We’re just days away from the start of the 2025-26 season and there are a lot of storylines to look out for. There are a handful of NFL coaches under a lot of pressure heading into the campaign, and that includes a couple of well-known names.
There’s a lot of interest in seeing how they perform this season. Estimates show that betting heading into the season will be at an all-time high for the league, and you can get in on it with a 500 casino bonus for classic games and more. That includes wagers on the status of head coaches throughout the season. Thursday is nearly upon us, so let’s take a look at who those NFL coaches might be heading into 2025-26.
NFL Coaches With the Most Pressure to Perform for the Upcoming Season
Brian Daboll (New York Giants)
When you talk about NFL coaches on the hot seat going into the upcoming season, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll is near or at the top of the list.
In his first season in 2022, Daboll took the Giants to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 with a record of 9-7-1. That was also the year that Daniel Jones had the best season of his career, which earned him an extension. Instead of building upon that, they took multiple steps back the following season, winning only six games. It got even worse last year when the Giants only won a total of three games, having one of the worst records in football. That brought the record over the last two seasons to 9-25 and 18-32-1 overall for Daboll.
The Giants now have Russell Wilson under center, and they drafted Jaxson Dart in the first round of the NFL Draft. It’s the best quarterback situation Daboll has had since becoming the head coach, and the team is hoping to have a top-half defense to go along with a healthy offensive line. All eyes will be on how Daboll goes about the quarterback situation as the season moves forward, but it’s all about progress.
Daboll is probably under the most pressure in 2025-26 among NFL coaches, needing to secure eight wins to avoid a third-consecutive double-digit loss season. If 10 or more losses end up happening with no progress shown, the Giants could end up looking for a new head coach after the season.
Shane Steichen (Indianapolis Colts)
Shane Steichen took over as the Indianapolis Colts head coach in 2023. They improved immensely from their 4-win season the prior year with a 9-8 record. They just missed out on the playoffs, but things looked to be on the rise with the team.
Last season, the Colts won eight games. They weren’t a bad team, but they didn’t improve upon their nine-win season and faltered down the stretch. The development of Anthony Richardson was the number one focus heading into last year, and it didn’t go well at all. There was no improvement seen, and the number one person in charge of his development, whether you think it’s fair or not, is Steichen.
The Colts signed Daniel Jones this offseason to compete with Richardson for the starting quarterback job. Jones was named the lead man for week 1, another indication of the lack of development of Richardson. The future of Richardson in Indianapolis is up in the air, but again, the main figure associated with that will always be Steichen.
It’s hard to imagine the Colts getting any better, which might not bode well for Steichen, especially with a new owner after the devastating passing of Jim Irsay. If the Colts miss the playoffs, it would be the third consecutive year under Steichen and the fifth time overall for the team.
Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins)
With Mike McDaniel at the helm, the Miami Dolphins have finished second in the AFC East in all three of his seasons and made the playoffs in his first two years. His style of offensive football has helped Tua Tagovailoa in his career and has helped this offense look like one of the most explosive in the NFL. For his first two years, the Dolphins have ranked near the top in total offense in the league.
That being said, no one knows what the make of the Dolphins heading into the 2025-26 season. They won’t be bad but I’m not sure they’re a playoff team either. They have the pieces to be, but that’s what everyone said last season when they ended up going 8-9 and missed the playoffs. One of the emphases of the season is to keep Tagovailoa healthy and if they can do that, they could fight for a playoff spot.
If McDaniel finishes the season with around the same record, his job is likely safe, but if, for some reason the Dolphins dip even more than they did last year, there could be serious discussions on his future as head coach of Miami. With the offensive talent the Dolphins have, there’s pressure on his team to perform and get back to the playoffs.
Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals)
Speaking of offensive talent and being under pressure, look no further than the Cincinnati Bengals. Zac Taylor may be the least likely among the NFL coaches on this list to be on the hot seat, but he sure has pressure on him to get this team back in the playoffs.
Taylor has Joe Burrow and JaMarr Chase at his disposal to go along with Tee Higgins, making for the best offensive trio in the NFL. That alone puts pressure on you to make the playoffs, but what puts even more pressure on you is when you’ve missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons. While the Bengals did miss the playoffs, they went 9-8 in both seasons and were just on the outside looking in.
There are many factors as to why, like injuries and a poor defense, but it wouldn’t be a good look to miss the playoffs three consecutive years with arguably the best quarterback and wide receiver in the league. Before the two-year playoff drought, Taylor had taken the Bengals to the Super Bowl and the Conference Championship game in back-to-back seasons.
Cincinnati is consistently thought of as the team equipped to take down Kansas City with Burrow, like they have in the regular season and the AFC Championship, just because of that offense. The Bengals would sure like to get back into the conversation with Kansas City, Baltimore, and Buffalo as the top AFC teams like they once were.
Taylor has made some changes with the way the Bengals do things in the offseason in hopes of getting out to faster starts to the year, and that includes playing Burrow and Chase in the preseason, even if it’s a little more than some prefer. The pressure is definitely there, and he feels it as he hopes to get the Bengals going back in the right direction again and show everyone that he is one of the best NFL coaches out there.
Brian Callahan (Tennessee Titans)
Brian Callahan is only entering year two, but with everything that has happened the last two years, there’s a little bit of pressure to show progress. He replaced Mike Vrabel to try to revamp the offense, which was not a popular decision among many.
Callahan finished his first season with only three wins and one of the worst offenses in the league. They did just about everything wrong, but it was also a poorly constructed team. That allowed him to draft quarterback Cam Ward with the first overall pick. Now there’s pressure on Callahan to show improvement in all facets of the game. They did improve a little at some positions, and it’s year two of Callahan’s system, making that improvement possible.
No one expects Callahan to take Tennessee to the playoffs this season, but his coaching job will be looked at closely with Ward under center and how he handles the first-year quarterback. About a three-win improvement would be looked at as a win, but anything less could see Callahan’s time in Tennessee come to an end.
