Going into Week 16 of the 2025 NFL season, 14 teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention. Their statuses have come from a myriad of issues, be they injuries, disappointing campaigns from their players, or, in some cases, the poor management of their head coaches.
To wit, ranked below are all of the head coaches of eliminated teams, assessed and sorted by how hot their seats are.
NFL Hot Seat tiers for coaches of eliminated teams
Safe
Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
There is no good way to spin this: 2025 was an abject disaster for the Kansas City Chiefs. Their only consistently good unit has been their defense, and it has not done nearly enough to shore up a CVS receipt of injuries and absences to their entire offense. For additional context: this will be the first season in over a decade in which the Chiefs will have failed to even make the playoffs.
But even amidst all of the chaos around Kansas City, two men will always remain safe at Arrowhead: Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. Reid is in GOAT coach conversations, and even after such a down year, the only rumblings around his status as coach have revolved around a quickly-squashed rumor that he was considering retirement.
Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' job isn't nearly as secure as his boss'. But Brian Schottenheimer, despite the struggles in Dallas overall this year, has shown a lot of promise at the helm of this team. He's been a clear leader in the locker room, and the offense has been one of the most effective in the NFL so far this season.
The defensive personnel and his coordinators have to improve for the Cowboys to make a meaningful run at the playoffs and now play the final three games of the regular season without any stakes, but there have at least been signs that Schottenheimer is the right man to lead this team into battle.
Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota Vikings
Just like Reid, the NFL's greatest quarterback whisperer is as safe as houses amidst a very disappointing year for the Vikings. Though, with an injury list as long as a CVS receipt, this team was never going to keep up with the heavyweights they share a division with anyway, especially not with how green and uncomfortable second-year rookie J.J. McCarthy looked under center.
But despite their injuries, the Vikings' defense has kept up with their solid 2024 numbers, and the team still sits at a decent 6-8 record that wouldn't look too bad in, say, the AFC North. O'Connell has led this team to two 13+ win campaigns, and rest assured that they will be back. He's probably safer in Minnesota than Tomlin in Pittsburgh.
Kellen Moore, New Orleans Saints
The Saints do not look good. At 4-10, things look right in lockstep with their 5-12 finish in 2024. On paper, they're still at the bottom of one of the weakest divisions in the NFL, with an awkwardly-constructed roster and a bizarre quarterback room.
And yet, you've got to remember that they started off even worse (1-8), and since have won three of their last five. Two of those wins are against the division-leading Buccaneers and close runners up in Carolina. And on a soft schedule to finish out the season, New Orleans can realistically finish hot too, behind their shockingly stingy passing defense and a similarly shocking debut season from rookie QB Tyler Shough. Moreover, Moore is the youngest head coach in the league in his first year with the team, and would have kept this job anyway under an even worse campaign.
Aaron Glenn, New York Jets
You can cut and paste the Saints' situation into that of the Jets' with Aaron Glenn. These are two teams that are fully committing to the rebuild, and Glenn is also recovering from a disastrous beginning to his first year with the team. He's not going to be a one-and-done, not when New York also basically tore its roster down to the studs.
2026 will be treated as Glenn's true debut on his current tenure. In the wake of the Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner trades, New York now boasts an imposing war chest of draft capital, and next season will be Glenn's test run to see how the Jets' young core gets molded around him. It will also likely be a rebuild year, but New York definitely still has faith in one of the key players in Detroit's massive turnaround just a few seasons prior.
Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders
Yes, Quinn made an unconscionable and unethical decision to leave superstar quarterback Jayden Daniels in a blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks, leading to Daniels dislocating his elbow. That is inexcusable. But he also made the decision to shut Daniels down early with three weeks left in the season.
The Commanders were ranked in the top 10 just before the 2025 season started, as well. They should have been just a year removed from playing for the NFC Championship. Disappointing, but it's only been one year, and a year marred by injuries, no less. Regardless, it feels safe to chalk 2025 up to a rough hangover from wildly exceeding expectations the year prior. Quinn will get at least one more shot with this team.
