Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians retired as the NFL's Black Monday claimed the jobs of several of his counterparts.
Arians, twice coach of the year during his career with the Cardinals and the Indianapolis Colts, announced his departure at a tearful press conference the day after a season-ending 26-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
"The tears you see are really tears of joy, peace," Arians said in quotes reported by nfl.com.
"I'll miss the players. I'll miss coming out of the locker room, hearing the national anthem because it still gets me."
Earlier on Monday, the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears parted company with Jim Caldwell and John Fox respectively after missing out on the play-offs.
Two other coaches did not even make it to 2018, with Chuck Pagano fired by the Colts immediately after they beat the Houston Texans to close out a 4-12 season and Jack Del Rio jettisoned by the Oakland Raiders.
Del Rio announced his own exit at his post-match press conference after his team were hammered 30-10 by the Los Angeles Chargers to conclude a season which began with Super Bowl aspirations but ended outside the play-offs altogether with a 6-10 record.
The Lions also missed the play-offs after finishing second in the NFC North at 9-7 and announced on Twitter on Monday: "Detroit Lions General Manager Bob Quinn has informed Jim Caldwell that he will not be returning as head coach."
NFC North rivals the Bears had long been expected to part ways with the veteran Fox after just 14 wins in three seasons, finishing last in the division each year.
At his press conference after defeat to the Minnesota Vikings, broadcast on the team's Twitter feed, Fox brushed off questions over his future and spent little more than a minute at the podium.
"The league makes me be here to talk about this game, and that's what we'll keep it to," he said. "Anything after that, we'll keep you posted."
His sacking was reported early on Monday, with the team eventually confirming the news on Twitter.
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