NFL hot seat: 5 coaches likely to get fired by the end of 2018

Niner Noise looks around the NFL hot seat and tries to predict which head coaches likely wind up being fired by the conclusion of the 2018 season. Good thing the San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan isn’t on this list.

The San Francisco 49ers may be 1-4, and head coach Kyle Shanahan certainly has his share of questionable decisions in what’s turning out to be yet another disappointing season in Santa Clara.

But Shanahan isn’t two full years into the six-year deal he signed with the Niners early in 2017. It’s a long-term rebuild, and everyone within the organization knows it. And there have been enough glimpses over the past year-plus to suggest, when things are clicking, the 49ers can be a playoff team.

It would be worse, however, if San Francisco was laden with enough talent but still failing to deliver. That’s usually where coaches wind up faltering and winding up on the NFL hot seat.

2018 is proving to reveal more than a few candidates likely to be fired between now and the beginning of next season.

Some are fairly obvious. Others, perhaps, not so much.

Here’s a spoiler, though. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis isn’t on this list. How about that omission from the NFL hot seat, right? Lewis’ Bengals are off to a 4-1 start and sit atop the AFC North entering Week 6.

These five coaches, however, can’t be viewed as so lucky. Ranked, in reverse order, the top five head coaches on the NFL hot seat and likely to be fired before the 2019 season begins.

Hearing talk of the Dallas Cowboys’ Jason Garrett being on the NFL hot seat is nothing new. It stretches back to 2016, perhaps earlier, although Garrett’s Cowboys finished 13-3 that year before being eliminated in the divisional round.

In fairness to Garrett, his offense has undergone a slew of massive changes and setbacks this season. It lost four-time Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick to a rare illness, saw a number of key offensive weapons (tight end Jason Witten and wide receiver Dez Bryant) depart and a forced reliance upon third-year quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Those two are Garrett’s lone recognized weapons on offense. That’s it.

Garrett has shown up as the favorite among some circles to be the first coach fired this season. This, despite Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sticking up for the head coach and suggesting Garrett is capable of leading the team to a Super Bowl.

If Dallas under-delivers in 2018, however, the situation could be vastly different.