Heading into Week 16, the list of NFL head coaches who have been fired is now two. That included Carolina Panthers head man Matt Rhule getting his walking papers after Week 5 with former Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich fired following an ugly Week 9 loss.

With that said, there’s other coaches who find themselves firmly on the hot seat now that we’re heading down the stretch of the regular season. Below, we look at several NFL head coaches who are on the hot seat and where they stand right now.

 

NFL head coaches with hot seats blazing

Kliff Kingsbury, Arizona Cardinals

An argument can be made that Kliff Kingsbury is one of the worst NFL head coaches today. Here’s a guy who has posted a 28-34-1 record since joining the Cardinals. Arizona has also lost 14 of its past 19 games dating back nearly a calendar year. He’s currently mired in a rift with quarterback Kyler Murray, who the Cards inked to a long-term deal this past offseason and is sidelined with a ton ACL.

Sure Kingsbury signed an extension himself. But it’s becoming readily apparent that he’s in over his head in the NFL. That has the embattled head coach firmly on the hot seat and it could lead to him getting those walking papers come “Black Monday.” That’s magnified now that Arizona is in the process of replacing general manage Steve Keim.

 

Nathaniel Hackett, Denver Broncos

Teams don’t fire head coaches less than one full season into their tenures unless it is an unmitigated disaster. See, Urban Meyer last season. At this point, Hackett could be headed in that direction with the Broncos through just 14 games. The team currently sits at 4-10 on the campaign.

Denver ranks dead last in the NFl in scoring at 15.6 points per game. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Russell Wilson is putting up, by far, the worst performance of his career. From an in-game coaching perspective, we’ve seen Hackett make mistake after mistake.

At this point, Denver’s new ownership group likely won’t move off Hackett before the 2022 season comes to a conclusion. But it’s hard to imagine him lasting into Year 2. They have no built-in relationship with him. This season has been a disaster. There’s new blood in charge in Mile High, and Hackett could be the first casualty.