Tennessee starts over with a new coach today, and could there be a little “dead cat bounce” in action? Of the last 15 teams with interim coaches, seven have won their first game.
The Titans saw this first hand themselves a few weeks back. Miami had been terrible under Joe Philbin but showed up with some new energy under Dan Campbell, winning 38-10.
Now Tennessee is attempting the same kind of move. It’s fired Ken Whisenhunt, who was only 3-20 for them (oddly, 2-0 in openers and 1-20 in his other games) and replaced him with Mike Mularkey.
In this century, however, 26 teams have made coaching changes during the season. Those teams are just 8-18 overall. Average points for: 16.5. Average points against: 26.2.
TEAMS IN FIRST GAME WITH INTERIM COACH, 2000- | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Opp | Result |
2000 | Detroit | Atlanta | W 13-10 |
2000 | Cincinnati | Miami | L 16-31 |
2000 | Washington | at Dallas | L 13-32 |
2000 | Arizona | New Orleans | L 10-21 |
2001 | Minnesota | at Baltimore | L 3-19 |
2003 | Atlanta | at Indianapolis | L 7-38 |
2004 | Miami | at Seattle | L 17-24 |
2004 | Cleveland | New England | L 15-42 |
2005 | Detroit | at Dallas | L 7-20 |
2005 | St. Louis | at Indianapolis | L 28-45 |
2007 | Atlanta | at Tampa Bay | L 3-37 |
2008 | St. Louis | at Washington | W 19-17 |
2008 | Oakland | at New Orleans | L 3-34 |
2008 | San Francisco | Seattle | L 13-34 |
2009 | Buffalo | at Jacksonville | L 15-18 |
2010 | San Francisco | Arizona | W 38-7 |
2010 | Dallas | at NY Giants | W 33-20 |
2010 | Minnesota | at Washington | W 17-13 |
2010 | Denver | at Arizona | L 13-43 |
2011 | Miami | at Buffalo | W 30-23 |
2011 | Kansas City | Green Bay | W 19-14 |
2011 | Jacksonville | San Diego | L 14-38 |
2012 | New Orleans | at Denver | L 14-34 |
2013 | Houston | at Indianapolis | L 3-25 |
2014 | Oakland | San Diego | L 28-31 |
2015 | Miami | at Tennessee | W 38-10 |
2015 | Tennessee | at New Orleans | ??? |
—Ian Allan