5 NFL Coaches Under the Most Pressure in 2026

It’s an exciting time of year as NFL training camps are going to be getting underway soon. And every season, there’s a handful of head coaches who enter the year facing more pressure than the rest—whether it’s because they’re taking over a talented roster, replacing a successful predecessor, trying to get a franchise back on track, or simply needing to prove they can take the next step.

Before diving in, it’s important to note that this list is about pressure, not necessarily the NFL’s hottest coaching seats. Some on this list may certainly be fighting for their job if things go poorly, but others are under pressure because their teams have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations and anything short of a deep playoff run would be viewed as a disappointment.

With that in mind, here are the five NFL head coaches facing the most pressure entering the 2026 season (in no particular order).

Aaron Glenn, New York Jets

So I mentioned this list is about pressure and not just necessarily having the hottest coaching seat, but Glenn has both pressure and a scorching hot seat. Before the 2025 season, Glenn talked about how the Jets would be a team fans can be proud of and how the mission was to make sure Jets fans’ pain goes away. And there was actually some optimism too with Fields coming in as QB who was still young and showed some flashes. Then you already had young guys like Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson on offense to help Fields. And then guys like Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner on defense. But instead they sucked again. As usual. Finishing 3-14. And Williams and Gardner weren’t even on the team anymore by the end of the season.

Glenn actually played defensive back for the Jets during his playing days. So it’s not a great look that in year 1 the Jets did not record a single interception. A feat so absurd it has not been done since interceptions started being recorded in NINETEEN THIRTY THREE. A truly unbelievable stat. A stat that sucks for Jets fans, but is funny for everyone else. Yea, Glenn needs to show at least a little something with the Jets this year if he wants to keep his job. As this looked like the same old Jets to me.

Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills

The Bills are starving for a Super Bowl. Probably why they moved on from a great coach in Sean McDermott since he could never seem to get them over the hump. And that’s exactly why Joe Brady has a lot of pressure here. Brady is a first-time head coach who has taken over a team that has been knocking at the door for a Super Bowl for years now. So the immediate expectation? Super Bowl, obviously.

Having Josh Allen as your QB is certainly nice to have as a new head coach, given he may be the best in the league. And it’s not like Brady hasn’t been in the building. He has been with the Bills since 2022. But it feels like this team can make the Divisional Round of the playoffs, lose a hard fought game to a really good AFC team, and fans will still be really upset. This team is essentially the definition of Super Bowl or bust. And I think any first-time head coach will feel the pressure that comes with that.

The Bills weren’t looking for a coach who could simply make the playoffs. McDermott already did that consistently. The entire point of the change was to finally reach a Super Bowl. That’s what makes Brady’s situation unique. The standard isn’t success—it’s exceeding the success of the coach before him.

Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals

Taylor has been with the Bengals since 2019, and has had his fair share of success. He helped turn around a bad Bengals team, and even made a Super Bowl. That Super Bowl visit was in 2022, but it feels much longer than that now after these recent Bengals seasons. The Bengals won 9 games in both 2023 and 2024, and only 6 in 2025. Not what you expected from a team that looked like they would be competing for Super Bowls for years to come.

The defense has also been just awful. Ranking bottom 10 in YPG the last three seasons, with two of those three years ranking as the second worst. Perhaps it is partly a roster construction issue on that side of the ball, but the coaches are certainly going to take heat for that consistently awful play too.

Now you have Joe Burrow saying things like this is the best roster he has ever had. So expectations are naturally going to go up amongst the fanbase after hearing that. Taylor is another coach I truly think we will see be fired if the Bengals struggle once again.

Matt LaFleur, Green Bay Packers

As a Packer fan myself, I’m getting a little tired of all the blown leads. And when you are consistently blowing leads in the second half, who do you look at? The head coach. In fact, rumors were already flying after the 2025 season that the Packers may move on from LaFleur. It’s honestly fair to ask if there were better coaching candidates after last season that maybe they would have moved on? But that’s of course complete speculation.

What’s not speculation though is the Packers choke away a lot of leads. And LaFleur also got off to a real hot start his first few years as coach after being hired in 2019 when they still had Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers won back-to-back MVP’s in 2020 and 2021 after the Packers’ shock selection of Jordan Love in the 2020 draft. They earned the NFC’s 1-seed both those seasons. Helping LaFleur build a great career record to start his coaching tenure. Rodgers would leave the team after the 2022 season. So, does Rodgers or LaFleur deserve more of the credit for those successful early years? Most may lean Rodgers.

Since Rodgers left, the Packers have finished as the NFC’s 7-seed in three consecutive seasons. While making the playoffs is obviously better than missing them, it also highlights the lack of progress this team has made. Three years into the Jordan Love era, Green Bay is still fighting just to sneak into the postseason rather than establishing itself as a true contender. And that lack of progression is concerning, especially with a young roster like the Packers have.

Jesse Minter, Baltimore Ravens

Now this selection is for a lot of the same reasons as Joe Brady, with one exception. The coach he is replacing is John Harbaugh! One of the greatest coaches of our lifetime. A 193-124 combined record for regular season and playoffs, 18 years coached, Super Bowl winner, only two losing seasons, 12 postseason appearances, Coach of the Year in 2019, only coach in NFL history to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons, etc. You get the point, he’s replacing a Baltimore legend.

When discussing the Alabama position after Nick Saban had left, Mike Greenberg of ESPN said “People talk about the Alabama job like it’s a good job. It’s a terrible job! You don’t want to be the guy that follows the guy! The best thing in life is low expectations.”

Now I’m not saying Minter should not have taken a head coaching position at a premier organization simply because of Harbaugh, but I think Greenberg makes a solid point about when you do take a job such as this there’s automatic pressure that comes along with it.

And it’s not as if Minter is taking over a rebuilding team that can afford to be patient. The Ravens still have Lamar Jackson at quarterback, one of the most talented rosters in football, and a fanbase that expects to compete for a Super Bowl every season. That’s what makes this job so challenging. Minter isn’t being asked to build a contender over the next few years—he’s being asked to win immediately. And when expectations are that high, the pressure follows. Even if you aren’t already replacing a legendary coach on top of that.

Whether it’s championship expectations in Buffalo and Baltimore, job security in New York, or the need to reverse recent trends in Cincinnati and Green Bay, all five of these coaches enter 2026 facing enormous pressure. Some may simply need to show improvement, while others are expected to compete for a Super Bowl. Either way, their seasons will be among the most closely watched storylines in the NFL this year.

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