With the regular season just about here, it's time to get underway with the weekly rankings. One area that does get some attention, but not nearly as much as entire teams or even quarterbacks are head coaches.
There are some head coaches who are going to begin the 2026 NFL Season on the hot seat, as being a competent head coach in the NFL is quite the job, and there is a good bit of turnover with the position each year.
In many instances, the in-season head coaching firings begin to happen around mid-season, so these head coaches who may be on the hot seat right now could still have a good bit of time to turn things around. Let's get into our first head coach hot seat rankings for the regular season.
NFL Power Rankings, Week 1: First installment of 2026's head coach hot seat rankings
6. Dave Canales, Carolina Panthers
Dave Canales is entering his third year on the job for the Carolina Panthers, winning five games in year one and eight games in year two. Despite finishing 8-9 last year, the Panthers were just barely good enough to win the NFC South. With that said, it's hard to imagine that another losing record will be enough for a second division title in a row.
And while Canales' tenure is going in the right direction, this team does need to take another sizeable leap forward this year. Canales is a losing coach and is now entering year three, so it's reasonable to expect that this Panthers' team reaches close to their ceiling, if not the ceiling.
Canales doesn't exactly have a great option at QB, as Bryce Young is quite limited, but Young did look a lot better from 2024 into 2025, so there could be more there.
But a slow start in 2026 and it being clear that the Panthers just won't be a threat in the NFC this year could have Canales firmly on the hot seat.
5. Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts
It seemed like the Indianapolis Colts were headed in the right direction in 2025, as the team was off to a 7-1 start and everything was working on offense. Soon after that, though, cracks began to form. QB Daniel Jones' play began to decline, and all of a sudden, the Colts had just eight wins when the year was over.
Shane Steichen has won nine, eight, and eight games in his three years on the job, so the Colts have truly been the definition of 'mid.' Now in year four, Steichen has to be under a great deal of pressure to get this Colts team at least close to how they were playing in the first-half of 2025.
I'd not be shocked if a playoff mandate was given to Steichen for this year, as three years of middle-of-the-road play is something that does make us believe that there isn't anything more with Steichen as a head coach. A shaky start in 2026 might be all it takes for the Colts to make this change.
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