NFL Black Monday tracker: Bears, Vikings fire head coaches, GMs

The Denver Broncos started the first string of firings after the 2021 NFL regular season came to a close by parting ways with head coach Vic Fangio after their Saturday loss to the Kansas City Chief.

On Monday, it was the NFC North that made the next head coaching moves. The Minnesota Vikings have fired head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman, while the Chicago Bears have fired head coach Matt Nagy. No word on the fate of Bears general manager Ryan Pace yet. UPDATE: Pace has been fired, too.

Zimmer’s Vikings career ends with a 72-56-1 record over the span of the past eight years. His most successful season came in 2017. The Vikings won the NFC North with a 13-3 record and made it to the NFC Championship game after the Minneapolis Miracle. However, in the past two seasons, the Vikings went just 15-18 and failed to make the playoffs both years.

Spielman had been with the Vikings since 2006, first serving as the team’s Vice President of Player Personnel before being promoted to general manager in 2012.

As for Nagy, his reign with the Bears lasted just four seasons with an overall 34-31 record. His only winning season came in Year 1, when Chicago won the North with a 12-4 record. However, they were bounced in the opening round of the playoffs after the infamous double-doink. Nagy’s team went 8-8, 8-8 and 6-10 in the following three years, but the big issue was with Chicago’s offense, which ranked among the worst in the league in Nagy’s final three seasons.

Dan Campbell is now the second-longest tenured coach in the division, after finishing his inaugural season on Sunday with a 3-13-1 record.

UPDATE 2: The Dolphins have reportedly fired head coach Brian Flores, as well. We’re already up to potentially six vacancies, with the in-season departures of Urban Meyer and Jon Gruden.