Sports Illustrated Ranks The NFL Coaches Most Likely To Get Fired Next Season

One of the biggest questions in the NFL on a yearly basis is, which NFL coaches might be on the hot seat to start the season?

To shed some light on which coaches are safe and which could be in some trouble, Sports Illustrated came out with a guide, where they ranked every NFL coach based on their job safety. On a 10-point scale, SI writer Conor Orr has every head coach listed. If you won’t get fired, you’re up near a 10, if you’re on the “hot seat” you will be lower on the list.

Of course, the likes of Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Sean Payton, and Mike Tomlin are up near the top of the list. None of those guys are anywhere near getting fired. It’s who’s near the bottom of the list that may surprise some people.

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Let’s take a look at the top five coaches who might get fired next season, according to SI.

5. Jon Gruden

When the Raiders signed Jon Gruden to a massive contract in 2018, it appeared to be a slam dunk. Gruden was going to come in, get the most out of Derek Carr, and win a lot of football games. Sure, Carr has been fine under Gruden, but they aren’t winning very many games. In Gruden’s three seasons at the helm, the Raiders are 19-29. I think Vegas likely gives Gruden every opportunity to right the ship, but if things go south in 2021, he could be on his way out.

4. Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy is entering his second season as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Last year didn’t go so well, and the team missed out on the playoffs despite lofty expectations. I’d imagine that McCarthy will be given the benefit of the doubt being as his quarterback, Dak Prescott, suffered a season-ending injury early in the year. However, if McCarthy fails after the team signed Dak to a long extension, then I wouldn’t expect Jerry Jones to exercise patience.

3. Matt Nagy

Even if it’s unfair, Matt Nagy’s fate has been tied to general manager Ryan Paces’ in Chicago. Pace brought in Nagy to work with Mitch Trubisky. That failed, and Nick Foles also looked pretty bad under center last season. Now, Pace has given Nagy Andy Dalton to work with, which isn’t exactly instilling any confidence in the fan base. Unfortunately for Nagy, if it’s another lackluster year for the Bears, that could spell doom for him and Ryan Pace.

2. Vic Fangio

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio is one of the most well-respected defensive minds in the league. He’s been one of the best defensive coordinators we’ve seen in the league during this generation. Unfortunately for Fangio, things haven’t gone so well for him now that he’s the head guy. In Fangio’s two years in Denver, the team is 12-20, and they haven’t really done anything to get better this year. One more year of bad football in Denver, and it might be time to look for a younger guy to take over the organization. I’m sure a lot of teams would be interested in having Fangio as their DC if things go awry with the Broncos.

1. Zac Taylor

I’m not so sure I’d rank Bengals coach Zac Taylor #1 on this list, but that’s where SI has him. Taylor hasn’t really been the offensive whiz that the Bengals thought they were getting when they hired him, but now he has a lot to work with. I’m high on Joe Burrow taking the next step in his development this year, and the Bengals should see a natural uptick in production on that side of the ball when he does. However, you want to pair Burrow with the right coach. If you don’t feel that Zac Taylor is that guy, it’s probably best to pull the plug while Burrow’s still young.

I’m sure we’ll see some dark horse candidates emerge on the hot seat next year, but this seems like a pretty good starting list of guys who may very well get canned next season.

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