NFL Head Coaches Mike Smith, Rex Ryan, Jim Harbaugh, and Marc Trestman Are Out the Door

It is the first Monday following the end of the NFL regular season. For some coaches, it is Victory Monday – a time to celebrate with your team that you’re going to playoffs and have a chance to compete for the Super Bowl. For other coaches who are not as lucky, it is Black Monday – they woke up this morning with a looming fear that they’ve coached their last game with the team they’ve come to know and love. This fear is now the reality for four NFL head coaches. This morning, it was announced that Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith, New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, and Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman would be fired. It was also announced that the San Francisco 49ers and head coach Jim Harbaugh have mutually agreed to part ways. These decisions come after the four teams suffered a disappointing season under their respective head coaches.

Mike Smith has been with the Falcons since 2008, the same year the team drafted quarterback Matt Ryan. During the beginning of the Mike Smith-Matt Ryan era, the team saw a lot of success and was just one touchdown away from going to the Super Bowl during the 2012 season. Since then, however, the team has had two consecutive losing seasons and ended the 2014 season with a very embarassing 34-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Smith’s future with the NFL is uncertain.

Rex Ryan has been the head coach of the Jets since 2009. In his first two years as head coach, he helped take the team to back to back AFC Championships. The Jets have not made it to the playoffs since the 2010 season and had their worst season under Ryan this year, ending with a 4-12 record. It was announced this morning that Jets general manager John Idzik was fired as well. There have been talks of Rex Ryan moving down to Atlanta to replace Mike Smith as head coach of the Falcons, but so far it has been nothing more than rumors.  

Marc Trestman was hired as the Bears’ head coach in 2013 and coached the team for two seasons. After a mediocre 8-8 season and no playoff berth in 2013, the organization decided to stick with Trestman in hopes for a better second year. Unfortunately, the second season was even worse and the Bears ended with a 5-11 record, leading to Trestman’s dismissal. Bears’ general manager Phil Emery was fired this morning along with Trestman. Like Mike Smith, Trestman’s future with the NFL is also uncertain.

Jim Harbaugh has led the 49ers as head coach for four seasons, from 2011 to 2014. While Smith, Ryan, and Trestman were let go primarily because of their poor performances, Harbaugh was actually able to bring a lot of success to the 49ers organization in his time there and even took the team to the Super Bowl during the 2012 season. The 2014 season was the first time that the 49ers did not have a winning record or make playoffs under Harbaugh. However, the blame does not fall squarely on Harbaugh’s shoulders nor is it the reason that the two are parting ways. Harbaugh had been having issues with team management for a long time and an unsatisfactory season was just icing on the cake. The two parties separated on amicable terms and Jim Harbaugh plans on going back to his alma mater, University of Michigan, to take a head coaching position there.