SPORT NEWS: Hot Seat Check for Struggling NFL Head Coaches Following Robert Saleh’s Firing, Analyzing Who Might Be Next in the Coaching Shakeup .giang

Robert Saleh was the first domino to fall in this year’s coaching carousel. He certainly won’t be the last.

The New York Jets’ decision to fire Saleh just five games into the 2024 season came as a surprise, but it probably shouldn’t have at this point. The coaching carousel rarely slows down, and nearly a quarter of the league changes leadership just about every year.

The real shocking thing would be if there isn’t at least one more coach who loses his job before the end of the season.

The hot seat discussion is already warming up for a few other coaches around the league. ESPN insiders Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler recently threw out some names who could be in trouble after Saleh’s firing.

Let’s take a look at some of those names, why they could be on the hot seat and what it would look like for them to do enough to keep their job going into next season.

Why He’s on the Hot Seat

The easy answer is that the Jaguars are 1-4 in a year they were expected to be the Texans’ primary competition in the AFC South. The bigger problem is that, outside of their Week 5 game with the Colts, the offense has been a wreck.

The offense exploded for 37 points in a shootout win over the Colts, but their previous high score was 20, and Trevor Lawrence threw for under 200 yards in three of those four games. Oh yeah, and the Jaguars handed Lawrence a five-year, $275 million contract this summer.

The team’s goal is to get their money’s worth out of that contract. Right now, Pederson is failing to do that consistently.

How He Can Get off the Hot Seat

Fowler noted in his column that, “it’s tough to overstate the importance of Pederson’s first win of the season.” An 0-5 start would have been disastrous, and their trip to London to play the Bears might have been a must-win game.

Fortunately for Pederson, there’s a chance to swing the momentum of the season after their division win at home. The bottom of the early AFC wild-card race has incomplete teams like the Chargers, Jets and Raiders at 2-2 or 2-3.

Pederson needs to have his team competing for one of those spots by the end of the season. It also wouldn’t hurt if Lawrence went from 19th to somewhere in the top 10 in metrics like QBR.

Hot Seat Rating: 8/10

Digging out of a 1-4 hole provides a small margin of error and one good day against the Colts struggling secondary isn’t enough proof that it’s going to happen.

Why He’s on the Hot Seat

The Browns are running out of people to blame for the poor product that’s on the field every week. Cleveland had its fair share of offensive struggles last season, but that was blamed on Deshaun Watson’s injury and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. This offseason, they got rid of Van Pelt and signed Ken Dorsey. The hope was an offense that could meld Stefanski and Watson’s vision.

Whatever their plan was…it’s not working. Watson is ranked last among all quarterbacks with a qualifying QBR. The Browns are 1-4, and the defense has taken a step back.

When things go poorly, it’s usually the head coach or quarterback who gets the blame. Dan Graziano of ESPN noted that he didn’t feel like any of the one-win coaches were in “near-term danger” but the Browns could be a “trouble spot.”

How He Can Get off the Hot Seat

The Browns are saddled with Watson’s contract. The deal runs through 2026, and there’s still a ton of money attached to it since the Browns have restructured it every year.

That leaves two realistic options. Either Stefanski makes the bold decision to bench Watson and proves that he can win with a cheaper veteran quarterback like Jameis Winston. The Browns pieced together an offense that made it to the playoffs with Joe Flacco. Doing something similar with Winston could prove Stefanski is not the problem.

The other option is that Stefanski finally figures out how to help Watson regain the form he once showed in Houston. Either way, the Browns have to claw their way back to around .500.

Hot Seat Rating: 5/10

Stefanski shot down the notion that he’ll bench Watson this week. For better or worse, that might really hinder his shot at being the Browns’ head coach next season.

Why He’s on the Hot Seat

The Eagles sit at 2-2 after an early bye week. In most instances that would keep any hot seat talk at bay, but Jeremy Fowler added them to the conversation. He noted that the way the Eagles come out of the bye week will be key.

At first glance, the 2-2 record isn’t a reason for a coach to be on the hot seat. However, a 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers probably did a lot to remind management of last season’s debacle. The Eagles finished the season 1-6 over their final seven games, which was capped by a blowout loss to the Bucs in the wild-card round.

Expectations are high in Philly. They should be. This is a talented roster, and Sirianni is going to have a hard time hanging onto the job if they continue to play league-average football.

How He Can Get off the Hot Seat

Simply put, the Eagles have to figure out their defense and get the offense back on track. Jalen Hurts has not been as efficient and consistent as he was during the 2022 Super Bowl run, and there have been a few instances where it didn’t look like Sirianni and the star quarterback had the best relationship.

