NFL head coaches don’t necessarily have long shelf lives. As with every professional sports league, it’s all about what you’ve done recently and a win-now mentality.
For those coaches on the hot seat this season, they might end up getting those walking papers a bit earlier than previous years.
New NFL rules indicate that as of 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday, teams can begin interviewing assistants within other organizations for their vacant head-coaching jobs. Initiated this year, the rules allow for interviews 12 days before the regular season ends. The 18-week regular season ends January 9.
In previous years, said interviews were limited to assistants on teams who missed out on the playoffs or were on a postseason bye. This gives organizattions who are looking to hire new NFL head coaches an opportunity to get a head start. The one caveat here is that they must have a vacancy in the first place, potentially leading to some current head men getting the axe here within the next several hours.
Related: Chicago Bears head coach candidates
NFL head coaches who could be fired Tuesday
- Matt Nagy, Chicago Bears: Reports ahead of their win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17 indicated that Chicago could fire Nagy as soon as Monday. As of yet, that has not come to fruition with the embattled head man indicating that he’s under the assumption he’ll finish out the regular season. Either way, Nagy is as good as gone in the Windy City. He’s posted a 21-26 record since opening up his tenure with a surprising 12-4 record back in 2018.
- Matt Rhule, Carolina Panthers: When Rhule was hired away from the Baylor Bears ahead of the 2020 season, it seemed to be a match made in heaven. Less than two full seasons later, and his future with the Panthers is up in the air. Rhule has posted a disappointing 10-21 record and has failed to make the quarterback situation work. The one hiccup here is that he’s just two seasons into the seven-year, $62 million contract he inked with Carolina. Perhaps, billionaire owner David Tepper will be willing to eat that.
- Vic Fangio, Denver Broncos: It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Fangio will be done in Denver after three seasons. Right now, there’s no reason to delay the inevitable. The longtime defensive coordinator has posted a 19-28 record since joining the organization back in 2019. At 7-8, Denver is not yet eliminated from playoff contention. Could that force the Broncos into waiting to see if their less than 1% chance of making the playoffs pays off? We don’t think so!
There’s numerous other NFL head coaches who have been bandied about as potentially being out of a job. That includes David Culley (Houston Texans), Mike Zimmer (Minnesota Vikings), Joe Judge (New York Giants), Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks) and Robert Saleh (New York Jets).
Right now, it’s all wait and see. That could change early Tuesday morning around the league.