With the end of March post-free agency lull taking shape around us, as eyeballs have moved towards the NCAA Tournament, at least for another week, football is in one of its increasingly rare “dead spots” in the ever-growing NFL calendar.
NFL In A Quiet Spot As The Run Up To The Draft Commences Next Month
However, fear not! One of the league’s most over-analyzed and strangely-awkward exercise has at last come back around – the head coaches’ photo at the NFL Annual League Meeting.
And whilst last year, prominent players attempted to name each head coach in the photo – with limited success – this year, it seems like the NFL has flipped the switch by excluding notable names from the photo.
Not just notable; 5 coaches that have a combined 3 Super Bowls rings (and have been to 2 more), and over 50 years of combined head coaching experience. Pretty exclusive company to “forget” to include in the very signatory yearly photo – per Ari Meirov.
NFL head coaches just took their annual group photo at the league meetings in Orlando.
Mike Tomlin, Sean Payton, Mike McCarthy, Nick Sirianni and Matt Eberflus didn’t make it out. pic.twitter.com/g8bonmg9Uz
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 24, 2024
Super Bowl Champions Bizarrely Left Out Of Photo
It does make a lot of sense as to why the head coaches either miss, or are left out of these photos.
Some will argue that it is some secret messaging from the league about the coaches that are in danger of losing their jobs: Mike Tomlin’s failure to make any true inroads beyond the first round of the playoffs; Sean Payton’s mediocre return to coaching last year; and Mike McCarthy’s oddly red-hot seat after once again losing to his old team, the Green Bay Packers, in the Wild Card round of this year’s playoffs, despite being a full touchdown favorite.
Whilst others remarked how Philadelphia Eagles head coach, Nick Sirriani, has seemingly made a tradition out of not appearing for this photo.
Why does Nick Sirianni constantly miss this event? https://t.co/iBaSU8ezKG
— John Kincade (@JohnKincade) March 24, 2024
It does seem odd that the league cannot simply set a reminder to coaches to attend this, or send an intern to fetch them. Perhaps they prefer when not all coaches are present, so that fans spend more time combing over the photo trying to decipher who is missing like some sort of reverse “Where’s Waldo”.
Feels like you should probably at least have your Super Bowl champions in the photo, though, at the very least.
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