Welcome to Black Monday - the day every NFL coach dreads

It will be a wild start to the week marking the end of an unusual season. Black Monday is around the corner and it won’t be pretty

Both Hue Jackson and Marvin Lewis could be out come Monday (Getty)

After every NFL Sunday must come a Monday. And after the final Sunday of every NFL season must come Black Monday, the day when a number of the league’s coaches find out that their services are no longer required.

For some, this will be no surprise. And this year there are several coaches who are already going into this weekend knowing it will be the final time they lead their current roster into battle. Others will come as more of a surprise.

This year, Black Monday falls on New Year’s Day and it will be a new start for a gaggle of aspiring head coaches, who will see and seize the opportunity for a top job. Usually these will be defensive or offensive coordinators on a successful team, coaches who have shown they can build a dominant unit and who want the chance to show they can command an entire team.

But there will also be outsiders who sneak into the reckoning. Special teams coordinators, position-group coaches and college football minds who are capable of performing the role - they just need to convince the NFL top brass that this is the case.

Of the teams who are certain to dismiss their current head coach, Cincinnati are the only one to have already announced it. Long-time HC Marvin Lewis will leave at the end of his contract and they’re already being linked with his former offensive coordinator, Hue Jackson. Jackson is an interesting one because you could say that he should be in the discussion as a certainty to leave their current franchise. Jackson has been in charge of the Cleveland Browns for 31 games and they have lost 30 of them. It is a mess of a franchise with problems rooted far deeper than the head coach but, assuming they end this season 0-16, there can surely be no reason for keeping him other than to try and extract a draft pick out of Cinci should they try to trade for him.

Chicago will get rid of John Fox, a boring coach who has made this team worse. The hope should be that Vic Fangio stays on to marshal this talented defensive unit but he may have higher aspirations and the new head coach may have his own ideas anyway. The key for Bears GM Ryan Pace is to find a smart offensive mind to get the most out of rookie QB Mitchell Trubisky. The entire franchise now revolves around No. 10 and the coaching search should do too.

John Fox's interminable reign in Chicago is set to end (Getty)

Chuck Pagano has pretty much admitted that he is on his way out of Indianapolis, a move that is probably a year overdue. Dave Toub, the Kansas City Chiefs’ special teams guru knows Colts GM Chris Ballard well from his time at Arrowhead and that wouldn’t be the most surprising move, given Toub’s becoming a fashionable name. The coordinators he can attract will define their success as much as Andrew Luck’s return to fitness.

The New York Giants already sacked their head coach and it seems unlikely interim HC Steve Spagnuolo will stay on in the big job. Who they go for is anyone’s guess but this must be the most desirable vacancy heading into January, with the team boasting an early draft pick to secure Eli Manning’s successor under center, as well as a talented roster that was simply ravaged by injuries last season.

Those are the definites. The more intriguing questions lie in the maybe column and working out which general managers will make brave moves - be that sticking or twisting.

Pagano is out in Indy leaving behind an intriguing opportunity (Getty)

In Detroit, Jim Caldwell could finally have eaten up all the credit he had earned, and missing the playoffs in a year where Green Bay had Aaron Rodgers go down is likely going to cost him. In Tennessee, the dreary Mike Mullarkey could go the same way if they miss out on a wildcard on Sunday and Marcus Mariota should be praying that’s the case.

For Houston and Tampa Bay it appears that whether they move on will depend on who they could sound out as replacements. Bill O’Brien’s contract situation means the Texans either need to double down on the former Penn State man as Deshaun Watson’s mentor or find someone else, but there will likely need to be changes in the power structure of that team from him to remain. For the Buccaneers, the holy grail is - as always - ESPN analyst Jon Gruden who led them to Super Bowl glory in 2002. If he can be tempted out of the broadcast booth then Dirk Koetter is toast. If not, he might not survive anyway.

Arizona are the only team where it is unclear whether their coach is retiring. Conflicting reports swirl around Bruce Arians and if he did step down then Jets head coach Todd Bowles could be a favourite for the role. The fact that Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald have committed to returning next season suggests Arians stays but there is too much noise for Arians to be sure. This is one to let ride.

If Houston cut ties with O'Brien he'd be a hot candidate (Getty)

Oakland and Denver should give their coaches one more season despite disappointing years. Coordinators might meet their fate though.

Most years there is an unexpected change, though, and this year it could come anywhere. Perhaps Washington decide Jay Gruden hasn’t done enough in his time there. Possibly it is the end of the Pete Carroll era in Seattle. Mike McCarthy should be - but probably won’t be - leaving Green Bay.

It will be a wild start to the week marking the end of an unusual season.

Black Monday is around the corner and it won’t be pretty.