Don’t Lose Super Bowl, Unless You Want to Lose Head Coaching Job

It's one of the most unnoticed trends over the last six to eight years, but one Sports Illustrated reporter picked up on it.

Both Jim Harbaugh and John Fox have landed "on their feet nicely" after losing their head coaching gigs in San Francisco and Denver.  Harbaugh and the Niners mutually agreed to part ways after a disastrous 8-8 season that was only two seasons removed from losing the Super Bowl to the Ravens.   Fox of course, was the coach in Denver during last season's loss to Seattle. Harbaugh's at Michigan, Fox hired in Chicago.

But the trend goes beyond there. Sports Illustrated noted four of the last six coaches to lose the Big Game are no longer with their respective franchises. Ken Wisenhunt, who led the Arizona Cardinals in 2008 canned in 2012; Jim Caldwell of the Colts was fired in 2011, two years after their last Super Bowl trip. This in addition to Harbaugh and Fox.  And, you might remember Fox was let go not long after he had led the Carolina Panthers to the Big Game back in the early 2000's...before Cam Newton.

Only Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh and Bill Belichick in New England have lost a Super Bowl  in the last 8 years (2010 and 2011) and survived. The Steelers and Patriots, however,  have shown a willingness to stick with coaches a lot longer, as long as they are at least winning the division or making playoffs as wild card.

Other recent trends:

• Even if the first season is a mess, most coaches hired to fix franchises are given at least a couple of seasons to show improvement.   IF the wins climb each season, losing records are somewhat tolerated - for a little while.
• Coaches who seemingly come out of nowhere to turn around teams become the hottest coaching commodities - Cardinals Coach Bruce Ariens who subbed in Indy two years ago, and others.
• If you don't win the Big One, you're probably not for long, as the trends seems to be showing.