Falcons and Niners and Bears, Oh My! Black Monday Firings Not Overly Suprising

Jim Harbaugh is Michigan-bound after Sunday's win in San Fran (Google Images)

Well it's that time of year again. With the regular NFL season wrapping up on Sunday, it's time for the 2014 installment of Black Monday; that magical holiday between Christmas and New Year's eve when NFL teams clean house and look for new head coaches. While only five made moves yesterday, a few of them didn't come as big surprises.

Before Black Monday even rolled around, Jim Harbaugh and the San Francisco 49ers officially agreed to part ways. The news broke just hours after the Niners scored a 20-17 home win over the Arizona Cardinals. Speculation had been rampant for almost the entire season as to whether Harbaugh would be in the NFL as a head coach next year or if he would head north to Ann Arbor to coach the University of Michigan football team.

While struggling teams like the Oakland Raiders expressed an interest in the services of a coach like Harbaugh, we now know he's heading back to his Alma Mater to coach college football next year. I guess either Harbaugh was waiting for the ink to dry to announce the move or Michigan was finishing counting out the remainder of Harbaugh's salary. Supposedly there are more than a few zeros at the end of that paycheck. But either way, the normally hot-headed Harbaugh seemed relaxed and jocular during his post game press conference Sunday night and a struggling Michigan team is landing the services of one of the best coaches in football. Aside from the 49ers needing a new coach, this is a win-win situation.

The Harbaugh move didn't come as a big surprise and neither did the news that Rex Ryan and John Idzik had been released by the New York Jets. The writing had been on the wall for a long time this year and you could almost tell the team knew they were playing their last game under Ryan's direction. The team beat the  Dolphins 37-24 and they played like they were in the Super Bowl. They even gave Ryan a Gatorade shower following the win. But the fact that his players loved playing for him wasn't enough to save his job.

After two AFC title games in his first two years with the Jets, Ryan has been  far from the best head coach in the league. The team finished 8-8 in 2013 and an abysmal 4-12 this year. Fans waved towels reading "Fire John Idzik" at home games and even rented a plane to fly a banner with the same message over a team practice session. Owner Woody Johnson apparently was listening and the Jets will have a new head coach and a new general manager next season. They'll still have a second year quarterback who seemed to throw more touchdown passes to opposing players than he threw to his teammates this year, but they can work on that later.



Rex and his vest will not be back in New York
next year (Google Images)

Now onto the more surprising news. Like did you know that falcons can lay eggs? No not those falcons. I'm talking about the ones that play football in Georgia. On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons had a chance to win the NFC South on their home field against their division rival Carolina Panthers. They lost by 31 points, only scoring a field goal. The team laid down and rolled over and, because of it, Mike Smith was fired as the team's head coach.

Smith had been in Atlanta since 2008 and had a career record of 67-49 with the Falcons. He got his team to within one game of the Super Bowl two years ago, eventually losing a close game to the 49ers. Smith was also named the 2012 Coach of the Year by Sporting News. But while Matt Ryan and his teammates couldn't beat a drum Sunday, Smith wound up taking the fall for his team's lousy play. Yes, the Falcon's season has been miserable, but the entire NFC South was terrible as well. The Panthers advanced with a record of 7-8-1 and Lovey Smith is still employed in Tampa Bay after two wins with the Buccaneers. After all he's done for the Falcons, I think Smith was entitled to one bad season.

The fourth team that made a coaching switch on Monday was Chicago's football club. Daaaaa Bears announced yesterday that head coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery will not be returning in 2015. The Bears have been in complete disarray lately, benching quarterback Jay Cutler with only a handful of games left in the season. They were last in the NFC North this year at 5-11 and were 8-8 last season under Trestman. While it appeared his job was safe, the Bears apparently felt they had to make some sort of change. And after starting out strong the last two seasons, only to sputter across the finish line, its really hard to argue with them.

While those were the only vacancies announced on Monday, there are still a few teams who might make changes before next season. The Redskins and the Raiders are two that have been mentioned in the news a lot and, regardless of where you stand on Jay Gruden and Tony Sporano, either of these men getting dumped would not be shocking. Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has an escape clause in his contract that will expire on Wednesday. So that is a situation to watch as well.

But while there are multiple vacancies, Adam Schefter said it best on ESPN yesterday. Yes football is a sport and it is fun to see the different changes teams make in the off season. But we are also seeing men lose their jobs and families being displaced on the biggest of stages with no guarantee of finding a position with another team. While the NFL is very entertaining, that is the one thing that's important to remember. This sport is a job to a lot of different people and guys like Ryan, Idzick and Smith just lost their livelihoods.

Black Monday might have ended, but given the amout of teams that have been mentioned  in the rumor mill, the changes at head coach have more than likely only just begun.