In the NFL, you are lucky to find a coach that stays with a team for 10 years or more. You could have great success for 5 years, but 1 or 2 bad seasons and you are gone. You could win Coach of the Year, but 1 or 2 bad seasons and you are gone (Matt Nagy). The worst of all , however, is one that many teams are often guilty of -- firing your coach after just 1 season, many of which were never given a real chance because of just how bad their roster was. Here, we will take a look at all the coaches fired after (or during) their first season in the past5 years, how it worked out for their respective teams, and whether the firing was fair.
2021
Urban Meyer; Jacksonville Jaguars: Meyer was fresh off of stepping down as head coach of Ohio State. He handed the reigns over to Ryan Day after a successful on-field reign -- although it did include off the field issues such as serious domestic violence accusations by an assistant coach. Still, his coaching resume had hopes high in Jacksonville with #1 pick Trevor Lawrence under center. It was a fairly unethical hire, but nobody questioned Meyer's ability to coach. Maybe they should have. Meyer went 2-11 and was fired before the season's end. This underwhelming, short stint also included more scandals, including videos of a likely intoxicated Meyer at a bar after games. This is one of the few one-and done coaching decisions that I agree with. The Jags hired Doug Pederson as his successor, who led them to the playoffs shortly after. It is worth mentioning, however, that Pederson was recently fired after a disastrous 2024 season.
David Culley; Houston Texans: Culley went 4-13 in his 1 season with the Texans. It sounds bad, but they actually exceeded expectations. Their top rushers were post-New England Rex Burkhead and post-Denver Phillip Lindsay, their top receivers were Brandin Cooks, who was actually very good at the time, followed by then-rookie Nico Collins, who wasn't anywhere near the same as he is now. Still, having 1 good receiver isn't going to cut it when your QBs are Davis Mills and Tyrod Taylor, 2 current backups. It's hard to say whether this was the right move for Houston. They have obviously improved since Culley's tenure, but that has way more to do with their roster turnover then the coaching. His firing certainly didn't negatively effect the team, but nobody really knows where they would be now if Culley was their signal caller.
2022
Nathaniel Hackett; Denver Broncos: Hopes were high in Denver following the acquisition of Russell Wilson in the 2021 offseason. Hackett, who had a background as an offensive coordinator for both the Jaguars and the Packers, brought an offensive minded approach to the new look Broncos. All that offseason hype led to a 4-11 record, and Hackett was fired after just 15 games. Looking back on it, firing Hackett was 100% the right move for a Denver team that was struggling to find identity after investing draft picks, players, and money in Russell Wilson, and hired a coach that was supposed to bring out the best in him. They didn't find immediate success after firing Hackett, who would go on to become the New York Jets OC with Aaron Rodgers, but after drafting Bo Nix in April of 2024, they were able to venture back to the postseason this year for the first time since Peyton Manning's Super Bowl run.
Lovie Smith; Houston Texans: In the offseason of 2021 - after firing the afore mentioned David Culley, the spiraling Texans made the peculiar decision to hire former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Lovie Smith. Smith went 3-13-1 in one full season with the Texans. However, much like Culley, he was handed a below average roster in the aftermath of the Deshaun Watson saga. Davis Mills was average enough to earn himself a second season as the starter, as they opted to take Derrick Stingley Jr. #3 overall due to a underwhelming QB draft class. Houston was in place for the #1 pick heading into week 18, but a surprising win (their 2nd in 3 weeks with nothing to play for) knocked them down to #2 (to be fair, this helped them take CJ Stroud, who has looked better than #1 pick Bryce Young). Many have speculated that Smith was "fired for winning," but his fate seemed sealed well before then. Again, it is hard to tell where the Texans would be with Smith at the head due to the overwhelming roster turnover since they hired Demeco Ryans, but going off of bare statistics, it appears as though this was the right move.
2023
Frank Reich; Carolina Panthers: Fresh off of being fired by the Colts, Frank Reich was hired by Carolina, a franchise with a renewed hope after trading away major assets to select Bryce Young #1 overall. Reich went 1-10, and was promptly fired. Bryce Young performed well below expectations, and Reich was the perfect scapegoat. They would then hire Dave Canales, and despite early struggles from Young, the team went 5-12 and are headed into the offseason with a renewed sense of hope. I'm not entirely sure where this team would be with Reich at the helm, but the move has worked for now.
2024
Jerod Mayo; New England Patriots: This one is particularly interesting. Mayo was a player and a coach during Bill Belichick's tenure in New England, and was handpicked by Owner/GM Robert Kraft as Belichick's successor. One can only imagine how much thought went into the decision, especially given how much time Kraft had to think about it. They worked so hard for so long to find who they thought was the right guy, and it was rumored late in the season that Mayo would get another season. Even as the tides started to turn in weeks 16-18, I thought there was no way Kraft would be so quick to fire someone he knew so well. Much like many of the other coaches on this list, Mayo did the best he could with a generally weak roster. Additionally, rookie QB Drake Maye looked strong throughout the season, and it could have been beneficial to give Maye stability at HC in his first couple of years in the NFL. Time will tell with this move, but I think it's the wrong decision (for now).
Antonio Pierce; Las Vegas Raiders: Pierce was appointed as the interim coach in 2023 following the dismissal of Josh McDaniels. He brought a strong culture to the team in the second half of the season -- so much so that he was promoted to full-time Head Coach for 2024. The Raiders headed into the season with 2nd year QB Aidan O'Connell and veteran Gardner Minshew competing for the starting job, not an ideal 2 candidates to have. Minshew ultimately won -- but was later benched. That was the start of the QB carousel en route to a 4-13 season in which fans saw the 1st overall pick slip out of their hands due to consecutive wins in weeks 16 and 17. Still, Pierce brought out fight in the team when they had nothing to play for, and I don't think they could have done much better than they did. It's obviously too early to deem this a good or bad decision, but I don't love the idea of getting rid of somebody so quick when they had one of the worst rosters in the league.
Eli Knight
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