Five Head Coaches With the Hottest Seats After Robert Saleh’s Shocking Firing
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Robert Saleh, former Head Coach, New York Jets
On Tuesday morning, the New York Jets announced that they had decided to part ways with Robert Saleh after the team’s 23-17 defeat to the hands of the Minnesota Vikings in London this past Sunday. Despite entering the season on the hot seat after posting three consecutive losing seasons, the move still comes as a shock to many due to the timing, along with the fact that the Jets are only one game behind the Buffalo Bills for the lead in the AFC East. Saleh, who finished with a 20-36 record after being named the team’s 20th head coach in franchise history, is the first head coach fired during the 2024 season. After Saleh’s firing, who are the next five head coaches in the NFL with the hottest seats?
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5. Mike McCarthy, Head Coach, Dallas Cowboys
Jerry Jones has made it very clear that he expects his Cowboys to contend for a Super Bowl not just in 2024, but yearly. Despite overseeing one of the league’s greatest dynasties in the 90s, a run that included three Super Bowl victories, Jones has seen little postseason success in recent years. The team’s last conference championship appearance came the same year as their last Super Bowl victory in 1995. Despite the talented teams the Cowboys have fielded since their last championship, they seemingly haven’t been able to get over the hump come January. Many expected Jones to part ways with McCarthy after the team’s latest playoff meltdown at home against the Packers, McCarthy’s former team with which he won a Super Bowl back in 2010. But Jones, nonetheless, elected to retain the head coach who is on the final year of his contract. If Dallas fails to make inroads come January once again, expect Jones to part ways with McCarthy and make a strong pursuit for Bill Belichick.
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4. Zac Taylor, Head Coach, Cincinnati Bengals
After posting a 6-26 record during his first two years as Bengals’ head coach, Taylor led the Bengals to a surprise Super Bowl birth in 2021 (losing a heartbreaker to the Los Angeles Rams) and an AFC Championship appearance in 2022. The Bengals were held back by injuries to key players in 2023, including a season-ending injury sustained by quarterback Joe Burrow. The Bengals entered 2024 with a loss to the lowly Patriots Week 1 at home, as the offense looked out of sync all afternoon. After controversial pass interference call cost the Bengals a road victory in Arrowhead the week after, Cincinnati’s defense laid an egg at home against Jayden Daniels and an upstart Commanders team exceeding expectations. The Bengals entered their week five matchup against the Ravens looking to build off of their first win the week before against the Panthers. A fumbled snap by Lamar Jackson in overtime gave the Bengals the ball at Baltimore’s 38-yard line, giving them a prime opportunity to win with the game tied at 38. Instead of trusting Burrow and one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to move the ball, providing an easier field goal attempt for kicker Evan McPhearson, Taylor called three consecutive run plays, which went for minimal gain. McPhearson would miss a 53-yarder after a botched snap and Baltimore would win the game 41-38. Taylor’s conservative play calling in overtime has come under scrutiny, as the team dropped to 1-4. With their season suddenly on life support, the Bengals could be looking for a new head coach come “Black Monday” if they do not turn their season around quickly.
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3. Nick Sirianni, Head Coach, Philadelphia Eagles
After nearly winning the Super Bowl in 2022, Sirianni oversaw a 1-6 collapse to end 2023 after a 10-1 start, including a wild card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game that wasn’t relatively close from start to finish. Philadelphia started this season with a win in Brazil against the Green Bay Packers, but Sirianni’s reckless situational coaching, specifically leaving points on the board by constantly going for it on fourth down when it isn’t necessary to do so played a big role in the Eagles losing their home opener against the Atlanta Falcons and nearly losing in New Orleans against the Saints the week after. So while the Eagles may be 2-2, one could argue that they could easily be 1-3, thanks in big part to Sirianni’s poor in-game situational decision-making. While a Week Four loss on the road to a talented Bucs team was understandable, given that the Eagles were missing star wide receivers AJ Brown and Devonta Smith, being out-gained in total yards 287-69 in the first half often is a sign of a poorly coached team. Furthermore, rumors have also swirled of Sirianni not only losing the locker room, but also of him not having the best relationship with franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts. Likewise, the Eagles’ fanbase is beginning to tire of his boastful personality on game days and with the media as the team underperforms. The Eagles face the Browns, Jaguars, Giants, and Bengals for there next four games, all of which are very winnable. If the team continues to underperform, owner Jeffrey Lurie will likely move in a different direction.
