Being a head coach in the NFL is one of the most difficult jobs in professional sports. With 53 players on an active roster, exhausting might be the best word to describe what being a head coach is like. While many teams have top head coaches, others do not, and it's an unfortunate reality for those clubs.
Finding the right head coach may honestly be the toughest job an NFL franchise has outside of finding the franchise quarterback. There was also a ton of head coaching turnover this past offseason, only further proving this point.
Even though there are a lot of year one head coaches on new teams, and veteran head coaches whose seats could not be colder, we did find some head coaches that should be on the hot seat as the 2026 NFL Season approaches. Let's rank them here.
Power-ranking the top hot seat head coaches approaching the 2026 NFL Season
6. Dave Canales, Carolina Panthers
Yes, the Carolina Panthers won the NFC South last year, but this team did it with a losing record, and that simply cannot happen again in 2026. Not only is winning the division with a losing record highly unlikely, but another major step forward needs to happen.
Canales did see some growth from his team from 2024 into 2025, but another sizeable step has to happen. Carolina would likely need to hit 10-ish wins, in my opinion, for Canales to keep his job. There is surely some cautious optimism, though, as quarterback Bryce Young played the best football of his career in 2025, but again, another jump needs to happen.
If this team somehow falls apart by mid-season or just aren't really making the progress needed, I could see the team cutting ties with Canales.
5. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
Despite finishing with a winning record all five years, which has also featured four-straight double-digit winning seasons, two Super Bowl appearances, and a Super Bowl title, the Philadelphia Eagles have somehow made that into a dysfunctional mess at times.
The Eagles have gone one-and-done in the playoffs in 2021, 2023, and 2025, and if it happens again in 2026, it would be the fourth time in six years the Eagles would deal with the same playoff fate. The team's offense has been a mess in those odd-numbered years, and that's really what it's come down to. If Philly again struggles on this side of the ball and does not emerge as a legitimate contender, it would be hard to see how Sirianni survives.
With how good the front office is and how easy Howie Roseman seems to build up these rosters, I can't imagine the patience is very high right now.
4. Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders
After a massively successful 2024 season where the Washington Commanders got within one game of the Super Bowl, things fell apart in 2025. Washington went 12-5 in 2024 and 5-12 in 2025, so this team is essentially right back at square one.
Head coach Dan Quinn is on his second stint as a head coach in the NFL and has a 60-59 record, along with a 5-3 playoff record. He's a fine head coach, but this regression is notable. Quinn has just three winning seasons in his eight years as the head coach, and a slow start again in 2026 could prompt some major change.
Not only has Quinn not proven himself to be a top head coach, but a slow start could begin to waste at the window this team has with Jayden Daniels being on his rookie deal, which would be a huge driving factor in a potential in-season firing.
3. Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals have not been to the playoffs since the 2022 NFL Season, so we're not going on four years. When in the playoffs, the Bengals made a run to the Super Bowl in 2021 and got back to the AFC Championship Game in 2022, so this team does know how to win if they get into the postseason.
With the overhauled defense, the front office is clearly sending a message to Taylor and the coaching staff that now is the time to get back into the postseason. Even during the two-year run the Bengals had in '21 and '22, Taylor never really ascended into being a top head coach, and it honestly feels like he's a lot closer to average in that regard now.
A slower start for Cincy in 2026 could prompt some change, especially with how good this team got over the offseason.
2. Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Todd Bowles has a 61-74 record as a head coach in the NFL, which includes a 35-33 record with Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have never won more than 10 games in a season under Bowles, but they've also never won fewer than eight games. This low-ceiling-high-floor tenure isn't yielding Tampa Bay much of anything, and with Bowles being well into his coaching career in the NFL, this is who he is at this point, so unless something major changes, the Bucs might feel like it's time to go in another direction.
1. Aaron Glenn, New York Jets
Sure, the New York Jets had no chance of winning much of anything in 2026, but Aaron Glenn didn't help. He seemed to be in way over his head almost immediately, and we could be approaching a time where it becomes even more obvious that Glenn isn't cut out to be a head coach in this league.
Typically, with first-year head coaches, there is at least something that they can hang their hat on and carry into year two, but that simply does not exist with Glenn. If the Jets struggle out of the gate yet again, I would see no reason why Glenn keeps his job.