5 NFL coaches on the hot seat after Week 9 and when they will be fired

The Week 9 slate of the 2024 NFL season was so very revealing when it comes to the unbelievable amount of bad coaches that get paid millions to be in this league. While I would argue that quarterback play has been good this year, as well as the games being competitive, there are simply not enough good coaches to be had to give every team with a pulse the opportunity to play well.

Through the first two months of the season, only former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh has been relieved of his duties. It is only a matter of time before the next bad head coach of note is handed his pink slip. That may come as soon as tomorrow, or it may come on Black Monday, as is tradition. Either way, several NFL teams need to move on from their current stooge in a headset.

As it is with everything, there are subtleties and nuances to this. Not all jobs are created equally. Some head coaches are in terrible situations, while others have no business sitting in the main chair ever again. Admittedly, there were so many bad coaches to pick from, but I settled on these five. Not all will be asked to leave, but I would have a hard time convincing my fan base this guy should still lead us.

Let's start with the latest example of how promoting from within can often go oh so terribly wrong...

5. Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce

The Las Vegas Raiders may have made a GOB Bluth huge mistake in promoting former defensive assistant Antonio Pierce from within. Raiders owner Mark Davis did not want to be made into a fool for passing on a great internal candidate after firing his dumpster fire of a head coach. Pierce went 5-4 as their interim last year but has stumbled to 2-7 on the season after losing to Cincinnati, 41-24.

Although the Raiders may not have league-average quarterback play, you kind of get the feeling that Pierce is starting to lose the locker room he once held together with duct tape a season ago. To be fair, anything is an upgrade over Josh McDaniels. I think that the Raiders need to hire a real head coach and get a real franchise quarterback to be taken seriously as a real team in the NFL next year.

As far as when Pierce may get the ax, I would say riding an eight-game losing streak into the bye.

Antonio Pierce's last game as Las Vegas Raiders head coach: Nov. 29 at Kansas City Chiefs

4. Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy

The final score does not reflect what I watched in Atlanta. Despite all of the injuries, it seems as though the Dallas Cowboys have quit on Mike McCarthy. I feel horrible for him in that he is coaching on an expiring contract for the league's biggest prima donna of all time in Jerry Jones. Regardless, McCarthy seems to be second-guessing every decision he makes, good, bad or downright ugly.

What I saw in Dallas' 27-21 defeat to the Falcons on Sunday afternoon was something primal, something desperate and something I would not want to be a part of. This was a team that was playing reactionary football all afternoon long. You cannot win on NFL Sundays playing in that manner. Because Jones is going to keep making it about himself, I have no idea when this will end.

Because Jones wants McCarthy to have a merry Christmas, I would say he makes it through the year.

Mike McCarthy's last game as the Dallas Cowboys head coach: Jan. 5 vs. Washington Commanders

3. New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll

If Brian Daboll is allowed to coach the New York Giants next season, then everybody who is a fan of this team is afforded the right to pick a new one. This is not about Daboll being a bad head coach because I do not think that is the case. It is that the Giants have one of the worst ownership groups in professional sports. It is so incredibly decadent. The IBM of the NFL is running on moldy floppy disks.

Losing to the rival Washington Commanders 27-22 is a referendum on the Giants franchise. Washington was a steaming pile of suck under its previous ownership. Well, look what happens when you breathe life into an organization. If the Giants were smart, they would fire Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen before figuring out if they can sell the team before the 2025 NFL Draft begins.

The Tisch-Maras or whatever they are called are noble to a fault, so they will drag this out forever.

Brian Daboll's last game as New York Giants head coach: Jan. 5 at Philadelphia Eagles

2. Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski

Dumb people gotta work somewhere, and many of them work for the Cleveland Browns. While I would say that Kevin Stefanski has probably already earned his pink slip, he will get hired immediately as an offensive coordinator in this league or by a team that recognizes that owner Jimmy Haslam is the overarching problem in Cleveland. Still, losing at home 27-10 to the Los Angeles Chargers is so awful.

So in terms of trying to figure out when Haslam is inevitably going to pull the plug on Stefanski in Cleveland, I think it hinges entirely on how Haslam's alma mater of Tennessee finishes out the college football season. The Vols should be a playoff team, but they won't be if they lose to Georgia and then to in-state rival Vanderbilt to finish at 9-3 (5-3). It would not shock me if Haslam does it in December.

It may be at the end of the year anyway, but just to be different, how about right before Christmas?

Kevin Stefanski's last game as Cleveland Browns head coach: Dec. 19 at Cincinnati Bengals

1. New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen

If there was ever an NFL head coach deserving of being tarmac-ed like Lane Kiffin was while at USC, it has to be a fellow visor-wearing enthusiast in Dennis Allen. His New Orleans Saints are an absolute steaming pile of garbage. After somehow losing on the road to Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers 23-22, New Orleans has now lost seven in a row after a 2-0 start. Next up will be Atlanta...

Admittedly, it should be after this game. The NFL trade deadline is on Tuesday. Derek Carr has now lost to an NFL record 31 teams. I think Gayle Benson has ever reason to fire Allen after Sunday's showing in Charlotte. I could also see her moving on from him after losing at home to the hated Falcons. If that is not enough, who about losing Game No. 9 in a row vs. equally hapless Cleveland?

For as hilarious as it would be for the Saints to fire Allen before the Falcons game, it may not happen.

Dennis Allen's last game as New Orleans Saints head coach: Nov. 17 vs. Cleveland Browns