NFL Rumors: 10 Coaches on the Hot Seat in 2011
Every season teams find themselves with a new head coach running the show.
Other teams return to camp with the same coach that they might have thought was on their way out.
The NFL has had some coaching changes in the 2010 season, while other teams have yet to make a move and seem to have decided to keep their current coach around for another season.
The NFL is a league where you better have a team that wins on a regular basis or before you know it as a head coach you are packing up your office and applying for new a job.
With the 2011 season only seven months away there are a lot of questions that fans have of their own teams.
There are ten coaches out there that better make sure their teams have an over the top season or they will be looking for new work when the 2012 season starts.
Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals
1 of 10
Marvin Lewis has been on the hot seat for the past couple of years in Cincinnati, and it looked as if he would finally get the pink slip after a dismal 4-12 season.
Before the 2010 season kicked off the Bengals were predicted to be contenders in the AFC North.
With wide receiver duo Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens lined up to either side of Carson Palmer it looked on paper as if the Bengals had some good offensive power.
The experiment failed completely, and Carson Palmer had seemed to fall off the radar of top notch quarterbacks in the league.
The past three seasons the Bengals have combined for a 18-29-1 record.
Marvin Lewis is going to have to have at least a 10 win season and make the playoffs or at least come close to a playoff spot.
If the Cincinnati Bengals have another down season there is no doubt in anybody minds that Marvin Lewis will be out as head coach.
Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars
2 of 10
Jack Del Rio has a 20-28 record in the last three years as the Jacksonville head coach.
The Jaguars ranked near the bottom on offense and defensive statistics last year.
On defense they are the No. 28 team passing yards allowed at 250.3
On the ground they are the No. 22 team against the run giving up 121.6 yards a game.
Offense did not do so well either ranking No. 27 in the air averaging a dismal 191.6 per game.
Their running game is where they faired well this year averaging 149.7 on the ground putting them as the No. 3 rushing offense in the league.
In his career at Jacksonville Del Rio is 65-63 and has only taken his team to the playoffs twice where they are 1-2.
He has only had three winning seasons in his eight years with the Jaguars.
Jack Del Rio has been mediocre at best during his tenure with Jacksonville, and if they do not turn their play around Jack will be one of the coaches names we see on the ticker as being fired.
Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans
3 of 10
Kubiak has had zero luck winning anything while in Houston
The Texans have had only one winning season since Kubiak began coaching in 2006.
His best season coaching was a 9-7 mark in 2009 where they still finished second in their division.
The Texans had a good year on offense ranking in the ten in passing and rushing yards per game.
Defense was the complete opposite where they ranked last in passing yards per game and No. 13 in rushing.
Kubiak needs to work on drafting defense in this years draft and hope that they can give division foes Indianapolis a run for the division.
If he can not achieve a winning season or even starts off slow in 2011 look for management to make a quick move and replace Kubiak with a coordinator.
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Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams
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Steve Spagnuolo was one win away from solidfying a head coaching spot, but with a loss and no post season Spagnuolo now needs to worry about how his team performs in 2011.
He will be going into his third year as head coach of St. Louis and improved ten fold from his first year where he and the Rams went 1-15.
A new star quarterback in Sam Bradford and a 7-9 record last season in a pitiful NFC West division that saw a 7-9 Seahawks team get a playoff game should give fans and the organization something to hang their hats on.
As a defensive minded coach the Rams surely did not show that is what Spagnuolo is known for.
St. Louis finished in the bottom half of the league last year in defense and finished in the bottom ten in offense.
Steve Spagnuolo in 2011 will have Sam Bradford ready to go in his second year. However, another 7-9 record will not be looked at so lightly next year where they should be favored or at least be a very close second in division favorites.
The Rams either pull out a winning season or the St. Louis coaching seat may start to heat up a bit under Steve Spagnuolo.
Ken Whisenhunt, Arizona Cardinals
5 of 10
Ken Whisenhunt is in a world of hurt as the Arizona Cardinal head coach.
The Cardinals are only two years separated from a Super Bowl appearance, and find themselves spiraling downwards.
The Cardinals have no solid quarterback, and have gone to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald for help into who they should look at bringing in.
Five quarterbacks took snaps for the Cardinals last year during a season that seemed like nobody could lead the Arizona offense.
In 2010 the Cardinals were at the bottom of the rankings on both sides of the football.
Whisenhunt has been a .500 win percent coach in the regular seasons posting a 32-32 record in his four years.
He has had success in the playoffs with a record of 4-2.
