(Image credit Kim Klement/USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
Week 8 of the NFL Season has officially passed and we are almost halfway through the NFL Season with the new week 18 schedule. There are some coaches however that are already on the hot seat and could potentially be fired at the end of the season. Here are the Top 5 Head Coaches that are currently on the hot seat.
Dishonorable Mention - Head Coach Mike Tomlin Pittsburgh Steelers
This firing absolutely should have happened after they lost to the Cleveland Browns last season. There are no excuses for what occurred with last season in the Playoffs losing to a team who had improper practices for multiple weeks and didn't have their head coach in that game. In fact, Tomlin has had a tremendous habit of his team constantly playing down to competition. If those aren't characteristics of someone that is outcoached consistently, then I don't know what is.
The only reason why he is not in the top 5 coaches on the hot seats is because of the way this organization is run. I guarantee you the Steelers won’t fire Tomlin though because this organization doesn’t do that. The Steelers have coaches retire or conveniently let their contacts expire. Why do you think they kept coaches Joey Porter, Randy Fincter, and Todd Haley for way too long. They were never fired; they conveniently had their contracts expire. Heck, even Bruce Arians contract expired when he left the Steelers organization.
5. Head Coach Joe Judge (New York Giants)
This is the 2nd season as the New York Giants Head Coach. He did not make the playoffs last season and went 6-10 in 2020. Joe Judge has not worked out at all as the Head coach for the Giants. Judge was a part of the Bill Belichick coaching tree and a majority of coaches in his tree don’t do well. There were many reports that Judge was treating these athletes like they were still in college football. Which never works at all in the NFL. You can say the Giants needed to improve during the offseason and they absolutely did signing WR Kenny Golliday, CB Adoree Jackson, TE Kyle Rudolph, DT Danny Shelton, and etc. This team definitely brought in more players to improve the team and it has not worked. Maybe it's because of a bad scheme fit or that this head coach refuses to utilize analytics. Wait What? Joe Judge, you do realize you need to utilize analytics in order to succeed in this league now right. The only reason why Judge is not higher on this list is that he could save his job by blaming the injuries that the team suffered. The issue with that is Joe Judge has not properly utilized many players on this team. I won't be surprised if the Giants organization decides to blow it up and get rid of Joe Judge and Dave Gettleman if they don't make the playoffs and continue to struggle.
4. Head Coach Mike Zimmer (Minnesota Vikings)
This is the 8th season Mike Zimmer has been the Head Coach for the Minnesota Vikings. What he has brought here is 3 playoff appearances where he had 2 divisional titles, Losing to the Seahawks in the Wildcard Game in 2015, Losing to the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game in 2017, and Losing to the 49ers in the Divisional Game in 2019. He has had success for the Vikings and the team gave him a three-year extension at the end of the 2020 season to continue coaching the Minnesota Vikings. Ever since signing his contract, it has not been a complete disaster but a big mistake. I hate to say it but it looks like the game has passed with Zimmer as the head coach as he has made some questionable calls this season. In the 2020 season, he went 7-9 during that season which is a tremendous disappointment and a down season from a team that was in the divisional season in the 2019 season. The Vikings are 3-3 right now and some of those losses are mainly due to poor coaching decisions by Zimmer. If the Vikings don’t make the playoffs at all I can see Minnesota decide to move on from Mike Zimmer.
3. Head Coach Vic Fangio (Denver Broncos)
It is not looking good for Vic Fangio. I saw the light while I watched their game against the Cleveland Browns as that completely exposed him. I remembered him being labeled as a “defensive mastermind’’ when he was hired as the Head Coach. When your team loses to a backup QB, RB, offensive tackles, and a beaten-up receiver core that is a big issue and not someone who is a mastermind. Fangio continues to prove that he is more of a fit as a defensive coordinator than as a Head Coach in the NFL. His team continues to quit on him in games and it showed in Cleveland. Fangio has mismanaged the QB position putting in a beaten-up Teddy Bridgewater who is limping all over the place and shouldn’t play. Drew Lock was even warming up in the 2nd quarter vs the Browns and yet he still refuses to put him in to replace Teddy Bridgewater. This is his 3rd season as well and he has not made the playoffs this season. If he doesn't then I won't be shocked if the Broncos decide to let Fangio go.
2. Head Coach Urban Meyer (Jacksonville Jaguars)
I knew the moment he was hired that Meyer’s tenure would be a disaster that is unsurprising. What surprised me was how quick the disaster would come with Meyer as the head coach. Where to begin with Urban Meyer. Let's start off with the distraction involving him being seen at the bar where he refused to go on to the team plane to handle a “Family Emergency’’ where he was filmed partying with a female not his wife at a Bar. He did not come across well in that situation and Shahid Khan was even quoted saying that his conduct was inexcusable. It got so much worse when he apologized to the Jaguars locker room that they did not take him seriously and even laughed at his apology when he left the room. There were even grumblings that they would be firing him during Week 4. That's off the field now how has he been coaching on the field, well not good at all. It took him way too long to properly utilize James Robinson right and has made poor coaching moves all season. He didn't want CJ Henderson on this team and even at one point wanted to bench the Top 10 pick. The Jaguars later traded him in a classic Trent Baalke move for pennies on the dollar. I would be shocked if Urban Meyer was not fired at the end of the season and if he is still the head coach then the fanbase will not be happy.
1. Head Coach Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears)
Many expect me to put Urban Meyer #1 on the hot seat. However, I believe that Matt Nagy is absolutely on the hot seat this season. Let's be real Nagy has not been a good coach at all and excluding 2018 he has progressively gotten worse and worse as a head coach. Look at how he has already mishandled Justin Fields' development this season. He has looked awful this season so far. It is his rookie season but Nagy put him in a bad decision and to me, it is clear that Nagy is not a fan of Fields. He wanted Andy Dalton as the starter the entire season and was even projected to have him start when he returned from his injuries. If it wasn't for the fanbase being upset and the locker room upset at that decision we would see Andy Dalton maybe even Nick Foles as the starter for the bears. If it wasn't for the fact that the Bears got into the playoffs last season Nagy would have absolutely been fired last season and I wonder if the Bears will also get rid of GM Ryan Pace at the end of the season for locking the team into bad contracts. The Bears need to make the playoffs and win a game in order to save his job. I don’t see that happening and I will not be shocked to see the Bears move on from Matt Nagy.