Detroit Lions

5 Head Coaches on Hot Seat Heading Into NFL Week 5

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:16 p.m. ET

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Oct 2, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy reacts during the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Saints at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

With four games in the books, here’s a look at five head coaches on the hot seat heading into NFL Week 5.

After another exciting week of football, it’s time to take a look at which head coaches find themselves on the hot seat heading into NFL Week 5, and could be out of a job sooner rather than later.

Thanks to key wins by the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears, Marvin Lewis and John Fox were lucky enough to be left off the list for at least this week. But that doesn’t mean the head coaches can’t return down the road. With Lewis and Fox out of the picture for this week, that means two new coaches landed on this list for the first time in 2016, and unfortunately it’s nothing to be proud of.

It’s only been four weeks, but the last couple of seasons have seen plenty of teams part ways with head coaches in a short period of time. While there’s obviously plenty of time for these coaches and teams to turn things around, they better not wait until it’s too late.

With Sean Payton starting off this week’s list, despite a big road win by the New Orleans Saints, here’ a look at the five head coaches on the hot seat heading into NFL Week 5 of the 2016 season.

Oct 2, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton (center) looks on before the game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

5. Sean Payton (No. 4 Last Week)

The New Orleans Saints should consider themselves lucky for escaping Week 4 with a victory when considering how close Payton’s squad came to still being winless on the season. If that happen, there’s a good chance Payton would have found himself higher on this list.

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In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Saints found themselves trailing the San Diego Chargers 34-21 as all signs pointed to another disappointing finish for New Orleans. Instead, Payton’s team rallied with 14 points in the final five minutes, including the go-ahead touchdown by John Kuhn with 1:57 left.

What made this win even more bittersweet for the Saints is Drew Brees recorded his first win in San Diego, the team he spent the first five years of his career with. Even if Brees didn’t have the best of the game, everybody knew, including Payton, just how important this game was for the veteran quarterback.

As big as this win was for New Orleans, this team still has a long way to go before Payton’s hot seat begins to cool down. Not only are the Saints sitting at 1-3 heading into Week 5, but this is a team allowing opponents to score at least 32 points in three of four games.

Sep 25, 2016; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley looks on during warm up s prior to a game against the Baltimore Ravens at EverBank Field. Baltimore Ravens won 19-17. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

4. Gus Bradley (No. 1 Last Week)

Just like the Saints, the Jacksonville Jaguars have to be feeling great about picking up their first win of the 2016 season, especially since it came against one of their big division rivals in the Indianapolis Colts.

Frustration has been building towards Gus Bradley as the Jaguars got off to a disappointing 0-3 start, with two of those losses coming by double digits. Even Sunday’s game against Indianapolis was decided by three points, but it was Jacksonville that managed to come up on the winning end this time around.

Bradley was already on the hot seat entering the 2016 season when considering the head coach has never won more than five games in any of his first three years as head coach. When looking at all of the weapons Blake Bortles has to work with on offense, there’s no excuse for a team like the Jaguars to struggle with putting up points each week.

So when this team started the year off with an 0-3 record, panic mode started to kick in. After Jacksonville’s big win in London, maybe this team is finally turning things around to secure Bradley’s job a little longer.

Sep 18, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell during the first quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

3. Jim Caldwell (Debut)

With the way things have gone downhill for the Detroit Lions over the last three games, Jim Caldwell is facing plenty of pressure heading into Week 5, especially after the team’s surprise loss on the road to the Chicago Bears.

On paper, the Lions should have been able to come through with the win in Week 4 when considering how much the Bears struggled over their first three games. Instead, it took Detroit the entire game to find the end zone after Andre Roberts returned a punt 85 yards for the touchdown in the final two minutes of the game.

It’s difficult to determine just how effective of a head coach Caldwell really is when considering how easy he had it the first two years with Peyton Manning running the offense. Even if the Lions reached the playoffs in Caldwell’s first year with the team in 2014, he hasn’t done anything over the last two seasons to prove he’s worth keeping around.

This team is loaded with players that are underperforming, and if things don’t improve soon, Detroit may face a tough decision when it comes to Caldwell. And unfortunately for Caldwell and the Lions, the schedule isn’t going to get any easier over as four of the next five games are against teams with winning records.

Sep 18, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano in the first half against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

2. Chuck Pagano (Debut)

When considering how close the Indianapolis Colts were to firing Chuck Pagano after failing to make the playoffs last season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team actually go through with the firing this time around with the way things are panning out in 2016.

With a healthy Andrew Luck, the Colts were supposed to return to the dominant level of the team that was always a strong contender in the AFC South. Instead, Indianapolis has already suffered three losses by single digits over their first four games, and no matter how hard they try, the offensive line just can’t seem to figure out a way to protect their quarterback.

Indianapolis has gotten off to slow starts in the past during the Pagano era, but nothing has been this bad. Rewarding the head coach with a four-year extension in the offseason was a questionable move to begin with, and now there’s a chance Pagano won’t even make it to the end of his first year in that deal.

The excuse of numerous injuries can only be used so many times when looking at some of the interesting play calls made by this team over the last four weeks, some of which could have changed the outcome in some of the Colts’ losses. When this happens, the head coach is the one that deserves the blame, and Pagano knows this team could easily be in better position.

Sep 11, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy talks to Head Linesman Ed Camp (134) against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

1. Mike McCoy (No. 3 Last Week)

History seems to be repeating itself with the San Diego Chargers, and sadly, it could end up costing Mike McCoy his job as head coach if the team doesn’t find a way to turn things around soon.

One year after losing nine games by single digits, all three of San Diego’s losses have come by single digits, with their latest coming on Sunday against New Orleans. The only word to describe that loss to the Saints is pathetic, as the Chargers had no excuse to lose the way they did.

No team with a 13-point lead during the final minutes of a game should end up losing, but San Diego found a way to do so. And if things didn’t seem frustrating enough, the Chargers face a tough schedule over the next four weeks with games against the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos (twice), and Atlanta Falcons.

In other words, McCoy has quite the work cut out for him if he’s going to have any shot at keeping his head coaching job. San Diego hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2013, and with the way the AFC West is shaping out, McCoy’s squad could be extending that postseason drought to three years at this rate.

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