The 2023 season has barely come to a close with Super Bowl 58 concluding, with the Kansas City Chiefs once again holding the Lombardi Trophy high for the second consecutive year. That means now all the focus for 31 teams will be on accomplishing what the Chiefs have done for the past two seasons. That also means it's time for all the way-too-early predictions, including the 2024 NFL head coach hot seat rankings.
Unless Andy Reid decides to finally retire, the Chiefs will not be looking for a new head coach anytime soon. It's likely the Chiefs could finish below .500 next season and still not have a shot of Reid being placed on the hot seat in Kansas City. However, his head coaching opponent in Super Bowl 58, San Francisco 49ers' Kyle Shanahan, could very well have his seat start to at least have a tinge of heat on it (although he shouldn’t). He won't be the only one, and he definitely won't have the hottest seat.
Every year entering the NFL, there's already a widespread assumption of where the next head coach openings in the league are likely coming from because of the results of the previous year(s). So, that means it's never too early to be looking at next year's candidates and where they rank. Let's take a look at the way too early 2024 NFL head coach hot seat rankings.
1. Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys
Somehow, someway, Mike McCarthy is still the Cowboys head coach heading into 2024. But it sure did look grim with the way the Cowboys were throttled by the Packers in the Divisional Round, leaving Dallas once again without making it to the NFC Championship Game.
The Cowboys just can't get over the hump, no matter how impressive they are during the regular season. McCarthy has now gone 12-5 three straight seasons in Dallas but is just 1-3 in the playoffs. With a team fan base and owner in Jerry Jones that are both more than eager to return to their glories of yesteryear, that won't cut it.
Jones has been notorious for sticking with his coaches much longer than any of the rest of the owners in the league would. Obviously, that hasn't worked to his advantage yet. But then again, nothing truly seems to be working for the Cowboys finding a head coach to get them to the promise land.
McCarthy earns the top spot in the 2024 NFL head coach hot seat rankings. His seat is scorching. He also better be glad former Cowboys' running back Emmitt Smith isn't the GM, as he would have already canned the head coach, he said, while on CBS Sports Radio’s “Maggie and Perloff”.
2. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
Sirianni will be entering Year 4 on what seems to be a very short leash after there were rumors of his firing this past season. Sirianni has made the most unsurprising moves of any head coach in his position and has made staff changes in hopes of a better outcome next year, even though the Eagles made it to the Wild Card in 2023. Losing ugly the Buccaneers didn’t help, though.
But there were also rumors that Sirianni had lost the locker room late in the year, which caused the team to falter in the second half, including losing to the division.
Sirianni is 34-17 in three seasons, but could very well find himself with a pink slip if things get out of control next year. He has little room for error during the 2024 season. Keep an eye on the Eagles if they start slow.
3. Matt Eberflus, Chicago Bears
Matt Eberflus is quickly falling in line with the rest of the previous Chicago Bears coaches over the last decade or more. He's 10-24 in two seasons and has done nothing to change the identity of what the Bears have been for more than 30 years.
It's still a team heavily dependent on defense and without any sort of identity on offense thanks to being without a franchise quarterback. Eberflus did seem to be on quite a short leash this season but got the Bears to a reasonably satisfying 7-10 season, winning five out of their last eight, making it four wins better than the previous season.
The question now is what the future is going to look like for the Bears? The draft will perhaps determine Eberflus' fate and what he can do with the No. 1 and No. 9 picks. Being as he was on this list entering last season, Eberflus is once again on our way-too-early NFL head coach hot seat rankings for 2024.
4. Robert Saleh, New York Jets
The Jets had an immense amount of hype and promise coming into the 2023 season — and that all went away in a matter of seconds during the very first game of the year. When Aaron Rodgers ruptured his Achilles and went down for the year, the Jets' season basically went with it. That should have no merit on Saleh's coaching tenure, who is 18-33 in three seasons, but it's unlikely that he can sustain another losing season, or possibly even one without the Jets making the playoffs in some capacity.
5. Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills
McDermott has only had one losing season as the Bills head coach, back in 2018, his second year in Buffalo. That was also the only season the Bills haven't gone to the playoffs during his tenure. Unfortunately, though, the Bills have only made it to one AFC Championship with not a single Super Bowl appearance, even though they've felt like a team good enough to make it over the past couple of seasons.
McDermott has been gifted with one of the top players in the entire league with quarterback Josh Allen. No one wants to see his talent go to waste and not make a Super Bowl eventually. However, most feel like this window for the Bills is starting to get smaller after every disappointing loss in the playoffs (mainly to the Chiefs). Also, there's the argument that McDermott, who is a defensive-minded coach, perhaps isn’t a right for Allen in a heavily driven offensive league.
McDermott's seat is by no means the hottest in the 2024 NFL head coach hot seat rankings, but it's most likely got a little bit of steam on it.
6. Dennis Allen, New Orleans Saints
Dennis Allen basically was handed his second head coaching job after Sean Payton decided to take a couple of seasons off from head coaching. Allen's first head coaching gig was nothing to write home about when he was with the Raiders, where he finished just 8-28 in three seasons, only making it four games into his third season.
Allen's time with the Saints has gone much better, though still nothing great. Some of his success comes from the Saints residing in the lackluster NFC South, giving him a 16-18 overall record, with 2023 being his only winning season, though still without a playoff appearance. The division will be very much winnable again next season. If Allen can't at least get the Saints a Wild Card berth, he could be out of New Orleans. He likely has little job security in 2024.
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