Sports Survivors: Coaches Who Never Seem to Be on the Hot Seat
The coaching carousel in professional sports doesn't often make a ton of sense.
Hot seats, cold seats, warming up, cooling down—these are all terms used to describe what is a confusing process at best, and at worst, an unfair one.
Winning? Sometimes it doesn't matter. It is why a coach such as David Blatt can get canned despite things going relatively well. Losing? Like more than a few names on this list, sometimes it gets a coach fired before a season can end, sometimes never.
Let's take a look at current coaches who don't seem to ever have serious heat on their seats.
Whether it is simply losing, failing to rebuild or not matching the expectations of a prestigious organization, these coaches are the ultimate sports survivors.
Mike Mularkey, Tennessee Titans
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Maybe Mike Mularkey hasn't had a fair shake yet, but he has yet to lead a team to better than a third-place finish in a division.
Mularkey currently coaches the Tennessee Titans, a job he earned by leading the team to a 2-7 record after former coach Ken Whisenhunt got canned in the middle of the 2016 season.
Before, Mularkey spent two years in Buffalo, going 9-7 and 5-11 before lasting all of one season in Jacksonville after a 2-14 performance.
To be fair, Mularkey has bounced from rebuilder to rebuilder. But other than an extreme case (2-14), it seems to take years of "all right, this won't work" for anything to happen. His offenses struggle, and his drafting has been questionable.
The Mularkey Watch in Tennessee has just started.
Jason Kidd, Milwaukee Bucks
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In a league where winning may or may not matter on a coach-by-coach basis, things could have gone either way for Jason Kidd with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Then again, maybe not really, because the guy used his connections in the front office to break an unwritten rule and pursue a job that wasn't open. Kidd wanted more control in Brooklyn, didn't get it after a 44-38 season and bolted.
Since, Kidd has had predictably Kidd seasons, going 41-41 and 33-49. He's presumably not close to being on the hot seat, though, because of how he arrived and the front office's hope that he can get a core of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker to the promised land.
The Bucks won't have it easy with Kidd, especially after players watched his arrival and might look elsewhere in free agency. Don't expect Kidd's seat to get too warm, though.
Jim Caldwell, Detroit Lions
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Jim Caldwell of the Detroit Lions currently sits four games over .500 with the team as of this writing, coincidentally the same standing he had with the Indianapolis Colts before the organization canned him.
Caldwell inherited a Peyton Manning-led team from Tony Dungy after serving under the legendary coach for years and led the team to the Super Bowl.
The loss started the downward spiral.
Caldwell fizzled, turning 10-6 into a 2-14 season. He started over in Detroit, going 11-5 and falling to 7-9. When his teams have lost a key facet, he has had problems keeping things afloat, which doesn't bode well for this season without Calvin Johnson.
Interestingly enough, this isn't new with Caldwell. He received a seven-year tenure with Wake Forest starting in 1993; under his guidance, the program made one bowl game in seven years and finished .500 once, landing at a 26-63 record.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Rob Ryan, Buffalo Bills (Assistant)
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Hailed as a defensive genius from the Buddy Ryan family tree, Rob Ryan has skated by for years without much in the way of an elite defense.
Rob currently serves as assistant head coach for the Buffalo Bills, though since 2004 he has spent time as defensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints.
Ryan's departure from the Saints was notable, to say the least. In a writeup after a 47-14 whipping at the hands of Washington, ESPN.com noted complaints of Ryan's complicated playbook and the silly numbers: "New Orleans (4-6) ranks last in total defense and yards allowed per game (424.7) and is second-to-last in passing yards allowed per game (293.1). The 424.7 yards allowed per game would be the second-most in NFL history, behind the 2012 Saints."
Here's the most damning part: Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News compiled each of Ryan's defenses since 2004 and found only two top-10 finishes in total defense over 12 seasons.
Sometimes reputation alone, warranted or not, keeps a name chugging along.
Joe Girardi, New York Yankees
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Joe Girardi is a case of expectations.
Some MLB franchises might have the patience to put up with Girardi, but the guy has managed to help steer the New York Yankees into a rare rebuild while hosting a fire sale at the trade deadline.
Girardi has one title and an 812-628 mark with the Yankees.
Jesse Spector of Sporting News pointed out Girardi's struggles of late: "Joe Girardi likely will be the first Yankees manager to go four years without finishing first and keep his job since Ralph Houk (1966-73)."
