There was a whole bunch of news around the NFL today, which we call "Black Monday". That's the day after the regular season when some organizations decide to fire head coaches and/or GMs. That happened at a number of spots around the league today.
Here's a roundup of all the coaching and front office news we heard today.
Bill Muir is "likely" to retire. This according to Jason La Canfora of NFL Network. With the 31st ranked offense, I'm not sure Muir should have been brought back anyway. If he does indeed retire, the Chiefs enter the season with openings at offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and defensive coordinator. This will be yet another offensive coordinator for Matt Cassel (or whoever the quarterback is).
Norv Turner and GM A.J. Smith could be safe. Everyone expected the San Diego Chargers to fire Norv Turner but now reports are surfacing that he could be safe. Philip Rivers is reportedly lobbying for him to stay. It'll be interesting to see how this one turns out.
Steve Spagnuolo fired by the St. Louis Rams. As expected. Spags had won 10 games in three years -- does that stat sound familiar? It was the same as the Chiefs in the final two years of the Herm Edwards era and the first of the Todd Haley era. The Rams are reportedly pursuing Jeff Fisher.
Speaking of Jeff Fisher, he has a couple suitors. The Rams, for one, are interviewing him, as are the Miami Dolphins. He's at the top of the "A" list of coaches this year with Jon Gruden reportedly staying at ESPN.
Jaguars have a bunch of coaching candidates. They are interim head coach Mel Tucker, Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, Cowboys special-teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis, Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, and Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.
Raheem Morris is out. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired him, which many expected. He had a similar run as Todd Haley -- bad first year in 2009, very good second year in 2010 (10 wins) and a poor 2011 (four wins).
And the shocker of the day is that the Polians are out in Indy. That's Bill (Vice Chairman) and his son, Chris (GM). Jim Caldwell has not been fired, but he still could be. Bill Polian arrived in Indy the day after they clinched the No 1 pick in the 1998 NFL draft and he leaves the day after they clinch the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL draft.
0 recs | 57 comments
The news that Turner and Smith are safe in SD is music to any Chiefs fans ears
Smith has done an aweful job in the draft in recent years and Norv couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag. This is great news
Chiefs08Matt - January 3, 2012 via mobile
Norv should have been fired last year.
They were #1 in total offense and total defense and couldn’t make the playoffs — that’s historic levels of incompetence. I’m glad he’s staying. As that team ages they’ll bottom out very quickly.
Rev. Slappy - January 3, 2012
They were #1 in yards.
Yards don’t equal points.
kcgiant06 - January 3, 2012
They were #2 in total points.
Only New England scored more than the Chargers did last year. That’s historic levels of ineptitude on Norv Turner’s part. Think of it this way: Norv’s Chargers were beaten for the division title by a team Todd Haley coached.
Rev. Slappy - January 3, 2012
He should be fired almost every year
Then again, as a Chiefs fan I am happy he is staying there, especially if we play them early in the season.
Fozzyboyd - January 3, 2012
I wonder what would have happened if Marty had stayed and AJ had been canned?
I know part of it is that I liked Marty – until we got to the playoffs… and part of it is that I feel bad for the guy – I mean he played under GM’s King Karl and AJ Smith… sheesh.
Eastcoastransplant - January 3, 2012
I think he could have took them to the Super Bowl
His problem was he was always conservative with his offense and he never had a true QB other than Montana. I think with the talent they had out there for a couple years, Marty would have took them far.
Fozzyboyd - January 3, 2012
A true QB is such the big point.
We need one here so bad. No more of this mediocre will do till later fixes.
Eastcoastransplant - January 3, 2012
pioli...
if pioli dosnt draft good and get good FA this year maybe jr wiil put pioli on hot seat next year.
wolfpack0735 - January 3, 2012
I think Pioli will be/is on the hot seat this year.
If he doesn’t make the right moves, ie HC, QB, Draft… then I don’t see him getting another year to prove it. This is (or should be) his make it or break it year (2012). Then again as the world ends this year it doesn’t really matter :)
Eastcoastransplant - January 3, 2012
You mean
A new OC for Orton. If Cassel comes back, many fans aren’t.
MichaelMantastic - January 3, 2012
Technically.. we have holes at HC/OC/Oline coach
RAC is still the DC, was just temp HC. Unless he gets promoted/stays as DC/or leaves
BAMFSpecialOps - January 3, 2012
plus we can always send a #1 pick to St. Louis for McDoogie
so we can Fix our QB Cassel :(
Steve_Chiefs - January 3, 2012
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
BAMFSpecialOps - January 3, 2012
Take that back sir!
Eastcoastransplant - January 3, 2012
Go Ducks!
HIV 2 Elway - January 3, 2012
Man NFL teams have short memories
Who would have though last January that Morris and Haley would be out of work.
Not For Long…
Suck For Luck = Pack your bags Front Office, you don’t get to reap the benefits.
Chief-blinders-on - January 3, 2012
Or the old boss wants to go with Pey Pey
HIV 2 Elway - January 3, 2012 via mobile
Definitely a factor
Chief-blinders-on - January 3, 2012
I'd take Peyton
Give me 3-4 years with a HOF QB and one of the better receiver corps in the NFL if Bowe stays. We will be dominant.
AnkenyChiefsFan - January 3, 2012
Not unless Peyton is cleared beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I sure as s@$t don’t want to pay that man, have him play two games and go down the rest of the year after he’s sacked. Now as the OC I could live with.
Eastcoastransplant - January 3, 2012
Thorman
You had me until you said “QB Matt Cassel”…please, no…I’d rather have Orton, even though he has looked mediocre as well. But at least he’s getting the ball down the field…
AnkenyChiefsFan - January 3, 2012
He's not staying.
