It’s a fun, albeit negative exercise in thought: which head coach is going to get fired first?
But, each year there are high expectations and there is just about always one coach that either has been with the franchise for a long time and they need to try something new, or a coach that was brought in highly-touted and it just hasn’t worked out nearly as fast as the team owners and top brass had hoped.
Last year, it was Jay Gruden over at the Washington Redskins who topped the list. And it should be noted that he was, in fact, the first coach to be fired. He didn’t even make it through October. Talk about a tough crowd over there in D.C., eh?
So,which NFL head coach has the highest odds of getting canned first?
Matt Patricia | Detroit +300
It’s an honor to be at the top of most lists, but not this one. The former champion defensive coordinator and AHC for the New England Patriots will be entering his 3rd year as the on-field head honcho for the Detroit Lions. He started out decently, going six and ten in a tough NFC North division … but he lost 50% more games in 2019 than in 2018, plummeting down to 3-12-1.
Matt Stafford is back, and the Lions just added some serious talent at WR. So, the team should be significantly better this time around. But the Bears are better too, and the Packers are still pretty darn good. The Vikings are tough as hell. So, it’s going to be another rough season over there in Northern middle-America.
Some might be asking the question, ‘Why? He’s only been in Detroit for two years, and in 2019, he lost his star QB for the bulk of the season.’ Well, when you finish the season out 0-9, it doesn’t matter who you have under center, there are bigger problems than just one QB. So, will Matt Patricia be the first to get the can in 2020?
If the Lions don’t show some serious promise early in the season, he could be. And it doesn’t bode well, that they open up their season at home with a likely loss to their division rivals and last year’s No. 4 defense in the league. The Bears have addressed their biggest issue, which was finding a leader who can move the ball.
Last year, the Lions got smashed by the Bears twice … a Bears team that struggled to score against just about everyone else. This time around, Chicago will have a Super Bowl champion QB leading their offense …
But Patricia is the lone King of the Hill. He stands on his precarious mountain top right alongside a man trying to lead a pack of Jaguars.
Doug Marrone | Jacksonville +300
If I had to put my money on it, I’d say Marrone is the first to go. Why? Well, he was on the list of probably exits last season. Only now, he’s at the top of that list. So, we’ll call it like it’s expired milk just sitting in the fridge. Do you throw out the carton that’s already past its date, or do you throw out the newer one that has a couple of weeks left?
Here’s the rub with Doug. He has a decent QB in Garden Minshew, but Jags top brass passed up on Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco, and Cam Newton and took a mediocre QB in the draft out of Oregon State. So, it looks like they don’t want to help Marrone out much. On top of that, the AFC South might be the most improved division overall.
The Texans are still tough, but the Colts and Titans are going to be REALLY tough this year. So much so, that even TexansWire predicts that Houston won’t hit .500 this season. If that’s the case for the Texans, how are the Jags going to fare?
They open against the Indianapolis Colts, then get the Tennesee Titans in Week 2. After that they get the Dolphins, which will be a good game, then the Bengals. If the Jags don’t beat both the Fins and Cincy, I think that is the end … of the beginning of the end of Marrone’s tenure in Jacksonville.
