Add one more facet to the list of common modern football developments: mid-season coach firings. Not just athletic directors cutting loose struggling head coaches, sometimes coaches are now taking the proverbial bull by the horns and making staff moves in the middle of a disappointing season. Indeed, two noted rivals have both made recent in-season staff moves.

Michigan Moves

Michigan's decision to part ways with offensive coordinator Jason Beck was certainly less than surprising. Kyle Whittingham's first Michigan team has been a massive disappointment in a 5-4 season. Beck's offense is 17th in the 18-team Big Ten with 302.6 yards per game and is likewise 17th in scoring with 19.6 points per game.. The Wolverines are 17th in the league in QB rating and 18th in yardage, the only team in the conference that has thrown more interceptions (9) than touchdowns (7). Five-star QB Bryce Underwood has endured a disastrous year and a half in Ann Arbor.

Ohio State Changes

But Ohio State also made a move, cutting loose special teams coordinator Robby Discher. The straw that broke the camel's back was a fake punt conversion Ohio State allowed to Michigan that scuttled an early 14-3 lead in a game that ended up as a 41-28 loss.

Ohio State is 17th in the conference in kick return yardage and 16th in punt return yardage. Whlie the kicking game has been competent, given the depth all of Ohio State's roster it is a bit surprising that there hasn't been overall smoother production under Discher. He was in his first season with the Buckeyes and had initially signed a two-year contract.

Why the Sudden Shifts?

The general move in midseason coaching changes demonstrates a significant part of endless parity across the sport. Fans are even less willing than they used to be to accept subpar performance from their team and that impact has pretty clearly trickled up. Michigan needs an offensive renewal and Ohio State's special teams were rusty, so rather than wait until at least the end of the regular season, those respective schools went ahead with moves.

In some instances, these early moves are already showing benefits. For instance, Oklahoma parted ways with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle ahead of week 10 and then saw tight end coach Jason Witten get the promotion to interim offensive coordinator only for OU to have one of its most consistent offensive performances of the season in a 23-7 win over Florida. Will Michigan and Ohio State be able to soon reap similar benefits?