6 NFL Coaches On The Hot Seat After Week 4

The first month of the NFL season is officially in the books, and while there’s certainly plenty of time to go until the playoffs roll around, we’ve gotten a much better idea of which teams will probably end up making the postseason and those that will find themselves on the outside looking in.

Every NFL team has now played four games, and even though it may be a bit too early to come to any sweeping conclusions, it’s become much easier to separate the contenders from the pretenders than it was at the start of September.

There will likely be more than a few coaching vacancies by the time the season wraps up, and as things currently stand, there are a handful of guys who could find themselves looking for a new job based on how their squad has fared so far.

Doug Pederson—Jaguars

The Jaguars had gone 1-15 and 3-14 in the two seasons preceding the start of the Doug Pederson Era, and they were able to make the playoffs with a 9-8 record during his first year at the helm before missing the cut with the same showing in 2023.

Howver, they are currently the only team in the NFL that’s failed to secure a single win after dropping to 0-4 with a loss to the Texans. Three of those defeats came in one-score games, but Jacksonville has still looked pretty dismal this year, and Pederson should probably be worried.

Robert Saleh—Jets

Robert Saleh hasn’t posted a winning season with the Jets since taking over in 2021. Zach Wilson was initially painted as the primary scapegoat and he got a pass last season after Aaron Rodgers was injured, but at this point, he’s running out of excuses.

The Jets are 2-2, but there aren’t really a ton of signs that indicate they’ve solved the issues that have hampered them time and time again after close to 15 years as the laughingstock of the AFC East.

There is still time for them to turn things around, but things aren’t looking great in the wake of an embarrassing loss to a Broncos team that was able to come away with a win in spite of Bo Nix.

Brian Daboll—Giants

At this point, it’s pretty clear Brian Daboll is only partially to blame for New York’s struggles, as there’s only so much he can do to field a competitive team when its front office convinced itself Daniel Jones had what it took to be a franchise quarterback.

With that said the man who’s gone 16-21 since taking over for the Giants has gotten off to a 1-3 start, and it’s very, very hard to imagine they’re going to be able to salvage the season based on how dreadful the offense looks.

Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge each lasted less than 35 games before getting kicked to the curb, and it looks increasingly likely Daboll will soon fall the same fate as he approaches that threshold.

Nick Sirianni—Eagles

It feels weird to put Nick Sirianni on this list based on how successful he’s been compared to every other coach who’s on it, but it’s become increasingly hard to ignore his inability to get things firing on all cylinders in Philadelphia.

The Eagles are dealing with injuries and aren’t really at a point where the panic button needs to be pushed after getting off to a 2-2 start, but they haven’t really looked like Super Bowl contenders.

There’s still a solid chance they’ll end up making the playoffs, but if the postseason ends with the third one-and-done showing during Sirianna’s tenure, he probably won’t have the chance to make it four.

Dennis Allen—Saints

The Saints got off to a promising 2-0, but they’re trending in the wrong direction after losing their last two games in tight showdowns with the Eagles and Falcons.

Dennis Allen has posted an 18-20 record since taking over in New Orleans, and while he got a pass in his first season thanks to the situation he inherited from Sean Payton, it’s firmly been his team since Derek Carr stepped into the starting role last season.

If the Saints fail to make the playoffs for the third year in a row, Allen will probably be shouldering the bulk of the responsibility and could find his job in jeopardy as a result.

Mike McCarthy—Cowboys

At this point, it seems like it’s Super Bowl or bust for Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys.

The team declined to give him an extension ahead of the final season of his contract, and it’s safe to assume they’re going to move on if they can’t at least punch their ticket to The Big Game during his fifth season in Dallas.

“Hot seat” may be a bit of a misnomer in this situation when you consider he probably won’t be fired in the traditional sense, but he’s still very much coaching for his job.

Zac Taylor—Bengals

The Bengals were able to get their first win of the year over the Panthers, but they’re still a 1-3 team that probably would’ve been justified in firing Zac Taylor if they’d lost to Carolina.

Taylor has shown he has what it takes to overcome a rocky start, and that win was obviously a step in the right direction. However, their offense and defense are currently both ranked near the bottom of the league, and the team hasn’t come close to matching the standard their head coach set by making it to the Super Bowl and AFC Championship in back-to-back years.

It would be foolish to count Cincinnati out at this point, but if they missed the postseason for the second consecutive year, Taylor may not have a future with the franchise.