I'd imagine that certain seats are getting a bit warm for a handful of head coaches. Let's get into the head coach hot seat power rankings after Week 5! You just have to wonder if any team is going to be bad enough to make an in-season head coaching change.
It happens nearly every season in the NFL, and for the most part, there are typically anywhere from 5-7 head coach openings per cycle, so this is not a very stable job. I also feel like teams are wanting more immediate success, so patience has worn thin in NFL front offices.
After Week 5 of the 2024 NFL Season, let's see which head coaches make up our latest hot seat power rankings.
NFL Power Rankings: Ranking head coaches on the hot seat after Week 5
4. Doug Pederson, Jacksonville Jaguars
I guess temporarily, Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach Doug Pederson saved his job. The Jaguars finally notched their first win of the 2024 NFL Season after a hugely intense game against the Indianapolis Colts. Three of the Jaguars' next four games come against the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and Philadelphia Eagles.
I can see the Jags going 1-3 over the next four games. That would put them at 2-7 on the season, and at that point, it might be time for the front office to make a change, so even with a victory, Doug Pederson is still on the hot seat.
3. Robert Saleh, New York Jets
The New York Jets were 2-1 after three games.
They're now 2-3. An out-dated, pathetic offense has been the primary reason for the lack of success with the Jets in 2024. You really can't blame head coach Robert Saleh all that much, as the offense has Aaron Rodgers' influence all over it.
He very likely wanted the team to hire Nathaniel Hackett and sign Allen Lazard, two people who are among the worst in the NFL at their respective roles. It's unclear if Rodgers would even be open to the Jets making a chance and moving on from Hackett, but that feels like the only way they could save their season.
But Robert Saleh hasn't exactly proven himself as a quality head coach, and he could be on his way out unless this team can get into the postseason. With how weak the AFC is this year, it really does only take the Jets to win three of their next four games to get back on track. It's not like the Jets are 0-5, but the team surely expected to be sitting in a better spot after five weeks.
*Editor's Note: On Tuesday morning, the New York Jets fired Robert Saleh after this article was written
2. Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns
I mean, fair or not, the Cleveland Browns are 1-4. It's odd that the Browns have not yet benched Deshaun Watson, and Kevin Stefanski feels too smart of a coach to not make the move. It makes me think that someone above Stefanski, a two-time Coach of the Year, is telling him to keep Watson in the lineup.
Jameis Winston is their backup and is a capable player, and you never know; had then benched Watson earlier, they could have been 2-3 or even 3-2. The Browns are a flat-out mess with Deshaun Watson in the lineup, and unless something major changes, we could be headed toward a scenario where both Stefanki and GM Andrew Berry are out of a job.
Could the Browns be sellers at the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline?
1. Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
Man, this is just shocking. I think a lot of us just assumed that after the Cincinnati Bengals again started 0-2 to begin 2024, they'd yet again turn their season around. Well, the Bengals seem to have some major issues on defense, and they now sit at 1-4 on the season and are closer to the no. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft than being a playoff team. With some iffy opponents coming up, I am not sure even the Bengals can figure this out.
At the end of the day, the buck stops with the head coach, and Zac Taylor has never really ascended into being a very good head coach, and the bottom seems to be falling out from Taylor. He's not going to last the entire 2024 season unles the Bengals can have the sort of defensive turnaround that the Denver Broncos had in 2023 when they saved their season.
The Broncos had actually started 1-5, and ended up sitting at 7-6 weeks later. That's the kind of turnaround it's going to take for the Bengals to save their season, but I am not sure the coaching staff is nearly good enough for that.