By Aiden Fiaschetti
Head coaches on the hot seat
The Carolina Panthers fired Frank Reich on Monday, only 12 weeks into his first season with the team. Reich joins former Raiders Head Coach Josh McDaniels as coaches to be fired mid-season. Also on Monday, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter said he would “take the over” on the number of coaches fired by next September. Because of that, we will be taking a look at the coaches who are most likely to lose their jobs after this season.
Brandon Staley, Los Angeles Chargers
Brandon Staley is still underachieving, still losing games late, and still not giving his team a chance with his defense. Staley has led the Chargers to a 4-7 record with many late-game mistakes on his end, and fans are starting to get frustrated. It doesn’t seem as if the Chargers will move on from Staley in-season, will they say goodbye if he doesn’t do anything to give his team something to be happy about?
Ron Rivera, Washington Commanders
After the Commanders’ blowout loss to the Cowboys, many questions were flying around about Rivera’s future with the team. The Commanders sit at 4-8 and tied for last in the NFC East with a tough game coming up against the Dolphins. Ron Rivera has had the pleasure of working with a promising young quarterback in Sam Howell who has shined many times this season, but he hasn’t been able to do much than string together a few wins with him. Even though Rivera was able to keep the team’s heads high after the ugly end to the Dan Snyder era, will his tenure with the Commanders be over?
Matt Eberflus, Chicago Bears
The Bears started the season 0-4 with many players complaining about different coaching flaws, and starting quarterback Justin Fields calling Eberflus out for “holding him back.” The Bears are 4-8 coming off of an ugly 12-10 win against the Vikings on Monday Night Football and have a tough division game against the Detroit Lions in week 14. Eberflus has to show some kind of promise to this team to have a chance to keep his job as the signal caller.
Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Bill Belichick is arguably the best coach to ever step on a football field, and he has led a dynasty for almost 20 years but his time may be up with the Patriots. The Patriots are 2-9 on the season switching quarterbacks 4 times mid-game this year. With Belichick not fully committing to one quarterback a lot of fans are frustrated with the direction their team is heading. You could never figure out how things would go down between Belichick and owner Robert Kraft if they were to move on from Belichick, but is this a move that the Patriots should make?
Arthur Smith, Atlanta Falcons
Arthur Smith is on the hot seat and has been on the hot seat for the past two seasons, even though he still has a chance at the playoff in the dreadful NFC South. The Falcons are tied for first in the NFC South at 5-6 and are fighting with the Saints for that top spot but if Arthur Smith can’t get his team in the playoffs the Falcons will have conversations around his future with the team.
