hot seat – Syndication Server

Former Washington coach in trouble?

Is 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan really on the hot seat?

A former Washington Redskins offensive coordinator is said to be on the hot seat.

Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks drove down the field and, in the game’s final seconds, defeated the San Francisco 49ers, dropping the 49ers to 5-5 this season.

A couple of hours later, Grant Cohn, publisher of 49ers on SI, tweeted, “If the 49ers miss the playoffs, they should fire Kyle Shanahan. Period.”

Twitter was ablaze on Sunday evening, as 49er fans declared their disappointment with this year’s team in general. In particular, many voicing they wouldn’t mind if Shanahan was not San Francisco’s coach next season. That was putting it nicely, by the way.

Many are tweeting things they should not, being mean-spirited, unfair, and frankly hateful towards Shanahan. Yes, they are exercising their First Amendment right to say what they think. However, aren’t they also revealing how unfair and unkind they are as people?

Yes, the 49ers are struggling, and yes, injuries have been a major issue. They are a reality.

If Shanahan’s 2024 team does not make the playoffs, there will be changes made. However, that doesn’t mean necessarily the change made will be the head coach. They could choose to make personnel changes.

And yes, they could fire Kyle Shanahan. However, the 49ers could still win the NFC West, where the Cardinals lead at 6-4 and the 49ers, Rams and Seahawks are tied at 5-5.

Shanahan was the Redskins’ offensive coordinator during the 2010-2013 seasons. He was subsequently fired along with head coach Mike Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, and others after a horrible 3-13 2013 season, when Robert Griffin had refused to run the offense that Kyle had designed for him in 2012, bringing Griffin his lone season of NFL success.

Shanahan was the Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. After Washington, he was the offensive coordinator for the Browns in 2014 and the Falcons in 2015 and 2016 before becoming the 49ers’ head coach for the 2017 season.

These coaches should be on high alert moving forward

Two head coaches and an offensive coordinator were fired on Sunday, we look at five more who should keep their heads on a swivel.

The coaching carousel began to spin on Sunday when three coaches were fired after lackluster performances on the job. Mike Houston and Will Hall haven’t been up to snuff over the last several seasons while Oklahoma OC Seth Littrell commanded one of the worst offenses in college football.

At a university like Oklahoma, that just wasn’t going to cut it. It didn’t help matters when his unit turned the ball over on three straight possessions and put his team in a 21-0 hole just six minutes into the game. While that should quiet the locals who have been fed up with Littrell for weeks, I am not sure anything other than an influx of talent is going to fix that unit this season.

More on the Oklahoma situation at another time. The carousel started up much later than we have seen in recent years, some of that can be like attributed to the transfer portal and the number of players we have recently seen opt to redshirt the season with the intention of entering the portal. With the portal a team can turn around much quicker giving some coaches more of a leash.

However, this might be the opening of the floodgates in the coming weeks and we have a list of coaches who should have their heads on a swivel. Five coaches who could be next on the chopping block.

Dave Aranda, Baylor Bears

This past weekend the Baylor Bears took out a lot of frustration on the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 59-35 victory. For Aranda to earn more time in Waco they will need more of those types of performances. The positive news is the Bears don’t have a daunting schedule over the next six weeks with home matchups against Oklahoma State, TCU, and Kansas. They will go on the road to face West Virginia and Houston. Aranda must do no better than 3-2 the rest of the way and win a bowl game to earn another season, otherwise he could be on the chopping block.

Billy Napier, Florida Gators

Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Over the last four games, Billy Napier might be working his way off the hot seat for this season. During that stretch, Florida is 3-1 and the only loss came in overtime to the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville. He isn’t out of the woods just yet with games against the Georgia Bulldogs, Texas Longhorns, LSU Tigers, and Ole Miss Rebels in November. Napier needs just two wins to get to bowl eligibility and they have a hapless FSU Seminoles team on the schedule as well, getting to 6-6 feels like a win with the schedule they had in 2024. However, we know it can unravel at any time, which is why he is still on our red alert list.

Sonny Dykes, TCU Horned Frogs

Much like Dave Aranda, Dykes hasn’t looked quite the same as his one magical season upon his arrival in Fort Worth, Texas. You could argue that his last season and a half look reminiscent of his time at Cal-Berkley. Following the loss to Georgia in the 2022 CFP title game, the Frogs have been a meager 9-10 in those 19 games since. Not having Gary Patterson’s players on the roster has had a negative impact. The Frogs may not make a move this season unless they fail to make a bowl game for the second consecutive season.

