There were no surprises when three NFL head coaches were axed on what has become known as Black Monday, following the league's regular season finale.

Rex Ryan (New York Jets), Mike Smith (Atlanta Falcons) and Marc Trestman (Chicago Bears) were fired after suffering dismal losing seasons, and all three departures had been widely expected.

With Jim Harbaugh (San Francisco 49ers) also leaving the previous day in a widely expected move to take the head coaching job at the University of Michigan, at least four NFL teams will have new head coaches next season.