Eight NFL teams hired new head coaches in the offseason and 14 teams are coming off playoff appearances, so most franchises are probably perfectly content with their HCs. But here are the 10 head coaches who are feeling more heat than their peers heading into the 2024 season.
The list appears in inverse order, from hot to the hottest seat:
10. Dave Canales | Carolina Panthers
First-year coaches shouldn’t belong on this list, but considering Carolina’s dysfunctional environment under owner David Tepper, anything is possible. The Panthers are on their fourth head coach under the former part-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, including their third in the past three seasons. It would certainly be unprecedented in the modern era, but we won’t put it past Tepper to make it four-for-four.
9. Sean McDermott | Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s late-season surge may have saved McDermott in 2023, but it’s fair to wonder how many more chances he’ll get with the Bills if they continue coming up short in the playoffs.
8. Mike Tomlin | Pittsburgh Steelers
The longest-tenured coach in the league (17 seasons), Tomlin has never had a losing record. But the Steelers also haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, the franchise’s longest streak since its first post-merger playoff appearance in 1972.
Change is inevitable in the NFL, even for a franchise that is the model of stability such as the Steelers (three HCs since 1969). If quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields fail to take hold of the offense and the team flounders, next offseason might be the perfect time for the organization to make a clean break and start fresh with a new regime.
9. Sean McDermott | Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s late-season surge may have saved McDermott in 2023, but it’s fair to wonder how many more chances he’ll get with the Bills if they continue coming up short in the playoffs.
8. Mike Tomlin | Pittsburgh Steelers
The longest-tenured coach in the league (17 seasons), Tomlin has never had a losing record. But the Steelers also haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, the franchise’s longest streak since its first post-merger playoff appearance in 1972.
Change is inevitable in the NFL, even for a franchise that is the model of stability such as the Steelers (three HCs since 1969). If quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields fail to take hold of the offense and the team flounders, next offseason might be the perfect time for the organization to make a clean break and start fresh with a new regime.
9. Sean McDermott | Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s late-season surge may have saved McDermott in 2023, but it’s fair to wonder how many more chances he’ll get with the Bills if they continue coming up short in the playoffs.
8. Mike Tomlin | Pittsburgh Steelers
The longest-tenured coach in the league (17 seasons), Tomlin has never had a losing record. But the Steelers also haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, the franchise’s longest streak since its first post-merger playoff appearance in 1972.
Change is inevitable in the NFL, even for a franchise that is the model of stability such as the Steelers (three HCs since 1969). If quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields fail to take hold of the offense and the team flounders, next offseason might be the perfect time for the organization to make a clean break and start fresh with a new regime.
7. Doug Pederson | Jacksonville Jaguars
In 2022, Pederson was hailed as a QB whisperer for his work in undoing the damage Urban Meyer did to Trevor Lawrence as a rookie. The Jaguars’ disappointing 2023 season (9-8, no playoffs) rained on his parade and potentially turned the upcoming season into a make-or-break one for the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII-winning coach.
6. Brian Daboll | New York Giants
A Coach of the Year contender in 2022, the wheels came off for Daboll in Year 2 with the Giants. Quarterback Daniel Jones regressed and the job got even tougher this offseason when running back Saquon Barkley left in free agency and joined the rival Eagles. Few expect the Giants to contend in 2024 — they have the longest odds (+1000) to win the NFC East, per Action Network — but it’s hard to see how Daboll can withstand another ugly season.
