With Mike Mularkey's recent resignation, there are now a total of nine football teams that will be looking for a new head coach next season. Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, New Orleans, Oakland, St. Louis, and now Buffalo have all lost their head coach one way or another. This is almost one third of the league. Sure, three teams went ahead and filled their vacancies already, but how will this effect them for the upcoming NFL Draft? Will they have enough practice time to see if their players can fit their system? By the time mini-camps start next year, it might be too late.

            Seven of the nine teams who have changed coaches since the start of the season will be picking in the top eleven in April. Makes sense, the coaches who lost got fired, and the coaches in the top 10 who didn't lose their job were either relatively new (Mike Nolan of the 49ers and Dennis Green of the Cardinals) or their organization's all time career coaching wins leader (Jeff Fisher of the Titans). This of course will shake up how the draft looks immensely.

            The two teams who were not picking in the top eleven but underwent a coaching change have already filled their vacancies. With the ownership change everybody knew Mike Tice was good as gone. The Vikings struck early with hiring Eagles' Offensive Coordinator Brad Childress. Interesting hire considering how poor the Eagles offense was this year, but considering the lack of top candidates it was probably a good move to lock Childress up quickly. The Vikes look set for another year of battling for a playoff spot.

After Dick Vermeil retired, former Jet's coach Herman Edwards was acquired for a 4th round pick. I am surprised the Jets let him go for so little, but that is what Vermeil wanted and Carl Peterson went out and made it happen. The team won't miss a beat and like the Vikings, should be contending for a playoff spot again next year.

            Reggie Bush was a lock to be the first overall pick in April's draft. But has the firing of Dom Capers changed that? Charlie Casserly is still there and pushing for Bush, but what if a new coach realizes their need for an offensive linemen? Or what if the new coach isn't a David Carr fan and wants to go with "hometown" Vince Young? There is going to be some unrest in Houston, or Casserly will just hire a coach who will let him pull the strings, and they will be destined for more years of losing.

            The only thing that changes for New Orleans now that Jim Haslett is gone is which QB to take with the second overall pick. They have been rumored to be enamored with Matt Leinart, but Vince Young would be a huge hit with the fans. Their season tickets sales will go up and they will get some great PR. This team has a lot of talent, especially on offense, but what coach is going to want to get into this mess?

            The Jets traded away a good head coach in Herm Edwards. I am interesting to see who they get with that 4th round pick, but I am going to guess that they end up regretting this trade. It is tough to win when your QB is hurt all the time. The Jets could go a lot of different directions with this pick. If Mangini is hired and Bush, Leinart, and Young are all gone, expect defense here.

            I thought with the firing of Mike Sherman, Green Bay was essentially pushing Brett Favre out the door. Then they turn around and hire Mike McCarthy, coming off a stellar season in San Francisco where his rookie first overall pick Alex Smith couldn't throw a touchdown until the last week of the regular season. Interesting hire to say the least. If they are smart they help Favre out for one final go-around and get him some offensive weapons.

            Will the Al Saunders/Norv Turner "trade" go down? Saunders wouldn't be a bad fit as Oakland's head coach and I am surprised after so many failed attempts at the interest level for Turner. Whoever is hired here probably won't have much say in the 6th overall choice with Al Davis still running the show. Mario Williams seems to be the logical pick at this point, but who knows? One thing we know for certain, Al loves speed.

            With the surprise resignation of Mike Mularkey, there is now an opening in Buffalo. Will Marv Levy fill it? For the Bill's sake I hope not. The whole "bringing back all-time great coaches" idea has worked well in Washington this season, but Joe Gibbs isn't 80 years old. Plus it took him a few years to get Washington to where they are now. Buffalo has too many question marks to give control over to Levy. I think it would be a big mistake.

            Detroit fired the wrong person. Steve Mariucci wasn't the problem it was Matt Millen. He does a decent job with the draft, but some of his other decisions are down right awful. This team has a lot of holes, especially at QB. Will they reach on Jay Cutler? Or will they go defense? They could use help on all three layers.

            Now that Mike Martz is gone St. Louis is officially not an offensive juggernaut like they once were. Will Marc Bulger be able to play in a new system? Or will leaving Martz expose his weaknesses? A lot of players will have to prove themselves to a new coaching staff. The secondary was horrendous, so unless a new staff finds some glaring holes, I expect DB to be the pick.

            Whoever gets these jobs better be up for some big challenges. Houston, New Orleans, NY Jets, Oakland, Buffalo, Detroit, and St. Louis still need coaches. Can someone come in and be a saviour? How will Childress, Edwards, and McCarthy fair in their new positions? How much have these changes affected the draft? Only time will tell.