There was a reason Brian Callahan was No. 1 on FOX Sports’ most recent list of NFL coaches on the hot seat. And it didn’t take a well-embedded league source to understand why.
The Tennessee Titans made that clear on Monday when they fired him, just six games into this season and 23 games into his tenure. Callahan departs with an unseemly record of 4-19 (1-5 this season), while the Titans get a head start on their search for a coach they believe will be better suited to developing potential franchise quarterback Cam Ward.
But while Callahan was the first coaching casualty of the 2025 NFL season, he almost certainly won’t be the last. Several others are simmering on seats and could soon follow him out the NFL door.
Here’s a look at who might be next, and just how hot their seats actually are:
1. Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins (Previous ranking: second)
It’s bad enough that the Dolphins are 1-5, but the 42-year-old McDaniel was supposed to be some kind of offensive genius and his team has the 26th-ranked offense in the league. Even worse for him, his team is now in turmoil. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa called out some of his teammates on Sunday for showing up late to meetings — a public scolding those teammates clearly didn’t like. And then McDaniel called out his quarterback on Monday for airing his team’s dirty laundry publicly.
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That has turned the Dolphins from a bad team into an unsustainable mess. Team owner Stephen Ross won’t tolerate both those things for long.
Once close, Tua Tagovailoa and Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel no longer seem to be seeing things eye to eye. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
2. Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns (Previous ranking: fifth)
Stefanski has the cover of having a young quarterback — and maybe two, counting Shedeur Sanders — to develop the rest of the season. If he does that, it could save his job. The only problem is his team is terrible (1-5) and his quarterback, currently Dillon Gabriel, has no support.
Making matters worse, GM Andrew Berry seems poised to sell off the Browns’ remaining attractive assets, whether Stefanski wants to clean house or not. Oh, and Berry is probably on a pretty hot seat too, due to the 41-49 record the GM and coach share in five-plus seasons, plus a lot of questionable, quarterback-related moves. The best way for Berry to save his own job might be to throw his coach under the bus.
Kevin Stefanski’s job security depends on how well he can develop young quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel (left) and Shedeur Sanders. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
3. Brian Daboll, New York Giants (Previous ranking: third)
Get ready for a roller-coaster ride of emotions as the Giants and Daboll try to get to the end of the season with co-owner John Mara in a better mood. Two weeks ago, Mara’s mood had to sour a bit when the Giants lost to the winless Saints. Then they came back and rode their two star rookies — quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo — to a Thursday night upset of the Eagles.
The schedule is still daunting and wins will be hard to come by, but Dart, Skattebo, and a bunch of other talented young players have breathed a little bit of life into this franchise. It all will still come down to Dart and how well Daboll’s hand-picked quarterback develops. The better Dart plays, the more likely Daboll will be with the Giants in 2026. But Dart had better play well. Really well.
4. Jonathan Gannon, Arizona Cardinals (Previous ranking: seventh)
Arizona’s weird, fluky loss to the winless Titans two weeks ago was bad enough. But there was the impossible-to-ignore video of Gannon’s sideline confrontation with Emari Demercado in that game after the running back mindlessly dropped the football before crossing the goal line on what would’ve been a 72-yard touchdown. Gannon lost his cool, screamed at Demercado in animated fashion and appeared to hit him as he walked away.
Here’s the part that relates to the coach’s job security, though: The Cardinals fined him $100,000 for that incident and may have nudged him to publicly apologize. Then his team went out and blew a fourth-quarter lead in Indianapolis on Sunday. The Cards have lost four straight now, and Gannon isn’t exactly in the good graces of his bosses.
5. Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals (Previous ranking: sixth)
Can 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco save his 42-year-old coach’s job? Maybe. But he had better do it sooner than later. Taylor had a built-in excuse to survive when Joe Burrow was lost for two-to-three months with an injured toe. The team was 2-0, and all Taylor had to do was keep it afloat and on the fringes of the playoff race until Burrow returned and rode to the rescue. But the Bengals are 0-4 since.
Can 40-year-old Joe Flacco save Zac Taylor’s job while Joe Burrow rehabs his toe injury? (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
It may not be all Taylor’s fault, but it certainly was his job to get something out of backup quarterback Jake Browning (0-3) and then Flacco (0-1) and find a way to keep the Bengals competitive. This is a cheap franchise that doesn’t make changes often, or lightly. But if this season continues to head in the wrong direction, maybe they’ll see an opening, or at least feel like they have no other choice.
6. Dave Canales, Carolina Panthers (Previous ranking: fourth)
The Panthers have won three of their last four and QB Bryce Young has actually looked pretty good over the past month, so why is Canales still on this list? Habit, for one thing. But also because his record is still just 8-15, even though the Panthers are 3-3 this season. He also works for an owner, David Tepper, who’s made some quick-trigger decisions in the past.
Canales may have had a good month, but if Young regresses or the losses start to mount again, he could move up this list quickly. So while he seems relatively safe in the short term — maybe even for the rest of the season — he’s still a long-term coach to watch, especially if any bigger, offensive-minded names are available in the offseason.
7. Aaron Glenn, New York Jets (Previous ranking: Not ranked)
Putting a head coach on the hot seat just six games into his tenure is a little crazy, right? And, well, when have the Jets ever done anything crazy? Never mind. Don’t answer that.
Glenn is here not because his team is 0-6, but because his team has been a sloppy, dysfunctional mess so far. He also looks ill-prepared for the spotlight, choosing to get testy with the New York media when asked simple questions — like he did on Sunday when, after the Jets totaled a net of minus-10 passing yards, he was asked if Justin Fields is still his starting quarterback.
Yes, of course, Glenn deserves time. Yes, of course, he deserves a chance to find his quarterback, especially with his team seemingly riding a rocket toward the first pick in the next draft. But some in New York already think this is the worst Jets season in memory, and boy is that saying something. If Woody Johnson decides he agrees, then all bets on Glenn’s future will be off.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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