Plenty of NFL owners would have us believe that they make no decisions whatsoever about the future of their coaches and/or G.M. until after the last second has elapsed from the final game of a lost season. If that’s true, it’s a crappy way of doing business.
The more likely reality is that they know what they’re going to do. And many surely begin the process of planning the coaching and/or G.M. search to come.
Look at how quickly the Falcons implemented the terminations of coach Raheem Morris and G.M. Terry Fontenot. Owner Arthur Blank and those advising him knew what was going to happen, at some point before the Falcons ended the season with four straight wins.
The Cardinals surely knew as well, at some point during a nine-game losing streak that gave the organization its first-ever 14-loss season.
What’s the point in waiting? What’s the point in letting the head coach finish the season when the decision has been made to replace him?
The situation in Arizona was clearly not sustainable. Gannon was first asked about his status on November 17, the day after a pair of blowout losses following the most recent win, on a Monday night against the Cowboys.
Said Gannon at the time, “I didn’t hire myself. I’m not gonna fire myself, so, seriously, no, I know it comes up. That’s the business we’re in.”
That business includes the ever-present risk of being fired. It also includes the possibility of continuing to work, day in and day out, while someone higher up in the operation knows damn well what’s coming when the season ends.
When the Packers fired coach Mike McCarthy late in the 2018 season, some expressed disagreement with the move, arguing that McCarthy deserved the right to finish the job. The counter was simple — once the decision to move on is made, it’s more respectful to relieve the coach of his duties, and it’s more productive to officially launch the search for a replacement.
The Titans and Giants, by implementing their decisions when they were made, had a head start on the full-blown process. Teams with vacancies can interview candidates who currently aren’t employed by other NFL teams, if they want. They can do background work on all of the assistant coaches with other teams in whom they may be interested, without fear that someone who catches wind of the effort will say something to someone in the media. And they don’t have to tiptoe around the truth, with as few people as possible knowing the coach isn’t going to be the coach for very long after the season ends.
The Cardinals, who haven’t done much right on the field in recent years, successfully concealed their plans for Gannon. As of Sunday, no one was reporting that Gannon would be out. (Unlike the reports that had surfaced as to the Raiders and Browns making a change.) On Sunday, the team’s Twitter account wished Gannon a happy birthday. Before the game, owner Michael Bidwill sought Gannon out for a bear hug that, in hindsight, has Fredo Corleone Happy New Year vibes.
Bidwill didn’t decide after the Week 18 loss to the Rams that he’d be hiring a new coach. He didn’t have anything to sleep on (which, on Monday, he told reporters he did). He made the decision at some point before Sunday and kept it very quiet until today. Through it all, he kept the organization from getting the ball rolling on finding the best replacement.
Why did he choose to do it? The simplest explanation is this: Dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things.