Mack Brown, North Carolina Tar Heels

The second tenure in Chapel Hill started off on the right track but the train has started coming off the rails as of late. The Tar Heels are losers of four straight including a 70-50 high-scoring affair against James Madison that started the streak after beginning the year 3-0. It isn’t just the fact that UNC has dropped four in a row but the manner in which some of these games have ended. The Tar Heels blew games against rival Duke and Georgia Tech in two of the last three. It might be time for Mack to retire and this time for good.

Stan Drayton, Temple Owls

Stan Drayton earned his mettle as a running back’s coach at the collegiate level. Most notably with the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes working with Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, and Ezekiel Elliott. He is well equipped to coach the backs but being a head coach might not be his calling, however, winning at Temple seems laborious. Drayton is 3-16 in AAC play over the last three seasons and just 8-23 overall. The Owls will likely join the coaching carousel sooner rather than later.

Five more to monitor

Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8-22 since 2022)
Trent Dilfer, UAB Blazers (5-14 since 2023)
Mike Locksley, Maryland Terrapins (33-36 since 2015)
Ryan Walters, Purdue Boilermakers (5-14 since 2023)
Joe Moorhead, Akron Zips (5-26 since 2022)

Alvin Kamara on losing streak: ‘Everybody gets on the hot seat’

Alvin Kamara says five-game losing streaks put everyone on the hot seat. Unfortunately, everyone may not share that philosophy:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers put 50 points on the board a week ago. This week, Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos embarrassed the New Orleans Saints on Drew Brees’ induction night.

It’s been over a month since the Saints have been victorious. Since defeating the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, the team has dropped 5 straight games.

Alvin Kamara understands what situation the Saints have put themselves in. Everyone should be under pressure, starting with Dennis Allen then trickling down: “The other reality of the business is when you start losing too much, everybody gets on the hot seat. The coaches, when coaches leave then players leave, then personnel.”

Who knows how hot Allen’s seat is, but it should be on fire.

Kamara articulated it perfectly. “When you get too many L’s and you don’t produce enough wins, everybody’s job is on the line.”

That’s how it should be. This is a results business. Allen’s results tell a pretty convincing story. He wasn’t successful in Oakland, and he hasn’t been successful in New Orleans.

The problem could be there’s not enough pressure being placed on Allen. The mediocrity of the Saints seems to be accepted. It’s been that way for a couple of years.

Dennis Allen probably isn’t on the hot seat, but therein lies the problem in New Orleans. Accepted mediocrity.

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If Dennis Allen’s seat wasn’t hot before, it had better be now

A 2-0 start quieted calls for Dennis Allen’s job. But if his seat wasn’t hot before, it had better be after the Saints fell to 2-2 on his watch:

Dennis Allen was a trendy pick to be the first head coach fired this year, until a 2-0 start put that notion on ice. But if his seat wasn’t hot before, it had better be after the New Orleans Saints fell to 2-2 on Sunday. Allen hasn’t done anything to win that much goodwill from Mickey Loomis, Gayle Benson, and other decision-makers on Airline Drive.

Of the ten head coaches hired in 2022, five have won fewer games than Allen has with the Saints, and three of them have already been fired. Of those remaining Allen is tied with embattled Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson at 18-20, trailing behind Todd Bowles (20-18 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Mike McDaniel (21-16 with the Miami Dolphins, pending their Monday night matchup with the Tennessee Titans), and Kevin O’Connell (24-14 with the Minnesota Vikings).

Loomis has stubbornly argued that Allen’s run with the Raiders a decade ago shouldn’t matter much in evaluating his performance today. And there’s some merit to that — the NFL is known for its “What have you done for me lately?” mindset. But you can’t ignore Allen’s career record. He’s coached 74 games and only won 27 of them.

Of the 177 head coaches who have worked at least 60 games in the NFL, Allen ranks 167th in career win percentage (.351). If you only want to look at those coaches with 70-plus games to evaluate, Allen ranks 150th out of 158.

