NFL Head Coaches Who Could Get the Ax Next After Lions' Firing of Matt Patricia

The Detroit Lions ended the Matt Patricia experiment last week.

Patricia joins Bill O'Brien and Dan Quinn—formerly of Houston and Atlanta, respectively—on the list of coaches fired this season.

And that list might get bigger soon.

A handful of NFL coaches remain on the hot seat. They haven't met expectations and in most cases haven't done so for years, leaving franchises in a position where a high draft pick could mesh well with a regime change.

These underperforming head coaches could get the ax next.

Adam Gase, New York Jets

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It's surprising the New York Jets haven't moved on from head coach Adam Gase yet.

After going just 23-25 in three seasons in Miami, Gase went 7-9 in 2019 before this year's disastrous results. The Jets are 0-11 and pacing for a winless season. To top it off, he's admitted he hasn't done a good enough job of developing potential franchise passer Sam Darnold.

"We need to do things well around him, but at the same time, it's on me to get him to play better than what he's played," Gase told reporters Thursday. "I haven't done a good enough job."

Over seven games this season, Darnold—the third overall pick in 2018—has completed just 58.7 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The AFC East is undergoing a changing of the guard with Tom Brady off to the NFC, but the Jets have remained in the cellar under Gase. As the head coach acknowledges he hasn't done enough with a top-three product under center, it sure feels like a case of when, not if, he's relieved of his duties.

Anthony Lynn, Los Angeles Chargers

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It seems like a long time ago that Anthony Lynn directed the Los Angeles Chargers to a 12-4 record.

That was in 2018, Lynn's second year on the job after a 9-7 debut season. The Chargers have since regressed to 5-11 in 2019 and 3-8 this season. His team is dead last in the AFC West, and its only wins have come against lowly Cincinnati, Jacksonville and New York Jets teams.

Written another way, all teams with head coaches on this list.

Lynn does get credit for needing to manage losing franchise legend Philip Rivers and grooming rookie Justin Herbert. But he's 3-16 in one-score games over the last two seasons, and his team has blown four double-digit leads this year.

Given that Lynn is 29-30 as the Chargers' head coach, the front office might think it's time to reinvent the staff around Herbert for the long haul. Sticking it out too long could harm a young passer's development, and Lynn hasn't done enough to convince anyone he'll be able to turn this around in time.

Doug Marrone, Jacksonville Jaguars

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Doug Marrone is another one of those "how have they not made a move yet?" coaches.

Marrone's 2017 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars was—with the full benefit of hindsight—a blatant anomaly. Aside from the sprint to the AFC title game that year, Marrone hasn't come close to posting a winning record in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville seemed to have an obvious decision on its hands after last season's 6-10 showing while blowing up the roster and signaling a rebuild. Instead, Marrone has paced out to a 1-10 mark this year, bringing his record with the Jaguars to 23-38. He's now lost double-digit games in three consecutive seasons.

Marrone's only win this season was a Week 1 shocker against the now 7-4 Indianapolis Colts. Like the 2017 season, though, it can be written off as an anomaly after an odd, preseason-less summer.

Otherwise, the Jaguars have dropped games to even bad teams like Cincinnati and hold a minus-98 point differential. Heading into the offseason, it's a severe case of deja vu in Jacksonville.

Matt Nagy, Chicago Bears

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Matt Nagy's chance to prove he's the right man for the job with the Chicago Bears has seemingly passed.

Nagy went 12-4 during his first season in Chicago in 2018, which set expectations perhaps too high. He followed that up with an 8-8 showing and an offseason highlighted by bringing on Nick Foles to compete with 2017 second overall pick Mitchell Trubisky.

Trubisky has flopped, as signaled by Foles' arrival. But the veteran Foles has thrown just 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions over eight games, and Nagy has confirmed starting responsibilities will swing back to Trubisky—who, ironically, might be able to save his coach's job.

That's a tall order, as the Bears are 5-6 and losers of five in a row. Their point differential is minus-34, and four of the team's wins came against opponents that currently sport a record under .500.

Nagy has also won just one game in five tries against the Green Bay Packers, including a 41-25 road loss in Week 12 to fall under .500 after a bye week to prep. His Bears have lost four or more games in a row in consecutive seasons too. Should the losing streak extend and/or the record not squeak above .500 again, Patricia might not be the only NFC North coach to lose his gig before the season ends.

Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals

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Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor stumbled into No. 1 pick Joe Burrow courtesy of his 2-14 record last season. As the calendar turns to December in 2020, he has yet to surpass that two-win mark.

Taylor is 4-22-1 as head coach of the Bengals. He's yet to win on the road, and his team routinely drops one-score games. Worst of all, given the long-term ramifications, Burrow was lost for the season after suffering a torn ACL in a 20-9 loss in Week 11 to a Washington team that is now 4-7.

To be fair, Taylor wasn't granted the easiest circumstances. The Bengals had to wait to hire him until after he went to the Super Bowl as an assistant with the Los Angeles Rams, and he was late in assembling his coaching staff, which led to little roster turnover.

But this season, the Bengals spent big money in free agency and drafted Burrow, and they still managed to run franchise legend Carlos Dunlap II out of town at the trade deadline. Receiver John Ross III also requested a trade.

If Taylor couldn't win more games with Burrow than he did without him a season ago, it's hard to imagine even the patient Bengals give him much more time to figure it out. The developmental clock on Burrow is ticking, and a .167 winning percentage, regardless of circumstances, isn't going to cut it.