This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Joe Philbin is out, burned by the Miami morass of highly paid underachievers and a fractured locker room.
Philbin was the first NFL coach this season to lose his job. Several others could get torched before we reach 2016.
Prime candidates include Mike Pettine in Cleveland, Lovie Smith in Tampa Bay, Jim Caldwell in Detroit, Gus Bradley in Jacksonville, and Jim Tomsula in San Francisco.
Two coaches with experience running college programs, Houston's Bill O'Brien and Philadelphia's Chip Kelly, are on the hot seat right now, at least with the voting public if not with their owners.
Then again, they all could be safe — if their teams begin performing better.
No one knows that better than Smith. Smith is a solid coach with a winning track record; he guided the Bears to the 2006 Super Bowl and was 84-66 there, hardly the kind of record that should get you canned. But he was, and his Bucs are 3-17 in this regime. Tampa Bay is not a franchise known for its patience with coaches, over the past 14 years firing Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden.
Like the Bucs, the Browns are known for impatience with coaches; they've had eight since re-entering the NFL in 1999. The closest to being a success is Pettine, who went 7-9 last year and is 1-3 this season.
Pettine has been victimized by unproductive draft picks — 2013 first-rounder Justin Gilbert barely gets on the field — and upheaval at quarterback. His specialty is coaching defense, and Cleveland has the NFL's worst defense against the rush.
Like Smith, Caldwell had previous success, taking the Colts to the 2009 AFC title. Unlike Smith, his current team had much higher expectations for 2015 after earning a playoff spot last season.
For all the consternation over officiating in Detroit (0-4), a root of the Lions' problems is their unproductive offense despite the presence of Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate and Matthew Stafford. Caldwell would seem to be safe.
So, most likely, are O'Brien, who oversaw a big turnaround in Houston last year, and Bradley. The Texans are too skilled to be 1-4, and the QB carousel in Houston hasn't helped O'Brien's case. Bradley's team is so young some say it belongs in the SEC, and two of their defeats were to unbeaten opponents, the Patriots and Panthers.
Tomsula's situation is the exact opposite. Ownership is not a strong suit and many believe Tomsula, so popular with the players, got the job as a stopgap.
That brings us to Kelly. He has been given total control in Philadelphia and used it to restructure the roster to better fit his schemes. Except not much is fitting in Kelly's puzzle. But unlike many of his NFL peers, Kelly is in a position of complete strength. Should he discover his schemes and style don't work in the pros, college teams will be lined up bidding for his services.