Clayton: Black Monday had a surprise that could alter coach search

Black Monday was somewhat predictable, but it did have one surprise. There always is one or two in the NFL.

Despite back-to-back winning seasons, Brian Flores was fired by the Miami Dolphins. He won 10 games last year. He had a seven-game winning streak this year. But he didn’t make the playoffs in his three years as head coach and that’s apparently what cost him his job.

Black Monday officially got started on Saturday when the Broncos fired Vic Fangio. That was expected.

On Monday morning, the Minnesota Vikings fired Mike Zimmer. The Chicago Bears fired Matt Nagy. No surprises there.

One uncertain situation is with the New York Giants. The Giants indicated that Joe Judge should be back, but there is no guarantee. They make take a couple of days to sort out, but the Giants have been a mess with Judge as a coach. They have been horrible the past two years and were worse this year.

Broncos general manager George Paton is starting a pretty thorough search. It was no surprise that one of the first calls he made was to the Dallas Cowboys to request an interview with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. He would be a great candidate for the job.

Quinn is experienced and you get the feeling Paton might hire a defensive coach. Plus, you also get the feeling he might lean toward a coach with head-coaching experience.

Joe Ellis said change was needed because the franchise is tired of losing. They have had five-straight losing seasons and six without the playoffs. They have been through 11 quarterbacks since Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl.

This offseason will be fascinating. There should be an ownership change. There will be changes to the roster. Paton not only needs to find the right coach, but he needs to find the right starting quarterback.

Overall, there are six head coaching jobs open in the NFL. And it’s not over yet.

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