NFL Hot Seat Tracker: Todd Bowles on Brink; Nick Sirianni Feeling Heat After Rough Starts

No NFL owners have hit the panic button yet, despite several disappointing starts across the league. All 32 head coaches who began the season remain employed, but that stability could shift rapidly as bye weeks approach and patience wears thin. The pressure is intensifying on coaches whose teams are stuck in a downward spiral, while others likely know they are merely playing out the string before an inevitable departure.

Here is an updated ranking of the hottest coaching seats after the first month of the regular season.

DeMeco Ryans’ first three years in Houston have been a mix of fantastic results and lingering disappointment. The Texans posted double-digit wins and a playoff victory each season, yet consistently felt like underachievers. That sentiment was amplified over the past two years as a league-best defense was wasted by an offense and young quarterback that couldn’t keep pace.

Now, the bottom has fallen out. The defense has regressed, quarterback C.J. Stroud has stalled since his rookie campaign, and the scoring remains anemic. Most critically, Houston sits at 0-4. Firing the 42-year-old Ryans would be a harsh move; he is more likely to be pressured into significant staff changes. However, the window to capitalize on a promising quarterback on a rookie contract is closing fast. Whether they reset at the position or pay Stroud, don’t be surprised if ownership considers a coach better equipped to maximize that investment.

It is difficult to imagine a worse start for Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers. Franchise cornerstone Justin Herbert is regressing under his watch, and the high-profile addition of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel has yielded a disastrous fit. Compounding matters, Harbaugh’s heavy influence on personnel has not solved a struggling offensive line, unreliable receivers, or a defense that has dipped since Jesse Minter’s departure.

Los Angeles may be playing even worse than their 0-4 record suggests, and Harbaugh has appeared visibly unsettled at press conferences, offering few answers. He has two years and roughly $32 million remaining on his deal after this season, backed by two 11-6 campaigns to start his tenure. Yet a brutally difficult schedule makes an 0-9 start a genuine possibility, which will inevitably lead owner Dean Spanos to question whether the 62-year-old can right the ship.

Matt LaFleur appeared to be on the hot seat last year after a 9-7-1 season ended in a wild-card collapse at Chicago. Instead, the Packers’ ownership board granted him a contract extension, signaling job security—for now. Good luck convincing a board to buy out a deal believed to run through 2029 at roughly $15 million annually. However, the regression on the field is impossible to ignore. The offense is sputtering despite an elite young quarterback in Jordan Love and a deep receiving corps, while the defense has taken a massive step back following Jeff Hafley’s exit.

The return of Micah Parsons—presumably a reference to a defensive difference-maker, though Parsons plays for Dallas—might stabilize that side of the ball, but no cavalry is coming for the offense, which was supposed to be LaFleur’s specialty. At 2-2, panic hasn’t set in, but Green Bay risks being buried in a brutal division. Regardless of the board’s appetite, the clamor for a change will grow loud.

Nick Sirianni boasts three division titles, two NFC championships, and a Super Bowl ring in five seasons, winning nearly 70% of his regular-season games (61-28). But if you doubt he could be the fall guy for a lost season, you don’t know owner Jeffrey Lurie and his exacting standards. The 2025 campaign hasn’t collapsed yet, but the Eagles have cracked the door open for rivals in a weak NFC East.

For the second straight year, the offense is underperforming—a reminder that Sirianni’s track record hiring coordinators has been hit-or-miss. That instability fueled two disappointing first-round playoff exits over the last three years. Questionable in-game decisions have also plagued him, most recently in a crushing home loss to the Rams.

Jalen Hurts thew for just 93 yards in the Eagles’ Week 4 loss to the Rams, raising concerns over Nick Sirianni and Philadelphia’s offense. (Photo by Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Lurie expects a Super Bowl-contending roster every year and usually assembles one. If he believes the coach is the ceiling, he will act—he strongly considered moving on from Sirianni three years ago.

Dan Quinn opened the season atop this list after Washington followed a miracle run to the NFC Championship Game with a 5-12 flop. Now 1-3, the Commanders show few signs of improvement. The only thing keeping Quinn out of the top spot is the injury to quarterback Jayden Daniels, which also derailed much of 2024.

Daniels is expected back soon with ample schedule remaining to salvage the season. Fortuitously, the NFC East looks wide open, keeping the division title and a playoff berth within reach. If Washington cannot capitalize, owner Josh Harris and GM Adam Peters face a straightforward decision. Quinn overhauled his staff this offseason; the results now rest entirely on his shoulders. The organization cannot allow the window opened by a 12-5 debut season to slam shut.

Expectations are measured in New York, where Aaron Glenn isn’t expected to win immediately with the roster he and GM Darren Mougey built. The baseline is competitiveness and professionalism, with hope that Glenn would no longer look overwhelmed when addressing the media after losses.

Flashes of competence have appeared: an opening-week win over Tennessee and competitive showings against Green Bay and Detroit. But Sunday’s no-show against Chicago put Glenn’s decision-making, clock management, and reaction to criticism back under the microscope. It’s a long season, the quarterback situation (Geno Smith) is shaky, and injuries are piling up. Glenn must arrest this spiral before it spirals out of control. If he doesn’t, pressure will mount on Woody Johnson to pursue a high-profile replacement—perhaps someone like Mike Tomlin—especially if the Jets land another franchise quarterback in the 2027 draft.

If you’re watching for the first in-season firing, keep your eyes on Tampa Bay. The wheels haven’t just come off the Buccaneers; the car is in the ditch. It isn’t merely the 0-4 record—it’s the abysmal quality of play, particularly on offense. With Baker Mayfield now sidelined by a thumb injury, the floor has dropped out.

Bowles wasn’t operating on house money. His first four seasons produced win totals between eight and ten, with three playoff berths owed largely to a dreadful division. He rarely projects an air of having answers, and his players have shown no response to his methods this year. The upcoming stretch—at Dallas, vs. Pittsburgh, at Carolina, vs. Atlanta, at Chicago—features no juggernauts, but it offers no gimmes either. If Bowles can’t steal a couple of wins before the Week 10 bye, his tenure may not survive it.

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