Who's on the hot seat entering the 2025 season?

NBC Sports

28-06-2025

During Thursday's episode of #PFTPM, someone asked for a list of the coaches on the hot seat.
I started to rattle off names before deciding to take the issue under advisement, Wapner-style, until Friday's episode. And then I nearly forgot to do it.
During my extensive prep (i.e., none whatsoever) for Friday's show, I came up with a list of five and counted them down. Or up. If I simply wanted to push you to the attached video, I'd say, 'They're in the attached video.' But that's not my style. Especially when I need to type enough words to justify a full post.
So here they are, from No. 5 to No. 1. And this is my own assessment of the broader, 32-team situation. I'm not reporting anything. I'm identifying the guys whom I believe are under the biggest cloud of uncertainty as the season approaches.
5. Panthers coach Dave Canales.
There's a glass-half-full vibe around the Panthers, given that they finished relatively strong in 2024 after a disastrous start. If that comes to fruition for the 2025 Panthers, all will be well.
If the wheels come off, it could spell doom for Canales, who enters his third season on the job.
The key becomes owner David Tepper. Will the hard-charging, results-demanding, drink-throwing (at least once) owner tolerate, say, a 4-13 finish?
It won't be easy for Canales, if that happens. Mainly because of the guy who signs the checks, and who issues the pink slips.
4. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer.
The key to knowing Schottenheimer's job security is to know whether and to what extent he has guaranteed money beyond 2025.
Usually, head coaches enjoy at least three years of guarantees. But there's nothing usual about the hiring of Brian Schottenheimer.
He was on exactly zero teams' short lists during the latest hiring cycle. For the Cowboys, who wanted to have offensive continuity for quarterback Dak Prescott, it was either Schottenheimer or Eagles offensive coordinator (new Saints coach) Kellen Moore. Schottenheimer came cheaper.
How cheap? So cheap that there would be no buyout if he's fired after one year?
If so, Schottenheimer could need to do enough in 2025 to earn his employment for 2026.
3. Colts coach Shane Steichen.
Through two seasons, Steichen is 17-17 with no playoff appearances. His non-interim predecessor, Frank Reich, went 40-33-1 with a pair of playoff berths and was abruptly fired.
The swing and miss (so far) on quarterback Anthony Richardson is on Steichen's record. The failure to develop Richardson is on Steichen's resume.
As the 2024 season ended, there was a haze of confusion as to whether big changes would be made in Indianapolis. Now that an ownership change has happened following the passing of Jim Irsay, it remains to be seen how Carlie Irsay-Gordon will run the team.
And, most importantly, whether she'll want to hire a coach of her own after her first season in charge.
How the team performs in 2025 becomes a massive factor in resolving what currently is a major unknown. Which puts pressure on Steichen to win enough games to make the answer an obvious 'yes.'
2. Giants coach Brian Daboll.
On one day, Giants co-owner John Mara said he'd be sticking with G.M. Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll. Then, Mara said he's running out of patience.
It's a mixed message to Daboll as to the potential impact of the upcoming season, and it necessarily puts him on the hot seat.
It shouldn't. The Giants are in a difficult division. They need plenty of help from a talent standpoint. Mara should give his current regime more time.
And not just a commitment that ultimately feels temporary. That's precisely how it feels in New York.
1. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel.
Even at a time when everyone is 0-0 and all teams have plausible hope, it feels like the window has closed for a Dolphins team that could end up flying straight into the glass in 2025.
There's dysfunction. There's turmoil. There's an unsettled situation with a star player who received a market-level contract in September 2024, and another star player who has said he wants out and who may feel the same way all over again if the 2025 season starts poorly.
It all comes back to Tua Tagovailoa. Can he play well? Can he stay healthy enough to play well?
Can the Dolphins win enough games to make it to the playoffs?
Along the way, can they shed the narrative (as confirmed by linebacker Jordyn Brooks) that they go soft as the weather turns cold?
Ultimately, it comes down to whether Stephen Ross will demand a major change if 2025 ends up being another disappointing season.
Thirty years ago, the late Jets owner Leon Hess fired Pete Carroll after one season by saying this, 'I'm 80 years old. I want results now.'
Stephen Ross is five years older than Hess was when he said that.
The video mentions a few others who didn't make the top five. I'll defer to it for those. Mainly because I got to 800 words without having to do that.