What's this? A Week 5 Soapbox after Week 6? Why, yes! This article was nearly completely written last week, but then I never got around to typing it into Blogger. I have now rectified that situation, so enjoy...
There seems to be an unwritten law in major sports that it is too upsetting to the synergy of a team to fire the head coach too early in the season. Typically, this only happens if: the coach is caught violating some NCAA rules (in the college ranks), a star player engineers a coup (in basketball), or the coach so terribly irritates the administration/front office. Usually the first coach dismissals happen in the last couple of weeks of a season. However, this year we have not one, but TWO coaches ousted before the NFL season even reaches the halfway point. [NOTE: This sentence was added this week] Ironically, each team that suffered the loss of their coach won their next game! Maybe the owners knew something we didn't?
The first coach to face the axe was Houston's Bill O'Brien. Since arriving at the Texans, O'Brien brought his work ethic and focus on defense to a team that had tasted success under previous head coach Gary Kubiak, but had not been able to capitalize on that. They had also collapsed so badly in Kubiak's last season that he was also fired mid-season, replaced temporarily by Wade Phillips.
O'Brien had immediate success, escalating the team to a 9-7 record and playoff appearance. The Texans won the division in the next season, and added two more division titles in 2018 and 2019. The Texans became renowned for one of the fiercest defenses in the league, and challenged every opponent they faced. An 0-4 start was O'Brien's undoing, however, and he was dismissed.
The firing of Bill O'Brien seemed to ignite the possibility of other coaches being fired early, as the very next week saw the dismissal of Atlanta Falcons' coach Dan Quinn. Quinn took over the Falcons in 2014 after two losing seasons. Those two losing seasons were preceded by an appearance in the NFC Championship Game, so the fall from grace was taken especially hard. Exit Mike Smith, enter Dan Quinn. Like O'Brien, Quinn had quick success, raising the Falcons to an even 8-8 record and second place divisional finish in his first season. He followed that season with a massively successful 11-5 season that sent to the Falcons to only their second Super Bowl in franchise history. The loss in that Super Bowl, though, seemed to take the air out of the team. Despite a rocket-armed quarterback and one of the speediest and talented corps of wide receivers in the league, the Falcons consistently fell, dropping to 10-5, then two 7-9 seasons, and finally opening this season 0-5. Unlike Houston, they couldn't point to a slate of ultra-tough opponents to open the season -- the offense was simply not functioning.
So now we are six weeks into an already COVID-chaotic season, and we have two interim coaches. Has someone opened the floodgates? How many other underperforming coaches will face the unemployment line before Thanksgiving? Both New York coaches are probably safe, simply they are still new and in the "rebuilding" stages. The same applies to the Bengals' Zac Taylor. How about Minnesota's Mike Zimmer? The Vikings look pathetic, especially on defense, and QB Kurt Cousins, after an impressive opening weekend performance, has looked anemic. Washington coach Ron Rivera is not winning favor, especially by allowing the Giants their first win due to a failed two-point conversion. Keep your eyes peeled on the paper, folks. Now that someone has turned on the coaching carousel, it will keep moving.
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