Coaches On the Hot Seat

We've reached the halfway point of the NFL season, which means teams are starting to sort themselves out.  Some teams have established themselves as legitimate Super Bowl contenders, while a bunch of unexpected playoff contenders have emerged.  There are the teams that aren't very good, but nobody thought they would be, and then there are others that thought they would be contenders, but aren't.

For those teams, a major second-half turnaround will be necessary in order to reach the playoffs.  And in some cases, that might be the only thing that saves their head coach's job.  There have been so many seasons that would be considered "disappointments" so far that all but a handful of coaches in the league could reasonably be viewed as on the hot seat.  There are definitely some that are more on the hot seat than others.  Here are some prime candidates to get their resumes ready if they don't get their season turned around, ranked in order of whose job I think is most in jeopardy.

• Andy Reid, Eagles-Philadelphia was a chic preseason Super Bowl pick last season, but got off to a terrible start before rebounding to finish 8-8.  The Eagles were expected to be right up there again this season, but have again gotten off to a rough start.  Eagles fans got spoiled when Reid was taking them to the NFC Championship Game every year, but I'm starting to agree with them that he's worn out his welcome in Philadelphia.  It might be time for a change in Philly.  Reid's the longest-tenured coach in the league.  For that tenure to continue next season, I think the Eagles will have to make the playoffs.
• Norv Turner, Chargers-The Chargers do the same thing every year.  It involves either a slow start followed by a late-season surge that leads to them just missing the playoffs or a great start followed by a terrible finish, which yields the same result.  Either way, you have to blame it on the coaching at some point.  They play in the AFC West, which is one of the easiest divisions in the league, and have an elite quarterback in Phillip Rivers.  There's no logical reason why the Chargers continue having the same problems just getting into the playoffs year after year.  If they miss out again, Turner's done in San Diego.
• Jason Garrett, Cowboys-When Jerry Jones hired Jason Garrett, it looked like a genuis move.  He locked up one of the best young coaches in the NFL who seemed destined to be a great NFL head coach.  They went 5-3 under Garrett in the second half of the 2010 season and led the division for a good portion of the season last year, but lost twice to the Giants in December, ended up 8-8 and missed the playoffs.  Now he's in his second full season, and the Cowboys are one of the most unpredictable teams in football.  They've still got time to turn things around and make a playoff run.  If they don't, it might be sayonara to Jason Garrett.  Jerry Jones doesn't like missing the playoffs three years in a row.
• Rex Ryan, Jets-If you're going to run your mouth, you'd better be able to back it up. Rex Ryan is finding that out the hard way. For a team that's so desperate for attention, a loudmouthed coach isn't necessarily a bad thing. But when that team thinks it's better than it is, that loudmouthed coach has to shoulder a good portion of the blame. The Jets controlled their own playoff fate lasat season...until they got crushed by the Eagles, Giants and Dolphins in their final three games to end up on the outside looking in. Then in the offseason they made that "talk about us please" trade for Tim Tebow and acted as if having two quarterbacks who think they should be starting was somehow a good idea. Ryan insisted he'd make it work. It hasn't. The Jets are 3-5. They're not going to make the playoffs. And Woody Johnson's probably going to blame Rex Ryan.

Those are the four coaches I think are most likely to be looking for new jobs in the offseason.  Here are a few others who might not necessarily be gone at the end of the season, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

• Ron Rivera, Panthers-I know that Ron Rivera's only been the Panthers' coach for two seasons.  But his tenure in Carolina has been rocky to say the least.  Things looked encouraging last year.  They went a solid 6-10 and Cam Newton won Offensive Rookie of the Year.  All signs pointed towards a competitive 2012 season.  Well, that hasn't happened so far.  The Panthers are 1-6 and a mess.  Yes, they're young.  But Newton has taken a step backwards and that team is full of dysfunction.  The only way to change the culture might be to clean house.
• Pat Shurmur, Browns-Like Rivera, Shurmur's in just his second year as the Browns' head coach.  The lockout ruined any chance the Browns had at being competitive last year and they ended up just 4-12 (it didn't help that the other three teams in the AFC North all made the playoffs) while ranking towards the bottom of the league in virtually every category.  This season hasn't started much better.  The Browns lost their first five games, and it looks like another last place finish is a virtual certainty.  This is Mike Holmgren's final year with Cleveland, and the new owners and GM might want to bring in their own guy.
• Marvin Lewis, Bengals-I don't think Marvin Lewis' job is in jeopardy, but the lack of consistency during his tenure has to be getting frustrating for Bengals ownership.  Cincinnati has made the playoffs three times in 10 years under Lewis, but never in back-to-back years.  Their success seems to come in cycles, but how many cycles do you go through just to lose a wild card game once every couple years?  He's the best coach for that team and they know it.  I doubt they'll look to make a change, but Lewis does have to give some sort of indication that the Bengals will actually be able to beat the Ravens and Steelers at some point soon.

Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz gets a mulligan because of last season, and Romeo Crennel and Mike Mularkey are both in their first year, so they can't be completely blamed for Kansas City and Jacksonville's struggles.  Neither one of those teams is any good.  That's a fact.  Likewise, however bad the Saints' record ends up, that can be blamed on their unique situation more than anything else.  Everyone knows Sean Payton is back next season so what they do this year doesn't really count.