Turning up heat: Coaching heads on chopping block

Ah, yes, summertime and the living is easy ... except when you're coaching for your job, which a number of guys will be this season.

Some of them may not make it to the finish line, and some may pull an Eric Mangini and make something out of nothing. But, for now, we're here to forecast who's in trouble and headed for this year's Endangered Coaches List.

So let's get started. Here are my top five candidates:

Romeo Crennel, Cleveland

Romeo Crennel (Getty Images)

Yeah, I like the guy, too, and he might be a good head coach, but it's not happening here. The Browns have accomplished little since Crennel's arrival except to turn the quarterback position into a weekly audition for "Where's My Line?" I know Crennel has been beset by injuries, and, yes, it's a problem when you lose people like Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow and LeCharles Bentley. But everyone suffers injuries, and you don't have to remind Crennel. He was the defensive coordinator in New England when the Patriots went to the Super Bowl with a secondary that looked more like a casting call for the ER of Grey's Anatomy.

The point is this: Cleveland deserves a winner, and the Browns haven't won much more than high draft picks since returning to the NFL in 1999. Only once did they reach the playoffs, and that was as a wild card in 2002. Predictably, they lost their only game. Crennel was supposed to be the answer, but the Browns are 10-22 under him, with two last-place finishes. I don't care if a coach suffers a losing season here or there. But you want to see improvement. The Browns lost two more last season than they did in 2005. They scored six more points and allowed 55 more. They ranked 31st in offense and 27th in defense. And they committed a whopping 42 turnovers -- worse than anyone except the Raiders. That is not what you'd call an improvement. It's what you'd call grounds for a divorce.

Tom Coughlin, N.Y. Giants

Tom Coughlin (Getty Images)

This is how the Giants made the playoffs last season: They lost six of their last eight, including a game where they blew a 21-0 fourth-quarter lead. Then they lost their playoff game. Then they lost their star player. Then the star player torched the head coach. That, folks, is not how you earn a contract extension, but the the Giants retained Coughlin anyway after he and his club self-destructed down the stretch.

Now Coughlin is trying to win without Tiki Barber, a bona fide left tackle and a fullback. Oh, and did I mention the inconsistent quarterback under fire? Eli Manning's not the man on the spot here; Kevin Gilbride is. He's the new offensive coordinator charged with saving his head coach, and maybe he does it by cutting down on Manning's mistakes and finding room for Brandon Jacobs to run. All I know is that he has one year to come up with a solution.

Coughlin must know he's walking the plank. How else do you explain his reaching out to beat reporters in the offseason to make peace? That's not Coughlin's style. It is, however, the sign of someone who knows he's in trouble and is desperate for support. Maybe that's why Coughlin put the gag order on players, hoping to eliminate the criticism that helped sabotage the Giants last season. But that lasts only as long as the team wins, which must happen for Coughlin to make it through to 2008 ... the last year of his contract.

Jon Gruden, Tampa Bay

Jon Gruden (Getty Images)

Yes, he's the only coach to take Tampa Bay to the Super Bowl. What's more, he won it. But that was almost five years ago, and this is a league where it's what you've done lately that matters. And what the Bucs have done lately isn't much.

Since Super Bowl XXXVII, they produced one winning season and an overall record of 27-37. Worse, the offense that worked so well in 2002 has been reduced to a bunch of guys playing three-and-out. Really, now, are you going to tell me that Jon Gruden can't figure out how to score more than 15 points a game? That was the average last year, and it can't happen again. Injuries were a factor, but enough already. You either win or you don't, which is why the Bucs signed 37-year-old Jeff Garcia to play quarterback. Gruden doesn't have time to wait on Bruce Gradkowski or Chris Simms. He doesn't have time to wait on Brady Quinn, either. The Bucs passed on him in the draft and chose defensive end Gaines Adams because Adams can step in and help now. That tells you something. It tells you the clock is ticking on the head coach, and he knows it.

