5 NFL Head Coaches Who Are Firmly On The Hot Seat

We’re now past the one-third mark of the NFL season, and we already have a handful of head coaches who are on the hot seat. Here are the five coaches most likely to get fired before next season.

We’re now past the one-third mark of the NFL season, and we already have a handful of head coaches who are on the hot seat. Here are the five coaches most likely to get fired before next season.

These aren’t necessarily the coaches with the worst records, either, as you will see.

Ron Rivera, Washington Commanders (3-3)

Yes, the Washington Commanders are 3-3, very much in the thick of the playoff hunt. But, it feels like Ron Rivera needs to make the playoffs this year, and possibly more, to keep his job.

The team’s embarrassing blowout loss to the lowly Bears on Thursday Night Football in week 5 dropped the team to 2-3 after a 2-0 start. That was the last straw for many Commanders fans. And, the team brought in former Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for the same role in Washington. He’s been impressive, and it seems like hiring him to be their next head coach is a pretty simple move.

The former NFC Champion and 2013 and 2015 NFL Coach of the Year is in his fourth year in Washington, and is 25-30-1, with one playoff appearance.

Brandon Staley, Los Angeles Chargers (2-3)

Brandon Staley is everyone’s favorite punching bag for coaching mistakes, even if many of the decisions he makes are the correct choices that simply didn’t work out.

But, in the NFL, you’re as good as your record is, and the Chargers are just 21-18 under Staley despite having one of the best rosters in the league. And, when you have a franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert with good pieces around him, that’s simply not going to cut it.

Many thought the defensive-minded Staley should’ve been fired last year following the team blowing a 27-0 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card Round. The Chargers brought him back, but questionable in-game coaching decisions and a defense that can’t get big stops has once again put him firmly on the hot seat.

Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns (3-2)

It’s weird to place Kevin Stefanski on this list, given that he just had one of the biggest wins of his career as the Browns upset the 49ers on Sunday with Deshaun Watson missing the game due to injury. But, this isn’t a list of worst coaches. It’s a list of those most likely to be fired. And, Stefanski could definitely be on his way out following the season.

Fair or not, this is a Browns team that upper management believes is built to win now. Even after the season-ending injury to running back Nick Chubb, it’s a stacked roster designed to dominate in the trenches on both sides with someone they think is a franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson.

If this Browns team doesn’t reach the playoffs, it’s hard to see them bringing back Stefanski. That being said, he’s been the most successful Browns coach since the turn of the century, as he’s 29-26 with a playoff win in three-plus seasons with a playoff win in 2020.

Matt Eberflus, Chicago Bears (1-5)

Matt Eberflus is only in his second year in Chicago, and he inherited a bad situation. But, it’s hard to see him being the Chicago Bears coach in 2024.

Obviously, the team isn’t very good this year, to say the least. Too often, they’ve looked under-prepared and overwhelmed on game days, with positives few and far between, especially the first three weeks of the season. But, he’s going to be fired not because of what is happening on the field this year, but rather what they want to happen next year.

With the Bears having both their own first-round pick and also the 0-6 Panthers’ pick, odds are high that they will be in prime position to take a quarterback at or near the top of the first round in the draft. Eberflus is a defensive coach, and it would make much more sense for them to bring in someone with a great scheme on offense to help develop the franchise’s most important asset.

Bill Belichick, New England Patriots (1-5)

Bill Belichick on the hot seat? For the first time in over twenty years, you better believe it.

This is a unique case compared to the others, as I’m not sure the owner Robert Kraft would ever outright fire his six-time Super Bowl Champion that is arguably the greatest coach in NFL history. But, it’s pretty clear at this point that the era of dominance in Foxboro is over, and that wholesale changes are needed.

Belichick also serves as the team’s de facto general manager, and his roster decisions lately simply have not been good. The team is deficient at too many key positions, and overall is one of the least talented teams in the league. Back-to-back 30+ point losses in weeks 4 and 5 showed just how far this team is from competing. And, the question is if Belichick is willing to adapt to some modern ways of thinking about roster building and scheme in order to win.

I think it’s likely that he stays on with the franchise in some advisory role and steps back from his roles as head coach and general manager. It will truly be an end of an era.