And if, like Loomis, you’re an apologist who only wants Allen’s 38-game tenure with the Saints to be considered? Of the 250 coaches with at least 38 games to their name, his win percentage (.474) ranks 133rd. Is that really worth waiting on to see if he can turn the corner?

Allen’s defense is supposed to be his bread and butter. But they’ve given up seven yards per carry in back-to-back weeks while failing to pressure an immobile quarterback in Kirk Cousins or guard a late lead against the Falcons. And these have been problems for three years now, if not longer. Allen can coach a secondary but he can’t build a strong defensive line, and his team works with such a thin margin for error that every pass interference penalty, muffed punt, and ball batted up at the line of scrimmage matters.

So what’s to be done? Allen’s contract is up after the 2025 season. The Saints were hesitant to fire him after his 7-10 start because of the guarantees left on it (even though they pay exponentially more than that in dead money for players not on their roster every year), and he did make some incremental progress to finish 9-8 last season. But we’re in Year 3. Allen is struggling to stay over .500 and win as many games as he loses. He’s had every excuse made for him and the Saints have worked hard to get him his quarterback, his offensive coordinator, his position coaches and training staff, and he still can’t produce results. They’re in third place in the NFC South, the worst division in pro football, yet again.

There’s no reason Year 4 should be promised to him, but don’t be shocked if Allen finishes the season and is tasked with coaching for his job next season. Loomis is normally too aggressive for his own good. In this case, he might be too stubborn to admit he got this hire wrong and draw out the inevitable. If we’re wrong, and Allen does right the ship and figure out how to close tight games? Then we’ll praise him for it. But he hasn’t earned that confidence yet, and time to do so is rapidly running out.

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Dennis Allen should be on the hot seat going into 2024

Dennis Allen should be on the hot seat going into 2024. The Saints have tolerated too much mediocrity under his watch, and he’s run out of excuses:

It shouldn’t be a hot take to say Dennis Allen should be on the hot seat going into 2024. The New Orleans Saints have tolerated too much mediocrity under his watch, having missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons while wilting in their biggest games. Allen has not delivered on the expectation general manager Mickey Loomis outlined when he was hired, envisioning a coach who could field a competitive team each week.

And it’s not just us saying it. That’s the word from Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay, who started with Allen when listing head coaches whose jobs could be in jeopardy this season:

The New Orleans Saints resemble little more than a shell of the powerhouse they were during the franchise’s golden era that featured Drew Brees under center and Sean Payton at the helm.

Dennis Allen, the head coach promoted to his position following Payton’s retirement after the 2021 campaign, and the three different starting quarterbacks he’s churned through since taking over simply haven’t done an acceptable job emulating their predecessors. While Allen’s regular season record isn’t atrocious—he’s gone 16-18 in his two years at the helm—he’s struggled to compete in a wide-open NFC South and hasn’t done much to inspire confidence that he can oversee a contender.

New Orleans attempted to take a shortcut to find a capable quarterback after it became clear that neither Jameis Winston nor Andy Dalton were adequate replacements for Brees. Derek Carr was brought on as a free-agent last season but couldn’t elevate this squad to its first playoff berth since 2020.

The team’s 9-7 record was too strong to allow it to acquire a blue-chip passer in the draft, however, and the Saints are now in grave danger of finding themselves stuck in the NFL’s version of purgatory—not bad enough to bottom out and get a top pick but not good enough to even reach the playoffs.

Kay also pointed to the season-ending debacle against the Atlanta Falcons in which Allen’s players undermined his authority to score one last touchdown in a blowout win over their oldest rivals; Allen earned a lot of enmity from Saints fans for apologizing to his Atlanta counterpart afterwards. If he’s lost the locker room, Kay writes, and as that incident suggests, it’s fair to ask how much longer Allen can stay in place.

Another year without the playoffs should be the end of it. Allen has been given every opportunity and every advantage but he hasn’t shown he can make use of it. He’s failed to stack up wins with the easiest schedule in the league or consistently win matchups against backup quarterbacks, or rise to the occasion when competing with a playoff team, or even an opponent who just has a backbone.

Now he has his $150 million quarterback, he has his handpicked offensive coaching staff, and he has the NFL’s weakest schedule again. If he can’t win in these circumstances, he’ll never be able to. The question is whether Loomis and the Saints’ leadership team agrees.

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Is Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on the hot seat in 2024?

