NFL teams fire five coaches to start new year

MANILA, Philippines - A handful of NFL teams tried to play nice Monday and put on their best face.

The Vikings politely announced that head coach Leslie Frazier “will not return” for the 2014 season. The Buccaneers “dismissed” coach Greg Schiano and general manager Mark Dominik. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan was ever-so-kindly “relieved of his duties,” as was Lions coach Jim Schwartz.

The NFL regular season was less than 24 hours in the books, and already a half-dozen teams had created coaching vacancies (without using the “F word,” of course: “fired”). Houston fired its coach three weeks ago, and Cleveland fired coach Rob Chudzinski Sunday night after just 353 days on the job.

And the carousel may not be done spinning. Tennessee coach Mike Munchak will have to wait until the end of the week to speak with Titans CEO Tommy Smith and learn his fate. The Cowboys and Dolphins sat quietly Monday but still have decisions to make.

It’s a delicate situation, firing not only a head coach but also usually his assistant coaches and football operations employees. The head coaches will survive just fine; many will land coordinator jobs within a few weeks, and Chudzinski, who signed a four-year deal last year, reportedly will receive $10.5 million in severance, while Shanahan will collect $7 million.

But the offensive line coaches and assistant strength coaches and quality-control coaches that also get shown the door don’t have golden parachutes, and don’t know whether they’ll land another job in the NFL.

The Patriots haven’t had to deal with a coaching search in 14 years, but still can’t avoid getting caught up in the fray.

A league source confirmed to the Globe that the Browns have requested permission to interview Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was the Broncos head coach in 2009-10. The Browns also want to interview another former Patriot coach, current Penn State coach Bill O’Brien, although reports indicate that O’Brien is the heavy favorite to fill the Texans’ opening.