NFL Coaching Carousel: Rex Ryan In, Rob Chudzinski Out
This year we didn’t even have to wait until Black Monday before NFL coaches started receiving pink slips. Before the Sunday night game even kicked off, decisions had already been made about the fate of a coach who has been on the hot seat for awhile and another whose seat we had no idea was even warm.
First to be reported was the fate of Rex Ryan, who took the Jets to the AFC Championship game in his first two seasons, but has now missed the playoffs for three consecutive years. To the surprise of many—including Ryan himself, who told his team last week he expected to be fired—it looks like he’ll be sticking around.
Shortly after defeating the division rival Dolphins this afternoon, Jets owner Woody Johnson announced Ryan would return to coach the team, which finished 8-8, next season. The team reached an extension agreement this week, although the terms of that deal have not yet been made public.
The quick announcement on Ryan may have been a bit of a surprise, but it certainly wasn’t shocking. On the other hand, the Browns decision to part ways with Rob Chudzinksi after just one season was, in fact, pretty shocking. Rumors of his dismissal began swirling on Twitter shortly after losing to the Steelers.
Within hours the rumors were confirmed, with ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reporting that Chudzinkski was officially out after going 4-12 in his first—and last—season in Cleveland. In the end, the flashes of promise this Browns team showed and the pile of draft picks they have in 2014 just weren’t enough to save his job.
The organization obviously felt strongly enough in their position to make this dramatic move, but it’s safe to say the Browns players—at least a few of them—are on a completely different page…in a completely different book. The NFL Network’s Mike Silver tweeted a sampling of the reaction he got from inside the locker room.
Yikes.
Yikes.
Yikes.
Yikes.
Yikes.
Yikes.
Yikes. So it looks like that may be an issue for the Browns moving forward.