Hot seat
Raheem Morris, Atlanta Falcons
Morris is wearing out his welcome in Atlanta. A disappointing stint from Kirk Cousins and a mix of turbulent starts and injuries to Michael Penix, Jr. have derailed the Falcons' 2025 campaign, and they have found themselves regressing from a sub-.500 finish in 2024, Morris' debut.
To Morris' credit, Atlanta's gambit of going heavy in the first round of the 2025 Draft has paid off, at least on the defensive side of the ball. He's always been a defensive coordinator at heart, and helmed a Rams defense that did win the Super Bowl. But his limitations as a head coach are being exposed, and his seat is hotter than most. The only thing that sets Morris apart from Jonathan Gannon (more on him later) is that his quarterback isn't as much of a headache as Kyler Murray...yet.
Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
Speaking of worn-out welcomes, there aren't many head coaches who have had their heads called for on a billboard. Taylor still feels like he's operating from the safety that a Super Bowl appearance brings, but that was four seasons ago.
Joe Burrow is unhappy, and possibly considering playing hardball over the next few years. Between their offensive line and defense, Cincinnati is leaning on the shoulders of its skill positions. And yet, those issues seem mostly to do with team owner Mike Brown, who feels more like a reactionary owner than a proactive one. And with Taylor under contract for another few years, it's unlikely that an owner like that would give him an early can. But not impossible.
Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins
When the Dolphins started the season 1-6, McDaniel would have likely been filed into the 'Fired' portion of head coaches. But since then, they've gone 5-2 with quality wins over the Steelers and Bills, as well as a convincing divisional sweep of the admittedly-lowly Jets.
Moreover, McDaniel has done this by staying flexible with his scheme, leaning into his strength as a play designer. Their passing defense and rushing offense have been remarkably solid, and his willingness to move on from Tua Tagovailoa early probably bodes well in the eyes of ownership. He's bought himself another year.
Almost Surely Getting Fired
Jonathan Gannon, Arizona Cardinals
This is where Raheem Morris would be if his quarterback was Kyler Murray and if he literally punched one of his players.
Throw in the recent muddiness about Murray's status as starter, the Cardinals failing at Gannon's supposed specialty as a former defensive coordinator, and third-straight losing season, and it would be a shock to see Gannon back in the captain's chair for Arizona.
Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns
Even amidst the Buccaneers' late-season fade from prominence, you have to imagine that the Browns are looking towards Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay like that one meme of Squidward staring out of this window.
You could blame the Browns' post-Mayfield issues on their uncertainty at quarterback, but the way that Stefanski has handled the promotion of Shedeur Sanders has been head scratching, to say the least. If not for that moment, Stefanski might have simply been in the hot seat. But that one moment seemed to call into question all both of Stefanski's play calling and talent evaluation abilities.
Pete Carroll, Las Vegas Raiders
Speaking of embarrassing outings, the Las Vegas Raiders were clearly ready to put together a winning team now. Geno Smith led an offense on paper that was littered with big play names: rookie RB Ashton Jeanty, TE phenom Brock Bowers, and even veteran WR Jakobi Meyers.
And yet, Las Vegas' offensive line has been putrid, Meyers is producing somewhere else, Bowers has been in and out of the lineup, Smith has turned into a pumpkin, Jeanty has put up bust-like numbers, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly got the early can, and Carroll is the oldest coach in the league and is poised to oversee a massive rebuild should he even want to stay on the payroll. He's gone.
Mike Kafka, New York Giants
When former head coach Brian Daboll was fired, it appeared that the promoted Mike Kafka would be given a serious look as the Giants' full-time head coach in 2026. And in some ways, he's made some positive changes already. His staff has reined in some apparently concerning behavior from rookie phenom Abdul Carter, coaxed out his best performance of the season by far, and he even got rid of maligned defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
But the Giants have regressed on offense, injuries or no, and haven't even been within a touchdown of winning a game since Week 11. That is not going to do for an interim head coach, not while rumors swirl around New York's coaching search for 2026.
Mike McCoy, Tennessee Titans
Speaking of head coaching searches, Tennessee has already disclosed their coaching search to the public. McCoy was never going to be their permanent solution. Two narrow wins over the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals were always going to see this team headhunt for someone else going into 2026.