Whipped Cream Difficulties

Even though Houston teams will always break your heart, I thought the Texans did pretty well this year: they went to the playoffs, they beat the worthless Buffalo Bills, and while they lost in the divisional round, it was to Kansas City (who seems unstoppable).

But that wasn’t well enough for some people. Lawrence tipped me off that Chris Olsen (senior vice president of football administration) and John Pagano, outside linebackers coach, were shown the door.

In addition, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel got replaced by defensive line coach Anthony Weaver.

Peter Laviolette fired as coach of the Nashville Predators, who are a hockey team in the NHL. (Also out: “associate coach” Kevin McCarthy.) He was 248-143-60 over a little more than five seasons.

In the “questionable firings” bucket: Wade Phillips contract as defensive coordinator with the Rams has not been renewed. (Also out: Skip Peete, running backs coach.)

Technically, I’m not sure this is an actual firing.

But the word has come down form the mountain top for real: Jason Garrett’s contract with the Cowboys is not being renewed.

And what better time to announce it than on Sunday during the playoffs?

On the road, but wanted to get this in.

John Dorsey out as the Browns general manager.

Cleveland.com is spinning this as the owners wanted him to take a reduced non-GM role, and he said no.

Your Monday morning firings watch. I’ll try to keep this updated through the day.

Bruce Allen out as Redskins president. The team already fired head coach Jay Gruden earlier this year.

Update 1: the New York Football Giants have fired head coach Pat Shurmur. Two seasons, a 9-23 record, and the worst record in the NFL since 2017.

Update 2: Miami fired their offensive coordinator (Chad O’Shea) and two other guys.

…also known as “the NFL firings that couldn’t even wait until Monday”.

So far: Freddie Kitchens out after one season in Cleveland, during which the team went 6-10 (and lost to the Bengals today).

Rarely has a head coach in the NFL done so little with so much talent, and the Browns had no choice but to cut their losses after an abysmal performance in what was supposed to be a playoff season.

His tenure was characterized by a lack of discipline on the part of his players, a woeful passing game, horrible playcalling and an ugly brawl between Myles Garrett and Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph that cost the Browns their best defensive player of the final six games of the season.

Ron Rivera fired as head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

76-63-1 in regular season games, 3-4 post season.

I’m approaching the end of my work day and am about to leave. I might have more to say later, but I kind of doubt it.

Unai Emery fired as manager of Arsenal.

Barry Odom fired as head coach of Missouri. 25-25 overall, and 13-19 in conference over four seasons.

This isn’t exactly a firing, but: Josh Shaw, cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals, has been suspended by the NFL through the 2021 season. He can appeal, but if the appeal is unsuccessful, the earliest he can apply for reinstatement is February 15, 2021.

Why? He was betting on NFL games.

The NFL’s investigation into Shaw did not uncover evidence that indicated he used inside information or that any game was compromised. The NFL also announced that Shaw’s teammates, coaches and other players around the league were not aware of Shaw’s gambling.