Open Rants by kkunert327

The coaching carousel is already started with the firing of Jay Gruden a few weeks ago and already at the verge of Week 9 the rumors are swirling around Dan Quinn in Atlanta. There are a few more seats warming up and quickly turning to scalding. That’s not just with coaches, but with a handful of General Managers around the league as well. So without further adieu, here we go!

Warming Seats

Some coaches are still in control of their destinies, but could also be looking up at the owner’s boxes and wondering how long they have until they are fired. All of these guys can turn it around, but they do not look like they have much slack to do so. 

• Matt Nagy, Chicago Bears’ Head Coach

• I am not a fan of firing a coach after just 2 seasons and believe it takes a bit to turn things around. However, this has a Ben McAdoo feel to it where Nagy is progressively getting chippy with the Chicago media like McAdoo did in New York. Both make it look like they are perennial playoff caliber coaches getting upset with people questioning their poor coaching decisions, when the questions are warranted. His job was to come in and turn around the offense while also coaching up Mitch Trubisky. After one good year with positive culture change his offense has stalled more so due to his play calling than the talent, but it also does not help that Trubisky looks to have taken a huge step back. Overall, if the season continues to spiral out of control, the Bears could be looking at a complete overhaul. 

• Freddie Kitchens, Cleveland Browns’ Head Coach

• Again, firing coaches after one or two seasons is not something I like to do, but sometimes it needs to be done for the better. This is one of the biggest locations where that could work. The only issue is, if Kitchens if fired after one season after guys like Hue Jackson, Mike Pettine, Rob Chudzinski, Pat Shurmur, and Eric Mangini were given very short leashes, who would want to coach here? Granted they have talent on offense and defense for the first time since they returned to the NFL, but as long as Jimmy Haslam is the owner here they will probably never get it right. 

• Vic Fangio, Denver Broncos’ Head Coach

• Fangio looks to be on a short leash much like Kitchens over in Denver. John Elway much like Haslam has not proven to be willing to be patient and after many shortcomings I am not sure how much longer Elway has as the top man in Denver if this continues to trend south. It also does not help that their mediocre former Super Bowl champion quarterback Joe Flacco came out and called the coaching staff soft after their most recent loss. Fangio is also a defensive guy and this defense has taken a bit of a step back since his arrival. They have been better of late, but being a new head coach at his age he might be on a very short leash here. 

• Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals’s Head Coach

• Another first year coach who could be on the warming seat is Taylor who just looks way over matched as a head coach. His team unlike the Dolphins who are purposely tanking just looks life less and underprepared each week. The offense has talent and should be better with his strength being on offense. Their defense is not as bad as advertised heading into the season and they continue to be a good score or two behind in each loss. Maybe they give him another season or two with a young quarterback, but if I were the Bengals I would cut my losses and say they goofed with this hire. 

Hot Seats

Here is the fun/sad part of the NFL where many GMs and coaches will be looking for new jobs in one of the most ruthless professions in the sports industry. 

• Dan Quinn, Atlanta Falcons’ Head Coach

• This is the easiest one to stop as Quinn basically looks like a dead man walking. The only reason why he is not going to be fired midseason is due to the fact that Arthur Blank is a class act and will let Quinn play out the year thanks to his Super Bowl run. However, the biggest blow to Quinn’s future in Atlanta is not the offense stalling, but his defense looking pitiful. Quinn is a defensive head coach and that’s the reason why he was brought in to coach in the first place when the Falcons defense was even worse. Now they have talent on defense with Grady Jarrett, Deion Jones, Tak McKinley, Vic Beasley, and Desmond Trufant for Quinn to work with and they still cannot turn it around. Quinn should be gone in a matter of seconds come Black Monday. 

• Thomas Dmitroff, Atlanta Falcons’ General Manager

• I can see a complete organizational clean out down in Atlanta to turn around this team as quickly as they can with Matt Ryan still in his prime. They should go the route of what the Packers did with a new young coach, GM, and load up on defensive free agents once their salary cap is in order. Dmitroff has done a poor job in free agency, managing the cap, and drafting in general. His former first rounders Vic Beasly, Tak McKinley, Chris Lindstrom, Kaleb McGary, Keanu Neal, and his later picks for the most part have not turned into much. He has failed big time in free agency letting many quality players walk or failing to go get anyone of note to help this roster. Matt Ryan has a closing window to maximize and they need a better more aggressive GM down in Atlanta. 

