very least he needs to win a playoff game or two, and that might not even be enough to save him. I like Phillips just fine, and frankly I’d kind of hope for him to get fired. He works in a circus in Dallas, and he isn’t the right kind of guy to thrive in that kind of position. I’d much rather see him find a good coordinator job where he can thrive.
3. Brad Childress – Childress underachieved last year, and you don’t get to do that twice in a row and live to tell about it. Childress took an incredible risk this offseason associating himself so closely with Brett Favre, and that won’t be forgotten if his quarterbacks falter this year at all. The Minnesota offense isn’t dynamic enough for the pieces he has, and the team has been notoriously weak out of the gate. As a head coach, Childress makes a pretty good coordinator.
4. Jack Del Rio – Del Rio is a good coach and he’ll get another job, but he’s in danger of having worn out his welcome in Jacksonville. He badly, badly underachieved last year when everyone thought he had Super Bowl potential. Injuries were a massive problem last year, but that’s no real excuse for a coach. He needs to turn things around this year to survive, and I am not totally convinced that he has the talent and depth to do that this year. He could quite easily still be in Jacksonville five years from now, but I would probably be inclined to bet that this will be the end of the line.
5. Jim Zorn – I don’t think that Zorn could do anything this year that would make him deserve to be fired after just two years with the Redskins. Logic doesn’t matter in Washington, though. Daniel Snyder is a lunatic, and he has to be sick to death of losing. If Zorn repeats his 8-8 performance of last year then I can’t imagine that Snyder will sit still with him – especially with so many high profile coaches looking for a job.
