The NFL is big business and all of the teams are in the business of winning. Failure to do so means changes all around the organization and often, the head coach is one of the first to go. Exactly one-fourth of the 32 teams will have new head coaches this upcoming season. All you have to do is tell us which of the eight will be the most successful? Good luck.
Bruce Arians (Arizona Cardinals): Last season's disastrous 5-11 finish (following a 4-0 start) sealed the fate of Ken Whisenhunt. Arians was the NFL Coach of the Year with the Colts in 2012, filling in for Chuck Pagano, and helped lead the young team to the playoffs. He's done wonders with quarterbacks in the past, but note that Cardinals' signal-callers have been sacked 162 times since 2010. Ouch.
Doug Marrone (Buffalo Bills): The Bills' last playoff appearance was a loss to the Titans in the 1999 wild card round. That's a lot of wagons going around in circles for a long time. Marrone, who comes over from Syracuse, has been around both the pro and college game and looks to snap the franchise's five-year streak of finishing dead last in the AFC East.
Marc Trestman (Chicago Bears): Despite a 10-6 season in 2012, Lovie Smith was shown the door in the Windy City after the team squandered a 7-1 start and wound up missing the playoffs. Enter Trestman, who has been around the game in all aspects, including the CFL. It won't be easy in an NFC North that boasted three clubs with double-digit victories last season.
Rob Chudzinski (Cleveland Browns): Since rejoining the NFL in 1999, the Browns have had a total of six head coaches. Now you can make it seven as Chudzinski, late of the Panthers, heads to Cleveland and will have offensive coordinator Norv Turner as well. The pair should do some good things with quarterback Brandon Weeden and running back Trent Richardson.
Gus Bradley (Jacksonville Jaguars): You'll notice that of the eight total hires this offseason that Bradley is the only defensive-oriented coach, as he leaves his coordinator duties with the Seattle Seahawks and looks to fix a club that's 27-53 the last five seasons and set a franchise record for losses in 2012. Having a healthy Maurice Jones-Drew, out most of last season, in the backfield would be a big help.
Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): Reid leaves a four-win team in the Eagles to join a two-win team in Kansas City. And when you consider both Philadelphia and Kansas City were tied (with the Jets) for the league in turnovers last season (37), there's work to be done. Some of that will come from new quarterback and former 49ers signal-caller Alex Smith, who doesn't join the team until next week.
Chip Kelly (Philadelphia Eagles): There's a new sheriff in the City of Brotherly Love as the former Oregon head coach brings his act to the NFL, looking to revive a team that's won 12 games and committed 75 turnovers over the last two seasons. Kelly has quarterback Michael Vick and has brought in former Duck Dennis Dixon (say that three times fast), but what will these Birds look like in 2013?
Mike McCoy (San Diego Chargers): The Chargers have gone from winning their division four straight years, the last three under Norv Turner, to 9-7, 8-8, 7-9 from 2010-12, respectively. Those last three seasons added up to no playoffs for the Bolts, who now become the latest team to hire a Denver Broncos' coordinator (Dennis Allen in Oakland) to be their head coach.
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