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NFL 2024 preview: 7 coaches on the hot seat — does Cowboys' Mike McCarthy deserve a spot?

frank schwab
Senior writer
·5-min read

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has somehow picked up a reputation of cycling through head coaches on a whim. The opposite is true.

Jones is excruciatingly patient with his coaches. Since Jason Garrett took over after Wade Phillips' midseason firing in 2010, Garrett and Mike McCarthy have been Dallas' only two head coaches. Inevitably, the Cowboys flame out in the playoffs and everyone assumes Jones will fire his coach, but he's fired a coach only once in 14 years.

That doesn't mean McCarthy has a job for life. At some point he needs more success in the playoffs or Jones will make a change. Does that mean he's one of the seven coaches on the hot seat entering the NFL season? Here's our list:

By halftime of the wild-card game against the Green Bay Packers last season, everyone knew the Cowboys were on their way to a loss. They trailed 27-7. The only intrigue was whether it was McCarthy's last game.

The consensus was that McCarthy would get fired after the Cowboys' latest playoff failure. But Jones retained McCarthy after the team's third straight 12-5 season. Jones said it was a fairly quick decision.

"This is not a 'talk yourself into it,'" Jones told the team's site shortly after Dallas' season ended. "It obviously gives you a lot of things to consider and think about. Everybody has options. This is one I'm very comfortable with. I felt good during the year with the job that Mike was doing. The team was responding well. We were all disappointed that we didn't win that Green Bay game. We had visions of a lot better than that; we all did. But there are things there that we can take forward."

Head coach Mike McCarthy and his Cowboys have a big year ahead of them. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Head coach Mike McCarthy and his Cowboys have a big year ahead of them. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

For a coach who is 42-25 over his four Cowboys seasons, the perception is McCarthy has little job security. Maybe that's true. Only Jones knows for sure. But if the Cowboys' season ends up short of the Super Bowl, we're going to end up with another round of speculation on whether McCarthy will be fired. It's fair to say he's on the hot seat.

Saleh had a great excuse last season when the Jets went 7-10. Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury on the first drive of the season. It seems unlikely there would be any patience if the Jets don't make the playoffs again. The Jets have the longest postseason drought in major American professional sports. They are all in on Rodgers this season, as he's about to turn 41 years old. The talent is there to make the postseason and maybe make a deep run. If it doesn't happen this season, it seems like there will be wholesale changes, including at head coach.

Sure, injuries were a big part of the Jaguars' collapse late last season. But a collapse is a collapse, and patience seems to be thin in Jacksonville.

“Injuries are a part of the game,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said, via the Associated Press. “We had some of those injuries, but I think it’s organizational failure that it happened. All of these players I talked to, it’s like how could this happen? What happened?

“For me, it’s really a cause for self-reflection and then something good to come out of it because we just can’t have that this year.”

Pederson fired defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, and firing coordinators is usually the first step toward a head coach getting fired if things don't turn around. If the Jaguars have another losing record, Pederson could be in trouble.

A year ago, Daboll was the reigning NFL Coach of the Year. The league moves fast. The Giants had a horrible 6-11 season and Daboll's hot-tempered ways seemed to be running thin. There was a little speculation Daboll might be on the hot seat after last season, but he returned. The Giants are still far behind the Eagles and Cowboys in the NFC East and another double-digit loss season is possible. If that happens, will Giants ownership remain patient with Daboll?

(Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports)
(Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports)

Speaking of the NFL moving fast, Sirianni and the Eagles were 10-1 last season and looking to repeat as NFC champions. Then there was a miserable finish, losing six of seven including a listless playoff loss on wild-card weekend. There was a long meeting between the Eagles' brass and Sirianni, and a media conference that ensued revealed Sirianni would return but he'd give up control of the offense to a new coordinator (which would be Kellen Moore). Sirianni can't afford a slow start, or he could be the first coach fired this season. The good news is he has the type of roster that could win the NFC East.

Eberflus saved his job after a 2-7 start last season, which was an upset. But the Bears aren't going to be endlessly patient with another slow start. The Bears will have a rookie quarterback, but No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams isn't a normal rookie QB. His development is crucial, especially while he's on his rookie deal. The Bears seem to love the fact that they've never fired a coach during a season, but if they don't show signs of improvement this season they're likely to evaluate everything when it's done.

The Saints have been mediocre in two seasons under Allen, going 16-18. Allen has been an NFL head coach for five seasons and has never made the playoffs. The Saints were close last season, going 9-8 and losing a tiebreaker for the NFC South title, but it's not like this feels like a team on the rise. At some point the Saints are going to want something more than a middle-of-the-pack finish in a bad division. If the Saints finish around .500 again, we'll see if that's enough to buy Allen a fourth season in New Orleans.