The fifth week of the NFL season is over, and the league has already seen many changes. No team remains undefeated after the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Eagles both suffered their first losses of the year, to the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos, respectively. But for some teams, the season is already starting to feel too long, with their play through five weeks firmly placing them near the bottom of the league.
For some of those teams, the expectations were super high. The biggest example is the Baltimore Ravens, who came in as Super Bowl contenders, but find themselves at 1-4 after four weeks. It has brought into question the future of a truly legendary head coach in John Harbaugh, as he highlights our list of the coaches whose jobs could be in jeopardy if something doesn’t change in quick order.
NFL Coaches Hot Seat
John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
It feels asinine to even think of adding a coach who has spent 17 years with the organization and led them to innumerable successes. A former Super Bowl champion and Coach of the Year, he led the Ravens to their best regular-season record, 14-2.
Additionally, he has the most road playoff wins in NFL history at eight. But, for Baltimore, something has got to give. The defense ranks as the second-worst unit in the league on PFSN’s Defense Impact, with no real pathway to improvement.
Without Lamar Jackson, the team fell apart quickly, losing 44-10 to the Houston Texans in Week 5. Since Jackson became the starter, the team has consistently been near or at the top of the AFC.
However, they have just one AFC Championship Game appearance to show for it, even as Jackson has won two MVPs. The core needs a shake-up, and it is unlikely that Jackson will be the one the Ravens move on from.
As a result, the axe could fall on Harbaugh.
Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins
Last week, McDaniel made this list, too. However, in that instance, his inclusion was one of a possible choice, with two consecutive solid outings from the Miami Dolphins swaying the fan favor in his favor.
Then came Week 5, and all that goodwill went down the drain instantly. They were up 17-0 after losing Tyreek Hill for the season last week, and it seemed like Miami could figure out a way to be at least sustainable without him.
But then came an almighty collapse against the Carolina Panthers. For a team that has gone 2-3 this season and generally looked like one of the worst teams in football, mounting a comeback and winning 27-24 was a clear slight against McDaniel.
“If you can’t get it right during the game, they will continue to do the least risky thing,” McDaniel told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “It’s not how you win football games in this league. We have to figure that out immediately.”
The team may look to blow up quickly, especially with Hill out for the season. That blow-up could imply many changes, but a move to replace McDaniel could be near the top of the list.
Jonathan Gannon, Arizona Cardinals
The story for the Arizona Cardinals has remained relatively unchanged in the Kyler Murray era. A strong start quickly fizzles out for the franchise, leading to the team finishing near .500.
Entering their third season under Jonathan Gannon, the franchise may hope for a different result. But Gannon said plainly last week, “If you keep just doing the same thing and hoping, that’s not good coaching.”
Unfortunately, his comments haven’t led to widespread changes. Their loss in Week 5 was a particularly brutal affair, as a defeat at the hands of the Tennessee Titans should automatically raise major alarm bells about the state of the franchise.
Leading by 21-6, Tennessee won due to a series of embarrassing mistakes. First, Emari Demercado dropped the ball before getting into the end zone, leading to a touchback.
Then, as the Titans tried to mount a comeback, Arizona fumbled an intercepted pass into the end zone, gifting their opponents a touchdown. It sounds like a team that just isn’t ready to compete at the highest level, and that blame has to fall on the coach.
After the game, Gannon was ready to sound the alarm bells, stating, “Obviously, very disappointing. (It) felt like we had multiple chances to put away the game in all three phases, and we did not do that, so collectively we have to do a better job.”
However, he did not fault the game on one particular moment. “(It’s) never about one play. (It’s) never about one phase. All of us collectively have to do a better job, so that’s what we’ll work on tomorrow. Our sense of urgency and our connectedness is always there. It obviously needs to increase because time’s ticking.”
That ticking time bomb, unfortunately, could very likely blow up in Gannon’s face.
Brian Callahan, Tennessee Titans
It doesn’t seem kind to put Brian Callahan on this list after the Titans secured their first win of the season. But make no mistake about it, the victory was a by-product of the Cardinals’ mistake, rather than some coaching genius from Callahan.
The dropped touchdown run and the egregious fumble that gifted Tennessee a touchdown turned the game in their favor. Otherwise, rookie quarterback Cam Ward’s quote from last week would have still been 100% applicable.
Unless this victory can change their fortunes and give them a string of momentum to build off of over the course of the year, it is hard to find a scenario where Callahan isn’t among the heavy favorites to lose his job.
Honorable Mentions: Aaron Glenn and Kevin Stefanski
Two defensive-minded head coaches haven’t had ideal starts to the season. For Aaron Glenn, the promise of a new beginning for the New York Jets hasn’t paid off yet, as they still need to record a win.
Additionally, his speciality on the defensive end hasn’t translated in New York, with the team ranking fourth-worst in the league and recording zero takeaways through five weeks. As a result, the fan base has already grown frustrated with him.
In Kevin Stefanski’s case, the Cleveland Browns, and Stefanski by extension, haven’t figured out the quarterback position. After trudging through with Joe Flacco for four weeks, they gave the nod to rookie Dillon Gabriel this week.
Questionable choices hampered a solid performance in the final two minutes. After blowing away all three timeouts with the defense on the field, a gamble for a chunk play with seven seconds left on the clock did not pay off.
As a result, the Browns fell to a Minnesota Vikings team decimated by injuries without even getting a real shot off at the end of the game. Like Glenn, the fan base in Cleveland was growing tired of the lack of results from their franchise, thereby calling for Stefanski’s dismissal.