7 NFL Coaches Who Need to Be Fired

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Sometimes, a coach just needs to be fired.

It isn’t always an indictment of his ability in the coaching profession. Coaching changes are needed at times to change the culture of the team, as seen with Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco. Some locker rooms grow tired of hearing the same voice, as seen in Philadelphia with Andy Reid.

Keep in mind, this list represents coaches who need to be fired, not a prediction of which coaches will be fired. 

Rex Ryan

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The Jets need to sack everyone in a position of power this season.

Rex Ryan’s braggadocio and egotism was annoying before, but he yielded winning results, so it was explained away. Now, as the New York Jets are the butt of every NFL joke, the caricature that is Rex Ryan needs to be sent packing.

Yes, the personnel decisions of Mike Tannebaum are egregious, but Ryan’s blind faith in Mark Sanchez is drenched in Ryan’s own pride. We saw the red flags last year with Sanchez, and this year, it was evident from the onset that he simply wasn’t getting any better, as he continued to repeat the same mistakes.

Yet Ryan bloviated during his press conferences and pledged his support for Sanchez week after week. He only made a move away from Sanchez after the Jets were eliminated from playoff contention.

Now, I’m not a Tebow bigot, and I certainly won’t waste words arguing that he would have made a substantial difference, but the refusal to even give him a shot shows the arrogance that will cost Ryan his job.

Ryan appears to be safe, which means he likely will maintain his stubborn egotism and won't make adjustments to the way he carries himself as a coach.

Lovie Smith And/or Mike Tice

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The Bears have missed the playoffs four of the last five seasons.

During this stretch, the direction of the Bears offense has been suspicious. This year, after a 7-1 start that masked offensive ineptitude, the Bears found themselves heartbroken when the Vikings upset Green Bay, thus eliminating Chicago.

Now, it’s important to note that a decision on the coaching staff should have been made before the Bears kicked off against Detroit yesterday. New general manager Phil Emery decision could not have been absolute, meaning Lovie's job shouldn't have hinged on making the playoffs or not. Say Minnesota loses, does that make the job done by this Chicago coaching staff that much better?

It doesn’t. People may see the 10-6 record and scratch their heads at the pressure to fire Lovie Smith, but anyone that has followed the Bears closely this year knows they have serious vulnerabilities.

Keeping Lovie Smith, like the 7-1 start, would have masked these problems.

Chicago’s offense has been broken all season, from the atrocious offensive line to the simplistic play-calling that forces Jay Cutler to wear a Superman outfit each and every week.

Now, Smith promoted Mike Tice to offensive coordinator. Alone, that is a fireable offense. Tice had never once called plays at the professional level, and each showed in painful detail in and every week.

Lovie Smith is known as a players coach. You won’t find a player in that locker room who will come out in favor of firing Smith, which makes the situation delicate.

Emery needs to do one of two things.

Either take away Smith’s power to hire his own staff—and sack Mike Tice and either promote Jeremy Bates to OC or hire a new, experienced play caller who has a succinct vision for this offense—or you fire Lovie and hire an entire new staff.

Ken Whisenhunt

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After consecutive successful playoffs runs, Whisenhunt and the Cardinals have fallen flat on their faces over the past three seasons. This season started off sensationally for Arizona, who began its 2012 campaign 4-0, but since, have been a downtrodden 1-11. It’s hard to retain your job when you have a stretch that ugly.

Two full seasons removed from Kurt Warner, the Cardinals offense is lost. Arizona had the NFL’s second-worst offense this season, which undermined the excellent play of its defense.

Whishenhunt, who has pull in personnel decisions and who was very much involved in the Kevin Kolb trade, must be held accountable for Arizona’s offensive ineptitude.

The Cardinals need to move forward, and that means a new quarterback and a new head coach.

Jim Schwartz

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The Lions should be making changes to their coaching staff, but they are faced with a major decision about the extent of those changes.

The Lions entered 2012 with playoff aspirations, as they returned much of the roster from a season ago, which makes their 4-12 record particularly glaring. Where does the blame belong?

Their lack of balance offensively is an obvious issue, as is their once ferocious pass rush that has been M.I.A all season. Does that fall at the doorstep of Jim Schwartz? Not entirely. But what Schwartz should be held accountable for is the eight losses Detroit suffered by eight points or less.

The Lions have also compiled a plethora of off-the-field arrests and unnecessary roughness penalties, which can be attached to Schwartz as the Lions lack on and off-the-field discipline. 

Detroit needs to part ways with Schwartz, who is just 22-42 during his tenure as the Lions head coach.

When you lose that many games by such a small margin coaching needs to be held accountable. Detroit has plenty of young talent, not to mention the NFL’s best wide receiver, and must move on from Schwartz and show its fanbase that it is committed to be contenders.

Norv Turner

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Ole Norv has found himself mentioned in articles such as these throughout his career, yet he always survives.

This appears to be the year Turner is finally sacked. Chargers brass has indicated both Turner and general manager A.J. Smith will be removed.

The digression of Phillip Rivers, the myriad questionable coaching decisions and blown leads and the overall lack of will the Chargers display on a weekly basis will be what costs Turner his job.

Lest we forget, when Turner inherited this team in 2007, it was coming off a 14-2 season and were loaded to the brim. After three consecutive playoff runs yielding zero Super Bowl appearances, the Chargers have failed to qualify for the postseason in past three seasons.

It’s time for change in San Diego.

Romeo Crennel

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When you’re an interim head coach elevated to full-time, you have a short leash.

Going 2-14 makes change necessary. The Chiefs have already fired Romeo Crennel, as the team had been fighting Jacksonville all season for the lowest peg on the NFL totem pole.

Much of Kansas City’s problems have been the result of its inadequate level of talent, but it was difficult to argue in favor of giving him another season.

Andy Reid

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Philly needs a new voice, a new culture, a new everything.

Not much has gone right this season for the Eagles. After a 3-1 start, Philly has finished the season 1-11 to culminate for the NFC’s worst record—Detroit beat it, so it has the head-to-head advantage.

Good news for Andy Reid is that he will certainly be contacted by other NFL teams with coaching vacancies. But his 14-year tenure in Philly is over.