My question is inspired by the recent firing of the Indianapolis offensive coordinator Marcus Brady. The coordinators are usually picked by the head coach, so firing one is a desperate measure. Has this step ever helped a team? How long do head coaches survive after they fire a coordinator? Or (given that about 20-25% of head coaches are fired annually) do they survive at least a full season? The most recent example I remember is that Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady was fired at week 13(?) in the 2021 season - his boss Matt Rhule was fired after week 5 in 2022, less than a full season later.
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I found an article from 2018 with a few examples:
- Bengals defensive coordinator Ken Zampese was fired after week 2 in 2017. Head coach Marvin Lewis stayed for an other season.
- Bengals defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was fired in November 2018. At the end of the season Marvin Lewis was (practically) fired.
- Buccaneers defensive coordinator Mike Smith was fired in October 2018. Head coach Dirk Koetter was fired at the end of the season.
- Lions special teams coordinator Joe Marciano was fired in November 2018. Head coach Matt Patricia was fired two years later (also in season).
- Cardinals offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was fired in October 2018. Head coach Steve Wilks was fired after the end of the season.
- Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi was fired in October 2015. Head coach Jim Caldwell stayed for more than two seasons.
- Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was fired in December 2012. Head coach John Harbaugh still leads the Ravens a decade later.
So out of 8 examples (including Matt Rhule), 4 head coaches had the door shown to them within 12 months, 1 survived a season-and-a-half, 2 survived 2 seasons and one stayed with the team ever since.
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1It turned out Indianapolis head coach Frank Reich only survived the firing of his offensive coordinator by mere two weeks. Commented Nov 7, 2022 at 19:26