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2. Dennis Allen, Head Coach, New Orleans Saints
Dennis Allen failed to capitalize on a Saints team that was talented enough to win a weak NFC South division in 2022 and 2023, posting records of 7-10 and 9-8. The team has played uninspiring football during the post-Drew Brees/Sean Payton era with an aging roster in “cap hell” and a veteran quarterback in Derek Carr who has yet to play up to his four-year, $150 million contract signed in 2023. Allen was in danger of being fired last season, but a Week 18 blowout win against the arch rival Falcons all but saved his job for the time being. A strong start to the 2024 season with convincing victories against the Panthers at the Superdome and the Cowboys on the road put the Dennis Allen hot seat talks on hold. However, the Saints have since lost a winnable game at home to the Eagles, a last second heartbreaker in Atlanta and most recently to the Chiefs to drop their record to 2-3. New Orleans is dealing with injuries on both sides of the ball, especially to household names such as Demario Davis, Taysom Hill, all-pro center Erik McCoy, and starting guard Caesar Ruiz. To add insult to injury, Carr suffered in oblique injury and is currently undergoing in MRI to determine the severity. If Carr is set to miss time, fourth-year backup Jake Haener is slated to start and things could get ugly for the Saints. A Week six loss to the Bucs would drop New Orleans to 2-4, with pending matchups against an improving Denver Broncos team, headlined by Payton’s return to the Superdome and the Jim Harbaugh-led Los Angeles Chargers. The race for the NFC South could effectively turn into a two-team race between the Bucs and the Falcons, resulting in Micky Loomis and Gayle Benson to make a head coaching change at the end of the season.
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1. Doug Pederson, Head Coach, Jacksonville Jaguars
After a stunning 9-8 record in 2022, and then a dramatic comeback victory in the wild card playoff round against the Chargers, Pederson was praised by the NFL world for seemingly reviving the career of former 2021 first overall pick, Trevor Lawrence. After years of turmoil, it seemed as if the Jaguars franchise was finally headed in the right direction. They got off to an 8-3 start in 2023, but collapsed down the stretch, finishing with a 9-8 record and out of the playoffs. This past offseason, Jacksonville added defensive end Arik Armstead to accompany Josh Hines-Allen and former first overall pick Travon Walker. They also hired Ryan Neilson as their defensive coordinator. In 2023, Neilson had served as defensive coordinator for the Falcons and oversaw the team’s best defensive outlook in years. He was expected to take a young, but talented Jacksonville defense to new heights this season. Lawrence received a five-year $275 million contract and the team drafted wide receiver Brian Thomas out of LSU to accompany Christian Kirk and Evan Engram. Jacksonville once again entered 2024 with expectations that they would potentially compete with the Houston Texans in a competitive AFC South division and find themselves fighting for a playoff spot in the AFC. The Jaguars have come nowhere close to meeting those expectations. They blew a 17-7 halftime lead against the Miami Dolphins Week One, then dropped their home opener to the Deshaun Watson-led Cleveland Browns. They followed that up by being the recipient of a 47-10 Monday Night drubbing from the Buffalo Bills. After a 24-20 Week Four loss to the Texans, Pederson indirectly threw his players under the bus to the press. A 37-34 win this past Sunday against the Colts saved Pederson’s job for the time being, but the road doesn’t get much easier. Five of Jacksonville’s next six are against the Packers, Bears, Lions, Eagles, and Vikings. Owner Shad Khan believed before the season that this was the best Jaguars team assembled. The Jaguars will need a quick turnaround if Pederson wants to maintain any hopes of saving his job.