Black Monday in the NFL was swift and common this season after the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Buccaneers fired their head coaches and now those head coaching jobs are wide open and the candidates are numerous and some names that will come up includes former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher as well as current ESPN broadcaster Jon Gruden.
The Houston Texans fired their head coach earlier in the season and the job should get filled quickly with someone like Bill O'Brien and while Cowher and Gruden likely will not be leaving their current positions, they are names that will come up for jobs, even when Gruden says he isn't going anywhere. According to Pro Football Talk, the Redskins have been linked to Cowher, but those reports have sources saying that Cowher likely will not leave his job at CBS this season, which is the same thing that came out last year when a number of head coaches were fired.
The Redskins are one of the most interesting jobs out there, as they made the playoffs last season and won the NFC East division, but this year was a disaster with Robert Griffin getting shut down and Mike Shanahan was fired after the team went 3-13. Shanahan went just 24-40 during his time with the Redskins and apart from a seven game winning streak last season, he won just 17 games with the Skins and now the team is open for business and that means Kyle Shanahan is likely gone as well. Jim Haslett's defense couldn't stop anyone this past season and whoever comes in is going to have to overhaul both sides of the ball and Cowher could be the man to do it.
Dan Snyder will be looking to make another splash when he hires another head coach and Cowher would be a huge snag and he comes in after having won a Super Bowl with the Steelers. Shanahan made it to the playoffs once and lost that game to the Seattle Seahawks and now the Redskins basically have to start over from the coaching side of things with Shanahan leaving, as his son Kyle ran the offense. The team's offensive line needs some work and while Pierre Garcon had a great season, things involving Robert Griffin III took a bad turn and that will need to be repaired as well. The team gives up the second overall pick to the Rams and that hurts, but getting someone like Cowher will help make all that better.