'Black Monday' Ax Falls, Now 8 NFL Head Coach Openings
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A quarter of the NFL's teams are looking for a new head coach right now, and that number might go up.
"Black Monday," the day after the regular season ends when struggling franchises usually begin charting a new course by cleaning house, started with a bang as four more teams made changes. Vance Joseph was booted out of Denver, Adam Gase was fired by Miami, Steve Wilks was shown the door after just one season in Arizona and the Marvin Lewis era ended after a 16-year run in Cincinnati.
One-and-done club:
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2018
*S. Wilks, Cards
•C. Kelly, 49ers, 2016
•J. Tomsula, 49ers, 2015
•M. Mularkey, Jaguars, 2012
•H. Jackson, Raiders, 2011
•J. Mora, Seahawks, 2009
•C. Cameron, Dolphins, 2007
•A. Shell, Raiders, 2006
•M. Shottenheimer, Redskins, 2001
•A. Groh, Jets, 2000
Those moves brought the number of head coaching vacancies up to eight. On Sunday night, Tampa Bay relieved Dirk Koetter of his duties and the Jets canned Todd Bowles.
The firings actually started very early this year, with Cleveland bouncing Hue Jackson back on Oct. 29 and Green Bay ousting Mike McCarthy on Dec. 2.
It's entirely possible more coaches will land on the chopping block during the day Monday, or perhaps in the days to come. Generally, NFL teams treat the season as a 365-day thing. Those that did not qualify for the playoffs probably started thinking about 2019 the second this season started going off the rails.
The Jets, in particular, have embarked on their search for the 21st head coach in franchise history, counting the three seasons they were known as the New York Titans (1960-62). Only two coaches have finished their tenure with a winning record -- Bill Parcells, who went 29-19 from 1997-99, and Al Groh, who went 9-7 in 2000. Groh was hired not long after Bill Belichick resigned after just one day as head coach in the aftermath of Parcells' retirement.
Jets CEO Christopher Johnson and general manager Mike Maccagnan were expected to address the media on Monday afternoon on the state of the team and the head coach search.