John Fox, Carolina

J. Fox, Carolina (Getty Images)

Listen, I think this guy is sharp, too, but when the Panthers let go trusted offensive coordinator Dan Henning, they turned up the heat on the head coach. Fox and Henning were close, and the move indicated management wasn't happy with last season (understandable) and wanted -- no, demanded -- a change. So, it got one: Henning was canned. Now, it's Fox who's on the front burner, mainly because the Panthers didn't win in two of the past three seasons and were dreadful last year when it mattered most -- losing five times when they blew fourth-quarter leads.

Management can argue that it gave Fox the players to win; Fox can argue that injuries, particularly to the offensive line, handicapped his chances in 2006, but that won't cut it. Remember what I said about injuries: Everyone has them, and good coaches find ways to overcome them. Fox did just that in 2005 when he somehow fought through the losses of his top four backs to reach the NFC Championship Game. John Fox knows what he's doing. He just has to prove it. Again.

Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville

Jack Del Rio (Getty Images)

Let's see, the Jags' next quarterback is Byron Leftwich. No, it's David Garrard. No, it's Daunte Culpepper. Nope, it's Leftwich. We think.

The Jags haven't been bad under Del Rio, but they haven't been real good, either. And that's a problem. Under Del Rio they're 34-31 (including the playoffs), a record similar to the 34-32 mark that convinced Bill Parcells to quit in Dallas.

There's no question the Jags could be good. Very good. But a couple of things must happen first: 1) They must learn to find the end zone without a sherpa, and 2) they must figure out how to beat Houston. That's the thing that confounds me about Del Rio's team. It can beat any given team on any given Sunday, except if that team is Houston. You can look it up: Houston beats the Jags at home; it beats them in Jacksonville. Only one team last year knocked off the Jags twice, and it wasn't Super Bowl champion Indianapolis. It was those mighty Texans, who the past four years are 5-3 against Del Rio and 15-41 against the rest of the league.

Oh, yeah, one more thing: It would help if Jacksonville shows up on the road. The Jags were 2-6 there last season, surrendering an average of 23.25 points a game. They were 6-2 at home, holding opponents to an average of 11 per start. The club that produced back-to-back shutouts of Pittsburgh and the Jets at home also hemorrhaged 36 points at Washington and 35 at K.C. So how do you explain that? Del Rio has one season to find an answer.

Two others who might not be back:

Joe Gibbs, Washington

Do I think Joe Gibbs will be fired if he has another losing season? You must be joking. There's a better chance of peace in the Middle East. Gibbs is an icon in Washington, which is why he was hired by Daniel Snyder. He's the one guy Snyder cannot and will not fire. If Gibbs leaves it's by choice, which I think could happen if the Redskins flounder again. Joe Gibbs is a Hall of Fame coach, and he doesn't suffer losing seasons. At least, he didn't until he returned to the game in 2004. Now he's gone two of three years without winning, and, trust me, that takes a toll on someone like Gibbs. The guy has far too much pride to suffer again and again, and, let's be honest: He has nothing to prove.

Joe Gibbs is a coaching legend, but there is nothing legendary about a 21-27 record. If he fizzles this fall, he could do what Snyder cannot -- pull the plug on a career that deserves more than this as punctuation.

Jeff Fisher, Tennessee

Jeff Fisher is one of the best coaches in the business, but so was Bill Cowher. And Bill Cowher didn't have a contract extension entering his last year with the Steelers. That was a signal, loud and clear, that he might be leaving. And he did. Fisher doesn't have an extension, either, and, like Cowher, he has one year left on his deal.

Sure, there's time to lock the guy down, but that time is running out. And I guarantee that once the season starts Fisher won't be interested in talking anything but football. So here's some advice, Tennessee: Sign him now because you won't sign him later. Guaranteed: If Fisher leaves, he gets scooped up by someone else in a New York minute. Maybe he doesn't want to return, I don't know. Cowher was worn out after 15 years in Pittsburgh, and Fisher may be wrung out by 12½ years with Tennessee. If that's the case, there's nothing Bud Adams can do. But I'd sure make an effort to keep him while I can.