As we come to the end of the postseason, owners are evaluating the overall performance of their teams. Much of it boils down to how the Head Coach helped construct the roster and if they put their players in the best position to win. If the owner decides that the Head Coach didn’t meet their standards, they have two options. Keep him around and demand that changes be made, or fire them. It’s always a toss-up if said owner will make the right decision. Regardless if it’s the right decision, there’s usually a level of blowback from fans. In this article, we’ll go through a few owners who made the wrong head coaching decision during this year’s postseason.
1. Mike McCarthy – Dallas Cowboys
A couple of years ago, Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones said something along the lines of “You don’t know how big of a check I’d write to win a Super Bowl…” Fast track three years and all the Cowboys under Mike McCarthy have represented is postseason mediocrity. Last year, he pushed the blame onto former Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore, claiming that the offense needed to be more run-based. Moore would go on to be let go just days after that statement.
With McCarthy set to call the plays in 2023, many expected a different result. The offense looked to be primed for a top-five season with Tony Pollard as the lead back. All of this led to the likely feeling of a deep playoff run for year three of the McCarthy era. Instead, we got the same offense as last year which isn’t bad, but wasn’t elite. The team’s offense ranking went up from 13 to 12.
Tony Pollard, who was supposed to be the bell cow back barely surpassed 1,000 yards. All of this led to a historically embarrassing playoff performance in the wildcard round against the up-start Green Bay Packers. If Jerry Jones truly wanted to win, he’d hire a top-tier candidate who could finally push them over the edge. Instead, Jones saved McCarthy’s tenure for another year.
2. Nick Sirianni – Philadelphia Eagles
For Jeffrey Lurie, an owner who’s well known for keeping their Head Coach on a short leash, it was a bit surprising to hear that Nick Sirianni was guaranteed to return in 2024. Sirianni presided over one of the worst collapses in league history. From being 10-1 through 12 weeks, the Eagles would go on to lose six of their next seven and get curb-stomped by Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Although he did help lead Philadelphia to the Super Bowl last year, the decisions he made directly after played a massive part in the team’s downfall. After losing both coordinators to head coaching gigs elsewhere, he decided to promote Brian Johnson to Offensive Coordinator and hired Sean Desai to call the defense. Although the Eagles’ offense ranked eighth, they were never able to find their identity and struggled with consistency all year. Desai was even worse, getting demoted towards the end of the year in an odd move. He let former Head Coach Matt Patricia take over the defense, where it somehow got even worse.
Many thought the Eagles had the best roster in the entire league so to say this team was a disappointment, would be an understatement.
3. Dennis Allen – New Orleans Saints
This one is splitting hairs a bit, but a case can be made for Dennis Allen to no longer lead the New Orleans Saints. After Sean Payton briefly stepped away from coaching, Allen was named as his replacement. During his two seasons as the Saints’ Head Coach Allen has a record of 16-18 and an overall head coaching record of 27-55. An argument can be made that they had the most talented roster in the NFC South, yet failed to make the playoffs.
Allen can be one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, but may not be fit to be a head coach. There’s no shame in that. With the roster quickly aging, there’s no guarantee this team will improve. They’re dead set in no man’s land, the worst spot to be in for an NFL team. Talented enough to compete for a playoff spot, but not bad enough to get a quarterback prospect that could change the trajectory of the franchise.
Allen was recently forced to fire many offensive assistants, including former Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael. It seems to be a move that’s prolonging the inevitable. Instead of choosing to start over with a top Head Coach like Mike Vrabel, the Saints are more interested in living in Sean Payton’s shadow.