It used to be when a team won the Super Bowl, it was pretty much a key in the proverbial job security lock for a head coach. These days if you haven’t won one in the past five years, 
you better send your Curriculum Vitae to WorkinSports.com, or some other job search website, because you are done.
The firing of Mike Shanahan from the HC position in Denver a couple of weeks ago did not surprise many people. After all, the last time the Broncos went to the Super Bowl, we were still worried about Y2K. But the firing of John Gruden from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past Friday was not only stunning, but perhaps unwarranted as well.
Here are some of the causes the Buccaneers’ owners gave for firing Gruden:
In spite of how ludicrous it may seem, six years since your last Super Bowl appearance really is an eon in the professional football world.
Offensive inconsistency (a play on words for those who are paying attention)
No playoff wins since the Super Bowl victory. Even Long John Silver would have a hard time justifying this one.
But then there’s the flipside. You work harder than any other coach in the business (a reputation Gruden possesses) and lead them to a victory in the Super Bowl and for what? To get laid off? The swashbuckling popcorn sellers at Raymond James Stadium are apparently worth more than Gruden, in the estimation of the Buccaneer’s administration.
Buccaneer’s, eh? If I’m not mistaken, the pirates of old lived by a code of honor. You achieve something remarkable for your shipmates such as winning a battle or finding buried treasure, and then you would be their mate for life. I wonder what Long John Silver or Blackbeard would say if the found out they were getting fired as captain of the ship because they hadn’t found any lost treasure recently.
You would think Tampa Bay would be somewhat grateful to Gruden for taking them to the only Super Bowl they have ever been to, and a 9-7 season this year. No doubt Gruden can get a job elsewhere, but for now he’s the latest mutiny victim on the high sea known as the NFL.
The decision to fire Gruden was made by idiots.