You know that sinking feeling? You’re at a party, and someone corners you to explain why your favorite team’s coach obviously should be fired. You nod, but secretly you’re thinking, “Man, I wouldn’t want his job.” Well, this year, a bunch of NFL coaches actually got that pink slip. It’s a brutal business, and the 2024 season has been a regular culling.
Let’s start with the most shocking one. Remember when Robert Saleh was the heart of the Jets’ defense? The guy who brought the swagger? Yeah, he got the axe just five games into the season. The irony? The Jets were 2-3, which, for them, is practically a playoff pace. But owner Woody Johnson decided he’d seen enough of Saleh’s grimaces on the sideline. Poof. Gone. And you just know Saleh was probably thinking, “I fixed the defense, but Zach Wilson is still… Zach Wilson.”
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Then there’s Matt Eberflus in Chicago. This one felt less like a firing and more like a mercy killing. The Bears gave him three years to build a culture, but the only thing that grew was the fans’ frustration. He was fired after a Thanksgiving loss to the Lions, which is a special kind of holiday misery. (Imagine explaining that to your Aunt Carol over turkey.) The Bears’ defense looked lost, and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was already gone. Eberflus just became the human sacrifice for a front office that can’t draft a quarterback to save its life.
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Dennis Allen: The New Orleans Nightmare
Out in New Orleans, Dennis Allen was supposed to be Sean Payton’s heir. Instead, he became the face of a 7-10 record that felt like a chronic illness. The Saints started the season 2-0 and looked like contenders. Then they lost seven straight. By Week 9, the Saints’ offense was a ghost town, and Allen’s post-game pressers had the vibe of a hostage video. Firing him was like pulling the plug on a plant you forgot to water for a month. The only surprise is it took owner Gayle Benson so long to reach for the shears.
Let’s not forget Brandon Staley from last year, but the 2024 wave had a similar feel. Coaches are being fired faster than a bad fantasy football pick. The common thread? Owners are desperate. They see the Chiefs winning and think, “I want that.” So they chop heads. But here’s the thing—you can’t fire the quarterback. You can’t fire the offensive line. So you fire the guy in the headset. It’s the oldest trick in the book, and it rarely works.
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The irony is delicious. Teams like the Carolina Panthers fired Frank Reich earlier in the year, too. But look at them now: still a dumpster fire. They changed the coach, but the owner, David Tepper, is still there. That’s the real problem. When you fire a coach, you’re basically saying, “We screwed up, but we won’t admit we screwed up the top of the org chart.”
The "Interim" Trap
And what happens after the firing? The interim coach gets thrown into the arena. Guys like Darren Rizzi (for the Saints) come in with a whistle and a smile. They’re basically human band-aids. They’ll lose a few games, but the owner can say, “Look, we tried something new.” It’s a temporary fix, like putting a tarp over a leaky roof during a hurricane. You know it won’t hold, but it buys you time until you find a roofer—or a new GM.
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Let me tell you a secret: these firings are often about saving face, not saving the team. Take Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas. Wait, he was fired last year. But this year, we saw the Raiders fire offensive coordinator Luke Getsy mid-season. You see the pattern? The coordinators are the sacrificial lambs while the head coach (Antonio Pierce) gets a mulligan. For now. But let’s be real: Pierce is probably next year’s story. The NFL carousel never stops.
The Human Cost
Behind the headlines, these are real people with families. Matt Eberflus has kids who have to go to school the next day. Robert Saleh might have to move his life from New Jersey to, well, anywhere else. And the media? They feast on the news for a day, then move on to the next scandal. It’s a cold business. You get hired with a press conference and a handshake. You get fired with a two-sentence statement and a cardboard box.
So what’s the takeaway? Don’t be an NFL coach. Unless you have a star quarterback. Or a patient owner. Or you’re Andy Reid. Otherwise, your job security is about as stable as a toddler riding a unicycle on a frozen pond. This year’s list of fired coaches is just the latest chapter in a story that repeats every season. Same script, new faces. And as fans, we watch, we tweet, and we wait for the next one to fall. Because in the NFL, the only thing hotter than a sideline headset is the seat underneath it.