With the end of the NFL season upon us, that means the league’s annual coaching purge is about to kick into high gear.
The purge actually started back in October when the Redskins decided to fired Jay Gruden. Not to be outdone, the Panthers also decided to dump their coach in December when they cut ties with Ron Rivera. Heading into the 2020 offseason, there could be as many as six teams looking for a new coach, and that number could jump even higher if we see any surprise moves.
We’ll be tracking all the latest news as teams start their search for the right coach. To keep you up to date on the latest firings, rumors and hirings, make sure to keep tabs on the coaching tracker below.
AFC
Browns
On the hot seat: Freddie Kitchens
The Freddie Kitchens experiment hasn’t been a total disaster for the Browns, but it’s come close. After a 7-8-1 season in 2018, the Browns had high hopes for 2019, the those hopes quickly went down the drain after a 2-6 start. As things stand right now, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam hasn’t come to a final decision on the fate of his coach yet. The good news for Kitchens is that Haslam is apparently leaning toward keeping him, according to NFL.com. However, there’s also some bad news here for Kitchens and that bad news is that the team has been sending out feelers and making calls on potential new head coaches, CBS Sports NFL Insiders Jason La Canfora has reported. What this means is that Kitchens probably shouldn’t get too comfortable in Cleveland.
Jaguars
On the hot seat: Doug Marrone
Jaguars owner Shad Khan has already fired one person this month (Tom Coughlin) and it wouldn’t be surprising if Marrone is the next man up on the chopping block. A report on Saturday indicated that the Jags had already made the decision to fire Marrone, but that’s actually not the case. Khan seems genuinely split on what do with Marrone and won’t make any decisions until after Week 17 has been played, according to La Canfora. The argument working in Marrone’s favor is that he’s just two years removed from leading the Jaguars to the AFC title game. On the other hand though, Marrone has gone just 10-31 in the regular season since that title game loss.
NFC
Cowboys
On the hot seat: Jason Garrett
Barring a miracle, it seems that Garrett’s time in Dallas is finally going to be coming to an end after nine and a half seasons. (A miracle would be either a change of heart by Jerry Jones or the Cowboys making a deep run into the playoffs). If Garrett is out, that means it’s going to be a busy offseason for Jones, who will have to conduct his first full-fledged coaching search since 2007 (Garrett was named interim coach after the firing of Wade Phillips in 2010 and promoted to head coach following the season). Once Garrett is officially out, the Cowboys job is instantly going to become the most coveted one in the NFL. Although Jones isn’t thrilled with the idea of hiring a college coach, Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, Baylor’s Matt Rhule and Urban Meyer will all likely garner consideration. La Canfora has reported that Ron Rivera will also likely be a candidate.
Giants
On the hot seat: Pat Shurmur
With a rookie quarterback under center, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see the Giants go through some growing pains this year, but it appears those growing pains might have been too much for co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, who watched the Giants lose 10 games in a row at one point this season. Since being hired at the beginning of the 2018 season, Shurmur hasn’t exactly been impressive, going 9-22. One thing that could save Shurmur’s job is the fact that Daniel Jones has been improving each week this season and the Giants may want to hold onto their coach to see if that improvement carries over into 2020. As things currently stand, Shurmur’s status is completely up in the air, and no one should be surprised if he gets fired. ESPN reported on Sunday morning that Shurmur is “unlikely” to return to the team in 2020.
Panthers
Fired: Ron Rivera
Possible hires: Mike McCarthy, Josh McDaniels, Matt Rhule
After Rivera was fired in early December, Panthers owner David Tepper made it pretty clear that he would likely be targeting an offensive-minded coach who had a solid understanding of analytics, and so far, that’s exactly what he’s doing. Although the Panthers have already interviewed former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, don’t look for them to make a quick hire, and that’s because Tepper wants to interview multiple coaches who will be in the playoffs this year (coordinators in the playoffs can only interview during their team’s bye week). La Canfora has reported that the Panthers plan to interview Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman. The team also has their eye on Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski and Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, but those two won’t be available for an interview until their season ends or until the Super Bowl bye week if their team is still playing. The Panthers also plan to interview Baylor coach Matt Rhule with that interview coming at some point after his team’s bowl game on New Year’s Day.
Redskins
Fired: Jay Gruden
Possible hires: Ron Rivera, Marvin Lewis
When it comes to the hiring process, the Redskins got a two-month head start on nearly every NFL team and that’s because they dumped Gruden all the way back in October. Although the Redskins job hasn’t always been viewed as an attractive one, that could chance this year due to the fact that longtime team president Bruce Allen has reportedly been stripped of his power to make football decisions. With Allen no longer calling the shots, Redskins owner Dan Snyder will almost certainly have a larger candidate pool to choose from, and he seems to be making the most of that. La Canfora has reported that Snyder is considering multiple people for the job, including former Panthers coach Ron Rivera, former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and former college coach Urban Meyer.
Was on the hot seat, but got a vote of confidence and will return in 2020
Jets coach Adam Gase: After starting the season 1-7, there was some talk that Gase might only last one year in New York, but since that ugly start, the Jets have gone 5-2 and could end the year 7-9 if they can beat the Bills on Sunday. No matter what happens during the Jets’ finale in Buffalo, one thing is for sure: Gase will be keeping his job. Jets owner Christoper Johnson announced in November that Gase would definitely be returning in 2020.
Lions coach Matt Patricia: The Patricia era in Detroit has been a painful one for the Lions with the second-year coach going just 9-21-1 since being hired in 2018, which is even worse when you consider that the man he replaced (Jim Caldwell) had three winning seasons during his four years in Detroit. Although the team hasn’t gotten any better under Patricia, the former Patriots defensive coordinator will be getting at least one more season in Detroit, and that’s because owner Martha Ford announced in mid-December that Patricia will be returning in 2020.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn: Quinn spent most of the early season on the hot seat, but his chair cooled down considerably after he led the Falcons to five wins in seven games following Atlanta’s Week 9 bye. With two of those five wins coming against two of the NFL’s best teams — the Saints and 49ers — that was apparently enough for him to save his job. Falcons owner Arthur Blank announced on Friday that Quinn will coming back to Atlanta in 2020.