Black Monday Reactions

The NFL regular season ended yesterday, and with it, twenty teams closed the doors on 2013 and started looking forward to 2014. Some of these teams decided to move on from their head coaches, an annual tradition dubbed “Black Monday,” around the NFL. Some of these decisions were a long time coming, and some were downright shocking. Here’s a quick breakdown (one of two) of who got let go today. I’d like to make the Black Monday a two-parter in case there’s a tardy shoe drop at some point on Tuesday.

Rob Chudzinski, Cleveland Browns (2013 – 2013), Overall Record 5-11:

Team 2012 Results:         5-11, 4^th AFCN                    Team 2013 Results:         4-12, 4^th AFCN

Shock Scale:                       5/5

The first firing of Black Monday actually took place pretty much as fans were still filing out of Heinz Field, site of the Browns’ 12th loss of the year and their seventh loss in a row. Poor Chud was playing the year out with a deck stacked against him all year. The Browns’ front office made it abundantly clear that they recognized 2013 wasn’t their year and they weren’t even making efforts to field a competitive roster. In the draft, they traded their fourth & fifth round picks for third and fourth round picks in 2014. They doubled down on 2014, when, suddenly, and without warning, they traded their 2012 first-round pick, Trent Richardson, to the Colts, for the Colts’ 2014 first-round pick.

It was made abundantly clear to all outside observers that the Browns’ front office was stacking the deck for 2014 from the get-go, and Chud did the best he could with a bad situation. He took advantage of having one of the NFL’s best young talent at WR by making sure his carousel of QBs bombed it to Josh Gordon as often as they could (Gordon was tied for 7^th with 159 targets… and he was suspended the first two weeks of the season). This one-man aerial assault worked to great success, as Gordon was the NFL’s leader in receiving yards (again, in only 14 games). Gordon also boasts the longest passing play of the season, the most 20+ receiving plays and 619 yards after contact (second to Demaryius Thomas among WRs).

This isn’t about Josh Gordon, though, this is about Rob Chudzinski. He did the best he could with the hand he was dealt. The Browns were a bad team in 2012, made no efforts to improve in 2013 in an effort to build for 2014 and beyond, and Chudzinski paid the price. Mike Silver released a series of Tweets from text message conversations between him and players. One player called Chud a “douche,” another said that the organization is a joke.

Compare this to the reaction video of the Jets locker room reacting to the announcement Head Coach Rex Ryan would not be a Black Monday casualty and you can see that Chud had lost the team. Maybe he deserved it, maybe he didn’t. He certainly wasn’t set up to succeed but at the same time, he may not have made the best of his situation.

And that 2013-2013 isn’t a typo; Chud lasted less than 365 days at the helm of the Factory of Sadness.

Greg Schiano, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012 – 2013), Overall Record 11-21
Team 2012 Results:         7-9, 2^nd NFCS                      Team 2013 Results:         4-12, 4^th AFCS

Shock Scale:                       1/5

Reason:                                                A worse affliction than MRSA

Shockingly, Schiano made it to Black Monday. Earlier in the season he ran Quarterback Josh Freeman out of town on a rail. Josh Freeman was eventually released, and rumors swirled that Schiano was the entire driving force behind his release. Schiano was initially vilified, but the play of rookie Mike Glennon in the following weeks made Freeman’s release appear justified. They nearly knocked off the Seahawks in Seattle, and then won four of their next five (for those of you counting at home, those account for all of their wins). They dropped three straight to the Niners, the Rams and the Saints to end their season.

Schiano was seen around the league as a bully of sorts. He had his players dive for the ball during a Giants’ victory formation last year; a violation of the league’s unwritten rules. He justified it as basically, “that’s how I roll.” The whole Freeman scenario was seen as another data point to support this narrative. There were several reports on NFL.com that have anonymous quotes that literally use the word, “bully.” Schiano was called out by 49ers Guard Anthony Davis (who was coached by Schiano at Rutgers) when he signed his contract extension because Schiano told him he would be a one-and-done player in the NFL.

It all shakes down to Schiano being a despot, requiring Napoleonic control of his players that cannot be achieved when they make millions of dollars a year. His shtick is better served keeping 18 and 19 year olds in line. It was no surprise to me that Schiano was fired; he’s been on borrowed time thanks to a four out of five dead cat bounce. After losing three straight to finish out the season to almost halve his win total from 2012, Schiano’s firing is far from surprising.

Leslie Frazier, Minnesota Vikings (2011 – 2013), Overall Record 21-32-1
Team 2012 Results:         10-6, 2^nd NFCN                   Team 2013 Results:         5-10-1 4^th NFCN

Shock Scale:                       N/A

Reason:                                                JUST GIVE THE BALL TO ADRIAN PETERSON & GO

The Leslie Frazier firing literally did not elicit a response from me. Chudzinski was shock, Mike Shanahan & Schiano were inevitable, and Schwartz felt… right? I guess? News of Frazier’s firing didn’t really elicit a response. It’s not about the Vikings being irrelevant, they won the NFC North last year. In fact, the Vikings took a massive step backwards, halving their win total from 2012. There was hope around Minnesota that they had found the winning formula… A little bit of Adrian and a lot bit of Peterson. Unfortunately, the Vikings making the playoffs last year led to far too high of expectations for this season. The only reason the Vikes made it to their record from last year was due to Adrian Peterson’s ridiculous campaign. Expecting that to continue was a fool’s errand, and it may have cost Frazier his job this year… A mere casualty of falsely raised expectations.