Hurts has put some of those thoughts aside. He told the media that the bye week gave him and Sirianni a chance to “talk through some things” and “come together in harmony.” It’s good bye-week talk, but it will have to play out on the field.

The expectations should still be for this team to compete for an NFC East title and win at least one playoff game.

Hot Seat Meter: 5/10

The Eagles aren’t in the same state of disarray as the Browns, but the Eagles have two logical interim coach options in Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio. Their Week 6 matchup against the Browns is going to be crucial to keep this score from creeping up.

Why He’s on the Hot Seat

It’s an unfortunate reality that any talk of hot seats is going to include Mike McCarthy. The Cowboys are doing just fine right now. They have some offensive things to figure out with Brandin Cooks out of the lineup, but as Fowler noted, McCarthy’s problem hasn’t been winning in the regular season. However, it’s well-known that McCarthy did not have his contract extended ahead of this season.

As long as the Cowboys continue to win, McCarthy won’t be a main attraction on the coaching carousel. It’s the playoffs that he has to worry about.

How He Can Get off the Hot Seat

Given Jerry Jones’ history as an owner and McCarthy’s struggles to get this team over the postseason hump, it might take a deep run in the playoffs. The Cowboys have finished 12-5 in each of the past three seasons, but they’ve only won one playoff game since McCarthy took over as head coach.

If Jones is honest with himself, this is possibly the least talented roster the Cowboys have had under McCarthy’s watch. The backfield is still a question mark, they are missing defensive contributors who left in the offseason and Cooks’ injury has hurt an already thin receiver corps. If McCarthy can’t at least get this group to the playoffs, he could be the scapegoat.

Hot Seat Meter: 3/10

There’s going to continue to be talk about the possibility of McCarthy getting fired, but it won’t become really loud until playoff time.

Why He’s on the Hot Seat

Fowler and Graziano mentioned Brian Daboll, along with McCarthy, as coaches who essentially started the season on the hot seat. The Giants took a huge step back in Daboll’s second year as head coach in 2023, and the franchise hasn’t had a head coach last more than three seasons since Tom Coughlin.

All things considered, the Giants’ 2-3 start is better than some might have expected. The general feeling around this franchise was that Daniel Jones was not the quarterback of the future and the secondary could struggle. Two of the Giants’ three losses were one-score games, so it isn’t like they are getting blown out every week.

How He Can Get off the Hot Seat

Thus far, Daboll’s performance should be quieting firing talks. Daniel Jones is ranked 12th in QBR which is a testament to how good Malik Nabers has been and a reminder that Daboll was able to get good play out of the quarterback in his first year as coach.

It’s hard to say what the expectations for the Giants are at this point. If the franchise has a firm grip on reality, then they know competing to win the NFC East isn’t a realistic goal. Simply having a better record than last year should be enough to keep the job, but the Giants’ history of firing coaches says otherwise.

Hot Seat Meter: 3/10

We’re far from a five-alarm fire at this point. Coming off a big win on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, Daboll might even have some momentum to shut down any talk of being fired with a winning streak.

Why He’s on the Hot Seat

Sean McDermott’s inclusion in Graziano and Fowler’s discussion of hot-seat coaches was the most eyebrow-raising aspect of the whole thing. The Bills are 76-43 under his watch with five playoff wins and an AFC Championship Game appearance. It’s frustrating that they haven’t been able to get over the Kansas City Chiefs hump in the postseason, but few teams have done that in the Patrick Mahomes era.

Still, Graziano noted that he’s heard, “many on the outside speculate McDermott could be in trouble if the Bills keep failing to reach the Super Bowl, but I have never once heard from inside the Bills’ organization that moving on from him has ever been a consideration.”

Back-to-back losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans after a 3-0 start is just enough struggle to get McDermott in the conversation.

What He Can Do To Get off the Hot Seat

McDermott can start by not playing two AFC contenders in consecutive games. The truth is that McDermott might be doing some of his best work with this 3-2 Buffalo team. They are replacing Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis on offense and have dealt with major injuries on the defensive side of the ball. It’s a bit much to be panicking about two early season losses to two of the best teams in the AFC.

Wins over the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans over the next two weeks to get that record to 5-2 should quiet talks for now. Maybe the Bills have to win one playoff game to completely squash the idea of moving on from McDermott.

But this was always going to be something of a transition year for the Bills, and McDermott shouldn’t be a casualty of that.

Hot Seat Meter: 1/10

This should be the most mild seat on the list by a wide margin. Things would need to go sideways in a big way for McDermott to be in true danger.