The NFL is approaching the midpoint of the season, and this is when struggling teams need to start casting an eye to the future, which means making difficult decisions. The keyword for the 2026 season so far is “unexpected,” with scant few teams living up to preseason expectations, while others are overperforming what was assumed before the season kicked off.

It’s time to look at five coaches around the league who are on the hot seat and break down who actually needs to be fired in order for these franchises to move forward. Conversely, some of these guys are on the hot seat right now but still deserve another chance, because they are either a victim of circumstance — or these teams just can’t do any better.

There’s no sugarcoating what’s happened in Philly. This team is a mess. Injuries have wracked the team, seemingly finding a way to keep getting worse by the day. More and more players are hitting the injury report, entering IR, or just missing key snaps. Against the Panthers on Sunday the team did its best, but it was clear they just didn’t have enough players to really make an impact.

At the center of everything is Nick Sirianni, who looks miserable trying to coach this season. Things weren’t great before the injuries, and now he’s forced to watch Tanner McKee, and a chorus of mediocre running backs try to form some semblance of an offense. The team is still decent defensively, but they’re banged up on that side too. It’s reached the point where it’s difficult to envision the Eagles winning many more games this year.

That’s where the rub comes in, and what makes this so tricky. Sirianni does not to be fired based on the injuries and adversity he’s faced, especially when we look at his past history of success. The main issue is that if the Eagles end up with a very high draft pick, potentially in a spot to upgrade at quarterback — at what point is it worth trying to turn over a new leaf in the process?

We have a scenario that feels somewhat similar to Doug Pederson. We had a Super Bowl-winning head coach who failed to follow up on the success, and owner Jeffrey Lurie believed that the long-term success of the franchise was more important than preserving the status quo, even if he thought Pederson was a decent coach. The team decided to part ways with their coach, Carson Wentz, draft a new QB, and install Nick Sirianni — ending a five-year tenure for all of them.

It’s year six for Nick Sirianni.

Verdict: Keep. When we get down to it, I think there might be some more left in the tank for Sirianni. There needs to be some more guidance, and I’d like to see this team hire a senior advisor, however — just to assist with the decision making.

The Colts are just so underwhelming. This is a team that has pieces which would make you assume they can compete, but they keep falling flat — and a lot of the moves this team has made on the roster side came at the behest of Shane Steichen.

This is the second year Steichen has been the subject of discussion when it comes to his future, and he’s run out of rope. This team is 2-4, they lost to the Titans, Daniel Jones is struggling, and nothing looks good. This team needs to draft a legitimate QB of the future and rework their entire organization. That can’t happen with Steichen at the helm.

Verdict: Fire. Steichen doesn’t have what it takes to reform this franchise, and it’s too critical a moment to continue giving him chances.

It’s only year two, but there’s been plenty of discussion about Aaron Glenn’s future with the Jets as the franchise continues to wallow in mediocrity.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think anything that’s happening right now with the Jets is Glenn’s fault. He’s still working with a deeply flawed roster, without a solid long-term QB, and a defense that he put work in to reinvent. To be honest, he correctly evaluated that both Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams were overrated, which allowed the team to get incredible return in trades.

Most importantly, the Jets actually have some pride right now. I think there’s still a lot of room for this team to grow.

Verdict: Keep. There’s so much work to be done, but the Jets aren’t a joke anymore — a lot of that is thanks to Glenn, who has at least made this team competitive.

When you look at the Chargers sideline it’s clear things are bad. I’ve seen a lot of Harbaugh-coached games over the years, and this season there’s just zero fire, no energy, he meanders around like he doesn’t really care. It’s the first time Harbs has let apathy sneak into his coaching, and it shows.

There’s a very good chance this team just fires Mike McDaniel and uses him as the scapegoat, but there’s no tangible reason to keep Harbaugh as the coach. This team is bad, and seemingly rocks up unprepared every week — which falls on coaching.

If this team was smart they would identify that this isn’t working and make a change.

Verdict: Fire. Problem is, I don’t think the Chargers ownership has the stones to go through with it. Another few seasons of mediocrity await.

We don’t need to break this one down.

Verdict: Fire. Todd Bowles is terrible.

The Rams are unequivocally the losers of the week because … c’mon. No offense to the Arizona Cardinals, but COME ON. Los Angeles was supposed to be an all-consuming juggernaut of the NFL and they can’t even beat a struggling divisional opponent, in spite of having both Puka Nacua and Davante Adams in the lineup.

This team is not going to make the playoffs. Straight up, it’s not happening. After their Week 11 bye this team closes out the season against the Chiefs, 49ers, Cowboys, Seahawks (twice), and the Buccaneers. Even a really favorably look at their remaining games would put the Rams at 9-8 on the year. That is not going to be good enough in the NFC, and I don’t even know that getting back Myles Garrett is going to make enough of a difference.

The Rams are going to be one of the biggest disappointments in NFL history based on their level of talent prior to the season beginning.

Credit where it’s due, because there was a very good chance that McCarthy would absolutely bottom out after entering the game against the Saints and throwing a first drive interception. Instead, he fought he way back and showed some real chops in very limited time.

The Giants owe it to themselves to start him from here on out, just to see if there’s anything they can do to make him a legitimate quarterback. Lest we forget that McCarthy entered the draft with much more fanfare than Jaxson Dart did — with more belief he could become a legitimate NFL talent.

We know that Dart has a cult following, but that doesn’t help if he’s in the injury tent every week. McCarthy could end up being the true difference maker the Giants needed.

The Bears got their QB back, and he didn’t miss a step. Beating Atlanta isn’t exactly the biggest test in the NFL, but Williams stepped on the field and showed everything Chicago had been missing while he wasn’t on the field.

Caleb just has such good command of the Bears’ offense that he’s able to orchestrate incredible plays whenever theyre needed. Im not sure how bullish I am on Chicago, simply because their defense is still incredibly bad — but the future remains so bright for Ben Johnson’s team.

It’s just really nice to see a young star return from injury and still look dominant.

Beating the Eagles is great, leading the Panthers to another win is fantastic — being on track to throw for 5,267 yards, 37 TDs and 7 INTs is phenomenal. That’s not why he’s a winner this week, because this is.

Whether you’re religious or not is immaterial here. It’s just really nice to see a top-tier player pause to think of their opponents and give them the respect they deserve in a difficult situation. This is Young being a true role model in an era where empathy and caring for others is severely lacking.