Has a head coach ever been fired before he coached his first game?

[DavyBaby]

I listen to Josh McDaniels and I think he looks overmatched and has not helped the Cutler situation.

Yes a coach has been fired before the season even started! (although technically Allen was a rams "rehire" from the 1960s)

1978 LOS ANGELES RAMS
On Feb. 1, Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom hires George Allen but releases Allen after second preseason game. Ray Malavasi becomes head coach and leads club to 12-4 mark for their sixth straight division title tying NFL record. Rams beat Minnesota, 34-10, in playoff but lose NFC title to Dallas 28-0.

 

[Phrozen Phil]

Yes a coach has been fired before the season even started! (although technically Allen was a rams "rehire" from the 1960s)

1978 LOS ANGELES RAMS
On Feb. 1, Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom hires George Allen but releases Allen after second preseason game. Ray Malavasi becomes head coach and leads club to 12-4 mark for their sixth straight division title tying NFL record. Rams beat Minnesota, 34-10, in playoff but lose NFC title to Dallas 28-0.

I remember that one. Allen told the media that he had just ound a home and that the moving trucks had not even arrived to be unpacked when he he got the axe. Johnny Carson had some fun with that one.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

He certainly looks like he is in over his head. Since his introduction as HC of the Donkeys, I have not been impressed once. Maybe it will all work out. But this Cutler thing doesn't look like it will have a pretty ending.

I agree he looks like an amateur but Cutler is making things very difficult. He is being a real C U Next Tuesday.

 

[Alexander]

I saw his interviews on NFLN about an hour ago and was thinking the same thing (not about him getting fired). I don't think he knows what he's doing yet.

If your voice hadn't cracked yet, you would struggle as an NFL head coach too.

 

[ZeroClub]

Mike Price was fired from Alabama before ever coaching a game.

Yeah, I remember that. Some sort of strip club or call girl scandal, wasn't it?

Yes a coach has been fired before the season even started! (although technically Allen was a rams "rehire" from the 1960s)

1978 LOS ANGELES RAMS
On Feb. 1, Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom hires George Allen but releases Allen after second preseason game. Ray Malavasi becomes head coach and leads club to 12-4 mark for their sixth straight division title tying NFL record. Rams beat Minnesota, 34-10, in playoff but lose NFC title to Dallas 28-0.

I forgot all about Allen's ill-fated return to Los Angeles.

That 28-0 win against L.A. was one of Landry's greatest triumphs.

 

[lewpac]

This is certainly NOT the start that a first time head coach would imagine.

Makes you think about what shape the Bronco's would be in if Shanahan weren't so abruptly and surprisingly dismissed? I'll betcha' a dime to a donut that they're having severe "second thoughts" in Denver right about now.

Instead of a "glitch" and stumble at the end of last season, with more than a little bit to build upon, they've got a "Dallas Cowboy"-like soap opera on their hands. A situation where little, if any good could will more than likely be the ending.

Even IF Cutler in on board come training camp, you've got another Reeves/Elway "deja vu" in Denver right off the bat. In this day and age of free agency, salary caps, and all the player/coach moving around in this league, continuity is at a premium. The LAST thing any team needs is this kind of division, at the top/leadership rung, before a season or a coaching tenure even begins!!

This McDaniels/Cutler thing is the "beginning of the end" for somebody in Denver. No way that this has a happy ending. Even IF Cutler is around for the next couple/few years, the die has been cast and the feud will simmer and simmer and simmer until one or the other is gone.

Bad situation in Denver....................

 

[DavyBaby]

1978 LOS ANGELES RAMS
On Feb. 1, Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom hires George Allen but releases Allen after second preseason game. Ray Malavasi becomes head coach and leads club to 12-4 mark for their sixth straight division title tying NFL record. Rams beat Minnesota, 34-10, in playoff but lose NFC title to Dallas 28-0.

Its interesting that Allen never coached in the NFL again. He died in 1990 a few weeks after receiving a "Gatorade shower" from his Long Beach State players following a season-ending victory over the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
According to Wikipedia, Allen noted that he had not been completely healthy after getting his Gatorade "bath" when the temperature was in the fifties with a biting wind. Coach Allen stayed on the field for media interviews for quite a while in his drenched clothing, and boarded the bus back to Long Beach State soaking wet.

I'm not sure--but I think we can blame Bill Parcells and the 1986 Giants for all the crazy "Gatorade shower" victory celebration tradition. I am glad Coach Landry never had to endure that.

 

[jswalker1981]

Except I thought Kiffin usually handled himself very well. He just worked for a lunatic.

I almost see some of that very undeserved Charlie Weis arrogance in McDaniels.

I was thinking the same thing. McDaniels is in over his head. And the owner isn't doing much to fix it before it gets any worse.

 

[jobberone]

thats fine as long as the 9ers trade us Willis for Brooking and Ellis

Like that is going to happen. But it's a brilliant bit of optimistic dreaming.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I was thinking the same thing. McDaniels is in over his head. And the owner isn't doing much to fix it before it gets any worse.

That a good point and interesting question.


Should he?

 

[joseephuss]

I remember people saying Jimmy Johnson was in over his head when he took over the coaching duties in Dallas.