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This week the Seattle Seahawks made many fans ecstatic when they fired both offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and assistant head coach/offensive line coach Tom Cable. Many fans saw the firings as long overdue for a pair they believe have underperformed with the assets the Seahawks have been given on the field, and the team is now in the process of looking for their replacements. However, it appears as though in taking the action to fire these two assistant coaches, Seattle may have done little more than simply follow the crowd.
Across the league there were eight teams that made the playoffs in 2016 but failed to qualify for the playoffs during the 2017 season. Those teams are the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, Seahawks, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins. Of those eight teams, there is only one that has not made any coaching changes this offseason, and that is the Texans. However, Houston is in the process of letting its new general manager get settled in, since reports of Brian Gaine being hired into the position are still only hours old, so changes could still come.
In any case, returning to the eight teams that missed the 2017 playoffs after having been in the playoffs in 2018, here is a look at the coaching changes they have made in the still young offseason.
Coaching changes among teams that missed 2017 playoffs after making 2016 playoffs
Team | Fired HC | Fired OC | Fired O-line coach | Fired DC |
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Fired HC | Fired OC | Fired O-line coach | Fired DC |
Houston Texans | No | No | No | No |
Oakland Raiders | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Miami Dolphins | No | Yes | Yes* | No |
Dallas Cowboys | No | No | Yes | No |
Seattle Seahawks | No | Yes | Yes | Maybe |
Green Bay Packers | No | Yes | No | Yes |
New York Giants | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Detroit Lions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
*Fired Chris Foerster in October following release of video showing him doing cocaine and are allowing current offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo to interview for the same position with other teams. |
Thus, six of the eight teams in that group have fired their offensive coordinator. Six of the eight teams in that group have fired their offensive line coach. And the Texans decided that the proper way to right their ship after a season in which the team’s offense finished 17th in the league in points scored and the defense finished dead last in points allowed was to fire special teams coordinator Larry Izzo and his assistant Doug Colman, secondary coach John Butler and allow running backs coach Charles London to take the same position with the Chicago Bears.
Now, the question obviously becomes who is going to succeed Cable and Bevell with the Hawks, and the answer is it may not really matter. While hot names such as John DeFilippo and Alex Van Pelt have been floated on social media, the hopes that a new coordinator will come in and light the offense on fire in 2018 may not come to fruition. In the coming days I’ll have more, but the short version is that changing coordinators may not be the best way to improve the offense.