Price Per Head Football Betting – Which NFL Coach Deserves to be Fired
'Tis the season… For PPH bettors to speculate on which NFL coaches are going to get fired, that is. Customers at WagerHome.com may be a little miffed at certain coaches for their losing football bets, but league owners have an awful lot more money at stake, and some of them will be willing to cut bait on their investment and start anew, if they feel their ships appear to be sinking.
We've got one more week to go in the NFL regular season, and that means one week from today there could be a series of press conferences, in which general managers and/or owners will tell you how difficult the decision has been to make on replacing the current head man. But they're going to pull the trigger anyway. Here are some of the leading candidates to get the axe:
Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions – Schwartz took over a program that, as Price Per Head bettors recall, had gone 0-16 under Rod Marinelli, and eventually took the team to the playoffs. But that was then; this is now. And you just can't have the NFC North title in the palm of your hand, with your two rivals having to go with backup quarterbacks, and then proceed to lose five of the next six games. The blame has to be laid at someone's doorstep, and Schwartz has to shoulder the burden for a Detroit team that just doesn't seem to show any heart. He's yelling at fans now too, which doesn't necessarily help his cause. Next week the Lions are a 3.5-point dog to the Vikings in NFL betting, in a game that could be the swan song for TWO coaches.
Leslie Frazier, Minnesota Vikings – Minnesota, which made the playoffs with a softer schedule last year, just hasn't shown any progress, and we don't think you can just blame it on injuries. There are, no doubt, a lot of WagerHome customers who see the Vikings quarterback situation having been mishandled. That is a coach's responsibility.
Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys – This decision, we imagine, is going to be totally contingent upon the Cowboys beating the Philadelphia Eagles next week, a game in which they are a three-point underdog in the NFL odds at WagerHome. It is not likely that owner Jerry Jones will blame general manager Jerry Jones for most of the Cowboys' failures. And we don't believe he was 100% all-in when he removed the "interim" tag from Garrett in the first place. If Dallas doesn't make the playoffs, there would appear to be no compelling reason for Garrett to stick around. So PPH bettors could expect that Jones will send Garrett packing, along with defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who has overseen one of the league's worst defenses.
Mike Munchak, Tennessee Titans – Somehow, we really don't see this firing happening. Munchak, who is the only Hall of Famer among NFL head coaches, is a genuine "lifer" with this franchise, and it wouldn't be the best PR move for those who have inherited the franchise from Bud Adams. The Titans close things out on Sunday as seven-point favorites at WagerHome over the Houston Texans, who have already fired coach Gary Kubiak.
Rex Ryan, New York Jets – Maybe the Jets' management has it in for Rex, but you know it was their every intention to shove rookie quarterback Geno Smith down his throat during training camp, and they got what they wished for. So Ryan had to make do with an erratic rookie, and most football bettors would probably say that any team that has a chance to get to the 500 mark after having been essentially declared dead at the beginning of the season has a coaching staff that's done a pretty good job. This week the Jets are 6.5-point underdogs in football betting against Miami.
Greg Schiano, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Schiano is a bit too much of a disciplinarian for some players, although we would like to see what he can accomplish with a healthier squad, and with rookie quarterback Mike Glennon having a full season under his belt.
Mike Shanahan, Washington Redskins – This one appears to be a matter of whether Redskins' owner Dan Snyder wants to spend the money necessary to buy out Shanahan. But Shanahan has indeed done some things that might give WagerHome customers the distinct impression that he doesn't really want to be there anymore. With a major investment in Robert Griffin III, would you really want to move ahead with a coach who doesn't really want to be there? We've already seen very tangible evidence that Shanahan is no genius, as he really hasn't done very much when he hasn't had John Elway at quarterback.
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