Since 1969, the Steelers have had a total of two head coaches: Cowher and Chuck Noll.

Since buying the Redskins, Snyder has had five head coaches: Turner, Robiskie (albeit as an interim), Schottenheimer, Spurrier, and now Gibbs.

Anyone else see a pattern?

Excellent questions. I wonder about future consequences. Most players don't stay with one team for long; now coaches seem to be losing their loyalty to their teams too. Are fans next?

Sure, I see the pattern. If your team has a good head coach, they tend to not get fired.

There's no defending a position that says, "if you keep a coach for 15 years, eventually they'll win the Super Bowl." Sometimes you hire the wrong guy. Once you've had enough time to determine that, it's best to move on.

Irresponsible of you to include the Steelers with a group you label as "Coaching Carousel". As has been stated several times over, the Steelers are the model of stability who's pattern has been copied by the Titans and Ravens. A good organization picks their coach and commits to their coach. The Steelers, Ravens and Titans realize you are not going to win every year, but the set up is such that if a coach is given time, they should be in the playoffs more often than not. That is one of the legacies of Bill Cowher. He had his teams playing in January far more often than not. You are not going to win the Super Bowl every year, but Owners need their teams playing in January. Cowher did that, Billick does as well and Fischer is on his way back in a year or two.

Speaking of the Ravens, Ozzie Newsome's tenure as their GM provides another interesting contrast with the Redskins.
Somehow, the Ravens manage to have consistently solid drafts year-in and year-out. Perhaps having a strong GM has played some part in their success.

honestly thought that Green would do better in AZ than he did. that chicago game was the turning point. Had they won I think they would have been a .500 team minimum. That team is nothing but top 10 1st round picks. yet, their o-line is Division III at best. It is just something about that organization. They cannot build a winner. Mora was just pissing blank off too much. The collapses led to his firing more so than his comments. if they were winning, he would put up with that stuff. lastly, i think the play of vick was another part of it. one week he shows flashes of brillance passing, the next week running. The next week they can't get 200 yards of total offense. The coaching was inconsistent on top of the players. his father did not help either.

Art Shell could have been fired after week 4 or 5. The Raiders looked like they were running vanilla pre-season plays for 16 weeks. Their play was bad enough, but to watch him and see him so aloof to the situation was upsetting. Being stoic in the midst of looking pitiful was not the best picture. Lastly, Al Davis needs to retire and pass the torch!

Brian is right! The potential head coaches are already lining up outside the Steelers front office. If Snyder fires yet another good coach who, like many Redskin players, only sucks while with Snyder's Redskins, perhaps Gibbs would consider Pittsburgh. No doubt that with a new Coach Gibbs, the Steelers would be in the playoffs next year, yet again. Thats because the Rooneys have the Golden Triangle midas touch, while Snyder has the produce or get cut loose has been touch.

Oh, and Cower will never, ever even consider coaching under Snyder.

I am curious. Since 1969 the Steelers have had 2 head coaches. Does any one know what team has used the most head coaches since then, and what the league average is over that time?

Kevin, I will be sipping a cold glass of ice water in hell before Joe Gibbs takes a head coaching job with another team. I realize your point is hypothetical, but it would never happen in reality. Gibbs can't tarnish his legacy in Washington, regardless of how his second coming turns out here. But he certainly could put a dent in it if he goes elsewhere and remains a loser. Gibbs won't risk that.

There really is a "keep up with the Jones'" mentality that dominates the NFL. Owners (and a whole bunch of no-nothing fans) see a couple teams each year seemingly go from bad to good overnight, and they think this is how their organization should be built. So everyone is on a very short leash to win now or go elsewhere. Nobody wants to put with the growing pains that come with sticking with a plan/personnel for several years and beyond, but they forget that turning over such personnel every other year creates constant growing pains that the club never grows out of. The Skins are Exhibit A, and there are lots of other clubs that fall into the same category.

When coaches and talent personnel get the revolving door treatment, there is no continuity about the overall character of the team and the kind of talent that's needed to maximize the vision. That's how you end up with marquee players stuck in bad situations because they don't gel real well with the latest coaching or salary philosophy of the club. When the approach changes every 2-3 years, it becomes extremely difficult to build a consistent winner like New England or Philly. You're much more likely to be the Redskins or a one hit wonder like Tampa or the Raiders of a few years ago. It really ain't that complicated, but the pressure to keep up with the Jones' has thoroughly infected a lot of teams to their own ill.

One would think that Dan Snyder would have learned by now that you can not buy a championship. He has tried to do that with coaches and players. Look at the teams who are consistently successful, the players and coaches come to work everyday as though they are punching the time clock. They work hard and do it as one unit...A Team. Consistency is another big factor.

When you throw all kinds of money into the equation it changes the dynamics of a team. Somewhere along the way the motivation changes and the team concept is lost. Look at the players and coaching staff of the Redskins this year on both sides of the ball. To many cheifs and not enough indians.

Remember the Redskin glory days, I was just a kid then and loved them as much as I do now. Those guys were lunch pail workers who fought their guts out and they did indeed fight there guts outs every Sunday. Maybe it is time for the Washington Redskins to go back to that mentality. Joe Gibbs will be in his element and the rest will take care of itself, the Redskins will win Championships.