It used to be a rarity. It has quickly become a tradition truly unlike any other.
For three straight seasons, a head coach has been fired during his first year on the job.
Two years ago, the Jaguars made Urban Meyer the first head coach to be fired during his first year on the job since the 49ers pink-slipped Pete McCulley in 1978. (Bobby Petrino quit the Falcons during his first season, in 2007.) It then happened again in 2022, with the Broncos firing Nathaniel Hackett during his first year.
Now, the Panthers have fired Frank Reich after only 11 games on the job.
Setting aside whether it was or wasn’t the right move, or whether the Panthers have deeper issues that no magic wand can salvage (except one that changes owners), it’s amazing to think that, after 43 years without a coach being fired during his first seasons, it has happened in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
So who will it be in 2024? The early favorite could be whichever sucker David Tepper lures into the on-deck circle with a giant pile of cash and a vague promise, inevitably broken, that Tepper will stay out of the next coach’s way.