by 7 Head Coaches on the Hot Seat in the NFL
With the new NFL season quickly approaching, I take a look at the head coaches around the league that have the most pressure to have a good season; otherwise they may be headed to the unemployment line temporarily. However, a “good” season could be defined differently depending on the organization. I have compiled a list of 7 coaches that find themselves on the hot seat. Let’s get started:
David Culley: Houston Texans
Former assistant head coach for the Chiefs and Ravens and long-time wide receiver coach, Culley’s first head coaching job will be a challenge with the spiraling Houston Texans.
Over the last few seasons the Texans have essentially turned themselves into the laughing stock of the NFL. Bill O’Brien has dug a deep hole for this organization that would be hard for anyone to turn around.
Not to mention that Culley’s best player/franchise QB doesn’t even have a timetable for return facing his long list of sexual assault allegations and a pending suspension from the league.
This coaching position has disaster written all over it. We can all wish Culley the best, however he seems to just be a placeholder for the time being.
Zac Taylor: Cincinnati Bengals
Taylor is now entering his third season as the head coach for the Bengals, with his combined record at 6-25-1 for his first two seasons. The Bengals are now looking to graduate from the rebuilding phase and potentially compete for postseason berths in the coming seasons.
As they begin to put the pieces together for their future, I believe it starts at the top. Honestly, the expectations for the Bengals for this season should not be set very high. With the AFC North being one of the tougher divisions, I don’t believe a divisional race is realistic for the Bengals.
However, as long as this team is competitive and find themselves in close games down the stretch I believe Zac Taylor could keep his job. If this team seems to fall apart early and only have 2 or 3 wins when their Bye Week rolls around (Week 10), we will almost certainly see a coaching change in Cincinnati.
Brian Flores: Miami Dolphin
Similar to Zac Taylor in Cincinnati, Flores is now entering his third season as head coach for the Dolphins. However, Flores has seen more success with a 15-17 career record, coming off a surprising 10-6 season.
Personally, I hold Flores to a higher standard than other younger head coaches; having been in New England for 10 seasons before becoming head coach, he should have some experience from the best on how to run a football team. Maybe the Dolphins aren’t realistically poised for another 10 win season, but they have to start seeing some progress, especially in the QB position. If we see offensive struggles in Miami this season, the organization may have to choose between their hopeful franchise QB Tagovailoa, and their head coach in Brian Flores.
Mike Zimmer: Minnesota Vikings
Since taking over as head coach of the VIkings in 2014, Mike Zimmer has a 66-50-1 record under his belt along with 2 playoff victories. However, just 3 playoff appearances in 7 seasons would be considered mediocre in my book, especially in a very weak NFC North in recent years; however some organizations would have to dream to see multiple playoff appearances. For Minnesota though, each season for them seems to be a continuation from the season before.
Their offense never seems to make any real improvements and the days of an elite defense seem to be gone as well. This team just needs a big shakeup if they are to make any strides toward continued success and the franchise may point towards the head coaching position and bring in a fresh mind to guide this team.
Kliff Kingsbury: Arizona Cardinals
Kliff Kingsbury was a highly touted coach coming out of Texas Tech where he had flashes of success with Patrick Mahomes as his QB. So you can’t blame me if I was on-board with the Cardinals when they brought in both Kingsbury and Oklahoma product Kyler Murray in 2019. Since then, the Cardinals haven’t been able to finish a season above .500 and Kingsbury has a 13-18-1 NFL record.
This offseason however, the Cardinals have made huge moves and have put themselves in a great position in a very tough NFC West. The Cardinals are hoping to have one of the most explosive offenses this season and anything short of a postseason berth should be considered a failure. In my opinion, Kingsbury, along with the next coach on this list, may have the hottest seat of all coaches.
A team with this many weapons and a former Heisman winning QB has to find ways to win games and if they don’t find themselves in the postseason I firmly believe we will see a different head coach for the Arizona Cardinals come this time next year.
Matt Nagy: Chicago Bears
This year will be make or break for Matt Nagy. When he first took over the Bears in 2018, he found immediate success with a 12-4 season until the infamous “double doink” broke Bears fans hearts and ended that season.
Since then, a pair of 8-8 seasons. With Justin Fields, the Bears have perhaps their most highly regarded QB in recent memory and are hopeful that he will be the answer for them long-term and lead them out of mediocrity.
With an offensive minded coach in Nagy, the Bears could really see some results this season and Justin Fields will almost certainly be their starting QB by year’s end. With Trubisky gone, Nagy seemingly got a second chance in Chicago.
Personally, I believe that Nagy knows what he’s doing and could find a successful formula with Fields and deliver results. However, another disappointing season could see him exiting the Bears and their organizational misery would continue.
Vic Fangio: Denver Broncos
The defensive coordinator of those 2018 Chicago Bears, Fangio is one of the better defensive minds in the NFL. The Denver Broncos being one of the best defensive teams of the past decade, and historically known for their elite defense, bringing in a top defensive mind sounds like a recipe for success.
However, Fangio has translated that into a 12-20 record over two seasons. Quite honestly, it seems that Fangio is destined for failure this season as well. Being from Missouri myself, it pains me to say that former Mizzou QB Drew Lock doesn’t seem to be the answer in Denver and their offense has seemed to skid the past couple seasons. Maybe Drew Lock needs a larger sample size, maybe he needs a new coach; whatever it is, Broncos President John Elway may just need to make a change after this season.
