As the regular season began, a federal judge dealt a blow to Commissioner Roger Goodell when he overturned a four-game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The league has been ensnared in a dispute over the legality of daily fantasy games and has been criticized for its inconsistent handling of concussions. All season, fans in Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis have waited to see whether NFL owners will abandon them and allow one or two of the teams in those cities to move to Los Angeles. And last week, a documentary by Al-Jazeera asserted that several of the game’s biggest stars were taking banned substances.
By comparison, Black Monday — the day after the last day of the regular season, when some teams fire coaches and front office executives — was downright pedestrian. In fact, the bloodletting was less pronounced this year, as just four head coaches lost their jobs by Monday and a few others remain on tenterhooks. That is a far cry from the seven coaches and five general managers who were replaced in 2012, one of the busier Black Mondays on record.
Still, that will not make the firings any more pleasant for the coaches and executives involved.
The New York Giants had the biggest departure, with coach Tom Coughlin stepping down after a dozen years and two Super Bowl titles. He was unable to guide the team to the playoffs in the past four seasons, too long for John Mara and Steve Tisch, the team’s owners.
“This is not a sad occasion for me,” Coughlin, 69, said in a statement. “Obviously, the past three years have not been what any of us expect, and as head coach, I accept the responsibility for those seasons.”
The Detroit Lions (7-9) and the New Orleans Saints (7-9) are among the teams that may make leadership changes in the coming days.
The Tennessee Titans fired general manager Ruston Webster and said that Mike Mularkey, the team’s interim head coach, could apply to win his job on a permanent basis even though he guided the team to a 2-7 record after replacing Ken Whisenhunt.
Changes were swift in Cleveland, too, where Jimmy Haslam, the owner of the Browns (3-13), fired coach Mike Pettine on Sunday after just two seasons and 10 wins. Haslam also fired general manager Ray Farmer, who had been with the organization for less than three years. Among other shortcomings, Pettine and Farmer had problems handling quarterback Johnny Manziel, a first-round draft pick who has been unreliable on and off the field.
“We’ve made this decision because we don’t believe our football team is positioned well for the future,” Haslam said in a statement. “We are all disappointed with where we are, and I take full responsibility.”
The San Francisco 49ers were even more impatient than the Browns. On Sunday, the 49ers’ chief executive, Jed York, fired coach Jim Tomsula after one season. Tomsula won his final game, an overtime victory over the Rams, but finished with a 5-11 record.
Some teams did not wait for the final snaps of the season, cutting ties early with some of the leaders they had trusted for years.
Last Tuesday, the Philadelphia Eagles (7-9) fired coach Chip Kelly as the team was about to conclude its second straight season without a playoff appearance.
On Saturday, the Miami Dolphins (6-10), one of the teams that spent the most on free agents over the summer, fired general manager Dennis Hickey. The team’s owner, Stephen M. Ross, had already fired coach Joe Philbin after the fourth game, and Ross may replace Philbin’s successor, Dan Campbell.
“The biggest thing here is we’ve got to change the culture,” Ross told reporters. “People can’t be sitting around waiting for something to happen or some mistake or something like that.”
The team took a first step on Monday, when Chris Grier’s promotion to general manager was completed. His first priority will be to help the team find a coach.
Some teams, like the San Diego Chargers, kept their head coaches but fired assistant coaches and front office staff.
The Chargers, the Raiders and the Rams may be set for more drastic action. On Monday, all three teams were allowed to submit applications to move to the Los Angeles area. The Chargers and the Raiders have proposed building a new stadium together in Carson, a Los Angeles suburb, while the Rams want to move to another suburb, Inglewood, where they would build a stadium as part of a retail and entertainment district.