Breaking News - Agent for Drouin Requests Trade

BLACK MONDAY WILL TAKE MANY NFL COACHES ON THE HOT SEAT ENTIRELY OFF THE STOVE

By Allan Brown

Who Will Survive Monday's Likely Coaching Bloodbath?

Shoppers have their Black Friday and NFL fans have their own special day, better known as Black Monday.

While the two days couldn't be any more different in theory, they do both share a few similarities.

Black Friday is the day shoppers wait for all year long even if it means staying up all night and becoming stressed as they wait in those endless lines at the mall.

There's stress and endless waiting on Black Monday, too. Many fans - myself included, I actually always take that day off from my 9 to 5 job - wait impatiently as they are glued to their favorite sports channel awaiting not the best deal, but, rather, the news they may either be happy to hear or dread to receive.

You see it just depends on if the person is a fan of a particular head coach, who's job is on the line with his NFL team, or  they, instead, can't stand their leader and hope his days with the squad are over.

That stress is only intensified for the handful of coaches who await to hear their ultimate fate.

And there's a big pay day involved in both dates. Merchants make huge amounts of money on Black Friday and coaches, especially those with long-term contracts, get their own pay out on Black Monday when their teams are required to honor the original terms of the contract they made with said coach just to get him out the door.

Heck, at one point, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were paying money to three coaches and other teams have faced similar situations when a coach who was signed with so much fan fare fails to deliver on his pledge to take his team to the NFL promised land.

The similarities end there.

While Black Friday is the beginning, the start of a holiday season where businesses see a good 50 percent of their profits come in a five-week span, Black Monday signifies an ending, rather than a beginning.

It's the end of the road for each coach whose job status is decided on that first day after the end of the NFL's regular season.

Once the final regular season game is played in Green Bay tomorrow night comes the dark and then the hardest part of the process arrives.

It's decision time.

As the dark turns into dawn, Black Monday finally arrives.

The wait, the anticipation and the stress that both fans and coaches alike feel as they anxiously, maybe even nervously, await for Black Monday to commence can't actually be described, but is certainly palpable for all involved.

For the Eagles Chip Kelly, Black Monday came a week early as he was fired from Philadelphia last week after most pre-season prognosticators believed his team would be in contention for a Super Bowl ring, rather than an early draft pick.

The Miami Dolphins gave Joe Philbin the heave ho early on after his team, which had all the makings defensively of a contender, flat lined and was even more deflated than the New England Patriots playoff footballs. His interim successor, Dan Campbell, showed promise in his initial outings at the helm, but in the end wasn't any better than his successor.

The Titans Mike Mularkey, who replaced Ken Whisenhunt, mid-season, isn't likely to remain in Nashville, either, as his 2-6 record as interim coach probably isn't enough to keep him there when he has the talents of a future superstar quarterback, Marcus Mariota, waiting to properly be groomed to greatness.

So who will join Kelly and the other two already fired and temporarily replaced coaches? Who will no longer be with their team by the end of Black Monday?

There are some coaches who are so firmly on the hot seat that they must be on fire. Then there are others who may be on the back burner but are certainly in danger of losing their job. And there are still some others who maybe should be gone, but will likely remain with their team once the dust settles Monday evening.

The four coaches who are almost certainly gone by daybreak Tuesday morning are Chuck Pagano, Tom Coughlin, Mike Pettine and Mike McCoy.

It was only last season that Pagano lead his Colts to the AFC title game - you remember the now infamous Deflategate game - but his luck - not to mention his star quarterback Andrew Luck, who has been sidelined with injuries for a good part of the season - seems to have run out.

Not helping matters is that Pagano turned down a contract extension earlier in the year and his working relationship with Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson is rumored to have reached the breaking point.

Even if the Colts miraculously get a playoff berth Sunday, Pagano is still likely to eventually be gone, as a failed defense - in addition to the problems at quarterback - resulted in the worst season in Indy in four years.

Coughlin is also on the hot seat. That's nothing new for the Giants head coach who has been on this list more times than the Yankees have won World Championship rings, but this time it appears he's out in New York. The big question with Coughlin is will the front office fire him or let the 69-year-old coach, who won two Super Bowls in his tenure in East Rutherford, retire with the grace and dignity that his overall coaching record deserves?

Either way, he's probably gone.

So is Pettine, who has only had two years with the Cleveland Browns and who many think should be given a second chance.

He won't get one, because that's just how the Browns front office rolls.

And the recently dumped Kelly has to be considered to be a leading candidate for the Cleveland job. That actually might be a good fit for the team's always under fire sophomore quarterback, Johnny Manziel, who, himself, could be out of the Dawg Pound after another season filled with more soap operaish plot twists off the field instead of triumphs on it.

Still, I contend a Kelly/Manziel partnership might just be what the always-struggling Browns need to ignite their winning ways of the 80s once more. When Kelly was head coach at the University of Oregon, he heavily recruited the future Heisman Trophy winner and the head coach certainly knows something about tutoring strong QBs and developing an explosive offense. Of course you wouldn't necessarily know that by watching him in the City of Brotherly Love this season.

