The NFL coaching carousel

As usual, several head coaching jobs around the NFL have opened up after the regular season was concluded.

At last count, the Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, Indy Colts, NY Giants, Oakland (soon to be Las Vegas) Raiders, and the Detroit Lions are on the hunt for their next field general.

Jon Gruden, who has a long NFL pedigree and a Super Bowl win under his belt, and who no sane person would doubt knows football through and through, appears to be a lock for the Raiders job.

Quarterback Carson Palmer of the Cardinals recently announced his retirement after a 15 year career and got out with plenty of dough and his mind and body still allegedly intact. Good for him. The Bears are still terrible, Indy was in nowhere land without Andrew Luck, and Eli's days appear numbered in New Jersey.

But for the purposes of this post, let's zero in on the Detroit Lions' head coaching job.

They are said to be courting New England Patriots' defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. That raises an interesting question. Why, pray tell, would he want to go to Detroit, and report to a boss -- general manager Bob Quinn, that as a mere scout for the Patriots was his subordinate? The very same Bob Quinn that has botched his first two drafts with the Lions, let free agents go while signing others to replace them for more money and less talent, and made the incredibly boneheaded move of re-upping head coach Jim Caldwell for a few more years of making guaranteed millions when it was blatantly apparent Caldwell wasn't a capable head coach in the first place and would have to be fired soon -- which he just was? True, Patricia could tap into major Ford bucks. That family's been sappy for years, decades. But Detroit is where head coaches have historically gone to die. Breathe enough of that atmosphere, get fired eventually, and nobody will interested in them. They're tainted. No former Lions's head coach has EVER caught on with another team in the same capacity. After over a half century, and a long list of coaches, this can hardly be considered a fluke. While Heather Prynne of literary fame will forever wear her scarlet letter "A" for adulteress, Lions' head coaches are doomed to their own letter "L" for losers. It just goes with the territory. Always has.

All the above named teams are said to be interviewing a variety of potential head coaches. Some were former head coaches, others coordinators at successful programs, and even Gruden who been in the TV broadcast booth for the last several years. Round and round they go. Who will hire who remains to be seen.

Lots of teams have expressed interest in a few guys. One way or the other, most of them will have a choice as to which team they want to go to.

And then there's Teryl Austin, the defensive coordinator under Jim Caldwell, for the Lions. Dear TA, most likely largely due to the infamous, but not working well Rooney Rule, which mandates a team interview at least one "minority" candidate for any head coaching or general manager job, has had several such interviews in the past. But no takers.

Further, it doesn't appear that with all these openings around the league, anybody is much interested in him this time around either. Let's just say he's not on anybody's short list of can't miss prospects.

But never fear, Teryl has thrown his hat into the ring to take his former boss Caldwell's job with the Lions. Well, of course he has.

Thing is, were the Lions to hire him as such, they would be eating the same fruit that grew on the Caldwell tree. Why, pray tell, would an organization replace a failure as a high level manager with a protege that supposedly learned under his tutelage? Does that make any sense?

So yes, while several available quality prospects lurk around the league and teams try to cull through them to find the best fits for their organization -- always a crap shoot to be sure -- the potential coach gets a say in this as well.

It's not like if a franchise offers him a head coaching job he just HAS to accept it. In some cases, it might be wiser to stay put, even at a much lower salary, until a "good" opportunity opens up. The same carousel will no doubt be put in motion after the 2018 season. Heads of "underachieving" teams will roll, because that's just the way it works.

Here's a prediction. The Detroit Lions will dilly-dally as they always have, as the potential "difference makers" are swooped up by other teams.

In the end, there's no way they're going to get a guy like Patricia.

Much more likely, they'll hire Teryl Austin, the only guy that no other teams seem to be interested in. The very same disciple of the head coach they just fired.

Because that's just how they roll.

Always have.

And if I'm wrong about that, unlike most like other "know-it-all" pundits, my very first order of business will be to issue a public apology via this venue for getting it wrong.

In a way, I hope I AM wrong. Apologizing would be easy.

The Lions' fans having to live with a guy Austin as their head coach for the next few years would be much tougher on them.