NFL: Six Coaches Who Should Be Fired After Week 17

The NFL has become a "what have you done for me lately" kind of league.

Some coaches can have long shelf-lives with patient owners. They're given every benefit of the doubt, an opportunity to bring in their personnel, and eventually provide favorable results.

But patience is a luxury most owners can't afford in a league where monstrous contracts must be immediately justified.

Expectations are a powerful thing. Goals are set for a reason. And when men prove they can't achieve those results, its imperative for one to make necessary changes that would be better for the organization.

Note: Interim coaches will not be listed, as they're usually one-and-done. It looks like Mike Singletary could be the exception, though.

Rod Marinelli, DET:

You can't lead your team to an 0-15 season and keep your job. It simply cannot work that way.

It appeared that Marinelli was on his way to turning the team around in his first two seasons, but the team regressed—tragically.

Detroit's lost a few close games, and the Lions have been completely obliterated in others. Dropping games in such fashion makes it difficult to ever bounce back. Imagine being on a team where you expect everything to go wrong.

It's Marinelli's job to motivate, but it's still a sad situation all around. The Lions can't break from their tradition of being perennial losers.

I do believe Marinelli is a good coach. He's been a class act every step of the way, no matter how poorly the season played out.

Herman Edwards, KC:

One of the NFL's most inept coaches in a long time, Herman Edwards has made football teams crumble to his feet. He runs great players he adopts from the previous coach directly into the ground, and he fails to properly identify and utilize upcoming talent. 

Edwards is a player's coach—the guys on his team usually love him. Unfortunately, he's not a football coach.

When he took over the Chiefs, he said he believed their potent, high-scoring offense was "arena league." He planned to scale back the scoring.

He managed that.

Edwards' teams consistently have significant injury problems. Fool me once, right?

In his final season with the New York Jets, the injury bug took a bite out of the team. New York played six different quarterbacks that year.

This issue is a testament to his light conditioning program. His training camps are known to be one of the least intense in the NFL. Sure, the players enjoy taking the practice field in light pads for around two hours at a time. But I'm sure they hate it when they realize their bodies aren't prepared to tackle an entire season. 

Romeo Crennel, CLE

There should be no surprises here.

Crennel's been given the benefit of the doubt for multiple seasons, and has returned nothing but a series of disappointments to Cleveland fans.

He set expectations too high after 2007 and folded. When people expected Cleveland to turn the corner and become a competitive squad in a strong division, Crennel gave them an uninspired team.

He's brought in plenty of talent for the next coach to build upon—unless Braylon Edwards' recent comments run him completely out of town. But Jamal Lewis should have another year in his legs, and a healthy Brady Quinn could provide the confidence the team needs to succeed.

Crennel's biggest problem in 2008 was his inability to get his team to respond to adversity. In the Browns' losses, they've taken the field looking flat and without emotion—as if they're expecting something to go wrong.

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