At the quarter pole, coaches’ jobs are already in danger

At this point every season we begin to identify coaches that will be losing their jobs at or before the conclusion of the year. It's no different now, and there are a whole slew of coaches that have very warm seats. Here are our top candidates for being fired this season.

5) Jim Schwartz: The Lions are off to a very poor 1-3 start. Their one win came in the season opener against the Rams, a team common wisdom indicated they would beat handily. Still, the Lions have a big play offense, and if they can get their season back on track, Schwartz should be able to survive the season. If they don't get back on track, Schwartz and Martin Mayhew have to take the blame.

4) Mike Munchak: The Titans drafted Jake Locker in 2011, hoping he would be a solid franchise quarterback. That hasn't materialized, and time is starting to run out for Locker and his head coach. Like Schwartz, most fans seem to like Munchak, but if the Titans can't muster more than four or five wins, likability won't save his job.

3) Rex Ryan: The first two years under Ryan's leadership were a dream for Jets fans. Yes, they lost in consecutive years in the AFC championship game, but they were a team on the rise. Those days now seem like ancient history. Mark Sanchez still hasn't developed into a consistent quarterback, and their defense looks like a shell of its former self. If the Jets get blown out by the Texans on Monday Night Football, as I think they will, it may time to make a drastic move. That move is also known as Tebow time.

2) Jason Garrett: At 2-2, the Cowboys aren't in terrible shape. The problem is that their losses have been a pair of the ugliest games we've seen by any team this year. When the Cowboys are good, they're a tough out for any team, but when they're bad, they look incompetent. Garrett probably needs a playoff birth to save his job, and that's looking "iffy" at best.

1) Pat Shurmur: If there's a sure firing on this list, it's Pat Shurmur. His team is terrible, and at some point the Browns will probably stop playing tough. That's when firing Shurmur becomes essential for the Browns to move on. It's not that he's a bad coach; he just came into a bad organization at the wrong time. Count on Shurmur being out by the end of the season.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.

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