As training camps continue and the preseason gets underway, the stakes are rising around the NFL. For a select few coaches, the biggest question isn't whether they'll win this season. It's whether they'll get another chance to do it in 2027.
Truth be told, every NFL coach is under pressure. Only seven of the league's 32 head coaches are still in the same job they held in 2021, just five years ago. Of those seven, only Detroit's Dan Campbell and Green Bay's Matt LaFleur don't have a Super Bowl appearance during that span.
That's how hard it is to last in the NFL. Even Cincinnati's Zac Taylor, who led the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance, finds himself fighting to keep his job. Really, almost anyone except Seattle's Mike Macdonald could qualify for this list.
But for these five coaches, the heat is unmistakable and the urgency to win is real.
Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts
With no playoff appearances to his name, Steichen is running out of time. The AFC South hasn't been a great division, especially with Tennessee looking directionless, but Steichen still hasn't managed to capitalize.
Part of the problem has been finding a quarterback. Indianapolis swung and missed on Anthony Richardson, and now hopes Daniel Jones can stay healthy and resemble the player who led the Colts to an 8-2 start last year. But even then, there was always a sense that Indianapolis' record was fool's gold. The Colts' early schedule was very soft, with Denver serving as the only playoff team they faced.
Then everything fell apart. Over the final seven games, Indianapolis faced Houston twice, Jacksonville twice, Seattle, San Francisco, and Kansas City. Six of those seven opponents made the playoffs, and the Colts lost all seven games to finish 8-9.
Indianapolis has to find a way to avoid another late-season collapse if Steichen is going to remain employed in 2027.
Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The NFC South was a bad division last year. Yet Tampa Bay couldn't win it. Instead, Carolina emerged from the pack at 8-9, leaving the Bucs as a team that fell well short of expectations.
Bowles has won three NFC South titles in four years. But the Buccaneers have never truly been a contender under his leadership. Their best record is just 10-7, and Bowles is only 35-33 in Tampa. When you win three division titles in four years but sit just two games over .500, it's a sign you've benefited from the rest of the division's shortcomings.
Tampa Bay has too much talent to struggle again. The Buccaneers have to reclaim the division crown, and they need to look good doing it.
Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions
The Lions knew they were undergoing a massive rebuild with Campbell. They showed patience and were rewarded with a pair of division titles and an NFC Championship Game appearance.
But they missed the playoffs last year, and there's a sense the Lions' window might be closing. Campbell has watched the rest of the NFC North catch up quickly, and now he is looking up at former assistant Ben Johnson, whose Bears went 11-6 and reached the playoffs in his first season in Chicago.
For Campbell to remain in the Motor City, he has to prove he can still get the most out of his team. That means getting the Lions back to the postseason. They don't necessarily have to win the division this year, but they do need to be playing an 18th game.
Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
At some point, Taylor has to fix the defense. Under his watch, the Bengals have become a team that puts up video game numbers on offense but gives them right back on the other side. That formula produced a 6-11 finish last year and a third straight season without a playoff berth, all while Joe Burrow remains in the prime of his career.
What Taylor does have is an opportunity. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have thwarted the Bengals with their defenses in recent years, but both franchises are starting over. John Harbaugh is gone after 18 seasons, and Mike Tomlin stepped away after 19. The AFC North has never been more available to Cincinnati than it is right now.
The Bengals will compete as long as Burrow can do the job. But Taylor needs more from the other side of the ball. With the Chiefs coming back to earth at 6-11 last year, the AFC is there for the taking. Now the Bengals must seize it.
Aaron Glenn, New York Jets
It's hard to put Glenn here. The Jets are kind of where the Lions were when they hired Campbell, and Detroit showed real patience with its coach. New York typically hasn't demonstrated that level of restraint with its past coaches. The Jets surprised many by giving Glenn a second season in the first place. Some assumed he was a dead man walking after a 3-14 campaign.
And it was worse than the record suggested. That defense generated just four takeaways all season, the fewest by any team since at least 1940, and failed to record a single interception. They became the first team in league history to go an entire season without one.
Glenn is not likely to get a third year if he can't show real improvement. The Jets believe they're a better team this year, and ownership wants to see it play out on the field. Front offices often believe their teams are better than they really are, and New York's decision-makers have to see enough reason for optimism to justify keeping Glenn.
That's a tall order, especially with New England and Buffalo still rock-solid in the AFC East.
