NFC South Notebook: Head coach turnover has arrived in division

Carolina and Atlanta could both have head coach openings this offseason.

Las Vegas was giving Dan Quinn just about even odds to be the next NFL head coach fired about one month ago.

With the help of a mini two-game winning streak following the Falcons' bye week, and a four-game losing streak for the Panthers, Quinn beat those odds. One of those two Falcons victories actually came against Carolina, and it helped cost Ron Rivera his job.

The Panthers fired Rivera, naming Perry Fewell to interim head coach, on Tuesday. But don't think just because Quinn kept his job into December that he's no longer on the hot seat.

The resume of Rivera and Quinn are very similar, and actually, the fired Rivera arguably experienced more success in his tenure.

An argument can be made in favor of Rivera both keeping his job and the firing. He posted a .546 winning percentage in nine seasons, but he only recorded three winning seasons. Carolina's 15-1 mark in 2015 really helped that overall win percentage and skews his overall record.

Yes, Rivera led the Panthers to a Super Bowl appearance but lost. Since then, Carolina has only been to the playoffs once in four years.

Quinn has a similar narrative except with a worse overall record and no season with more than 11 wins. Rivera had two seasons with more than 11 victories.

Quinn is now 39-37 as head coach of the Falcons. If Atlanta goes 1-3 down the stretch, his record will fall to an even 40-40. Since losing Super Bowl LI the year after Carolina lost its Super Bowl, the Falcons have missed the playoffs two of the last three seasons.

In Quinn's tenure, he's only made the playoffs twice in five years.

Rivera and Quinn were both so close to reaching the pinnacle of the NFL, but that's only a distant memory now. Rivera is unemployed and Quinn should join him at the end of the year.

Should that happen, the NFC South will be three head coaches that have spent less than two seasons with their teams inside the division.