Black Monday has come and gone

Black Monday has always been the day NFL coaches dread, as the day after Week 17 is also known as the first day of the offseason for 20 teams.

This year's version of Black Monday saw only one person was sent off, that being Cleveland's Eric Mangini. The so-called "Mangenius" sputtered at the end of the regular season, with the 41-9 blowout loss to division rival Pittsburgh being the final nail in the coffin, finishing the season at 5-11, with 4 straight losses to boot.

However, some teams have already made their decision before the season had ended. Dallas fired Wade Phillips after their really slow start. Minnesota canned Brad Childress after a disappointing campaign following their close call to the Super Bowl. Denver replaced Joshua McDaniels following their version of Videogate. Once they knew their chances of winning the atrocious NFC West were up in smoke, San Francisco bid adieu to Mike Singletary and his quips. Carolina made their announcement that John Fox will not be coming back (he was on the last year of his deal).

So, what should these headless teams do:

Dallas - it looks like they will retain Jason Garrett, but if a big name is available, like a Jeff Fisher or a Bill Cowher that is amenable to the way things work alongside owner-GM Jerry Jones, they will go after him.

Minnesota - they have officially retained Leslie Frazier.

Denver - They'll need someone who can help with the growth of Tim Tebow. Having John Elway in the front office is a start. They may also opt for a defensive mind after the mess of a defense not named Champ Bailey.


Carolina - They would like to get Bill Cowher, who resides in the Carolinas, but they have lots of issues. They have the top overall pick for them, although they would really like to have their 2nd round pick back because they had to trade it to get Armanti Edwards (their 3rd round pick this year). They are praying hard for a package deal of Stanford's Jim Harbaugh and his QB Andrew Luck to make themselves available.

San Francisco - Preferably a big name coach, one who can get the offense going. Their quarterback situation is a total mess. They already have a solid front seven defensively. They also hope that Harbaugh (Palo Alto is an hour (more or less) away from San Francisco) would be interested.