Great NFL head coaches can raise the floor of any roster, which often surprises fans. A quarter of the way through the NFL season, the league has seen a number of unexpected outcomes. Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings started 4-0, shocking fans, while the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers went 0-4, a result that has been extremely disappointing. Given the high expectations for NFL teams, failing to meet them often gets a head coach fired. As the season progresses, it becomes clearer which head coaches are on the hot seat and whose seats are getting warm.
NFL Head Coaches On The Hot Seat
Head coaches have gotten fired midseason every year for the past decade. Four weeks into the 2026 season, three coaches are currently on the hot seat, and could be gone after one or two more losses. The first head coach on the hot seat is Aaron Glenn of the New York Jets. Glenn is in his second year as Jets head coach, and the team is currently 1-3. He’s coming off a 3-14 season.
Glenn has a combined four wins in his two years as head coach, and multiple games where he mismanaged end-of-game situations and showed poor time management, which has put him on the hot seat. His team has also recorded the most consecutive games without an interception in NFL history at 21 games, getting their first pick last week against the Chicago Bears. Unless Glenn can turn this season around, he doesn’t have much time left as a head coach.
Dan Quinn, the head coach of the Washington Commanders, is another coach on the hot seat who could get fired in the next couple of games. He is in his third year with the Commanders and is also currently sitting at 1-3. Despite leading Washington to an NFC Championship in his first year as head coach, he has severely underperformed since.
Quinn went 5-12 last year, with significant regression to his defense, which ranked 27th in the NFL, and has started the 2026 season 31st, despite a new coordinator. Considering Quinn’s background as a defense-minded coach and his team’s poor defensive play, on top of poor game management and the mishandling of Jayden Daniels’ injuries, his tenure as an HC could be over soon.
Todd Bowles is entering his fifth year as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and fans are calling for a change. Despite never having a record worse than 8-9, the Buccaneers and Bowles have started the 2026 season 0-4. He has taken Tampa Bay to the playoffs in his first three years but has only one playoff win to show for it. Bowles has potentially reached his ceiling as a head coach after going 8-9 in 2025 and missing the playoffs. He has gone 2-11 in his last 13 games, and a couple more losses this season may end his time in Tampa.
Head Coaches Whose Seats Are Getting Warm
Unlike the head coaches on the hot seat, some coaches are getting close to entering that category but aren’t there yet because of their reputation or past success. They’re unlikely to get fired midseason, but if things continue to go wrong or something catastrophic happens, that status may change.
Matt LaFleur was hired by the Green Bay Packers in 2019 and has made the playoffs every year but one. Despite this, he has failed to make it out of the wild-card round in recent years, and his inability to finish games and second-half collapses have caused the fan base to turn on him.
The Packers are currently 2-2 but haven’t been impressive so far, with their two close wins being against the Jets and the winless Buccaneers. Green Bay is 2-7 in their last 9 games, and with major injuries to Micah Parsons and, more recently, Edgerrin Cooper, LaFleur has an uphill battle to climb. Despite calls for his job from the fanbase this past offseason, the Packers decided to do the opposite and extend LaFleur for 3 more years. If he continues to struggle, however, the fans may get their wishes answered sooner than expected.
Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers have been one of the most surprising and disappointing teams this season so far. The team is 0-4, falling short of offseason expectations of a deep playoff run. Harbaugh is in his third year as the head coach of the Chargers, and despite making the playoffs in his previous two seasons, they have yet to win a playoff game. With high expectations and a talented roster, the Chargers have consistently disappointed, and it seems like changes may be coming soon.
Zac Taylor is one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL. He was hired by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019, and after two losing seasons, he reached the Super Bowl in his third year. The Bengals made the championship the following year, but lost to the Chiefs and have not made the playoffs since.
Despite having one of the most talented offenses in the NFL, with some of the best players in the league like QB Joe Burrow and WR Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals have been disappointing. The constant slow starts to the season and a playoff-or-bust mindset approach this offseason have put Taylor on thin ice. Cincinnati is 2-2 to start the season, but failure to capitalize on the prime of Burrow and Chase’s careers could see Taylor being kicked out the door.
Nick Sirianni is one of the more intriguing head coaches in the NFL. He was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 and has made the playoffs every single year, as well as having two Super Bowl appearances and winning one. Despite starting the season 2-2, questions surrounding Sirianni as a head coach still linger.
The main critique of the Super Bowl-winning coach is the lack of offensive identity. The Eagles have churned through multiple offensive and defensive coordinators over the last couple of seasons, and despite having one of the most complete rosters in the past couple of years, their production hasn’t shown that.
Philadelphia has a history of having a short leash on successful head coaches and firing Super Bowl-winning coaches in the past, such as Doug Pederson. With the injury bug hitting the roster, the sudden retirement of Lane Johnson, and a slow start to the season so far, it wouldn’t be shocking if Sirianni was fired by season’s end.
One of the last coaches whose seat is getting warm is Demeco Ryans, head coach of the Houston Texans. Ryans is in his fourth year as a head coach and has successfully made the playoffs every year. He’s started 2026, however, at a surprising 0-4 despite high expectations coming into the year.
The Texans have had significant regression in their defense to start the season, from one of the best in the league to ranking 26th in points allowed per game. Pair this with the game mismanagement and sloppy play, and questions have arisen regarding Ryans. Although his job isn’t in immediate jeopardy, things may change if Houston’s poor play continues.
First-Year Head Coaches Who Are Struggling
There are also new head coaches in the 2026 season who are struggling and have raised some concern. Jeff Hafley, the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and Robert Saleh, the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, have yet to get their first win this year, both starting 0-4. Unlike other coaches mentioned, first-year head coaches typically get more leeway in their first season, but that can change depending on how poorly their teams play the remainder of the season. Ultimately, with more than half the season left to play, situations can change, but some coaches may be on their way out soon.
