NFL Coaching Black Monday Analysis

With the season now over, the day after always brings a lot of fireworks. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of people’s jobs, but the NFL is still a business, where tough decisions need to be made. Some more than others, obviously. With that, a total of five head coaches have been fired so far, as well as three general managers. Some were expected, while there were a few unlikely dismissals as well. Let us dive into these players and what went south for each of them.

Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace, Chicago Bears

The first coach we will talk about is Matt Nagy, who coached the Chicago Bears. Nagy, as expected, was fired right after the season, as well as general manager Ryan Pace. Whether it was taking QB Mitchell Trubisky over QB Patrick Mahomes or just the constant lack of production from draft picks and big-time acquisitions, it was time for the Bears to part ways with Pace. As for Nagy, he leaves on a little different term. While Pace and Nagy were responsible for the 2018 playoff team, it was Nagy that was brought in and had immediate success. As time has gone on though, the Bears have been mediocre at best on both sides of the ball, leading to Nagy’s firing. In his time as a head coach, Nagy is 34-31 with two playoff appearances, in which he is 0-2. Expect the Bears to either make a big splash at  head coach or look for a young, offensive mind, such as Kellen Moore.

Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman, Minnesota Vikings

While fans may not want to hear it, it was a good run for Mike Zimmer and the Minnesota Vikings. While they never won a championship, Zimmer led the Vikings to a 72-56-1 record in an eight-year span, including three playoff appearances and an NFC Championship appearance. The defensive guru has a 2-3 playoff record and has fallen short of the playoffs in the past two seasons. Sometimes, things just run their course, which is the case for Mike Zimmer, as well as a lot of guys that get fired. On a more surprising note, GM Rick Spielman was fired as well. Spielman has been involved with the Vikings since 2006, starting as a VP of Player Personnel before converting to General Manager. Spielman has found talent and put together good rosters, but unfortunately will be judged for paying QB Kirk Cousins a big chunk of change and not getting the playoff success in return. While it was speculation, Spielman was likely fired so the next head coach can hire his GM, a trend in the NFL. Like many teams, Minnesota will likely look towards the offensive side of the ball for a head coach, as they look to modernize their team.

Vic Fangio, Denver Broncos

It has been three years since Vic Fangio was brought in to coach the Broncos and what Denver got back was mediocre at best. Fangio, a defensive mind, never developed an offense good enough to compete and it starts at the lack of production at quarterback. Denver was never a bottom feeder in his tenure but never had a winning record either. In 49 games, Fangio went 19-30 and never won more than 7 games in a season. While his defense was excellent, his OSRS (Offensive Simple Rating System) was at least -4 in all three years of his tenure. It is possible that the game is past Fangio’s philosophies, making the dismissal of him the correct move for Denver. I expect Fangio to land a coordinator job though with a team that desperately needs a defense, such as the New York Giants or Atlanta Falcons.

Brian Flores, Miami Dolphins

Easily the most shocking move of Black Monday was the Dolphins firing of Brian Flores. When you think Brian Flores, you think young, impressive coach with a large upside. Usually, those types of coaches do not get fired, but here we are. Flores took a bottom feeder in the Dolphins and made them relevant, going, 19-14 in his last two seasons with the Dolphins. What correlates with that is the drafting of QB Tua Tagovailoa, who has not always been healthy. Despite this, Flores turned Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jacoby Brissett along with Tua into two straight winning seasons, ending 2021-22 off winning eight of their last nine games. He is also 4-2 against Bill Belichick, the greatest coach of all time. According to Albert Breer, it appeared that a rift between the general manager and Flores left the owner with a decision to fire one of them and he chose Flores. It has also been known that Flores wanted QB Justin Herbert over Tagovailoa, which may have led to turmoil as well. Regardless of what the reason was, it was the most shocking move of the day and Flores immediately becomes the best head coaching candidate on the market outside Jim Harbaugh, current head coach for Michigan.

Joe Judge and Dave Gettleman, New York Giants

While it did not happen until Tuesday, the New York Giants decided to move on from Joe Judge after just two seasons. In many ways, Judge’s on-field performance was only a partial reason why he got fired. His lack of judgment with the press and inability to galvanize a locker room also played a massive role in his firing and was most likely the tipping point for New York, who also lost their General Manager Dave Gettleman. Gettleman announced his retirement after the season, even though he was likely to be fired. In four years as a general manager, Gettleman was unable to put together a team that was even close to competing, finishing with a dismal record of 19-46, losing 10 or more games in every season. You can argue that the Giants are the worst team in football right now and to get back to relevancy, they will need to find stability in the front office before they even think about anything else.

Stats and info from profootballreference.com

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-By: Richie Dordas