Joseph, Koetter among coaches on hot seat
The lone surprise emanating from Hue Jackson’s dismissal Monday was that it took so long for Cleveland to fire a coach who had won three times in 40 games.
Jackson was the first head coach to get pink-slipped in 2018, but the Nordic packages had already been warmed elsewhere as coordinators were terminated in recent weeks.
The takeaway?
Seats are about to get hotter in general as struggling clubs begin laying groundwork for fresh starts and opportunities to court potential successors once top jobs are vacated. In a league that usually has at least a half-dozen openings annually, these head men could be on increasingly shaky ground:
1. Vance Joseph, Broncos: He’s 8-16 after a season-and-a-half ... and Denver hasn’t suffered through consecutive sub-.500 campaigns since 1972. The quarterback quandary isn’t his fault, but John Elway isn’t going to ax himself. Given how a talented defense has regressed under Joseph, that could be reason enough to receive walking papers.
2. Dirk Koetter, Buccaneers: He’s desperately trying to keep this 3-4 ship seaworthy, now seeking fairer winds by sending Jameis Winston to the brig. The Winston benching signals an organizational debacle, and Koetter’s inability to shepherd the No. 1 pick of the 2015 draft into a franchise passer likely means he’ll eventually wind up on the plank, even if Ryan Fitzpatrick somehow Fitzmagics an unexpected wild-card berth.
3. Steve Wilks, Cardinals: Giving a rookie coach just one year would be the epitome of the cutthroat NFL’s unfairness. But he has had an especially rocky run through eight games, including his decision to punt McCoy. Wilks seems more concerned about installing his schemes than tailoring them to his roster’s talent — and Arizona has some good players. Such apparent rigidity, especially from an unproven coach who had one previous season as an NFL coordinator, suggests this might not work.
4. John Harbaugh, Ravens: Owner Steve Bisciotti almost cut the cord with his longtime coach after last season, when Baltimore’s Week 17 belly flop at home versus the also-ran Bengals rendered the Ravens also-rans themselves for the fourth time in five years. After a 3-1 start in 2018 and strong indications a playoff return was imminent, Baltimore is suddenly floundering at .500 and facing a tough stretch of its schedule.
5. Todd Bowles, Jets: New York has meandered from the false premise it could contend to start Bowles’ tenure into full rebuild mode. With their presumed franchise quarterback now in the building and a ton of salary cap space next year, maybe the Jets are on the cusp of a breakthrough. But speak- ing of Bowles’ defense, it hasn’t been nearly as good as anticipated despite the resources that have been devoted to it. And a .411 winning percentage — .325
(13-27) since 2016 — won’t get you much slack in New York, teardown or not.
6. Adam Gase, Dolphins: His team has plenty of flaws, not necessarily of his making. Miami is treading water at
4-4 yet is consistently competitive whenever Ryan Tannehill is healthy enough to play. It’s worth wondering a bit about Gase, who has let a lot of (often unhappy) talent out of his locker room.
7. Doug Marrone, Jaguars: Shad Khan has proved a very patient owner, and it appeared his restraint would be rewarded for years after a young, talented team blossomed into AFC runnersup in 2017. (With longtime NFL coach Tom Coughlin serving as the franchise’s executive vice president of football operations, it seems unlikely Marrone’s head will imminently be on a platter.) But Jacksonville might be the most disappointing, underachieving group of
2018. As a precocious defense displays its frustration, more scorn is heaped upon Blake Bortles and an offense lacking imagination. Something’s probably got to give at some point.
8. Jason Garrett, Cowboys: Owner Jerry Jones is quite comfortable with Garrett, now in his eighth full season and very possibly his sixth that will end sans playoffs. Dallas has alternated wins and losses over its past 10 games, and he already has had three 8-8 finishes. Then there’s the Dak Prescott dilemma. Jones could pay him like a franchise quarterback next spring, but Prescott’s development is now trailing that of his peers. That could mean a switch at offensive coordinator instead, but it’s worrisome that Garrett, a former NFL quarterback, hasn’t been able to foster Prescott’s advancement further.