• Adam Gase, New York Jets’ Head Coach

• Gase is a first year head coach in New York, but he has a track record of being a better coach than this. However, he has looked terrible in New York both in preparing for games and at the press conference after the game. I thought he would be good for Darnold after how his coaching record with Ryan Tannehill was actually a good one down in Miami. Now in New York, he looks out coached, and even more unhinged than normal. New York has a new general manager who did not hire Gase and could look to move off of him very quickly. 

• John Dorsey, Cleveland Browns’ General Manager

• Dorsey was the mastermind to this great turn around, but his team has underperformed greatly thus far into the season. Trading for OBJ seems to be a wasted move and trading away Kevin Zeitler has looked to be a huge oversight with Baker running for his life now. Not only that, but Peppers has even performed better in New York than OBJ has in Cleveland. Not only that, but he is the GM who hired the overmatched Freddie Kitchens and made nothing out of their many draft picks. He also may have picked Baker Mayfield, but he also passed on DeShaun Watson the year before. Just on that he should be fired just like my next hot seat candidate. 

• Ryan Pace, Chicago Bears’ General Manager

• Pace was seen as a great GM for a few finds like Tarik Cohen, Eddie Jackson, and Cody Whitehair in the draft, as well as a few studs in free agency like Akeim Hicks and Allen Robinson. However, he was also the mastermind behind trading up for Leonard Floyd, Anthony Miller, Adam Shaheen and none other than Mitchell Trubisky. He also went out of his way to overpay guys like Trey Burton, Taylor Gabriel, and Chase Daniel. He may look like a genius trading for Mack, but many GMs wanted him and it was an easy decision to go after the future Hall of Famer any ways. The biggest issue has been Pace’s misses in the first round and failure to figure out the quarterback position. He also hired John Fox prior to Nagy while passing up on opportunities to hire guys like Kyle Shanahan, Doug Pederson, and Sean McVay. Overall, all these misses and failure to spot a quarterback will be his undoing. 

• Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys’ Head Coach

• Technically, Garrett is on his contract year so it’s not much of a firing rather just being let go. However, it basically feels like a firing after being there for so long and being given a mighty long leash with a talented roster. It will be the final straw to break the camel’s back here if he misses the playoffs playing in a weak NFC East with maybe one of the best rosters in the NFL. I blame Jerry Jones more than anything here with him being so patient with Garrett, but there needs to be a change and if guys like Lincoln Reilly or even Urban Meyer want to come you have to go for it. 

• Doug Marrone, Jacksonville Jaguars’ Head Coach

• Even if the Jags make the playoffs I think Marrone’s days are numbered down in Jacksonville. He was basically the reason why the Jalen Ramsey bridge could not be mended and he just gives off the vibe of being unwilling to bend or adjust to situations. As a head coach he is “okay” and capable of coaching teams to the playoffs. However, this roster is just too good with either Nick Foles or Gardner Minshew to not make it far in a bad AFC playoff picture. This sort of feels like the Titans when Mitch Munchak took them to the playoffs and they still fired him for an upgrade with Mike Vrabel. The Jags could do better here with a very good roster in a winnable AFC South. 

• Anthony Lynn, Los Angeles Chargers’ Head Coach

• Lynn should be thanking Nagy in his power decision to run out the clock for a long kick that led to a win in Chicago for the Chargers. They were soundly beat on both sides of the ball all day long and pulled out the win by the skin of their teeth. Lynn looked okay last season, but was on the hot seat prior to leading to the playoffs. However, with such a talented roster and Rivers on one last run they seem to be in a free fall here. Rivers is a soon to be free agent who may look towards greener pastures with either a new team or retirement over being dragged around on a floundering franchise in flux. As for Lynn, he just looks to be a middle of the road head coach who is better as an assistant in the long term. 

• Pat Shurmur, New York Giants’ Head Coach

• Both New York teams could be looking for new head coaches going into the 20-21 season. I never liked the Shurmur hire in the first place after looking mediocre in both Cleveland and St.Louis. He like many other overmatched head coaches look to be better assistants than full time head coaches. Shurmur if kept to being an offensive coordinator could be one of the best in the league. The Giants need a guy who can be more creative and all around more aware of game situations as a head coach. With guys like Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley to build around I bet they will have a shot at a quality head coach.