The regular season is over, and for a handful of names across the league, their tenures are over with their former NFL team employers. Some had been there over a decade, some only got one year… here’s the run-down!
Andy Reid – the writing was on the wall for most of the season, if not part of last season, that after 14 years with the Philadelphia Eagles, Andy Reid was going to be making his exit. Despite winning the NFC East six times and nine playoff appearances (which included five trips to at least the NFC Championship game and one Super Bowl appearance), the past two seasons with a combined record of 12-20 wasn’t good enough for Reid to keep his job.
Lovie Smith – after 9 seasons with the Chicago Bears, Lovie Smith has been fired as their head coach. Despite a record of 29-19 in the past three seasons, none of which contained fewer than 8 wins, Lovie Smith couldn’t retain his job after two straight seasons of finishing third in the NFC North and failing to reach the playoffs. The 2010 campaign included a loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game. Following a dismal initial campaign in 2004, in the seasons which followed Lovie Smith had a combined record of 76-52 during the regular season, and a 3-3 record in the post season, which included a loss in the Super Bowl following the 2006 season (his third with the team).
Chan Gailey – Following a third straight season with 6 or fewer wins and a 4th place finish in the AFC East, the Buffalo Bills have parted ways with Chan Gailey. This was Chan Gailey’s second stint as an NFL head coach, serving in the capacity for the Dallas Cowboys in 1998 and 1998, with a record of 18-14 with the team during the regular season but losing in his first playoff game both years. Between those two jobs, Gailey was the head coach at Georgia Tech for six seasons, gaining just 7 wins during five of those seasons and reaching 9 wins once in his only year reaching a bowl game (a loss in the Gator Bowl).
Romeo Crennel – After his first full season as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, Romeo Crennel has been fired from that position. This season he amassed a record of 2-14, the same number of wins he lead the team to last season during a three-game stint following the firing of Todd Haley. This is Crennel’s second stint as NFL head coach, previously coaching the Cleveland Browns for four seasons and amassing a record of 24-40 with the Browns.
Pat Shurmur – Both head coach Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert were fired from their respective positions with the Cleveland Browns. Shurmur completed his second season with the team, amassing an overall record of 9-23 during the stint. Prior to joining the Browns, Shurmur had served in a lesser capacity as a coach on the offensive side of the ball for two other NFL teams (Philadelphia Eagles as Tight Ends coach from 1999 to 2001 and then QB coach from 2002 to 2008; St Louis Rams as the Offensive Coordinator for 2009 & 2010) and two NCAA teams (Michigan State Tight Ends coach from 1990 to 1997; Stanford O-Line coach in 1998).
Rex Ryan and Jason Garrett – the closely watched coaches of the Jets and Cowboys (respectively) have apparently kept their jobs. In New York, GM Mike Tannenbaum has been fired, meaning Rex Ryan will likely get the help and support in picking different players that he has been seeking. In Dallas, reports are indicating that the team will seek to hire an Offensive Coordinator to do play calling, allowing Garrett to focus his attention to other details.
Norv Turner – though no word out of the San Diego Chargers is official at this point, it’s expected that both Norv Turner and AJ Smith are to be fired by the team today – indicated by Norv Turner himself when discussing with sources at ESPN.
All of these stories can be found on NFL.com for validity, and the stats came from various locations.
