The NFL regular season wrapped up two days ago (at the time of me writing this).
And in the past two days, five coaches have already been fired. A few more coaches got fired during the season. And several general managers are waiting in fear for the dreaded call.
One such coach without a job is Jerod Mayo, the former head coach of the New England Patriots. What’s interesting about this fire is that Mayo joined an anti-elite group of coaches who were fired after one season or less.
Since 2015, nine NFL coaches have lost their job after only one season or less.
Some of this was probably deserved, yes. But compare these nine coaches to, say, Dan Campbell (coach of the #1 seed Detroit Lions). Campbell went 3-13-1 in his first season as head coach—that’s a “fireable offense” to many owners. But he’s since gone:
2022: 9-8
2023: 12-5
2024: 15-2
Not just improvement each and every year, but dramatic improvement.
And the truth is, half of the teams in the NFL today simply don’t have good enough rosters to accomplish whatever their goals are.
But someone gotta take the blame. Even if your roster ain’t good enough to win consistently, you can still lose your job by not winning consistently.
Here’s why I bring it up:
The owner-coach relationship in the NFL is similar to the client-freelancer relationship in business. As a freelancer, you don’t have as much say in things like offers, price points, overall business strategy, etc. the same way a coach doesn't have much say in the roster, organizational goals, definition of success, what have you.
In fact, whether in freelancing or coaching, much is out of your control. The owner has the ultimate say-so. And unfortunately, that means someone gotta take the blame. (Spoiler: It will rarely, if ever, be the owner.)
But you’re at the will of the owner: If he decides to, say, run promo after promo and burn out his list, you’ll get blamed when revenue ticks down. The same way an NFL owner can “wheel and deal” and bring in or trade players that could hurt your chances of success.
That’s why setting expectations, even if they’re piss-poor expectations (like a 3-13-1 record is), can keep you safe. Many business owners have a tendency to make boneheaded decisions at the expense of their business without realizing it. It then becomes your duty to protect them from themselves… or watch yourself get booted as a partner.
Someone gotta take the blame, one way or another.
Anywho:
If you’re not making at least 30% of your revenue from email, hit reply, and let’s chat.
John
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