Schiano and Schwarz Next to Go

"Maybe I am overrated."

I thought that maybe Greg Schiano would survive in Tampa Bay after the team played harder and actually won some games after an 0-8 start. Bucs owner Malcolm Glaze didn't agree though - a 4-4 finish over the final eight games was not enough to save Schiano's job.

The second year NFL coach and his staff were fired on Monday along with GM Mark Dominik. Schiano's squad started the 2012 season 6-4, but lost five of their final six games to miss the playoffs. With this year's bad beginning, the Bucs lost 13 of 14 games overall. That was the main factor along with problems with former QB Josh Freeman and reported unrest in the locker room.

Schiano parlayed 11 seasons as the head coach of Rutgers into an NFL job with the Bucs, but wins at Rutgers had begun to dissipate after Schiano turned the program around.  There are already rumors that Schiano is the leading candidate to replace Bill O'Brien at Penn State, where Schiano served as an assistant from 1990-1995.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that ex-Bears coach Lovie Smith is the favorite to replace Schiano.

Detroit's fiery head coach Jim Schwartz wasn't able to build off  of 2011's playoff appearance. The Lions won four games in 2012, but were in the driver's seat in the NFC North division with a 7-5 record. In control of their own fate, the Lions lost three straight contests and were eliminated from playoff contention with a week to go in the regular season.

Prior to taking over the Lions head coaching job in 2009, Schwartz was the Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator for eight seasons and spent 10 seasons in total as a Tennessee assistant coach.