Andy Reid, the Philadelphia Eagles’ coach of 14 years, was among the casualties as under-achieving NFL teams sent coaches packing on the “Black Monday” following the end of the regular season.
Reid is the winningest coach in Eagles club history. Since arriving in 1999 the team has posted a regular-season record of 130-93-1, reached the playoffs nine times played in five NFC championship games and lost in the Super Bowl after the 2004 season.
But reports were surfacing Sunday night that Reid was on the way out — just hours after the Eagles closed their season with a 42-7 loss to the New York Giants that put their record at 4-12.
“He had the love and respect of every individual in this organization,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in making the move officials.
“I look forward to the day we will all welcome him back and introduce him into the Eagles Hall of Fame because that is inevitable.”
Lurie said the Eagles will immediately begin their search for Reid’s successor and that he already had “a very, very defined list of candidates and we hope to meet with them as soon as possible.”
There will be no shortage of coaches looking for work.
Chicago parted ways Monday with coach Lovie Smith — the day after the Bears beat Detroit to complete a 10-6 season that wasn’t good enough to get them in the playoffs.
It was especially disappointing after the Bears started the season 7-1, but finished it 3-5 to miss out on a post-season berth for the fifth time in six years.
The perennially under-achieving San Diego Chargers sacked head coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith.
Turner, 60, was hired in 2007 and produced a 56-40 record over six seasons. He he guided the Chargers to the 2007 AFC championship game in his first year at the helm — when they lost to New England — but they have failed to make the playyoffs for the past three seasons.
The Kansas City Chiefs, who endured tragedy off the field as well as disappointment on it with their second 2-14 season in five seasons, sacked head coach Romeo Crennel.
Crennel had taken over for Todd Haley on an interim basis and coached the final three games of the 2011 campaign and was given the job full time after that season.
This year, the Chiefs lost their first two games and then lost eight in a row from September 30-November 25.
The Chiefs snapped that slide with a 27-21 victory over Carolina just a day after linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend before driving to the team’s training facility at Arrowhead Stadium and killing himself.
Crennel was among those who saw Belcher take his own life, speaking to the player first and trying to dissuade him.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Romeo, both personally and professionally,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement on Monday. “He is an accomplished coach, a man of great character and he helped guide our football team through some extremely challenging circumstances this season.
“However, I am embarrassed by the poor product we gave our fans this season, and I believe we have no choice but to move the franchise in a different direction.”
Buffalo sacked head coach Chan Gailey after a third straight losing season. The Bills haven’t reached the playoffs since 1999.
Eagles' Reid casualty in coach firing frenzy
