After the NFL regular season ended on Sunday, the teams missing the playoffs didn't hesitate to start making improvements and changes to the personnel. Many coaches were fired, one coach has already been hired after spending a year out of the NFL, and one team's entire coaching staff was terminated. NFL owners are scrambling for the right coach and some have already found the one man they have been coveting. So without further ado, lets dive right into the offseason coaching frenzy.

WASHINGTON REDSKINS: Big surprise here. The Redskins fired Jim Zorn a day after their last game in San Diego, which resulted in a 24-20 loss. Once Zorn was gone, owner Dan Snyder and new Redskins General Manager Bruce Allen immediately flew to Denver to see former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, the man Snyder has wanted for a long time.

It didn't take long for Snyder to fly Shanahan and his wife to Washington D.C to discuss the team, the direction they want to go in and of course, a contract. Before long, Snyder and Allen inked Shanahan to five-year contract worth approximately $7 million a year. But shortly after Snyder hired him, he also announced that Shanahan would be the new Vice President of Football Operations. So now the more intriguing part about this situation is how Allen and Shanahan will work together. Also, will Dan Snyder intervene? Joe Gibbs told Shanahan he wouldn't, but that remains to be seen.

BUFFALO BILLS: Well this was an interesting case. The Bills owner Ralph Wilson made good on his word when he said no job was safe after firing head coach Dick Jauron. Well, he meant it. Wilson fired the entire Bills coaching staff, including interim coach Perry Fewell.

The Bills missed the playoffs for the 10th consecutive year, so a change like this was definitely necessary, but the entire coaching staff. Now that is something you just don't see everyday. This will be the fifth head coach since Hall of Famer Mark Levy retired in 1997.

This is definitely something the Bills needed to do. Buffalo needs a coach that won't tolerate the antics of Terrell Owens and Marshawn Lynch. It's not like Buffalo is far away from being a playoff team. Even the Jets made the playoffs this year. If the Bills can somehow get a good quarterback and have some key players stay healthy for an entire season, it won't be long before they're contenders. Maybe they're just one great coach away from the post season. How about Bill Cowher?

It seems like Cowher isn't coming back in 2010 like everyone thought. Now that John Fox seems to be safe and will remain as head coach of the Carolina Panthers (or will he?), there aren't many available head coaching positions worth coming out of retirement for. Does Cowher really want to coach in Buffalo?

According to sources around the Buffalo area, Cowher has been meeting with Buffalo to discuss the head coaching position and salaries.

CHICAGO BEARS: Lovie Smith wound up being safe. But is that a surprise? Smith did lead his Bears to the Super Bowl not too long ago. And Chicago made it with Rex Grossman playing quarterback. Usually that gives the coach a free pass (for at least one more year). The Bears have missed the playoffs for three straight years after that Super Bowl run so changes bound to happen. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner and five other coaches were fired after the season ended.

I guess there always needs to be someone to blame. But I would place some blame on the General Manager Jerry Angelo. Granted, he brought in quarterback Jay Cutler. But how can a quarterback like that thrive when his best receiver is Devin Hester, a kick returner. Greg Olsen is getting better, but Cutler needs receivers to throw other than Hester and rookie Johnny Knox. Cutler was set up for a bad season in Chicago. Angelo might be able to get some better coaches around Smith, but he also needs to get some better receivers for Cutler.

CLEVELAND BROWNS: Well they got the General Manager they needed with Mike Holmgren and head coach Eric Mangini had the strong finish he needed to keep his job for the 2010 season. The Browns finished the season winning four consecutive games and that proved to be enough to save Mangini's job.

What is surprising about this move, though, is the rest of Mangini's staff has been asked to remain on the team as well. I understand giving Mangini another chance, especially after wins against the Steelers and Jaguars. But someone had to be fired. The Browns were 5-11, and they started 1-11. They clearly have a lot of problems, both on the coaching staff and the roster. I guess I just assumed that someone on the coaching staff would be fired. But I guess not. We'll just have to see how Holmgren shakes up the roster throughout the offseaon.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Who would have thought that out of all the teams to steal Pete Carroll away from Southern California and the Trojans, that it would be the Seattle Seahawks? Carroll, an icon in Southern California, had won two national championships over a nine-year span coaching the USC Trojans. But when Carroll saw the opportunity to get back into the NFL (and get away from a situation at USC with "disaster" written all over it), he seized it.

Seattle fired Jim Mora and turned to Carroll immediately afterwards. Did anyone else feel like Seattle owner Paul Allen had this planned out with confirmation from Carroll from the beginning? I guess Carroll really wanted out of USC. He is also bringing quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates along with him after just one season. - Michael Klopman

Michael, a Penn State Graduate writes for XtraPointFootball.com, is a contributor to the Bleacher Report and works on the sports page at the Huffington Post.

If you haven't voted in our poll on the site yet please do so. We are trying to get a feel for how our readers are looking at the game of NCAA Football so we can write about things they want to hear. The poll question is, "Do you think the NCAA should have a Playoff to determine the National Champion rather than the BCS / Bowl System?" - Please vote.

Have a Fantasy Football or Rotisserie baseball question? Want to know who to pick up, who to activate and who the hot prospects are? Ask Dr. Roto. Let Dr. Roto guide your team to a league championship.

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment