Tuesday was not a good day to be a football coach in either the college or pro ranks. Three pink slips were handed out from coast to coast, starting with the Jacksonville Jaguars (3–8) as they dismissed nine-year head coach Jack Del Rio. Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said in a live feed press conference, “We deserved better and the community deserved better. We’ve been very average over the last few years.” Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will take over as interim head coach.
Weaver also announced the sale of the team to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan, owner of Flex-N-Gate Group. Weaver made clear Khan had no part in the firing of Del Rio, but would participate in hiring a new coach.
Looking to improve their winless season, the Indianapolis Colts fired defensive coordinator Larry Coyer and assigned Mike Murphy to replace him. “The move was made to improve communication and production,” head coach Jim Caldwell said on the Colts website. “We feel this is the most effective and realistic way to move forward and win games this season.”
The Colts offense appears to be the bigger problem without Payton Manning. Dan Orlovsky, a seven-year player out of UConn, has been given the reins. Sunday will mark only his eighth career start with all seven of those starts for the Detroit Lions during their winless 2008 campaign.
In the college ranks, Washington State University let their head football coach Paul Wulff go after four seasons and combined 9–40 record. Injuries at the quarterback position proved too tough for him to overcome, but he did lead the Cougars to four wins this year, the most during his tenure. No interim head coach was named.
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