That having been said, Frazier’s firing barely registered a blip on the radar of firings from today. The Vikings offense could be run by a random number generator (provided most of the combinations end up with “hand the ball to Adrian Peterson & let him do his thing”) and the defense isn’t anything to really write home about outside of Harrison Smith & the D-Line. He was hamstrung on offense by the Cerberus of Suck in Matt Cassel, Christian Ponder & Josh Freeman at quarterback. The biggest problem with Frazier was not recognizing the talent he had this year in Cordarelle Patterson. He had a playbook full of plays perfectly designed for Patterson leftover from Percy Harvin, and Frazier just started deploying the rookie dynamo.

Mike Shanahan, Washington Redskins (2009 – 2013), Overall Record 24-40
Team 2012 Results:         10-6, 1^st, NFCE                                   Team 2013 Results:         3-13, 4^th, NFCE
Shock Scale:                       0/5
Reason:                                                Acute Costanzaing

Shanahan’s firing was a long, long time coming. After the team’s week fourteen loss at home versus the Chiefs, he benched Robert Griffin III under the guise of ensuring he would be ready for training camp next year. In actuality, RGIII probably shouldn’t have returned week one this year. He was a shell of his rookie self, hobbling all over the field. People at that time thought his firing would be imminent. Instead there were weeks of back-and-forth about his relationship with owner Dan Snyder.

To say that Cousins faltered would be generous. He was horrible. No matter what justification Shanahan had, his true intention was clear: get fired.  He repeatedly cited the reason for the RGIII benching as concern over the player’s health and getting him ready for next year. One of the lone bright spots of the Redskins’ 2013 season was the breakout of young Tight End Jordan Reed. Reed spent the last few weeks of the season stalling out in the league’s concussion protocol with machinations of having Reed return.

Why? The season was lost, and given the current NFL situation with regards to concussions and concussion protocol, wouldn’t it have been prudent to put Reed on season-ending IR to preserve his health? Of course it would. That’s just one of the baffling things that Shanahan did that can only be explained as a severe case of Costanzaing. He got his wish on Monday, as the icy relationship between him and owner Dan Snyder was officially ended.

Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions (2009 – 2013), Overall Record 29-51
Team 2012 Results:         4-12, 4^th, NFCN                                  Team 2013 Results:         7-9, 3^rd, NFCN
Shock Scale:                       2/5
Reason:                                                Choke Artistry

At the end of November, the Detroit Lions stood at 7-5. The Packers and Bears, hamstrung by injuries to Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler, respectively, were floundering. The division was theirs for the taking. What happened next was one of the most out-of-control December collapses as they lost four straight to end the season at 7-9 and behind both the Packers and Bears. Three of the teams they lost to—The Ravens, Giants and Vikings—missed the playoffs. The Giants and Vikings weren’t even close, either. The Packers won the division at 8-7-1, so if the Lions had managed to put together 2 wins and end 9-7, the division would have been theirs.

The most shocking part about Schwartz’s firing is that he made it this far. He actually improved the Lions’ lot by three wins over last year’s disastrous 4-12 season. This is likely because the Lions gave him a season to prove the 2011 playoff berth wasn’t a fluke. They retooled the roster & brought in Reggie Bush to give their offense a second weapon other than Calvin Johnson. Bush couldn’t stay on the field as frequent fumbles led to him being benched in favor of Joique Bell.  I actually thought that bringing in Bush over Bell was silly as Bell had a great 2011 campaign (this is all outlined in one of my earlier posts).

Schwartz was never really that great of a coach, and he always felt like he was on the verge of complete emotional breakdown. He famously tried to fight Jim Harbaugh a couple of years ago over a perceived slight. While he doesn’t have quite the bully persona of a Greg Schiano, he definitely had a chip on his shoulder. Detroit will be better off with a different set of coaches next year & Schwartz will be in a better spot as a coordinator.

Black Monday is usually not the end of the line for the coaches. It’s rumored as of this morning that Frazier will go wherever Lovie Smith goes (if he goes anywhere) and Schwartz is rumored to be in on the Browns Defensive Coordinator job. Chud’s contract was $10 million guaranteed; Shanahan is owed about $7 million next year. Black Monday firings can also energize a team or give them a new dimension. Last year the Chargers replaced Norv Turner with Mike McCoy, the Eagles replaced Andy Reid with Chip Kelly & Reid moved on to Kansas City, where he replaced Romeo Crennel. Ken Whisenhunt was replaced by Bruce Arians in Arizona. Four other teams had head coaching moves that went nowhere (Browns, Jaguars, Bills & Bears), but the Chargers, Eagles, Chiefs & Cardinals are all vastly improved this year, with the first three making the playoffs and the fourth barely missing out at 10-6.