Los That Links 11-23-2010 (Firing Squad)

Now that Brad Childress has taken the nice long walk off of a really short pier, which NFL coach will be next?

Of the seven teams with three wins or less, two (Cleveland and Buffalo) aren't likely to remove their coaches this season or next. The Browns have been competitive all season, defeated the Super Bowl champion Saints, and Super Bowl contending Patriots, and have looked good enough in losing to the Jets, Bucs, and Chiefs to secure Eric Mangini a return in 2011.

The Bills won't get rid of Chan Gailey for three reasons: 1.) He was hired in January. 2.) He wasn't their first, second, third, or fourth choice. 3.) Bill Cowher and Jon Gruden aren't walking through those doors.

BONUS: The Bills may be moving to Los Angeles.
So that leaves Mike Singletary (49ers), Josh McDaniels (Broncos), Marvin Lewis (Bengals), John Fox (Panthers), Jim Schwartz (Lions), Jason Garrett (Cowboys), and Leslie Frazier (Vikings). Garrett and Frazier are both filling in as interim coaches, but they count because neither has much job security beyond Week 17.

But the coaches most likely not to last until the end of the season have to be Singletary, Lewis, and McDaniels. In that order.

Singletary has to go. The York family gave him the vote of confidence early in the season (even foolishly saying he'd lead them to the playoffs). The 49ers are 3-7, they were just shutout at home by the Bucs, they have one win over a .500 team (Oakland)... and this was supposed to be a playoff season.

Now he's asking fans to blame him for the awful season. They already have.Check out these comments on the "Fire Mike Singletary" Facebook page.

• Alex A. Tame - My question is, the owners don't care about the team or what? Singletary should be fired since he was so stubborn to keep Alex "useless" Smith in the first place. Now we are screwed no matter what. Why teams like the vikings and the freaking cowboys woke up and fired their lousy coaches and we can't do the same?
• Eddie Darosa - The smoke screen that is Mike Singletary has evaporated and unfortunately when the smoke cleared all that's left is a bad football team still.
• Chris Baker - The 49ers just lost to the 0-5 panthers! They have a 1-5 record don't you think it is time to fire Mike Singletary. It should be as simple as this win more than 50% of your games keep your job. Lose more than 50% of your games and you should be fired. Lose 80% of your games and you should be canned for sure.

But for a really classy website, you have to visit the one dedicated to Josh McDaniels. The firejoshmcdanielsnow site serves as a weekly reminder why McDaniels needs to be outed as the head coach of the Broncos. It's best captured with this excerpt of the site's most recent posting:

"The win against the chiefs was a total mirage. Tonight was The reality and The reality is The broncos never had a chance to win this game and The broncos are a bad team.

3-7 on the year.

5-15 in the last 20.

Last place in the AFC West.

Where is the light in this tunnel?

Fire Josh McDaniels Now!"

Well said.

McDaniels was given a ton of personnell leeway with the Broncos, and hasn't proven to be a savvy arms dealer. He allowed Jay Cutler to rub him wrongly enough that there was nosalvaging their relationship, and essentially traded him outright for Kyle Orton. I'll actually call that a wash, given that Orton has performed admirably in Denver (90.7 QB rating, 6,825 yards, and 38 TDs in 26 games).

McDaniels also gave up Brandon Marshall for two second-round picks, Another wash for now since Brandon Lloyd, Marshall's replacement, is having a career year (10 games, 54 catches, 1,046 yards, 7 TDs). McDaniels spearheaded adding Virgin Mobile (Tim Tebow) with a premature first-round selection, then added another high profile quarterback (Brady Quinn) a week later, even though the starter (Orton) isn't in danger of losing his position to either.

Simply put, McDaniels has the look of a guy in over his head. He's been given everything he asked for, and it hasn't translated to on-field success. In fact, since the 6-0 start last season, the team's 5 wins are only better than the Detroit Lions (3).

Marvin Lewis, the most tenured of the coaches, only has two winning seasons in his eight years in Cincinnati. The Bengals won the AFC North last season, and this year were picked by some to be Super Bowl contenders. But the team is 2-8, and as wide receiver Terrell Owens said after the 49-31 loss to the Bills this weekend, they are "terrible".

Lewis has also battled perceptions of, as the NCAA would dub, a lack of institutional control. Twenty Bengals have been arrested since the 2005 season, and that was before they signed Adam "Pacman" Jones and Tank Johnson. There is also the tragic Chris Henry saga.

Team owner Mike Brown is one of the most frugal (cheapest) owners in the NFL, so don't expect anything in the way of an in-season firing. Lewis returning next season is an entirely different question.

However, it wouldn't be the first time Lewis escaped the grim reaper. Check out the headlines that come up when you Google "Fire Marvin Lewis". People were calling for his job back in 2007, and earlier.