The NFL season is now heading into Week 14, leaving five more weeks of football in the regular season. While many are focused on the playoff race, attention is also turning toward teams that might part ways with their coaches at season’s end. Several coaches are on the hot seat this season, sparking discussions. The recent firings of head coaches by the Las Vegas Raiders (Josh McDaniels) and Carolina Panthers (Frank Reich) indicate that the league might see more changes. Here are five coaches currently under scrutiny:
5. Dennis Allen – New Orleans Saints
The NFC South is an absolute disaster this season and there is a chance that all of the head coaches in this division will be fired. The one that is the most hottest coach on the hot seat is clearly Dennis Allen of the New Orleans Saints. Following the Week 13 loss to the Falcons, it pretty much confirmed one thing: the Saints are a very poorly coached team. This isn’t just due to Peter Carmichael remaining as the offensive coordinator but also because of Dennis Allen as the head coach. The major issues plaguing the Saints are on offense; the consistency with both Carr and Winston has been lacking. Additionally, there have been problems with making adjustments and motivating the team. While Allen excels as a defensive coordinator, it seems he doesn’t possess the necessary qualities to be a successful head coach in this league.
The Saints can’t be entirely blamed for promoting him initially, given the organization’s difficult situation following Sean Payton’s late “retirement” when he left the team. However, it might be time to part ways with Allen, considering his past struggles as the head coach of the Raiders and the current challenges facing the team.
4. Robert Saleh – New York Jets
The 2023 NFL Season has been a rollercoaster of a season for the Jets where it plateaued when Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury. One thing is for sure, Robert Saleh needs to go as the head coach. In a sport where coaching matters, the Jets have shown time and time how they have not been properly coached under the Saleh era. The Jets are often undisciplined and with how bad that offense is, I guarantee a CFL or USFL/XFL Team would dominate the Jets offense. Plus Saleh in 4 years has had a very poor record of 15-31. Saleh is absolutely on the hot seat this season and it will be interesting to see if the Jets part ways with Saleh.
3. Matt Eberflus – Chicago Bears
Reflecting on it, the decision to hire Eberflus was a quite questionable move. While he excelled as a defensive coordinator, stepping into the head coach role seemed like a challenge he wasn’t prepared for. His coaching tenure with the team has been underwhelming, evident from the struggles in maintaining a positive team culture, as seen through the resignations or firings of two coaches. What added irony was Eberflus describing the culture as “fantastic,” reminiscent of Bruce Allen’s infamous comment about a “damn good” culture, despite the evident problems. That moment solidified doubts about Eberflus’s suitability for an NFL head coaching role.
Looking ahead, the Bears might secure two top 5 draft picks next year due to the trade-down in last year’s draft to select Bryce Young. There’s a possibility that the franchise aims to reset and make adjustments. A change in the head coaching position could be the crucial starting point for this overhaul.
2. Ron Rivera – Washington Commanders
Looking back, Rivera should have been fired last year for not realizing his team could be eliminated, which is like Coaching 101. Spoiler: they were eliminated. The only reason he probably was not fired was due to him being the only ethical part of that organization during the end of the Dan Snyder era. Snyder is an absolute disgrace as an owner of a sports team, and Rivera was the only ethical part of the team. With Snyder gone and under new ownership, the Commanders are likely going to make more changes, hiring their own people
Rivera may be an ethical person, but it is time to move on from him as the head coach. In fact, in the four seasons he has been a head coach, the Commanders have never had a record above .500. The only reason why Washington made the playoffs in 2020 was that the NFC East at that time was absolutely garbage. Out of all the head coaches in the NFC, Ron Rivera is the hottest on the hot seat.
1. Brandon Staley – Los Angeles Chargers
Let’s be honest, Staley should have been fired last January after the shenanigans he pulled not only in the playoffs, but Week 18 of the 2022 NFL Season. Remember putting the starters in a meaningless Week 18 game and it resulted in Mike Williams missing the playoffs due to a back injury and Joey Bosa to play against Jacksonville with an injury as well. Blowing a 27-0 lead should have been an automatic dismissal, but the Chargers decided not to part ways with him for a reason that still makes no sense to this day. Coming into the NFL Season he was one of the worst head coaches in the NFL not named Josh McDaniels of the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chargers defense has also been a mess as well this season, which is Staley’s specialty as a defensive guru. Staley will likely need to get to the 2nd round of the playoffs in order to save his job, but no matter what the Chargers should fire him.
