Bowles, Smith, Allen: Which NFC South coaches survive as final week looms?

Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

The NFC South has been the worst division in the NFL this season, and while three teams are still in play to win the division, Carolina has already fired Frank Reich and the other three head coaches are in some level of jeopardy if they lose this weekend.

The Bucs’ Todd Bowles and the Saints’ Dennis Allen seek victories Sunday that would give them winning records for the first time in two years at their current position, and the Falcons’ Arthur Smith has already locked up a losing record for the third year in a row.

That begs a question: How many losing seasons do today’s NFL teams tolerate from a head coach at the start of his tenure?

In the past decade, very few coaches have lasted long enough to contribute to a case study on those who lose three years in a row to start a new job. More often than not, coaches are fired with any sustained losing — since 2014, nine have been fired after or during a single losing season, another eight fired after or during two losing seasons, and six fired during or after three losing seasons. 

That’s two-thirds of the league hiring coaches who never see a single winning record.

The exceptions making it to Year 4 aren’t exactly sales pitches for patience: Gus Bradley, given a fourth year by the Jaguars, was fired with a 2-12 record during that season; Jeff Fisher made it to a fifth losing season before he was fired by the Rams, and Jon Gruden was fired during his fourth year with the Raiders (unrelated to his record). The Jets’ Robert Saleh is expected back next year despite three straight losing seasons, with the large asterisk of Aaron Rodgers missing almost all of this season with an Achilles injury.

To find a recent model for success for a coach without a winning record in his first three seasons, the best might be the Cowboys’ Jason Garrett, who went exactly 8-8 in each of his first three seasons, then won division titles in three of his next…

Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/which-nfc-south-coaches-survive-the-nfls-worst-division-this-season

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Publish date : 2024-01-02 18:52:18

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