We’re deep into the NFL season, and the hot seat is heating up for a number of coaches.
In case you missed it, the Washington Redskins fired head coach Jay Gruden on Monday following an 0-5 start in 2019 and only one playoff berth in six seasons. This begs the question: whose team’s coach is next to receive the pink slip?
This past NFL offseason saw a ton of turnover on the coaching carousel, with a quarter of the league making a change. But at least one first-year coach is squarely on the hot seat, along with a few tenured leaders on some of the most prominent franchises.
Read on for a glimpse at the Fragile Four whose job statuses are dubious at best.
4. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Tomlin have combine to lead the storied Steelers to two Super Bowls. However, those championships are far in the rear view mirror.
It’s no secret Pittsburgh has been a mess for quite some time. Yes, some of that was instigated by Antonio “Basket Case” Brown, but the Steelers also mismanaged the holdout of star running back Le’Veon Bell.
Between all that nonsense and a 1-4 start to this year, the recent resume doesn’t look sparkling for Tomlin, who will in all likelihood miss the playoffs for the fifth time in the past 11 seasons.
That’s not good enough for such a venerated team. With Roethlisberger out for the rest of this year following elbow surgery, it seems like an ideal time for both Tomlin and the Steelers to get a fresh start — barring a miraculous postseason berth.
Big Ben’s future is in doubt, leaving the deck stacked perhaps too high against even someone as tenured as Tomlin. It might make more sense for Pittsburgh to hire an offensive-minded coach to groom Roethlisberger’s eventual successor.
Although losing Bell wasn’t ultimately a big blow to the offense, Brown’s absence has been noticeable and was even before Pittsburgh’s aging signal-caller was knocked out of action by injury.
If Mason Rudolph doesn’t prove to be the heir under center, it figures to be a rocky couple years for the Steelers.
Tomlin, by many accounts, has a reputation for being a strong motivator and a player-friendly coach, but his past achievements actually don’t bode well for his surviving a full-blown rebuild.