broncos-denver-denver broncos-nfl-2020-covid 19-covid-jeff driskell-drew lock-brett rypien-blake bortles-masks-kendall hinton-positive-saints-sean payton-hot seat

September 12, 2021 By: Kevin Kissner

Five NFL coaches on the hot seat entering the 2021 season

The pressure is on several NFL coaches to win now as the 2021 season opens. Here’s a look at five head coaches that are on the hot seat and could be out of a job in the very near future if things don’t go well.

Mike McCarthy

Heading into his second season with America’s Team, McCarthy could be coaching his final season with the Cowboys. After a 6-10 record last season, the former Super Bowl winning head coach needs to show a dramatic improvement this season or else Jerry Jones will show him the door.

Jones said in a training camp press conference that he believes this team could be back in the Super Bowl this season. If Dak Prescott stays healthy, this team could contend in the NFC, but they’ll have to get by the Buccaneers and Packers. McCarthy only had Prescott for five games last season, before having to use backup quarterbacks to close out the season. Look for the leash to be really short this season for McCarthy.

Vic Fangio

Entering his third season with the Broncos, Fangio needs to win and win early. In his first two seasons, Fangio has led his team to an overall record of 12-20. Denver has not had a winning record since 2016. The defensive guru has also only had one top-10 scoring defense followed by the 25^th ranked scoring defense last season.

Fangio has gone through multiple quarterbacks and hasn’t managed them well. While being part of the general manager search, Fangio had some say in hiring George Paton and was able to keep his job after the hire. This season, Fangio has a potential top-10 defense with a healthy Von Miller and Bradley Chubb along with elite cornerback Kyle Fuller. If the Broncos get off to another slow start, Fangio could very well be the first NFL head coach to face the chopping block in 2021.

Joe Judge

Another Bill Belichick disciple is already getting bad reviews in his second season as head coach of the New York Giants. After taking over a 4-12 team, Judge did improve the team to a 6-10 record. New York finished the 2020 season with a top-10 defense, but finished with the 31^st ranked offense.

Judge did lose Saquon Barkley for 14 games, but this is the final chance for Daniel Jones to prove if he’s the franchise quarterback. With Judge running practices in an old school way and players not liking it, Judge could lose this team. General manager Dave Gettleman could be on the hot seat as well which means that ownership could clean house in 2022.

Matt Nagy

The Chicago head coach has a new quarterback in Justin Fields that a lot of people are high on. Fields’ development and play could determine how long Nagy stays with Chicago.

If the offense struggles with Fields leading the way, Chicago can make the move quickly this season. The same thing happened in Tennessee back in 2015 when the Titans fired Ken Whisenhunt after seven games even after they just drafted Marcus Mariota that same year. This will be the fourth season for Nagy as the Bears’ head coach, but after failing to get past the Wild Card round of the Playoffs twice in three years, Nagy better make an impact or else Chicago could head in a different direction.

Mike Zimmer

This could be the most shocking candidate on the hot seat. Zimmer will be heading into his eighth season as the leader of the Vikings, but has only been to the playoffs three times. Zimmer has lost in every round of the playoffs except for the Super Bowl.

In his previous seven seasons, Zimmer has had only four winning seasons with one top-10 scoring offense. With the talent that Zimmer has had on his roster, general manager Rick Spielman could decide that he can find someone else to take this roster to the next level. If Minnesota doesn’t at least make the playoffs, there’s a good chance they’ll make a change.