Look at his quotes in the KC Star. He flat out said it’s Cassel’s team and used words like ‘they’ to describe the Chiefs. He’s already back in Denver with his family and looking for his next opportunity that isn’t in Kansas City.
JacinB - January 3, 2012
You act like that means anything.
To affirmatively say he’s not coming back is super foolish on your part, anything can, and will happen, will not be surprised to see him back. Romeo already said he’d like to see him back.
KC Nate - January 3, 2012
Of course Romeo would like to see him back.
Even if he’s just a back-up, he’s an immediate upgrade over Palko and Stanzi and keeps some level of consistency in the offense by playing like Cassel.
However, Orton’s not going to come back unless he knows he’s the starter and that’s not going to happen, if only because Cassel is Pioli’s guy and we’re not going to pay Cassel’s contract money for a guy who rides pine and holds clipboards.
Even if Romeo wanted him back and wanted to start him, the best he could offer Orton is a chance to compete for the starting job in training camp and Orton isn’t going to go for that, particularly when there are a number of other NFL teams out there that can promise him the starting job from day one.
Orton wants to start again, which translates to Orton’s gone.
Accept it and move on. Orton has.
JacinB - January 3, 2012
I think Orton would have an excellent chance to start in a true competition with Cassel.
But from his comments, it sounds like he doesn’t want to. He apparently got to know and like some guys on the team, and doesn’t want to take Cassel’s job from him.
Brsrkr - January 3, 2012
Replacement Coaches / Coordinators
If Bill Muir retires the most logical replacement I can think of would be Tony Sparano. He was Parcells O line coach in Dallas prior to being named HC in Miami. If Romeo is named HC (which is what everyone expects), he will need a new DC. I think it would be GREAT to steal Greg Manusky from San Diego to be DC or DC / Assistant HC. That would free RAC to concentrate on HC duties and not make similar mistakes to Haley. With St. Louis gutting their front office we stand to gain McDuffus to “repair” Cassel and or Orton and get us to a point where we can score points as needed.
danrice - January 3, 2012
seemed to me that Crennel was doing fine with double duty.
the problem, which was the same as Haley (aka similar mistakes) was an incompetent OC, a backup QB being a starting QB here the past few seasons w/ inadequate/rookie backups, injuries and a lack of depth.
I’m sure Haley had other issues, but as seen in the Raiders game, AT ARROWHEAD nonetheless, the offense couldn’t score TDs! Whether Haley or Crennel, the game plan/ plays did not result in points.
I was really hoping Norv Turner would get fired. He would be an excellent OC addition to the staff. And I’d have no problem with Sparano and Manusky, though Sparano will probably be looking for an OC job, not an oline coaching job….that’d be quite a hit to the ego after being a HC.
chief Stevie_k - January 3, 2012
Weird what happened with Morris.
I don’t follow the Bucs, but that team’s performance reeks of bad politics.
Brsrkr - January 3, 2012
How so?
Tarkus - January 3, 2012
Division winner to cellar dweller, 10-loss collapse down the stretch.
Either politics or major injuries like ours. Actually, we might have had both.
Kinda eerie how similar our two teams are on the surface.
Brsrkr - January 3, 2012
Maybe they just got lucky last year.
Like the Chiefs, who had a lot of things go their way.
Tarkus - January 3, 2012
Eh, that happens every year. Things even out.
Kinda like looking at the pre-season strength of schedule to predict our record, just a bunch of voodoo.
Brsrkr - January 3, 2012
That's why
there is that stat that shows teams that make a big leap in one year almost always regress the following year. Regression towards the mean.
Tarkus - January 3, 2012
But look at how YOUNG THEY ARE!!!
electriclight - January 3, 2012
Huh.
I hadn’t heard that.
Tarkus - January 3, 2012
Leftover joke from our preseason game.
Commentators couldn’t stop gushing about that young Bucs team.
electriclight - January 3, 2012
either way, Josh Freeman >>>>Cassel + Palko.
chief Stevie_k - January 3, 2012
The only thing that would be better than Muir retiring is if Cassel retired.
saskwatch - January 3, 2012
Ok, a little (no... a lot) off topic...
But why is it called Black Monday? Black Friday as I feel like this name refers to, is referencing getting out of the hole. Stores want to get in the Black, out of the Red, make a profit. And generally Black Friday is when they start to do that, if not make a lot of their profit for the year. Why isn’t it called Red Monday? Just seems like the connotation is backwards.
Eastcoastransplant - January 3, 2012
The Grim Reaper wears black.
electriclight - January 3, 2012
Black is scary.
Brsrkr - January 3, 2012
Racist.
Tarkus - January 3, 2012
Apologist.
Brsrkr - January 3, 2012
Realist.
Tarkus - January 3, 2012
Pianist.
Brsrkr - January 3, 2012
Bassist.
Tarkus - January 3, 2012
barist
a
Brsrkr - January 3, 2012
Linguist.
Tarkus - January 3, 2012
Craigslist
joplin chiefs fan - January 3, 2012
Pugilist
electriclight - January 3, 2012
Cunnilinguist
KHAZAD - January 4, 2012
Black Monday
Dubbed Black Monday as the first Monday after the end of the regular season as it is associated with the typical turnover of coaching and GM positions throughout the NFL. ie., KC, Tampa, St. Louis, et al…
danrice - January 3, 2012
Also, the day the stock market crashed in 1929 is also referred to as Black Monday.
I always thought the NFL Black Monday thing was a direct reference to that day in history.
Rev. Slappy - January 3, 2012
That I can buy.
Eastcoastransplant - January 3, 2012
Norv Turner
now has the longest career (221 games and counting) of any head coach with a losing record.
KHAZAD - January 3, 2012
Jim Caldwell has not been fired, but he still SHOULD be.
fixed.
Lucasjr5 - January 3, 2012
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