Be careful what you wish for if you want a job as an NFL head coach. After the first four weeks of the season, the Dolphins’ Brian Flores, Jets’ Adam Gase, Broncos’ Vic Fangio, Bengals’ Zac Taylor and Cardinals’ Kliff Kingsbury remain in search of their first victories with their current teams. That’s right: The quintet of coaches in their first season with these teams have combined to compile an 0-18-1 mark. Four of the teams have played a quartet of games whole the Jets were fortunate to receive their bye in Week 4.
Brian Flores
Brian Flores, the man whose team calls the Fish Tank home, is 0-4. His most recent defeat was a 30-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Miami has been outscored 163-26 or an average of about 40-6. Ouch. There won’t be any pounding this week as the Dolphins receive their blessed bye before a matchup with currently winless Washington in what could be the nadir of the NFL season to date.
Adam Gase
The former head coach of the Dolphins has taken his talents to the Big Apple with awful results. Following the bye, Adam Gase and the Jets will journey down the New Jersey Turnpike to face the Philadelphia Eagles. They will bring with them an 0-3 mark. Gang Green has been outscored 70-33 … and this is after a 16-0 lead over Buffalo in its opener. The 14 points in the Jets’ most recent loss to New England were courtesy of the defense.
Vic Fangio
Vic Fangio deserves better than the 0-4 start he has in Denver. The team easily could be 2-2, having lost twice on last-second field goals. That said, 0-4 is 0-4 and getting a first win in Week 5 won’t be easy. Denver travels to the Los Angeles Chargers for a game Sunday.
Zac Taylor
There should be good news for one of the two winless first-year coaches left after the upcoming Sunday schedule. Barring a tie, either the Bengals’ Zac Taylor or the Cardinals’ Kliff Kingsbury will have a “1” in the win column. That’s because Arizona plays at Cincinnati, which lost to Pittsburgh Monday and has been outscored 110-57 in 2019.
Kliff Kingsbury
If you tack on losses in his last five games as coach at Texas Tech in 2018, Kliff Kingsbury has not been on the winning side since Oct. 20. He did manage a tie when the Cardinals rallied against Detroit in his NFL debut. Overall, Arizona has been outscored 125-74. For his or Taylor’s sake, let us pray there is not a tie when the Bengals and Cardinals meet Sunday.
The rest
Matt LaFleur, Bruce Arians and Freddie Kitchens, the other coaches in their first year with current teams, are a combined 7-5 — in caseyou were wondering.