Ken Whisenhunt better hope he can find a starting quarterback the start of the 2011 season.
If he fields a team that finishes in the bottom of the league on offense and defense and gives no shot to make the playoffs he will be out as head coach in Arizona by the end of the season.
Tony Sparano, Miami Dolphins
6 of 10
If I was Tony Sporano and had to go through the ordeal that the Dolphins front office put him through I would have walked away from the team right then.
After the altercation this offseason Sporano knows that any slow start or mediocre season and he is out quicker than a blink of an eye.
The Miami Dolphins were autrocious at home this year winning only one game. They did manage to post a 6-2 record on the road however which helped to make the season a small amount better.
Dolphins defense ranked in the top ten but the offense ranked in the bottom half of the league.
A quarterback issue hurt the Dolphins ability to get an offense some momentum to compete effectively all season.
In the three years Sporano has been the head coach in Miami he has posted a winning record of 25-23.
In his first year he helped to lead Miami to a AFC East division title and a playoff birth.
If Miami can get a solid running game started in 2011 and a quarterback to stay healthy Sporano may be alright, but any slow start especially at home and he is out.
Chan Gailey, Buffalo Bills
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Chan Gailey came into 2010 as the new coach of the Buffalo Bills, and by the 2012 season he may be going into the season looking for a job.
The 4-12 record of Buffalo looks worse than what the season showed.
Buffalo managed to get into three overtime games in which they went 0-3.
Chan Gailey had his hands full coming in and coaching the Bills who have been at the bottom of the AFC East and the rest of the conference for the past few years.
Most coaches are given the opportunity to get a team on the right track, but with a team who has been struggling like the Bills have Chan Gailey's collar may be a little tighter than he would like.
Buffalo showed some promise last year, but another four or five win season and rumors of coach Gailey being replaced will start to swirl around the league.
Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers
8 of 10
Norv Turner has a good thing going in San Diego.
He has a pro bowl quarterback and a team that has made the playoffs three out of the four years of his tenure in San Diego.
Why is Turner on the hot seat then in 2011?
Because, his team starts every season slow, and rely on a strong second half to make a playoff run.
This past year that slow start could not be repaired, and the Chargers failed to make the playoffs.
On offense the team is No. 2 in passing per game and No. 15 on the ground.
They fare even better on defense as the No. 1 team against the pass and the No. 4 team against the run.
The 4-5 start to the season though could not be helped by their great offense and defense.
Turner needs to find the ability to get his team ready when the season starts in September and not two weeks into October.
Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
9 of 10
The Giants could be summed up in the last ten minutes of the week 15 implosion against division rival Philadelphia Eagles where they lost 38-31.
The Giants started the season 6-2 and seemed poised to be a top contender in the NFC, but a lack luster 4-4 finish led to the team missing out on the playoffs entirely.
For the last seven years Coughlin has coached the Giants to a 65-47 record and a Super Bowl victory.
He has taken his team to the playoffs four years but has only mustered a 4-3 record where all four victories came during their championship year.
New York under Coughlin has 4 winning seasons in his seven years.
Rumors have swirled previously that Coughlin has been on the hot seat for the past couple of years, and after the week 15 loss those rumors seemed to heat up.
If the Giants fail to make the post season for the third straight year in 2011 there will be no more rumors about Coughlin being on his way out, because he will have been long gone before then.
Mike Shanahan, Washington Redskins
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Mike Shanahan has proven that he can win in the National Football League winning two super bowls with the Denver Broncos.
His coaching debut for the Redskins started off on the wrong with the Albert Haynesworth incident, and just never seemed to turn for the good the rest of the year.
Washington even brought in Donovan McNabb into the organization, and he could not even help the offense who were mediocre at best.
On the other side of the ball where Washington found themselves in the bottom six teams in the league.
Shanahan is coaching for an owner who will go out and spend money on what he believes the team needs.
Last year the Redskins seemed to have what it took to play pretty good football, but just did not live up to the hype of critics.
A 6-10 record was well beyond unacceptable to Redskin managment and fans.
Now Shanahan will not get the axe next year, but if he fields a team like the one from 2010 then he will be sweating bullets, because the Redskins owners are not going allow a coach to continue very long putting together losing seasons.
Two back to back losing seasons is going to lead to names starting to be brought about and talked of as possible replacements, and that will be the last thing coach Shanahan will need while trying to stay a float on a sinking ship.
The only way Shanahan is gone next year is if the Washington Redskins implode and start the season winless in the first five or six games.
With what they showed last year they could possibly do it, but the likelihood of that happening is very slim.
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