Latest NFL Hot Seat Updates After First Coach Firing of Season and Week 9 Games

In-season firings aren't uncommon in the NFL, but they usually occur late in the regular season or before the playoffs. However, the first dominoes fell last week when the Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.

McDaniels landed on the hot seat early this year after a season-and-a-half of poor results, bad decisions and a soured locker room. According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, his dismissal came less than a week after a team meeting in which "people asked and begged McDaniels to change his ways."

Raiders owner Mark Davis ultimately decided to clean house, and Las Vegas likely won't be the only team to do so before the offseason.

Here, we'll examine seven head coaches who are—or perhaps soon will be—on the hot seat based on this year's results, team expectations and any relevant recent buzz.

Coaches are listed in alphabetical order.

The idea of the New England Patriots firing Bill Belichick, one of the winningest coaches in NFL history, would have seemed unfathomable a few years ago. Since Belichick parted with Tom Brady, however, New England has been on a downward trajectory.

New England had one playoff berth in three seasons and, at 2-7, is headed for another losing campaign, much to the dislike of franchise owner Robert Kraft.

"Kraft has grown frustrated, if not downright angry, over this shortage of success, according to people close to the situation," The Athletic's Jeff Howe wrote last month.

Compounding the issue is the fact that Belichick is largely responsible for personnel decisions. His approach to team-building—specifically, the wide receiver position, where the Patriots have invested little—worked when Brady is under center. It isn't working with Mac Jones.

New England needs a breath of fresh air, and it may have to come at head coach. However, it feels more likely that Kraft will find a creative and "mutual" parting of the ways instead of outright firing Belichick.

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, there has been "chatter" that the Washington Commanders could try to trade for Belichick in 2024.

While a split feels inevitable, there's a scenario in which Belichick remains beyond this season—and it's not based solely on the lucrative extension he reportedly signed in the offseason.

Kraft could be inclined to give Belichick some leeway if New England is in a position to grab a top 2024 quarterback prospect like Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. The Patriots would have a top-five selection if the season ended today.

If the Patriots continue playing the sloppy brand of football they did in Sunday's loss to the Commanders, though, Kraft may want to hitch the fortunes of his next franchise quarterback to a different coach.

Prediction: The Patriots and Belichick find a way to split in 2024

Winning in the post-Tom Brady era isn't easy for anyone.

When Tom Terrific joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, he instantly made them a Super Bowl contender. The Bucs won the Super Bowl in Brady's first season, and they made two more playoff appearances before his retirement.

Now, Tampa is in its first season after Brady and its second with Todd Bowles as head coach. The Bucs promoted Bowles, who previously served as their defensive coordinator, after Brucs Arians stepped down following the 2021 season.

The Buccaneers sneaked into the postseason with an 8-9 record with Brady under center in Bowles' first season. They're now 3-5 with Baker Mayfield at quarterback.

The Bucs were expected to struggle without Brady, but Mayfield hasn't been the problem. The 28-year-old has thrown 12 touchdown passes and only four interceptions and has a respectable 92.7 passer rating. He led Tampa to a fourth-quarter comeback on Sunday when he found tight end Cade Otton in the end zone with just 46 seconds remaining.

But the Bucs then allowed the Houston Texans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud to mount a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive over the ensuing 40 seconds. Bad defense—and Bowles' disastrous decision to use a timeout instead of incurring a 10-second runoff before Otton's score—caused Tampa to lose, not questionable quarterback play.

The loss was emblematic of Bowles' tenure as head coach. For someone with a defensive background, his defenses haven't been nearly good enough. He's making the same kinds of coaching blunders that plagued his four-year tenure as the New York Jets head coach.

Tampa isn't a bad team, but it has lost three straight one-score games.

Bowles is a terrific coordinator, but not all coordinators develop into good head coaches. Whether the Buccaneers stick with Mayfield or target a new quarterback in 2024, we're likely to see a shift to an offensive head coach, barring a substantial in-season turnaround.