The Steelers continue to build a contending roster and now it is up to HC Mike Tomlin to get the best of them.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has gone 17 seasons as the team’s head coach without a losing season. That’s a pretty remarkable stat. But not all of the stats during Tomlin’s tenure have been so good. An 8-10 playoff record and a playoff win drought going back to 2016 does nothing to quiet the critics.

This offseason, the Steelers front office has taken the proverbial big swing. The team completely gutted the quarterback depth chart and brought in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both on one-year contracts. It feels like this roster is being built for a big run in 2024.

This is in addition to multiple other roster upgrades as well as a brand new offensive coordinator. All of this makes us wonder if Tomlin is feeling some pressure to be more than just a competitive team in the regular season and if his job be in jeopardy if the team doesn’t take that next step this season with all the new additions.

Cast your vote and let us know if you think Tomlin is on the hot seat in 2024.

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Does Saints’ quiet offseason reflect on Dennis Allen’s job security?

Dennis Allen was thought to be on the hot seat heading into 2024, but the lack of aggression in free agency could suggest otherwise:

The New Orleans Saints’ inactivity in free agency could reflect Dennis Allen’s job security. Many have believed Allen is entering the 2024 season on the hot seat, having failed to reach the playoffs in either of his first two years on the job. That may be the case, but the Saints’ moves don’t suggest the team nor Allen feels the pressure. They’ve made limited additions, only signing one player who could be a starter.

New Orleans has never been afraid to make a splash even when it may have seemed the salary cap wouldn’t allow them to. Years of cap gymnastics should show us the Saints will find a way to do what they want. If they aren’t aggressive, one can only assume the Saints don’t want to be. It’s not a stretch to relate that to the organization’s mentality heading into the season.

If Allen truly felt his job was on the line, he should be more proactive in lobbying to improve a team that limped to a winning record in 2023. They’re essentially running it back with their same core players. Maybe the offense just needed a year to build chemistry, which may carry over with the new coaching staff. Maybe Allen just doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Both are plausible explanations, but either way the Saints aren’t moving like a team that feels it needs to be significantly better in the fall. It’s also possible that general manager Mickey Loomis does see a future where Allen isn’t coaching this team in 2025 and beyond. If that’s the case, spending carefully and responsibly on free agents in 2024 to help get the books in order for 2025 would make sense. Allen has his quarterback, his new offensive coaching staff, and a ton of returning starters. How much more does he need to get this team to the playoffs?

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Report: Dennis Allen ‘is in a good spot’ after 14-18 start with Saints

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Dennis Allen ‘is in a good spot’ with the Saints despite his 14-18 start as their head coach. He isn’t on the hot seat:

There’s no rational explanation for the New Orleans Saints to stand by Dennis Allen as their head coach, but general manager Mickey Loomis and team president Dennis Lauscha appear to be manufacturing one anyway. All they have to show team owner Gayle Benson is another losing record after investing $150 million in quarterback Derek Carr to support Allen’s vision for the team. There are two games left to play against NFC South rivals that soundly beat Allen’s team earlier this season.

But change isn’t on the horizon, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Rapoport’s sources have found little to complain about Allen during his 14-18 run as Saints head coach through two years.

“My understanding is that Dennis Allen is in a good spot,” Rapoport said. “Obviously if it goes horrific at the end of the year, this is always subject to change, life is subject to change, but that is where it stands right now.”

This news come off the heels of the Saints’ inept performance in a Thursday night loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Both teams may have entered the game with matching 7-7 records, but the Rams left no doubt that they were the better team. The Saints didn’t lead on the scoreboard for a single minute in their 30-22 loss, which wasn’t as close as that final tally would imply.

So why stick by Allen? What does he bring to the table when his handcrafted defense is allowing a 95-yard touchdown drive? Rapoport’s explanation reeks of the sunk cost fallacy.

Rapoport continued, “One of the reasons is they’re not getting out of where they are any time soon. Derek Carr is fully guaranteed for next year. Could they move on, I don’t think they want to, it’s expensive if they decide to. You have a roster that’s getting a little older, getting a little slower, it’s still really expensive. Off the edge it’s not as fast or twitchy as you’d like.”

