NFL's 10 hottest head-coaching seats entering 2024 season

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. 

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.

5. Nick Sirianni | Philadelphia Eagles

Midway through the 2023 campaign, the idea of Sirianni on the hot seat would have been considered absurd. In his first 45 games as Eagles head coach, Sirianni went 33-12, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2022 and a 10-1 start in 2023. Philadelphia self-destructed over its last six games (including the postseason), and Sirianni's inability to fix things raised concerns. He needs a big year to quiet calls for his job.

4. Matt Eberflus | Chicago Bears

The Bears are arguably the most compelling team entering the season. The front office retained Eberflus after two losing seasons and a 10-24 record, giving him the first crack at leading rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, selected No. 1 overall in April's NFL Draft. Another losing season in Chicago could find the team falling into the same cycle it found itself in during its last two attempts at developing a franchise quarterback. 

Mitchell Trubisky went from John Fox to Matt Nagy in his first two seasons, while Justin Fields was coached by Nagy as a rookie before the Bears hired Eberflus ahead of his second year. The money poured into the roster over the past two offseasons suggests the front office is ready to contend, putting even more pressure on the third-year head coach.

3. Dennis Allen | New Orleans Saints

Allen hit a milestone in his coaching career in 2023, his first year with a winning record (9-8) in four full seasons as an NFL head coach. The former Raiders head man earned the gig in New Orleans for his exceptional work as the team's defensive coordinator under Sean Payton, but his success leading a defense hasn't translated in a meaningful way in his elevated role. 

He made one of his biggest decisions since becoming Saints head coach this offseason in firing longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and hiring former 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak to the position. If the offense, which finished 2023 ranked ninth in scoring (23.6 points per game), takes a step back, both could be on the way out.

2. Robert Saleh | New York Jets

Most coaches with Saleh's production aren't afforded as much time as he's enjoyed with the Jets. He has an 18-33 record and no playoff appearances, but has largely been scapegoated by New York's subpar quarterback play. Cracks formed this offseason with a scathing report from The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini on the Jets' dysfunction, and a chasm may form if the team struggles again.

1. Mike McCarthy | Dallas Cowboys

McCarthy is coaching for his job in 2024. The Super Bowl XLV-winning coach of the Packers, entering his fifth season with the Cowboys, is in the final year of his contract. It's difficult to envision him receiving an extension if Dallas comes up short in the postseason again under his watch.

Since his hiring in 2020, the Cowboys are 42-25, tied for the league's fifth-best record during that span. However, Dallas is 1-3 in the playoffs.

Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was recently linked to the Cowboys. Should McCarthy falter, Jerry Jones shouldn't waste a minute putting the 72-year-old back to work.