Pep Hamilton's firing shows buzz can shift on hot coaching candidates

The firing of Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton on Tuesday night is a prime example of why the annual coaching carousel is so tough to peg until late in the regular season.
With Colts quarterback Andrew Luck having his best season in 2014, Hamilton landed an interview for the Oakland Raiders’ head coaching job. The Buffalo Bills wanted to interview him for their head coaching vacancy, too.
And now Hamilton’s out of a job, replaced by Rob Chudzinski as coach Chuck Pagano and company try to figure out how to get Luck back on track and salvage their season.
Right or wrong, when it comes to first-time head coaches, a lot of the “hot” candidates get that title because of what happened most recently.
Hamilton didn’t go from a great coach to a terrible one in less than a year. Neither did Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, whose name came up for several vacancies last year, but now might go down with Jim Caldwell before the season’s over.
That’s not to say Hamilton is blameless for the Colts’ predicament. It’s just the reality that the names you’ll hear for jobs that are open in January often are based more than anything on who’s playing well in December.
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