The Monday after the final week of the NFL regular season is typically a rough day for the league’s coaches, and this year is no exception.
By 9 a.m. Monday morning, four NFL head coaches were fired: Jim Caldwell (Detroit Lions), Chuck Pagano (Indianapolis Colts), John Fox (Chicago Bears), and Jack Del Rio (Oakland Raiders). They join former New York Giants coach Ben McAdoo, who was let go after Week 15.
Caldwell’s firing is arguably the most surprising move; the Lions went 36-28 in his four-year tenure. But Detroit missed the playoffs for the second time in three years after going 9-7 in the NFC North this season after a promising 6-4 start.
Pagano leaves after six seasons in charge of the Colts, who went 4-12 this year. Pagano went 53-43 in Indianapolis, but the Colts missed the playoffs for the third straight year after going 11-5 and making the postseason in his first three seasons at the helm.
Fox was let go by the Bears after posting a third straight last-place finish in the NFC North. Chicago went 14-34 in his tenure.
Del Rio was fired after Oakland posted a disappointing 6-10 this season, one year after a breakout campaign that saw the Raiders reach the playoffs.
McAdoo did not make it through two full seasons at the Giants’ helm. New York went 10-6 and made the playoffs last year, but limped to a 2-10 start that hit rock bottom when he decided to bench longtime quarterback Eli Manning, breaking Manning’s long consecutive games-started streak. He had a 13-15 record with the Giants.
Update, 12 p.m.: Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, a York High grad, is expected to announce his retirement today, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Arians was 49-30-1 in five seasons with the Cardinals.
Update, 1:12 p.m.: The NFL appears to be confirming Arians’ retirement.
The Arizona Cardinals followed suit a few minutes later.
Arians made it official at a news conference shortly after 1 p.m. EST.
Update, 2:33 p.m.: The Green Bay Packers have fired defensive coordinator Dom Capers, according to NFL.com.
Capers, a former head coach with the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans, had been the leader of the Packers’ defense since 2009.
FOX 43 will continue to update this story as more coaching news breaks.
