Every year multiple NFL coaches on the hot seat are tasked with trying to save their jobs as quickly as possible. In recent years, teams have given their head coaches even less time to turn things around during the regular season. It’s just as evident in 2024, with two NFL coaches fired this year.
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh was the first NFL coach fired in 2024, dismissed after Week 5 following a 2-3 start. Nearly a month later, the New Orleans Saints added Dennis Allen to the list of NFL coaches fired in 2024. Now, the Chicago Bears have broken a century-long precedent, firing a head coach (Matt Eberflus) in-season. So, who is next?
Related: NFL coaching candidates 2025
Let’s immediately dive into the NFL coaching hot seat after Week 13, examining which NFL coaches are in jeopardy of being fired. We’ll include an analysis of just how hot the seat is, when that NFL coach could be fired and why they are on the hot seat.
NFL coaches on the hot seat after Week 13
1. Doug Pederson, Jacksonville Jaguars
Doug Pederson has led the NFL coaches on the hot seat for more than a month now and we long presumed he’d be fired by the end of November. Why? Because the Jaguars coach is 3-16 since December 2023 and he’s seemingly lost the Jaguars locker room. Yet, for reasons that can seemingly only be explained by an ownership group that is tuned out on what’s happening on the field.
- Doug Pederson coaching record: 20-26 as the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach
Jacksonville has the third-worst point differential (-111) this season and the lowest in football over the last 19 games. Yet, Pederson remains the Jaguars head coach. He’ll eventually be fired, but we’ve already seen the consequences of a head coach prioritizing his own interests by Trevor Lawrence being rushed back to play in Week 13 only to suffer a concussion. At this point, have to assume the Khan family is letting Pederson finish out the season.
Related: Jacksonville Jaguars coaching candidates
2. Antonio Pierce, Las Vegas Raiders
When the Las Vegas Raiders named Antonio Pierce interim coach in November 2023, it was partially surprising because of his lack of coaching experience. His lone head-coaching stint came at Long Beach Poly High School (2014-’17). Things didn’t work out there and then he joined Herm Edwards’ coaching staff at Arizona State (2018-’21), where he committed massive recruiting violations and was hit one of the longest show-cause penalties ever. This is the coach Maxx Crosby demanded to become the Raiders head coach in 2024.
- Antonio Pierce coaching record: 7-14 with the Las Vegas Raiders
You get what you ask for. The Raiders sit at the bottom of the NFL standings after Week 14, with Pierce having already fired the offensive coordinator (Luke Getsy) he picked to run the offense. Las Vegas is the worst-coached team in the NFL, with the latest evidence coming from Friday’s heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, where Piece’s dumbfounding decision-making proved costly. Pierce never should’ve been a head coach this year and Raiders’ co-owner Tom Brady is expected to correct Mark Davis’s mistake this offseason.
Related: Las Vegas Raiders coaching candidates
3. Brian Daboll, New York Giants
There are still plenty of people arguing that Brian Daboll shouldn’t be among the NFL coaches on the hot seat because of the situation around him. It’s true that the New York Giants offense is a mess and even the best offensive architects in the NFL likely couldn’t do much with the likes of Daniel Jones and Tommy DeVito. That’s not the biggest problem with Daboll as a coach, though.
Related: NFL execs, coaches take shots at the New York Giants organization
- Brian Daboll coaching record: 17-28-1 as New York Giants coach
Following the 2023 NFL season, reports emerged that Daboll clashed with his defensive coordinator and directed “brutal” outbursts at the Giants coaching staff. A year later, he’s been called out by rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers and doesn’t seem to have the support from the Giants locker room. Clearly lacking leadership qualities with criticism from his peers regarding his ability to remain composed in difficult situations, you can’t justify those qualities and an 8-21 record over the last two seasons. Daboll should be gone once the regular season ends.
4. Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys
Amid weeks of chatter about Mike McCarthy being on the NFL coaching hot seat, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced before Week 13 that McCarthy might receive a contract extension this offseason. It opened the door to the unexpected possibility of the Cowboys’ head coach sticking around for the 2025 season. Don’t buy what Jones is saying.
- Mike McCarthy coaching record: 47-32 as the Dallas Cowboys head coach
If the Cowboys weren’t willing to sign McCarthy to a contract extension after his third consecutive 12-win season, it’s unfathomable to believe he would suddenly receive a new contract after his second-losing season since becoming the Cowboys head coach. Dallas will do exactly what it did with Jason Garrett, letting McCarthy’s contract expire after the regular season and just announcing he won’t be retained.
Related: Dallas Cowboys coaching candidates
5. Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
While Zac Taylor makes it on our list of NFL coaches on the hot seat after Week 13, there’s still important historical context to consider. Marvin Lewis, the Cincinnati Bengals head coach before Taylor was hired, lasted 16 seasons in Cincinnati with zero playoff wins and only seven winning seasons in just under two decades. Yet, ownership kept him around for 16 years.
