Happy Red Friday Addicts. It’s officially time for playoff football! Of course, the Chiefs have basically been playing playoff football for the past several weeks as every game has mattered. And riding a ten game winning streak into the postseason, there is now at least some confidence amongst Chiefs fans that the playoff drought is about to come to an end.
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As for the rest of the league…well, suffice to say most of the NFL isn’t feeling as happy as Kansas City is right now. For 20 teams, the season is already done and over with. Whether it was a rebuilding year, a season rife with injuries, or just a flat out letdown, fans never enjoy missing out on the postseason.
But even less happy are the myriad of coaches and front office personnel who know what the Monday after the end of the regular season might bring. Here’s where I would normally tell you that is our Lead Story for the week…but let’s face it, that’s just about the only story right now. Today’s “Around the League in 32 Plays” is going to focus on the Black Monday fallout. But not to worry, I’ll throw in a few of the other big NFL news stories after we cover the carnage of the NFL’s day of accountability.
Lead Story: Black Monday Has Arrived
It’s that most magical time of the ye…oh wait, no, wrong holiday. No, this week marks that dreaded time of the year when NFL Head Coaches and General Managers get the ax for their failures, or perceived failures, from owners that have had enough. In some cases it is warranted, in others it’s a head scratcher, and in some it’s just…well it’s just how Tampa Bay does things.
Atlanta Falcons:
General Manager
Despite rampant speculation last month, General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has not yet been fired. Nor has it been confirmed that he will remain with the team. All anyone has heard is that owner Arthur Blank wants to sit down and talk with Dimitroff about the future. We don’t even know if that has happened!
Cleveland Browns:
Head Coach
Out: Mike Pettine
Another year, another leadership change in Cleveland. Mike Pettine may or may not have gotten a fair shake, but he did get twice as long as his predecessor did. But realistically, this is simply a result of an organization that hasn’t been able to figure itself out for a very long time now.
The Browns were the first team to be connected to Chip Kelly, and that actually makes some sense given what we know of the Browns. They’ll want to make a splash hiring and Kelly does that. Those who are upset with Mike Pettine being let go would either quickly forget or be drowned out by those excited about Eric Mang…whoops, wrong “genius-surefire-next-great-head-coach”.
Other Names: Hue Jackson (CIN), Paul Guenther (CIN), Adam Gase (CHI), Doug Marrone (JAX), Teryl Austin (DET), Jim Schwartz, Matt Patricia (NE), Sean McDermott (CAR),
General Manager
Out: Ray Farmer
A lot of the personnel people I’ve talked to think this was a bad move that had to be made. Once the Browns made it clear they were making changes, it was almost automatic that Ray Farmer would have to go. This is also the kind of move that can entice someone like Chip Kelly because it opens the door for him to have some personnel power. While some think he doesn’t want that…no, that’s just wrong. He has literally proven that he wants that.
The Browns first step in finding a new GM has been to take everyone by surprise and promote from within. The Browns have made Sashi Brown their Executive Vice President of Football Operations. What does that mean? Well, according to the Browns it means he controls the final 53 man roster, the draft, and free agency decisions, and he is in charge of picking the General Manager. This all begs the question…how is he not already the General Manager? Oh, and Brown has absolutely no experience in personnel decisions, but he’s an analytics guy.
While most experts will tell you that “Draft Day” is nothing like how a real NFL front office works, can we all at least agree that it is probably exactly like how the Browns front office works? I mean, even Dennis Leary got his shots in…
It's official: I'm the @browns new coach. Moneyball / Draft Day staff combo:@JonahHill #JenniferGarner #DancesWithWolves & @RealRobinWright
— Denis Leary (@denisleary) January 6, 2016
Next: Jason Garrett gets a reprieve