Loomis invested a ton of draft picks in Allen’s vision for the team, with little to show for it. He was fleeced in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles aimed at getting left tackle Trevor Penning last year and Penning has hardly played since getting benched early this season. Loomis traded up for both of the Saints’ picks in the fourth round this year (offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri and quarterback Jake Haener), and those two players have combined for 18 snaps across 15 games.

The cupboard is looking awfully bare. With a complicated salary cap situation and few draft picks to spend on young talent, the Saints are stuck with the roster they’ve built for themselves — and for Allen. He got his quarterback, who hasn’t met expectations, and the defense he’s spent years cultivating is withering. So is there a light at the end of the tunnel if Allen and this group are returning for 2024?

“If they’re going to rebuild, they’re going to have to actually rebuild, and it just doesn’t feel like that’s something you do with a completely new coach,” Rapoport mused. “And you can’t do it next year basically anyway, so it does seem primed for a reboot in New Orleans.”

That’s not the most inspiring message, but it’s the reality the team is in. Rather than bring in a new coach with fresh ideas who can try to rally the group they have, they’re looking to ride it out with Allen and Carr through 2024 and then consider wholesale changes when it’s more affordable. That isn’t going to be a popular move with a fanbase that has already had its fill of Allen and Carr, but that’s the course Loomis and Lauscha must feel is best for their team. They’ve been wrong on almost every decision since hiring Allen so far. Maybe they’re due for getting something right.

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ESPN labels Saints one of the worst potential head coach openings

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put Dennis Allen on the hot seat and ranked the New Orleans Saints as one of the worst potential openings for a new head coach:

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently released his top-10 potential head coach openings this offseason, and the New Orleans Saints made the list. Three coaches have been let go in-season with the Los Angeles Chargers dismissing Brandon Staley after the Carolina Panthers ousted Frank Reich and the Las Vegas Raiders fired Josh McDaniels, so that accounts for three of the openings.

The other seven should be viewed as coaches on the hot seat, which includes Dennis Allen. The entire NFC South is on the list, a great reflection of the current landscape of the division. None of these four teams have met expectations.

New Orleans comes in at eighth on Barnwell’s list. In other words, they are viewed as the third-worst potential job. Only the Raiders and Panthers have less to offer a potential first-year head coach than the Saints, Barnwell says. The cons of an older roster, complicated salary cap outlook, and lack of draft capital overwhelmed the pros of a weak division and star power already on the roster.

It’s understandable for Barnwell to evaluate the Saints like this. New Orleans is getting older, specifically on the defensive side, without many young up-and-comers ready to take over. Alvin Kamara is approaching 30 years old, which is when many teams give up on running backs. The quarterback hasn’t performed well either but some of Derek Carr’s struggles fall on the coaching staff, which Barnwell points to as a reason for optimism — maybe a more creative play caller can get more out of him than Pete Carmichael has.

The roster’s age would be the best reason to say the job is less attractive. New Orleans is built to make one big push but the future is still in the air. There are some building blocks on this team, but it’s understandable why the team is low on the list. The Panthers come in at tenth on the top-10 list while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons rank at sixth and third respectively. Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is the hottest name on the market ahead of the next hiring cycle but all four NFC South teams may struggle to attract him given their various challenges.

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8 college football coaches on the hot seat, including Houston’s Dana Holgorsen

Jimbo Fisher was the first major domino to fall in what could prove to be a wild coaching carousel.

In contrast with the chaos of the college football coaching market the last two years, it’s been a bit of a slow burn to start the 2023 carousel.

As the calendar turned to November, the only Power Five openings were Michigan State and Northwestern, both of which opened for non-football reasons. It looked like we could be heading for a relatively quiet cycle.

Then, a major domino fell. In what became something of a “Black Sunday” for college football coaches, Texas A&M decided to part ways with coach Jimbo Fisher (and pay the $76 million buyout that came with that decision).

Since then, we’ve seen a few more changes, including in the SEC West. Mississippi State fired first-year coach Zach Arnett just 11 games into his tenure after he took over last December after the death of coach Mike Leach.

In the Group of Five ranks, Boise State axed third-year coach Andy Avalos, and San Diego State (and former Michigan) coach Brady Hoke announced his retirement.

These were the first moves to be made, but if history is any indicator, they’ll be far from the last. Here are eight more coaches who find themselves on the hot seat with two weeks left in the regular season.