Black Monday takes out two
Detroit, Chicago fire head coaches to begin new year
The Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears showed their coaches the door. Bruce Arians of the Arizona Cardinals found it himself by retiring. And Vance Joseph of the Broncos remained gainfully employed despite the sort of season that doesn’t go down well in Denver.
What is traditionally the NFL’s biggest day for firings, “Black Monday,” started with a flurry when Detroit canned Jim Caldwell and Chicago did the same to John Fox, both before noon.
“Today is the tough part of our results-oriented business,” said Fox, whose team went 14-34 and finished last in all three of his seasons.
He and Caldwell, who went 36-28 in four seasons but didn’t win a playoff game, joined Jack Del Rio of the Raiders and Chuck Pagano of the Colts, whose owners didn’t even wait until the calendar turned, choosing to sack them Sunday. But that was it. Joseph, a rookie head coach who oversaw a 5-11 season that included an eight-game losing streak, was on the hot seat. But his boss, John Elway, slept on it and decided to keep Joseph and not begin a search for the team’s fourth coach in five years.
“We believe in Vance as our head coach,” Elway tweeted. “Together, we’ll put in the work to improve in all areas and win in 2018.”
The Marvin Lewis situation in Cincinnati — well, it’s complicated. Lewis completed his 15th season with the Bengals, and conventional wisdom held that he might not be asked to return. He met with owner Mike Brown on Monday, but no conclusions were reached.
The five vacancies (six counting the Giants, who fired Bob McAdoo earlier in December) naturally triggered a flurry of speculation about which assistant coaches might be moving on to take over the teams.
Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks confirmed that the Colts, Lions and Giants had asked him to interview.
New England Patriots coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia were on a number of lists, and Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was considered one of New York’s top candidates.
Maybe most intriguing was the prospect of Jon Gruden leaving the broadcasting booth and returning to the Raiders. ESPN reported that Raiders owner Mark Davis was trying to lure Gruden back to the sideline with an offer that could include an ownership stake.