Head coaches, GMs are dismissed by NFL teams
From the NFC North to the AFC East, the firings began almost immediately after the NFL’s first 17-game season concluded.
The Vikings fired coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman on Monday following an 8-9 season. Division rival Chicago parted with coach Matt Nagy and GM Ryan Pace after going 6-11.
And in a relative surprise, Miami dismissed coach Brian Flores, whose Dolphins went 9-8, including a sweep of archrival New England.
Indeed, the career coaching records for each total 130-112-1.
Yet, while in South Florida the Dolphins seemed to be overachievers with a modest roster, both the Vikings and Bears were major disappointments this season.
As were the New York Giants (4-13), and general manager Dave Gettleman retired, though he likely would have been fired.
One major problem for Minnesota and Chicago resides in neighboring Wisconsin: the Packers. While Green Bay is an NFL power and perennial championship contender, the Vikings and Bears have been more teasing than triumphant.
“We are determined to have sustained success and bring Vikings fans the Super Bowl championships they expect and deserve,” owners Zygi and Mark Wilf said in
Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, above, was fired along with general manager Rick Spielman after an 8-9season. their statement after letting go of Zimmer and Spielman.
Zimmer was 7-8-1 against the Packers, which isn’t bad considering how Green Bay has performed in recent years.
The Bears under Nagy were 1-7 against the Pack. Nagy, the 2018 Coach of the Year, simply was following the path of his predecessors: Chicago’s past six head coaches have had a losing record against Green Bay.
There also has been no evident progress at quarterback in Chicago, and the defense has taken a step backward.
Minnesota’s talent pool seems deeper than Chicago’s, from a high-paid quarterback, Kirk Cousins, with some success to standout runners and receivers. The payroll has been high, but the results in 2021, and the lack of progress in the standings, doomed both Zimmer and Spielman.
Flores, however, didn’t appear to be in danger of losing his job. One of three Black head coaches in the NFL, Flores brought Miami back from an awful first half of the schedule, turning around from 1-7 to 9-8.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who kept GM Chris Grier, hinted at communication issues.
“I’ve been looking at this over three years now and watching the organization grow,” Ross said. “I think an organization can only function if it’s collaborative and it works well together, and I don’t think we were really working well as an organization ... to win consistently at the NFL level.”
Gettleman, 70, saw the Giants go 19-46 during his tenure and were rarely in playoff contention in that period.
Other coaches with tenuous job situations are the Giants’ Joe Judge, Houston’s David Culley and Carolina’s Matt Rhule. Denver fired Vic Fangio on Sunday, while the Las Vegas and Jacksonville positions became open during the season.
HALL OF FAME RECEIVER MAYNARD DIES >> Don Maynard, a Hall of Fame receiver who made his biggest impact catching passes from Joe Namath in the wide-open AFL, has died. He was 86.
Maynard was the main target for Namath with the New York Jets, though a leg injury made him less effective in the team’s stunning upset of the NFL champion Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl.
After an unproductive one-year stint with the New York Giants in 1958, the slim, deceptively fast Texan headed to Hamilton of the CFL for 1959. Then the AFL was established, and he was the first player to sign with the New York Titans, who soon would become the Jets.
Even though the Titans/Jets went through a series of mediocre quarterbacks in their early years, Maynard made his mark, including two 1,000-yard receiving seasons. And when Namath showed up in 1965, one of the league’s top passing combinations was born.
As Broadway Joe’s primary target, Maynard had three seasons with at least 1,200 yards receiving in a four-year span. He caught 14 touchdown passes in Namath’s rookie season, and twice more had 10 TDs in a season.
When he retired in 1973 after one season with the St. Louis Cardinals, he was pro football’s career receiving leader with 633 catches for 11,834 yards and 88 touchdowns. In 1987, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.