Five NFL Coaches on the Hot Seat as Playoff Picture Comes Into Focus

Jockeying for playoff position is not the main concern for a dozen NFL teams with a dim outlook for the short- and long-term future.

As the postseason races heat up and the 14-team field is set — largely likely to be final over the next two weeks — the concern for home-field advantage is far from reality for the 18 non-playoff teams longing for a postseason ticket.

Here's a look at our NFL coaching hotseat rankings from "He Gone" to "Going to need those boxes."

Kevin Stefanski, Browns Record in 2025: 3-11. Overall record in Cleveland: 44-57 including 1-2 in the playoffs

The Browns went 3-14 last season and a drumbeat spiked from the Dawg Pound that it was time for change in Cleveland when the season ended with six consecutive losses by at least two scores.

We don't know precisely who mishandled the QB call but already owner Jimmy Haslam is on record calling the Deshaun Watson trade a whiff.

Cleveland did go 11-6 and reached the playoffs in 2023. And Stefanski has pulled decent play out of a batch of quarterbacks safely described as below replacement level. He was NFL Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2023. We know he is capable. We don't know if he's culpable in his own demise of following orders. But Haslam does.

But the new foundation of this roster will come from the 2026 draft, and if you're Haslam, can you trust GM Andrew Berry to build an unsinkable ship? If Berry goes, a new GM won't want to be saddled with Stefanski while inheriting more than enough problems and cleanup in every aisle.

Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals, Record in 2025: 3-11. Overall record in Arizona: 11-20

December might define the Gannon tenure and here's how it's going so far: 45-17 home loss to the Rams, 40-20 loss at Houston.

He was hired after a 4-13 season by the Cardinals led the franchise to clean house at the end of the 2023 season.

A six-game losing streak and complete disconnect with the franchise quarterback, Kyler Murray, are the issues stirring public sentiment the Cardinals need to go on without Gannon. His temperament hasn't been the stuff of the ideal frontman in Arizona, but let's face it — losing has been part of the fabric of this franchise for a long time. When Gannon was hired it was with a long view on a rebuild.

He hasn't been graced with perfect pieces to build a championship defense. The nail in the coffin is likely to come down the stretch. If the Cardinals continue to look like a team already on vacation, January will bring moving trucks to the Gannon Residence.

Zac Taylor, Bengals, Record in 2025: 4-10. Overall record in Cincinnati: 55-64-1 including 5-2 in the playoffs

When the Hall of Fame track quarterback takes his disheartened outlook on football life public and you are in charge of operations on offense, sound the alarms. We wouldn't have circled Taylor as one of the coaches who will be toast in January three weeks ago when Joe Burrow thundered back into the lineup with a cavalry mentality and the Bengals threatening to win out and make the playoffs.

Only six teams in the league have a worse record entering Week 16. And a wide lens review prompts questions about the identity of the team, especially its defense, and following up consecutive 9-8 seasons with something worse raises eyebrows.

After Burrow's physical setbacks turned emotional and downright depressing for Cincinnati, there's no longer a lifeline in play for Taylor.

Pete Carroll, Raiders, Record in 2025: 2-12. Overall record in Las Vegas: 2-12

The writing was on the wall after a two-touchdown home loss to the Cleveland Browns (24-10), one of five losses by 14-plus points during the ongoing eight-game losing streak. Carroll doesn't see it — in fairness, he's 74 and doesn't always use his readers — and even after the 31-0 beatdown at Philadelphia last week said he's not coaching for his job.

If Tom Brady wasn't traveling the league and observing interactions with top coordinators every week, we'd feel less strongly that the Raiders are definitely making a move.

Mike McDaniel, Dolphins, Record in 2025: 6-8. Overall record in Miami: 34-32 including 0-2 in the playoffs

There's no postseason party to spare Mike McDaniel the call to owner Stephen Ross' office on Jan. 4 where topics of discussion are sure to include the team fighting back from a 1-5 start — we would've bet your mortgage against it — to prove he still had sway over what was veering into diveded locker room territory.

Given the now-imminent hard reset with the roster — and $45 million likely flushed parting with Tua Tagovailoa -- plus front office in the wake of Chris Grier being fired in October, the Dolphins can't be blamed for leaning into a fresh start.