By Lucy Coleman October 11, 2022
Matt Rhule came into the NFL as one of the most hyped and brightest coaching prospects available during the 2020 hiring cycle.
Sadly, he didn’t even make it through two-and-a-half years with the team that hired him.
When Rhule was hired by the Panthers, he was widely praised as a coach with strong offensive acumen and knowledge of analytics to skyrocket the team through the roof
To get Rhule to leave Baylor and join the NFL, Tepper and the Panthers gave him a seven-year, $62 million contract.
As he helped build the Temple and Baylor programs into winners, it was believed that Rhule could be a successful team builder and coach at the next level.
However, that never quite happened.
The Panthers got off to solid starts in Rhule’s first two seasons, going 3-2 in 2020 and 3-0 in 2021, but it went downhill from there.
Rhule posted a career record of 11-27 in 38 games with the Panthers and his .289 winning percentage is 260th among the 289 people to coach at least 30 NFL games.
Carolina Panthers was off to a 1-4 start in 2022 and was coming off a 37-15 home defeat against the San Francisco 49ers.
The game was an ugly loss during which San Francisco fans effectively took over Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte to make it a home-like atmosphere.
Another reason Rhule’s Panthers struggled so much was his team’s offensive performance.
The poor quarterback play throughout Rhule’s tenure with the team married the Panthers and Rhule could only do little to coach the players.
The boos showered on the Panthers amid Baker Mayfield and the offense’s struggles earlier in the season was enough to make Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper arrive at a final decision.
The Panthers announced in October of 2022 that they had fired Rhule after just 38 games with the team.
Defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who worked alongside Rhule at Temple and Baylor, was also dismissed.
Now the question shifts to who will be next to get fired.
With Rhule’s swift exit from the Panthers, this has put a lot of other coaches on a hot seat, especially those who have notably struggled with proving their capabilities as head coaches
Last season, the league saw 10 head coaching Swift changes.
Despite that much turnover, other jobs could still be available by the season’s end.
Who will be next to get fired?
Based on this year’s results and each team’s outlook, here are some other coaches with a high probability of being the next to go.
Frank Reich, Indianapolis Colts
When the Indianapolis Colts visibly imploded in the match against Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18 last season, the bulk of the blame was placed on Carson Wentz.
Now that the quarterback is gone and the Colts are at a struggling 2-2-1, owner Jim Irsay might be looking to place the blame on head coach Frank Reich.
Matt Ryan’s acquisition last off-season was done in the hopes that he could provide the juice needed to push the team to the playoffs.
Those hopes have fallen flat.
But when you consider where the Colts were expected to fit within the AFC South and how those wins have come, it’s not too early to start wondering if Reich is still the right man to lead the team to victory.
The first win was a 20-17 triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs in which the Chiefs were much more successful on a per-play basis.
With an average offense of 5.2 per play, the Chiefs bypassed the Colts who were scraping by with 3.8 yards per play.
Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t the type to make impromptu decisions concerning coaches so this remains a debatable decision.
The Steelers have been the model of continuity for a long time now, as far back as 1969 as they only have three head coaches: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin.
However, the current head coach may be a surprise candidate to be exiting the team or to be on the hot seat by the end of the season.
With a three-point win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the season started alright for them.
Since they’ve lost four straight and are last in the AFC North.
This is the most unusual as the Steelers haven’t finished fourth in the division since before the advent of the four-team division set up twenty years ago in 2002.
A 38-3 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills put their troubles at the forefront and the fact that T.J. Watt has been out for most of the year due to a severe injury has only placed more doubts in Tomlin’s capabilities as head coach
Nathaniel Hackett, Denver Broncos
Between injuries, clumsy offense, poor game management, penalties, and just about everything else, the Denver Broncos have an abundance of issues going on.
It is no news that neither Russell Wilson nor Nathaniel Hackett has lived up to the hype with the Denver Broncos.
One of them might have to go and it usually won’t be the star quarterback who just signed a contract with a guaranteed $161 million.
When Nathaniel Hackett was hired to revive the team whose offense had been rendered ineffective under Vic Fangio, a defensive-minded coach, the expectation was that the offense in the Broncos would be resuscitated
However, the Broncos are currently 31st in scoring, last in the red-zone touchdowns, and 18th in yards per play.
This puts Hackett squarely on the hot seat.
Perhaps Hackett would survive if the offensive woes were the only hitch.
But he has reportedly struggled with the skill of prompt decision-making required of a head coach.
Despite hiring Jerry Roseburg after Week 2 as a game management coach to assist Hackett, the Broncos are 1-2 since then and lost to the Colts on national television.
This puts Hackett in a very difficult position that might end up with him exiting the team.
Will any of these coaches be able to hold down their jobs and avoid a similar fate with Rhule?
Only time can tell.
