The Houston Texans have fired general manager Brian Gaine.
Lawrence tipped me off to this and forwarded a link to Battle Red Blog, which uses the word “bonkers” to describe this. It does seem odd to me: the season hasn’t started, after all. But it makes more sense to fire him after the draft – especially if the draft was a bust – than to fire him before and leave a new GM scrambling.
But was the draft that bad for the Texans? Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t follow it closely.
It is…well, not exactly “rare”, but at least uncommon for a player to be thrown out of a league completely. The most recent example I can think of before last week was Johnny Manziel’s CFL expulsion.
But we had two last week.
Lawrence pointed out that Tyreke Evans had been “dismissed and disqualified” from the NBA. Mr. Evans was a guard with the Indiana Pacers last season: his dismissal was for unspecified violations of the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
He can apply for reinstatement in two years, but that will require approval from both the NBA and the player’s association. More from ESPN.
Meanwhile, in Australia (we love you, amen) rugby player Israel Folau had his contract voided for a “high level breach of the players’ Code of Conduct”.
Apparently the breach involved Folau posting a Bible verse that condemned “homosexuals” as well as “drunks, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators” on social media. (I’m not clear if this was a tweet or an Instagram post. I’m also not clear if the post is still up.)
Rod Dreher put up a couple of posts last week about this, and there’s lively discussion on both sides in the comments. He also suggests that Folau’s punishment may have been a factor in the election results. More on those from everyone’s favorite political blogger.
I’m not sure what side I come down on in the Folau situation, though I do think the parallels to Kapernick made by some of the commenters are instructive. Then again, as I’ve also said, if Kapernick could produce at the level of a Tom Brady or Drew Brees for an NFL team, nobody would give a flying flip at a rolling doughnut what he said or thought. I don’t know enough about rugby to know if Folau is that kind of star player.
…at least, until the team fires you for being bad at your job.
Mike Maccagnan out as general manager. Also, Brian Heimerdinger out as VP of Player Personnel.
Luke Walton out as head coach of the LA Lakers.
98-148 over three seasons. LA was 37-45 and missed the playoffs this season.
Dave Joerger out as head coach of the Sacramento Kings.
Three seasons, 98-148, and the team went 39-43 this season, which was their best record since 2005. Also out: assistant GM Brandon Williams and PR director Chris Clark.
Memphis fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and “reassigned” GM Chris Wallace. Apologies for linking ESPN, but I can’t get the Commercial-Appeal website to load on my phone.
(Edited to add 4/12: coverage from the Commercial-Appeal.
Not exactly a firing, but Larry Drew is not coming back as head coach in Cleveland. Drew took over after head coach Tyronn Lue was fired early this past season.
Tim Miles out as men’s basketball coach at Nebraska.
Seven seasons, 116-114 overall, 19-17 (6-14 in conference) this season.
Mike Anderson gone at Arkansas after eight seasons. 18-16 this season (8-10 in conference), 169-102 overall.
Billy Kennedy out as head coach of Texas A&M men’s basketball.
151-116 over eight seasons, two Sweet 16 appearances, but 14-18 this season.
Edited to add: with a rebel yell, he cried more more more.
Marvin Menzies out at University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Three years, 17-14 this season, 48-48 overall.
Mike Dunleavy Sr. out at Tulane (Green Wave!).
Dunleavy’s .258 winning percentage (24-69) is the second-poorest among all coaches in school history. The only coach with a poorer winning percentage is Ted Lendhardt, whose 1963-64 team lost the first 22 games before beating LSU in the final game for a 1-22 record (.043).
They were 4-27 this year, lost their last 21 games in a row and went 0-18 in conference.
Dell Demps out as GM of the New Orleans Pelicans.
I don’t follow the NBA much, so I’m missing a lot of what’s going on here. (Then again, I wouldn’t exactly say I’ve been “missing” it, Bob.) The sources I read say this is fallout from Anthony Davis wanting to be traded, and New Orleans pushing back on offers from the Lakers.
Bob Sutton out as defensive coordinator for Kansas City.
To steal a riff from Tuesday Morning Quarterback, “Sure, you got us to the AFC championship game and into overtime against New England. But what have you done for us lately?”
To steal a riff from TMQ Watch: “Gave up two touchdowns at the end of regulation and failed to stop New England in overtime.”
Tom Thibodeau fired as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He was 97-107 overall (I’m not clear on how long he was coach). The team is 19-21 this season, and had just beaten the Lakers when Thibodeau was called in and fired.
It’s that time of year, folks. You know the drill.
Non-NFL: “multiple reports” say Steve Alford is out as UCLA basketball coach. I don’t see anything about this in the LAT, but there’s supposed to be a press conference this afternoon.
Marvin Lewis fired as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals after 16 seasons.
He was 131-122-3 overall and 0-7 in playoff games.
Adam Gase fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Vance Joseph out as head coach of the Denver Broncos. He was 11-21 overall, and 6-10 this season.
That’s all I have for now. I’m going to be running around most of the day, but I will try to update if and when I can.
Edited to add: Steve Wilks out as Arizona Cardinals head coach after one season and a 3-13 record.
Edited to add 2: The Atlanta Falcons fired offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel, and special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong. But they kept Dan Quinn on as head coach.
Major Applewhite out as head coach of the University of Houston.
He was 15-11 over “two plus” seasons, and Houston lost 70-14 in the Armed Forces Bowl (they played Army).
Keep an eye on this space for possible updates. Tomorrow is the traditional day for NFL firings, but given recent trends we could see some this afternoon or tonight.
Edited to add: told you so. Todd Bowles out as head coach of the New York Jets.
Edited to add 2: Horshack is devastated. Dirk Koetter out in Tampa Bay after three seasons. 19-29 overall, and 5-11 the last two seasons.
Dave Hakstol fired as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Hakstol, 50, had a 134-101-42 record and a .560 points percentage in three-plus seasons as head coach. Two of his teams made the playoffs, but both were eliminated in the first round.
This year’s team has just a .452 points percentage and one of the NHL’s worst home record (5-7-2).
Reggie McKenzie done as general manager of the Oakland Raiders.
Surprisingly, this week’s TMQ does not contain an item in which Gregg Easterbrook complains that McKenzie was a scapegoat for Jon Gruden’s failings as manager. (TMQ Watch will probably be up tonight.)
Fred Hoiberg out as head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Since Chicago still has two newspapers, here’s the Sun Times story.
And the Carolina Panthers fired two defensive assistants (defensive line coach Brady Hoke and assistant secondary coach Jeff Imamura).