5 NFL Coaches Who Should Be Fired If They Don't Make the Playoffs

There are six weeks to go in the NFL season and with Thanksgiving just around the corner, we are about to enter the home stretch.  While we know the fate of several teams, there are plenty of others jockeying for position in the playoffs.

As some teams struggle to get into the postseason dance, there are coaches living in fear of getting a pink slip at the end of the year.  Some have been with their teams a number of years while others you can argue haven't even had the chance to succeed. 

Here are five coaches we can expect to get fired if their teams don't make the playoffs. 

5. Chan Gailey

On the one hand, Buffalo Bill fans should be quite happy that after 10 weeks, their team has already exceeded their 2010 win total.  However, after being outscored 106-26 in their past three games, one has to worry that the league has caught up to the spread offense Gailey has employed this year.

Are injuries a reason?  Possibly.  But his team, which looked so good to start the year, looks lost. 

You have to worry that Gailey, who never had success as a coach in what seems like an entire NFL generation, has seen the game pass him by. 

The Bills have an emerging roster that with a few more good drafts could truly become a contender.  You just have to wonder if Gailey is the right guy in charge. 

If the Bills' season continues to collapse and they only end up with five or six wins, do not be surprised if Gailey ends up unemployed. 

4. Tony Sparano

You could argue that Sparano was a dead coach walking before this season ever started.  Considering owner Stephen Ross tried to bring in Jim Harbaugh while Sparano was still an employee, you could see the writing on the wall.

The only way Sparano could have conceivably saved his job was getting his team into the playoffs.  But an 0-7 start ended any hope of that. 

By all accounts, Sparano seems like an adequate coach that his players fight for.  He is simply the victim of poor ownership that doesn't have an identity.

Expect Sparano to get fired quickly after the regular season but I don't think we've heard the last of him as a head coach.  

3. Jack Del Rio

It was pretty well-known that Jack Del Rio was in a position of "win or go home" before the season started.  Perhaps Del Rio saw his roster and realized this was not a team that would be playoff-bound and cut starter David Garrard.

Instead of the Jags competing, they're having one of the worst seasons in the Del Rio era.  They have one of the worst offenses in the league and it appears Blaine Gabbert is at least one if not two years away from being a competent NFL quarterback.

At 3-7, the Jags are going nowhere and sadly, this will be the end of Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville. 

2. Gary Kubiak

Yes, starting quarterback Matt Schaub just got injured for the rest of the regular season.  However, there is no better time for the Houston Texans to make their first postseason.

With a two-game lead over the 5-5 Tennessee Titans, all the Texans need to do is go 3-3 in the final six games and the division should be all theirs.

However, if the Texans collapse in these final weeks and somehow miss the playoffs again, that's the end of Gary Kubiak.

Schaub or no Schaub, the Texans have a team good enough to win at least three games, considering half of their games come against teams like the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers.

The Texans ownership has been very patient with Kubiak.  However, with no Peyton Manning and two other rivals now playing rookie quarterbacks, there are absolutely no excuses for failure.

If the Texans miss the playoffs, Kubiak is gone. 

1. Norv Turner

Has any other coach underwhelmed as much as Turner in San Diego?

His 2011 team might be the least talented he's had, yet they started the season 4-1.  Five games later, they're 4-6 and tied for last in the AFC West in one of the worst divisions in football.

With his quarterback looking like a shell of his former self and a team self-destructing, this looks like it could be the end of Turner. 

It's not over for San Diego, who are still just two games out of first place.  But if the Chargers can't turn their season around, it's time to finally bring in a big-time head coach.