What the Browns really need is a complete overhaul in the front office and former quarterback Bernie Kosar, in my opinion, is just who the team should tap to lead that charge. Beloved in Cleveland and definitely a leader who could bring a certain amount of respectability and publicity to the team just from his hiring, he would be the perfect administrative signal caller for the squad. Kosar definitely knows football, has business and sports ownership experience, is outspoken and wouldn't be afraid to make the changes needed to make the squad relevant in the AFC North and beyond.

As for McCoy, a possible move to Los Angeles by the Chargers decreases his chances of him retaining his position. Plus, a coach who only wins four games with such talent as rookie Melvin Gordon, Danny Woodhead and future Hall of Famer Phillip Rivers probably needs to get his walking papers.

If the Rams move to LA, too, that might actually save Jeff Fisher's job, as he is a native Los Angelan and keeping him at the helm might be a good marketing tool even his record in St. Louis has been overwhelmingly mediocre, at best. His status, isn't hot, but is certainly questionable as the regular season ends.

Other coaches who could get that dreaded call to the GM's office Monday are Detroit's Jim Caldwell and the Atlanta Falcons Dan Quinn. Both certainly aren't guaranteed another year in their respective cities, though it would seem Caldwell might be given another year for rebounding the Lions to a 6-9 current record after a horrendous 1-7 start.

As for Quinn, he is likely safe, too, as he has posted an 8-7 record in his first season as head coach, but that mark is certainly a tad deceiving as the team was the Lions in reverse. After getting off to a 5-0 start, they have won only three games in the waning weeks of the season and signal caller Matt Ryan's output has been disappointing, to say the least, leading some to speculate that, perhaps, Quinn isn't the best fit for the Falcons.

Probably not safe, though, is the 49ers Jim Tomsula, who inherited a declining San Francisco team and turned it into a mess. Although, not entirely his fault, as the squad lost some key cogs like Frank Gore, Chris Culliver, Michael Crabtree, Patrick Willis and Anthony Davis, Tomsula had some mighty big shoes to fill when he replaced Jim Harbaugh. He has failed miserably. The dismal play of the once promising Colin Kaepernick at quarterback hasn't helped matters, either. Few teams are in such desperate need of a reboot as the team on the City by the Bay.

New Orleans Sean Payton could be gone, as it's been a long year for the Saints coach and a long time - seven years - since the team won its only Super Bowl under his guidance. With one year remaining on his contract, it's likely he stays, though, Payton, himself, may go to upper management and asked to be released. His status is definitely one to watch on Monday or shortly thereafter.

Two other coaches are apparently safe, but aren't without their detractors. Dallas' Jason Garrett appears to keep his job only because he is owner Jerry Jones' golden boy, or even yes man. He continues to remain as coach of America's Team for some reason - and it's certainly not because of his overall mediocre 41-31 record since being hired in 2010.

While Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis has helped resurrect division championships and playoff appearances for the Bengals, he certainly isn't the coach I would want to lead my team in the post season. If the squad loses in the first round of the playoffs for the seventh time since he came on board in 2003, I'd say - and many desperate-for-a-Lombardi Trophy Cincy fan might agree - that he should be gone. That's extremely unlikely to happen, though - the firing, that is, not the probable first-round playoff loss.

To round out the list of potential coaching changes, it would be remiss of me not to include Lovie Smith in Tampa Bay.

Although the cries of the Buccaneer faithful to oust Lovie after only two seasons in Tampa hasn't reached anywhere near the level of the hysteria - complete with signs in the stadium and overhead airplane banners - to fire former Head Coach Greg Schiano, the sentiment, among many, is still there.

Posting a disappointing 8-22 record after two seasons, Smith could logically be replaced with offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, who would be a better fit for a team lead by the promising rookie quarterback Jameis Winston.

That change, however, may have to wait at least one more season, though.

And who knows keeping Lovie, a defensive-minded coach who I would have never hired in the first place, could end up reaping dividends for the Bucs in the near future. I'm skeptical of that, but with Winston's leadership off the field, as well as his better-than-anticipated play on it, it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

Always of the mindset that the Bucs should have hired an offensive genius as head coach, instead of an only slightly better-than-average Smith, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and reward him with at least one more season.

After all, the Buccaneers don't want to go down that road of paying more than one head coach another time.

And Smith - with the help of Koetter and Winston - could prove the naysayers wrong.

He could end up being another Ron Rivera.

You know him.

He's the Carolina Panthers Head Coach who just a year or two ago was on the hot seat himself and now is the leading candidate to be named Head Coach of the Year.

Stranger things have happened.

One thing's for sure, though.

Monday promises to be 'Must See TV' of the sports channel variety for those of us who take Black Monday as seriously as the avid shoppers take Black Friday.