But even Ralph Houk finished with three pennants and two championships, whereas Girardi has one apiece.
Blame seems to shift on a schedule in New York, and it has helped Girardi keep the gig this long. What's another year?
Gus Bradley, Jacksonville Jaguars
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In any other locale, Gus Bradley would already be out of a job.
Bradley has led the Jacksonville Jaguars since 2013 and lost 38 of his first 50 games. Putting it another way, he's won 12 games since 2013.
Twelve.
We're talking 4-12, 3-13, 5-11 and 0-2 as of this writing. Blame injuries or something else, but in a normal locale someone gets held accountable, and the ax falls.
But apparently not in Jacksonville. Let's put it in context, thanks to Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk:
"Do you know how bad a 12-38 record is? There have been 170 coaches in NFL history who coached at least 50 games, and Bradley’s winning percentage ranks 169th out of those 170. The only coach with a worse record was Bert Bell, who coached the Philadelphia Eagles from 1936 to 1941. And the only reason Bell wasn’t fired is that Bell was also the Eagles’ owner.
"
Knowing the Jaguars, Bradley will get to lead the Jaguars through another rebuild.
At this pace, it's looking like 24 wins. Does Bradley own the Jaguars?
Gus Malzahn, Auburn Tigers
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Gus Malzahn started off hot with the Auburn Tigers.
Hailed as an offensive guru, Malzahn took the Tigers to a title game in 2013 on the back of a 12-2 season.
It's all downhill from there.
Specifically, 8-5, 7-6 and currently 1-2, a 28-15 record. Hot-seat chatter might actually heat up now, but it took long enough—Auburn's finishing tied for fourth-best in the SEC two years and running isn't something normally seen as acceptable from a program that wants to be considered a big dog.
Malzahn's attempts at building up this roster clearly aren't working, and the success with other players to start his tenure continues to look worse and worse, especially while he makes odd playing-time decisions at quarterback.
The seat—at least we'd hope—has to catch fire if Auburn drops a season-ending contest against Alabama. Malzahn, coincidentally, hasn't beaten the Crimson Tide since 2013, either.
Alvin Gentry, New Orleans Pelicans
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As a head coach, Alvin Gentry has made the NBA postseason twice.
His first head coaching gig came in 1994.
To be fair, Gentry has had gaps in his coaching stints, and some seasons weren't full campaigns, but it speaks to the feeling that the guy has never been on the hot seat.
Before joining the New Orleans Pelicans last year, Gentry had spent five years coaching the Phoenix Suns from 2008-2013. One of those seasons resulted in a playoff berth.
Last year, Gentry led the Pelicans to a 30-52 record. It doesn't help that Anthony Davis missed time with an injury, but an early look at the roster doesn't hint at much of an improvement this year.
Considering how big Davis could make basketball in New Orleans and the importance of success there, it seems like a miracle Gentry isn't already on the hot seat.
Les Miles, LSU
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For a moment, it seemed like LSU wanted to fire head coach Les Miles last year.
It didn't happen.
That was the closest Miles has come to losing his job, but really, did anyone think LSU would really fire Miles?
Probably not.
Miles has skated by for what seems like ages, winning just enough games despite terrible quarterback play. This year he mind-bogglingly tried the whole Brandon Harris thing again alongside Danny Etling. LSU dropped the first game of the season.
Miles hasn't had an LSU team win double-digit games since 2013, hasn't won back-to-back bowl games since 2008 and hasn't won the SEC West since 2011. This year has the looks of another shrug-worthy affair while Miles leads the way.
Jeff Fisher, Los Angeles Rams
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All hail the king of sports survivors.
Jeff Fisher has a career 170-156 record, a .523 mark. This could end there, but it's almost too much fun.
Let's take a look at Fisher's campaigns with the Rams since the St. Louis iteration hired him in 2012:
Get this—the Rams might have an extension in place for Fisher.
It doesn't make sense. Fisher sits alone in third on the list of all-time losses. He's liable to hit No. 1 if he lasts the entirety of this season.
Which he will. Fisher won't play No. 1 pick Jared Goff and wastes talents such as running back Todd Gurley and defensive tackle Aaron Donald, but that doesn't seem to matter.
Fisher has coached his way onto the all-time losses list since 1994, but that doesn't seem to be a large enough sample size for the Rams. He's coaching purgatory personified.
Congratulations on the new team, Los Angeles.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
