NFL teams
Adam Schefter, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Rush to judgment on head coaches

NFL

In a world in which instant gratification and immediate results matter most, there is little time for NFL head coaches to make their mark.

In a world in which news comes faster and voices scream louder, there is little margin of error for those same NFL head coaches.

It is why the calls for the jobs of Atlanta's Mike Smith, Chicago's Marc Trestman, Miami's Joe Philbin, the New York Jets' Rex Ryan and other NFL head coaches kicked in before daylight savings and will continue until this season or their employment ends.

But slow down. Pause for a moment. Consider that rash action is sometimes actually more detrimental than beneficial to a franchise.

The calls that come today are so much quicker and meaner than they were decades ago. If the world we live in today existed in the 1960s, '70s or '80s, football history would be a lot different, and the runs that some of the NFL's great teams made just might have been aborted.

From 1960-63, in his first four seasons as Cowboys head coach, Tom Landry posted a 13-38-3 record. No way any head coach in this day and age would last four seasons with that record. There were little signs of improvement; Landry went 0-11-1 in 1960, 4-9-1 in 1961, 5-8-1 in 1962 and 4-10 in 1963. Today, those records never would be tolerated.

But it was a different time then.

From 1969-71, Chuck Noll posted a 12-30 record in his first three seasons as Steelers head coach. In what city today, with what franchise today, would a 12-30 mark after three seasons be good enough for continued employment, other than maybe Jacksonville? But Noll's records of 1-13 in 1969, 5-9 in 1970 and 6-8 in 1971 were good enough for him to survive.

Even as time went on, owners' patience did not wane. Bill Walsh compiled an 8-24 record in his first two seasons as San Francisco 49ers head coach in 1979 and '80. Ownership never wavered on him, despite 2-14 and 6-10 records. And ownership was rewarded for its loyalty in 1981, sooner than most thought it would be, when San Francisco went 13-3 and won the Super Bowl.

Mike Ditka compiled an 11-14 record in his first two seasons (one was strike-shortened) in Chicago. By his fourth season, the Bears went 15-1 and won the Super Bowl.

Over time, patience paid off. Now, patience wears thin.

Some of the greatest coaches in NFL history were allowed to remain on the job, finish what they started and put together programs that made their organizations and fans proud.

But it doesn't work that way anymore. Not in this world. There is more coverage, more attention, more criticism, more anger, more pressure ... and less time. Most NFL owners don't, and won't, wait.

So the firing cycle repeats itself at this time every year, with the NFL averaging 6.8 head-coaching changes every year since 2000.

It will happen again this year. Somewhere around a half-dozen good men will be let go -- they almost always are. They will be let go when, if they had coached in the '60s, '70s or '80s, they very well might have been given more time.

Were Landry, Noll and Walsh coaching today, they might never have made it to their third NFL season, let alone Canton.

Utah State's unlikely impact: Seattle at Arizona is expected to decide the NFC West championship and quite possibly the NFC's No. 1 seed. The stakes speak for themselves.

Yet few would have guessed the school that might have the most significant influence on this game is ... Utah State.

It goes back to 2011, when Utah State's coach was Gary Andersen, who went on to become Wisconsin's and then Oregon State's head coach.

During the 2011 season, when Utah State went to a bowl game for the first time since 1997, it got notable contributions from three players who will help decide this season's NFC West championship.

Utah State middle linebacker Bobby Wagner finished the season with 147 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions.

Utah State redshirt junior running back Robert Turbin finished the season with 1,519 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns.

And Utah State junior running back Kerwynn Williams finished the season with 542 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Wagner (Round 2) and Turbin (Round 4) went on to become the two Seahawks picks that were sandwiched around Russell Wilson in the 2012 draft.

But Utah State wasn't finished churning out NFL talent. One year later, the Colts drafted Williams in the seventh round before releasing him. San Diego signed him to its practice squad, and eventually Arizona added him to its practice squad in September, before promoting him to the 53-man roster.

Now, with Arizona down to its third-string quarterback, the Cardinals need Williams to produce like he did two weeks ago against the Kansas City Chiefs, when he posted his first NFL 100-yard rushing game. How he performs looms large at the most important point in the regular season and postseason.

But Sunday night, the three former Utah State teammates will share the same field once again. This time the stakes will be greater than in the 2011 season, when they lost the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to Ohio University.

Steelers' Brown trumps Chiefs: During a season in which quarterbacks such as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck have dominated, and defensive lineman J.J. Watt has forced himself into the MVP conversation, no one is having more success at his position than Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.

With two games to go, Brown already has set the Steelers' single-season record with 115 receptions, three more than Hines Ward had in 2002.

Brown also has become the fourth player in NFL history with at least 110 receptions in consecutive seasons, joining Jerry Rice, Cris Carter and Wes Welker.

But here's a fact that really stands out, especially with Pittsburgh preparing to host Kansas City. Brown has two more receptions than all of the Chiefs' wide receivers combined. Plus, no Chiefs wide receiver has caught a touchdown pass this season; Brown has 11 touchdowns.

Steelers officials say Brown's practice habits are first rate. He treats each practice like it is a game. And just like Brown catches every pass in practice, he does the same in games.

SCHEF'S SPECIALTIES

Player of the Week: Packers QB Aaron Rodgers -- A bounce-back week for the man who's still the favorite for the MVP award.

Game of the Week: Cleveland at Carolina -- Johnny Manziel and Cam Newton, the two most scrutinized players in college football history, could square off in a game with playoff implications if Newton is healthy enough to go. If not, it's Derek Anderson versus his former team.

Upset of the Week: Oakland over Buffalo -- Bills are coming off their most emotional and impressive win of the week and now travel across the country. Meet the Black Hole.

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