- Zac Taylor coaching record: 41-52-1 as the Cincinnati Bengals head coach
Taylor went to the Super Bowl and won five playoff games alone from 2021-’22. Even if quarterback Joe Burrow and a Bengals’ defense that was criminally underrated at the time is primarily responsible for that, the accomplishment matters to ownership. Cincinnati should make a coaching change this offseason because this would be one of the best jobs available. We just doubt Bengals owner Mike Brown will make a change.
Related: Cincinnati Bengals coaching candidates
6. Jerod Mayo, New England Patriots
Jerod Mayo makes it onto the rankings for NFL coaches on the hot seat for the first time this year, but we’d still be stunned if the New England Patriots made a head-coaching change this offseason. For one thing, Mayo is beloved by team owner Robert Kraft and that obviously holds the most weight in this process. Secondly, Mayo naturally gets a longer ‘leash’ as a first-year head coach who is working with one of the worst NFL rosters this season. Now, with that said, you can find reasons to make a change.
Mayo’s in-game decision-making regarding the use of timeouts has been abysmal. He’s also overseen the complete decline of this Patriots defense. For context, New England’s defense ranked 8th in EPA per Play allowed (-0.059) last season under Bill Belichick but it now ranks 29th (0.072) this season under Mayo. The Patriots’ head coach also has an alarming tendency to throw his players under the proverbial bus in press conferences each week, which is not the kind of leadership you want to see from a head coach especially when they are overseeing a young team. Kraft will presumably give Mayo another year, but anything more than that with similar results would be a disservice to this franchise.
NFL coaches fired 2024
Matt Eberflus, Chicago Bears – 4-8 – Fired
Matt Eberflus left the Chicago Bears with no other choice. This franchise gave him an extra season to prove himself, gifting him a franchise-caliber quarterback in Caleb Williams to see if that would finally lead to a turnaround. Unfortunately for Chicago, keeping Eberflus around for the 2024 season is probably going to be the reason why this team misses the playoffs.
- Matt Eberflus coaching record: 14-32 overall with the Chicago Bears
As Dianna Russini and Adam Jahns of The Athletic reported, Eberflus lost the Bears locker room weeks before his baffling refusal to use that final timeout on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions. Players sourced on Eberflus’ hand-picked offensive coordinator (Shane Waldron) by the summer and faith in the Bears’ head coach was gone soon after. The fact that his clock management and lack of utilizing his timeouts cost Chicago multiple wins just created a domino effect that led to the locker room turning on him this week. Ownership had no choice, Eberflus was so bad that the Bears had to fire a head coach in-season for the first time ever.
Related: Chicago Bears coaching candidates
Fired NFL coaches 2024
Dennis Allen, New Orleans Saints – 2-7 – FIRED
The first mistake the New Orleans Saints made came in 2022 when they promoted defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to replace head coach Sean Payton. Before becoming the Saints’ defensive coordinator, Allen posted a combined 8-28 record as the Oakland Raiders head coach from 2012-’14. A decade later, he once again proved to be in over his head as an NFL head coach.
- Dennis Allen coaching record: 26-53 overall, 18-25 with the New Orleans Saints
Allen was among the NFL coaches on the hot seat entering the season. Then, New Orleans won its first two games in historic fashion and seemed to be a contender. It unraveled immediately with a seven-game losing streak and Allen lost support from the locker room and organization. While we expected him to be fired, the surprise came from the timing as it seemed like the Saints organization would wait until Black Monday. Instead, Allen became the second NFL coach fired this season.
Robert Saleh, New York Jets – 2-3 – FIRED
Aaron Rodgers, along with New York Jets owner Woddy Johnson, made their decision much sooner than anyone expected. Just a day after the team returned from London following the loss to the Minnesota Vikings, head coach Robert Saleh was fired on Tuesday morning.
Related: New York Jets coaching candidates to replace Robert Saleh
Saleh certainly isn’t entirely responsible for this disappointing season. Rodgers hand-picked Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator, that’s the only reason why the Jets hired him before the 2023 season. Likewise, Hackett stuck around for another year because of his relationship with Rodgers. It’s also evident that Hackett’s offense and Rodgers’ decision-making on the field are some of the team’s biggest problems right now.
With all that said, Saleh didn’t have much power in the organization. Jets general manager Joe Douglas built the roster and, since his arrival, Rodgers had far more input than the head coach. Saleh isn’t necessarily the scapegoat, considering New York gave him four seasons to make it work, but his defense kept this team in half-decent shape for years as the offense tried to drag it to the bottom of the NFL standings.