Prediction: Tampa relieves Bowles at the end of the 2023 season

Would the New York Giants fire head coach Brian Daboll one year after he was named the NFL's Coach of the Year? Considering New York has gone from being a winner in the postseason to a 2-7 squad, it can't be ruled out.

Injuries have played a role, however. Star running back Saquon Barkley missed time early in the year, and Darren Waller and backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor were both placed on injured reserve last week. Now, starting quarterback Daniel Jones is done for the season with a torn ACL.

Daboll can't be blamed for injuries, though. It's also unfair to blame him for questionable personnel decisions like giving Jones a four-year, $160 million contract extension, riding with Darius Slayton as a No. 1 receiver or largely ignoring a middling defense in the offseason.

The Giants got embarrassed by the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, but that's because their roster isn't good, not because of bad coaching. The reality is that Daboll got New York to overachieve in Year 1, which suggests that he could do it again.

The Giants are likely to wind up with a high draft pick, which should mean a shot at a top quarterback prospect—even if Jones will be around in 2024 because of his contract. If Daboll can win with a mediocre roster and Jones under center, why wouldn't the Giants give him a chance to try working with a quarterback prospect with perennial Pro Bowl potential?

As Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post noted, the Giants shouldn't be quick to move on from a coach who just ended a five-year playoff drought.

"End the cycle of starting over every two years. Allow them a swing at a turnaround. Put them on the hot seat entering 2024 with the quarterback of their choosing (even if it is Jones)," Dunleavy wrote.

Expect to see general manager Joe Schoen or defensive coordinator Don Martindale fired before New York pulls the plug on Daboll.

Prediction: Daboll keeps his job, but enters 2024 on the hot seat

The writing is on the wall for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, who has flashed promise but hasn't played at a consistently high level. The fact that Chicago's offense has played well enough to win in two of three games with undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent under center doesn't help matters.

If the season ended now, Chicago would own the second and third picks in the 2024 draft. That means the Bears could potentially pair a quarterback prospect like Drake Maye with Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., the top overall prospect on the Bleacher Report Scouting Department's early 2024 big board.

Do the Bears want head coach Matt Eberflus in charge of such a promising new foundation? With just five wins in two seasons, Eberflus isn't the answer.

To their credit, Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles have done a solid job of bringing in talent. They added the likes of wide receiver DJ Moore, defensive lineman Andrew Billings, offensive lineman Nate Davis, linebacker T.J. Edwards and edge-rusher Yannick Ngakoue during the offseason.

However, a stronger roster has not yielded improved results, and Fields can't take the blame for everything. Chicago has rarely looked and played like a cohesive unit, and Eberflus has made his fair share of questionable decisions, such as field goal with less than three minutes remaining in a tied game with the Denver Broncos in Week 4.

The Bears are almost certain to target a new quarterback in the offseason. Given Eberflus' inability to field a functional team—and the inability of offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to develop Fields—change is in order.

The Bears have never fired a head coach during the regular season, per Ryan Taylor of NBC Sports Chicago, and that trend is likely to continue in 2023. While getting a head start on the coaching search could be beneficial, keeping Eberflus might be Chicago's best way of guaranteeing a top 2024 draft selection.

Prediction: Eberflus is fired immediately after Week 18

The Los Angeles Chargers have their franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert. The 2020 first-round pick was Offensive Rookie of the Year in his first season, a Pro Bowler in Year 2 and a playoff quarterback in Year 3.

Heading into Monday night's game against the New York Jets, though, the 2023 Chargers are just 3-4. That's an unacceptable record for a team with a top-tier quarterback, and head coach Brandon Staley is to blame.

Staley has a 22-19 record as Los Angeles' coach, which isn't bad, but it's not good enough either. He has yet to win a playoff game, and his mishandling of last year's wild-card game against the Jacksonville Jaguars—in which L.A. blew a 27-0 lead—serves as evidence that he isn't getting the most out of a talented roster.

The Chargers have been atrocious on defense this season, especially against the pass. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has fielded a top-10 unit, but L.A. still struggles to run the ball consistently.

Injuries haven't helped—star running back Austin Ekeler missed time earlier in the season, and wide receiver Mike Williams is on injured reserve—but the Chargers have beaten just one team that currently has a winning record, the Minnesota Vikings.

