Black Monday in the National Football League has proved to be fairly dark, after five head coaches fired less than 24 hours after the regular season ended.
According to the ESPN, coaches from the Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were let go after under performing during the season.
Cleveland Browns coach Rob Chudzinski was dismissed Sunday night, after only one season.
"I was shocked and disappointed to hear the news that I was fired," Chudzinski told ESPN. "I am a Cleveland Brown to the core, and always will be. It was an honor to lead our players and coaches, and I appreciate their dedication and sacrifice. I was more excited than ever for this team, as I know we were building a great foundation for future success."
Washington's coach, Mike Shanahan, won two Super Bowls in Denver in the 1990s, got the axe after spending four seasons with the Redskins. The team lost their final eight games of the season, with 24-40 overall.
Shanahan had one season remaining on a five-year contract worth about $7 million a season. Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III was benched, during the final three games after he was injured during the season.
"Redskins fans deserve a better result," said Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. "We will focus on what it takes to build a winning team and my pledge to this organization and to this community is to continue to commit the resources and talent necessary to put this team back in the playoffs."
ESPN reported that Detroit's Jim Schwartz and Tampa Bay's Greg Schiano performed poorly as coaches. Schwartz won only one of their final seven games and Schiano had only a 0-8 start to the season. Both coaches were let go.
Minnesota's Leslie Frazier took over for Brad Childress in Minnesota for the final six games of 2010 and coached the game for three years. The Vikings reached the playoffs last year but faded this season with only 21-32.
"It's a harsh business," safety Harrison Smith said. "As a player, we all love coach Frazier, as a coach, as a man. You can't meet a better guy. And also as a player, we didn't make enough plays on the field. So you just feel like you let him down a little bit."
