Jim Tomsula should not be among gambling favorites as first head coach fired

The San Francisco 49ers get their preseason started Saturday evening, and already odds have been released on which head coach will be the first one fired. The 49ers have not played a down of football yet, but already, Jim Tomsula is among the favorites to be the first coach fired this season.

Earlier this week, the Bookmaker sports book released their lines on which coach will get canned, and Jim Tomsula showed up fourth at +1200. The top three are Jay Gruden, Mike Pettine and Ken Whisenhunt. Jeff Fisher is No. 10, and the nearest NFC West rival. Fisher somehow manages to stick around through year-in and year-out mediocrity, but at some point I have to think the team considers turning over a new leaf. They have stocked up on defensive line talent, and finally parted ways with Sam Bradford, in a trade for Nick Foles. At some point Fisher's teams need to actually win some games.

But back to Tomsula, I just don't see him as a good bet to get fired first. That's not to say he will be successful in his first year. Rather, firing Tomsula quickly would reflect poorly on the 49ers front office and ownership following the departure of Jim Harbaugh. Effectively, if the team struggles under Tomsula, stubbornness might keep him on the job longer than might otherwise normally happen. They can't push the odds too much, but I just would not put my money on it at this point.

If I were to roll the dice on a coach getting fired, I might actually go with Joe Philbin. Expectations have climbed in Miami, but they still have some questions. If they struggle out of the gate, Philbin could be kicked to the curb sooner rather than later.