The 2026 NFL season is past the halfway point, and with Thanksgiving almost here, Black Monday is not far behind. That is the busiest day of the coaching calendar, when teams fire head coaches and start sizing up the next crop of candidates.

So today, I am looking at the NFL head coaches sitting on the hottest seats, from a second-year coach in New York to a shocking winless start out West.

AFC head coaches on the hot seat

Aaron Glenn, New York Jets

Year 2 of Jets coach Aaron Glenn’s tenure has gone better than his first season, but New York still isn’t very good. The Jets sit at 2-7, and the problems look awfully familiar.

This team has talent. Geno Smith has played remarkably well, Garrett Wilson is still Garrett Wilson, and David Bailey has been on a tear. But Glenn finds a way to mess it up week after week, whether it’s game management, challenges, clock management, coaching decisions, or some of his press conferences.

Through a season and a half, Glenn simply doesn’t look fit to be a head coach. If the Jets keep losing, I don’t believe he will be the head coach in New York next year.

Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts

I don’t care how good of a head coach you are. If your GM has already been fired in season, you are on the hot seat.

What Carlie Irsay-Gordon will have to sort through is how much decision-making power Colts coach Shane Steichen had over this roster. Was it his call to pay Daniel Jones? Was he part of the fire sale that saw Quenton Nelson, DeForest Buckner, Josh Downs, and Keenan Allen leave for very little draft capital in return?

If he was, and if Indianapolis keeps losing, I could see Irsay-Gordon and the Colts’ new ownership deciding to start from scratch. Trade Jonathan Taylor, move on from Jones, hire a new head coach, and begin a new era of Colts football. That is a real possibility no matter what your opinion of Steichen is.

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Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers

The biggest surprise of the season resides in the AFC West. It sounds crazy to put Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh on this list after back-to-back playoff trips with a quarterback who is arguably top-five to top-seven in the league when he’s on.

But Los Angeles is 0-8, the only winless team in the NFL at the halfway point. You are going to feel the heat with a record like that.

Do I think the Spanos family fires Harbaugh? Probably not. But you cannot have the roster, the quarterback, and the coaching staff the Chargers thought they had after bringing in OC Mike McDaniel and be 0-8. That is unacceptable in the modern NFL, and if the losing continues, Harbaugh’s seat will only get warmer.

NFC head coaches on the hot seat

Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

What could save Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles is the state of the NFC South. Tampa Bay is 3-6, but the division has been so bad that three wins still have the Bucs in the mix.

The secondary is among the best in the NFL. The problem is everything around it: the play calls, the in-game management, and an offense that can’t seem to find a coordinator or any explosive plays. Tampa Bay has dealt with quarterback injuries, and Baker Mayfield has been up and down, but this team just feels like a mess.

Bowles has been on the hot seat for a couple of years now. If the Buccaneers don’t win the division, they won’t make the playoffs, and I think Bowles could be out in Tampa Bay.

NFC East: 3 of the 4 head coaches are feeling the heat

Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer has not looked like a good hire through two years. Despite sitting at 4-5 and staying in the NFC East race, Dallas has looked outcoached from top to bottom multiple times.

We can debate the defensive coordinator Christian Parker hire until we’re blue in the face. But the run game has struggled, and Dak Prescott, one of the steadier quarterbacks in the league, somehow looks flaky at times. George Pickens can’t get the football a year after he was a top-three wide receiver by most metrics. The Cowboys had better start winning fast, or they will be looking for a new head coach.

Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders

You can say something similar about Commanders coach Dan Quinn. He shook up his coordinator hires in the offseason, and the expectation was that Washington would be much better.

Jayden Daniels has been healthy for much of the regular season, and it has still been coaching malpractice. Quinn has had multiple end-of-game blunders, including the wild Daniels play that ended a game in a tie. If the Commanders don’t make a real push for the playoffs or an NFC East title, Quinn could be out of a job.

Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles

Saving the biggest dumpster fire for last, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is feeling the heat in Philadelphia. To be fair to Sirianni, this team looks like a shell of its Week 1 self.

Jalen Hurts is out for the year with blood clots. Saquon Barkley has been in and out of the lineup while toughing it out, and DeVonta Smith has missed time. The offensive line lost Cam Jurgens in a trade and Lane Johnson to retirement. Backup Tanner McKee played horribly, and Joe Milton looked how many expected.

The defense hasn’t been any better. Cooper DeJean, one of the better nickels in the league, has regressed in a contract year, and Tariq Woolen has been borderline unplayable. Vic Fangio has players looking like they don’t want to play for him, and Jordan Davis has since been traded.

At 2-7, there isn’t much saving that can be done in Philadelphia, even in the NFC East. It is just a question of whether Howie Roseman, Jeffrey Lurie, and the Eagles front office pull the trigger and say goodbye to Sirianni.