I need to start today with an apology. Last week, I said that the Bucs/Panthers game was “winner take all” and that the winner of the game would be the NFC South champion; clearly, I overlooked something. Once the Falcons had been eliminated from the playoffs about a month ago, I stopped thinking about them in terms of that division. However, the Falcons won their last four games in a row giving them the same won/loss record as the Bucs and Panthers meaning there was a three way tie atop the division thereby invoking the standard tie-breaker sequence; and with the tie-breaker of “record in games involving the three teams”, the Panthers made the playoffs despite losing to the Bucs yesterday. Sorry about that…
As of this moment, three NFL coaches have been fired on “Bloody Monday”. The aforementioned Atlanta Falcons fired Raheem Morris yesterday and the Cleveland Browns fired Kevin Staefanski today. In some sense, you might think the Browns took mercy on Stefanski; his time with the Browns had way too much overlap with the nightmarish contract given to Deshaun Watson and the subsequent injuries to Watson that made him as useful as cement life preserver.
Stefanski had been with the Browns for six seasons; his teams made the playoffs twice and he was named Coach of the Year twice. Since the Browns were reincarnated in 1999, the team had eleven coaches before Stefanski signed on for the 2020 season; the franchise has not exactly been a model of stability or sanity over the last 25 seasons. One thing Stefanski provided for the franchise was adult supervision; the Browns posted a winning record twice between 1999 and Stefanski’s arrival in 2020; the franchise seemed to be unable to avoid inventing negative situations.
The Falcons’ decision to fire Raheem Morris may have been a bit easier; Morris had been with the team for 2 seasons, and the Falcons were 8-9-0 in both seasons. There was no evidence of a “turnaround” for the franchise nor any Coach of the Year trophies to make the decision dicey. However, Falcons’ fans need to keep something in mind as the team goes about its search for a new head coach. Raheem Morris was hired in 2024 by the Falcons’ principal owner, Arthur Blank; here is a list of other coaching candidates those folks interviewed for the Falcons’ job in 2024 but decided on Morris instead:
- Bill Belichick
- Jim Harbaugh
- Mike Vrabel
Raheem Morris is certainly not a bad coach; he is not over his head in that sort of job. Having said that, look at the list above again and ponder how he might have prevailed in that coaching sweepstakes.
The Raiders fired Pete Carroll today. In one sense, that is surprising given that he was hired less than 12 months ago; in another sense, that is what the Raiders seem wont to do these days:
- In 2021, the Raiders parted company with Jon Gruden in the midst of some highly inappropriate emails Gruden sent to Washington GM, Bruce Allen and that situation spawned Gruden’s lawsuit against the NFL.
- In 2022, the Raiders hired Josh McDaniels as the head coach; he survived until 2023.
- In 2024, the Raiders hired Antonio Pieerce as the head coach; he survived until 2025.
- In 2025, the Raiders hired Pete Carroll as the head coach; he survived until 2026.
- See any pattern’s there … ?
I mentioned above that Jon Gruden’s departure from the Raiders led to a hotly contested lawsuit against the NFL which has still not gone to trial and could stretch on for years. The Raiders could position themselves as the nexus for legal action against the league in the next month or so if they choose to hire Brian Flores as their head coach. Flores also has a lawsuit pending against the league alleging racial discrimination in hiring.
That sort of litigious focus would be well within keeping up the Raiders’ tradition. Recall that it was Al Davis who sued the league on antitrust grounds almost 50 years ago because the league tried to prevent him from moving the Raiders from Oakland to LA.
Finally, let me close with this from Al Davis:
“History will dictate what my legacy is. And ‘maverick’ is fine, because I am.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
The Falcons fired both Head Coach Raheem Morris and GM Terry Fontenot. They also removed CEO Rich McKay to a role where he doesn’t have responsibility for football. Greg Beadles is the new President & CEO. It looks like Matt Ryan could be coming in as GM or Head Coach.
Doug:
Not sure if I would want a head coach at the NFL level who had no head coaching experience prior to that. The Vikes did that with Norm Van Brocklin and it did not work out all that well.