Staley's decision-making, specifically his reliance on analytics and aggressiveness on fourth downs—L.A. went for it 29 times in 2022, the sixth-most attempts leaguewide—can be called into question. The results can be as well, especially when compared to those of the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals selected quarterback Joe Burrow five spots before the Chargers drafted Herbert. The talent gap between the two quarterbacks isn't dramatic. Yet Cincinnati has made consecutive appearances in the AFC Championship Game, while Herbert is still searching for his first playoff victory.

If the Chargers fail to make the playoffs this season, the Chargers may seek a new coach who can better maximize the window with Herbert. If L.A. gets back to winning, however, it's hard to envision the Chargers parting with a coach who has helped develop Herbert into a Pro Bowl talent and maintained a winning record.

Prediction: Staley enters 2024 on the hot seat, barring a playoff victory

One almost has to feel bad for Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich. He was hired before the Panthers selected their new franchise quarterback in the 2023 draft, and it sounds as if he had little influence on the selection of Bryce Young at No. 1 overall.

"It's an open secret in the league that the owner heavily influenced the QB choice, which is never ideal," ESPN's Stephen Holder posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on October 10.

It would seem that franchise owner David Tepper made the call on Young, which now looks like a mistake. While there's still plenty of time for the 22-year-old quarterback to turn things around, he's struggled early on, while Stroud just set a new single-game rookie record with 470 passing yards and five touchdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Now, Tepper wants Reich to win with a quarterback whom the coach may or may not have actually wanted.

"He's a super-competitive person. He's not going to sit idly by," Reich said of Tepper, per Alex Zietlow of the Charlotte Observer.

Reich recently handed play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown ahead of the Week 7 bye. While the Panthers did beat Stroud and the Houston Texans in Week 8, they suffered another lopsided loss in Week 9 to the Indianapolis Colts..

At 1-7, the Panthers would be in contention for the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft—if general manager Scott Fitterer hadn't dealt the selection in the move to go up and secure Young.

Fitterer hasn't exactly built a strong roster, the Panthers have a struggling young quarterback, and there's little hope of a quick fix in the offseason. Along with not having a first-round pick, Carolina faces the prospect of losing quality players like Brian Burns, C.J. Henderson and Jeremy Chinn in free agency.

The Panthers rank just 14th in projected 2024 cap space.

Given Tepper's desire to see an immediate winner, it wouldn't be a major shock to see Reich resign at the end of the year. However it comes about, it's feeling like a one-and-done deal for Reich in Carolina.

Prediction: Reich and the Panthers part ways before the end of the 2023 season

Ron Rivera is in his fourth season as the Washington Commanders' head coach, and he has yet to deliver a winning season or a playoff victory. However, it's worth noting that Rivera has been saddled with inconsistent quarterback play.

Things are a little different in 2023, as second-year quarterback Sam Howell has settled in as an average-to-good starter. Washington picked up its fourth win of the season on Sunday, and the Commanders are still very much in the NFC wild-card mix at 4-5.

Expect Rivera to make it to the end of the season—both because the playoffs are a possibility and because Howell's development has shown promise under Rivera and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

However, it's hard to envision Rivera making it to 2024, in no small part due to Washington's recent ownership change.

Before the start of the season, a group led by Josh Harris purchased the franchise from former owner Daniel Snyder. Expect the new ownership group to work quickly to separate the franchise from the air of futility that Snyder created over the two decades.

We saw the first signs of change when Washington traded pass-rushers Montez Sweat and Chase Young ahead of last week's trade deadline. More changes are coming, as Harris and his group look to continue generating excitement in the post-Snyder era.

"The city's responding, but to be fair, it's responding off a low base," Harris said, per Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal. "In order to keep it going, we need to up our game pretty much every step of the way."

Unless Washington surges and goes on a deep playoff run, a complete front-office overhaul in the offseason should surprise no one. Commanders fans are hungry for a winner, and to this point, Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew have failed to deliver one.

Prediction: Rivera is let go in the offseason

*Cap and contract information via Spotrac.