To be fair to Adam Schefter, the ESPN NFL insider added a caveat when he said Monday around 12:50 p.m. ET that he didn’t think any NFL coaches would be fired anytime soon, saying “for all I know, I’m gonna hang up here and someone’s getting fired.”
It was pretty funny when that’s exactly what happened an hour later.
Schefter appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday to discuss the weekend that was, and what might be happening behind the scenes as the trade deadline approaches. The reporter was asked to gauge his assessment of the NFL coaching hot seat and whether or not we might find out about some firings anytime soon.
“Doesn’t mean I’m right, but I don’t see a coaching move being made anytime soon,” said Schefter at 12:53 p.m. ET. “Of course, there are going to be coaches who lose their jobs. It happens every year. And it’s become a sport within the sport of the National Football League to see it happen. But I don’t think, and for all I know, I’m gonna hang up here and someone’s getting fired, but I don’t see a head coach losing his job.
“I don’t see [Tennessee Titans coach] Brian Callahan, obviously, has come under intense criticism; I don’t see that happening soon.”
Schefter went on to mention Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn, noting that he doesn’t see any movement happening in those situations either.
Almost an hour later to the minute, it was announced that the Tennessee Titans had fired Brian Callahan following the team’s 1-5 start to the season. Perhaps in part because of how Schefter couched it, the news sent a shockwave through McAfee’s show.
Now, no one expects Schefter to be a wizard or have a crystal ball that predicts the future. He’s never going to bat 1.000 on breaking news.
However, a significant amount of weight is placed on his role as ESPN’s NFL insider, particularly when it comes to transactional news. It’s much easier to be the one to break the news that a team has signed a new punter than it is to predict the moment they might fire their head coach, but with the amount of work we’re told goes into the role, expectations are what they are. So it makes for an awkward moment when the person tasked with knowing what’s happening behind the scenes whiffs so hard right before huge breaking news like that happens.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.