By Marvin Moore October 27, 2023
The quality of head coaches in the NFL has sunk to a new low. Half of the league’s 32 teams sport losing records after seven weeks of action. And a whopping 19 franchises have a .500 or worse card. A league once stocked with legendary coaches is now overflowing with offensive coordinators masquerading as leaders of men. The NFL money machine is so massive owners take home handsome profits regardless of the success of their on-field product.
There used to be a time when winning was a matter of pride in NFL ownership circles. Head coaches who did not produce were served their pink slips. Urban Meyer getting booted out of Jacksonville in 2021 after 13 games is an anomaly today. But it used to be the norm. The Los Angeles Rams fired Hall of Fame coach George Allen after two preseason games. Yep, that’s right. He never made it to the regular season.
Pete McCulley opened the 1978 campaign with one win and nine games. The San Francisco fired the former receivers coach and struck gold with his replacement, Bill Walsh. Lou Holtz went 3-10 in his lone season at the helm of the New York Jets. However, Holtz didn’t wait for his walking papers. He resigned before the season finale to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks. Bobby Petrino pulled a “Lou Holtz” in 2007 and quit the Atlanta Falcons after 13 games with a 3-10 record. Like Holtz, he departed the NFL to call the shots at the University of Arkansas.
Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has a career mark of 5-19. The Bears lost 14 straight games with Eberflus at the helm. Why Chicago hired a little-known defensive coordinator with no head coaching experience is a mystery. Heck, the Browns interviewed Eberflus and Freddie Kitchens in 2019 for their top coaching gig and chose Kitchens. The Dawg Pound will gladly tell you that Kitchens was fired a year later.
Black NFL assistant coaches rarely get one opportunity to lead an NFL squad. But Josh McDaniels is blessed. The former New England Patriots offensive coordinator weaved an 11-17 record as the head coach of the Denver Broncos before getting fired after a 3-9 start in 2010. McDaniels was gifted another shot as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022. But it’s deja vu for the mediocre field general, as the Raiders have won nine of 24 games with McDaniels walking the sidelines.
Despite two underwhelming seasons, the Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley was given another chance to prove himself in 2023. However, the Bolts are 2-4 this season, and the beleaguered coach is just 21-19 after 40 games. Whoever said mediocrity doesn’t pay hasn’t been watching America’s favorite professional sports league.
Staley should have been fired after the Chargers raced out to a 27-0 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars in last year’s Wild Card round before losing 31-30. The youthful Jaguars pulled off the third-largest comeback in NFL playoff history, and Staley still kept his job. If that’s not “white” privilege, I don’t know what it is.
In 12 seasons with Washington and the Carolina Panthers, Ron Rivera has had only three seasons with a record over .500. That’s incredible! Rivera has won seven or fewer games on eight different occasions, but the end of the road is coming. The Commanders have a new ownership group, and Rivera seems headed to another losing campaign. But if the modern-day Houdini is back on the sidelines next season, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Recycling unsuccessful head coaches is a hobby in the NFL. Frank Reich couldn’t win in a lackluster AFC South and was fired midseason by the Indianapolis Colts last year after a 3-5-1 start. But less than three months later, the Panthers hired Reich as their new head coach. The former backup quarterback has a career record of 40-39-1. In the glory days of the NFL, a head coach who won just half of his games would be lucky to last two seasons.
The good old boy system is alive and well in the NFL. But the product on the field is suffering. Clueless owners and incompetent general managers who hire their friends are ruining the sport. But revenue is King in the NFL, and winning is something that only the fans care about. It’s sad but true.
