Jack Del Rio and 4 Hot-Seat Coaches Who Have the Least to Work with

Jack Del Rio has plenty of his own faults as a coach, but winning with the Jaguars' roster does not make things any easier. In a season in which Del Rio was believed to have to make the postseason to keep his job, the Jaguars cut their starting quarterback, David Garrard. 

Luke McCown only survived one full game as the starter before giving the keys to rookie Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert has been, by far, the most underwhelming rookie quarterback this season and leads the leauge's worst offense. You never want to rush to judge a young player, but the early returns on Gabbert are concerning. 

Del Rio is getting a lot out of his defense, but with only one offensive player that teams actually fear, Maurice Jones-Drew, the Jaguars simply don't have enough talent to win games. 

Here are some other coaches that are on the hot seat but have little to work with to get themselves off the pressure cooker.

Tony Sparano

As far as one-win teams go, the Dolphins may be the most talented of the group. But even with a solid offensive line and a big-time weapon in Brandon Marshall, it is tough to win a lot of games with Matt Moore as your starting quarterback. 

Jeff Ireland did not do Sparano any favors when he neglected to address the safety position. Tony is getting a lot out of Reggie Bush, but relying on a combination of Bush and rookie Daniel Thomas at running back is not exactly a formula for consistency in the run game.

Given the instability at key positions, give credit to Sparano for at least keeping the Dolphins competitive in just about every game this season. 

Jim Caldwell

While Caldwell certainly deserves a lot of the blame for the Colts' ineptitude. The Colts' roster issues are now glaringly obvious without Peyton Manning to smear out the blemishes. 

The biggest issues come on defense. Without a huge lead to play with, every player not named Freeney or Mathis is under a microscope. Even usually-solid players like Antoine Bethea are having terrible seasons. 

In situations like these, you need your stars to rise up and elevate the play of your team. Caldwell is getting average production from a lot of players that are supposed to be dominant.

Mike Shanahan

Shanahan may not yet be on the hot seat, but it is worth noting how dismal his offensive roster is. 

When your two quarterbacks (and if you have two quarterbacks, you have none) are John Beck and Rex Grossman, you are going to struggle. Sprinkle in a poor offensive line and average receivers and running backs, and you get a Redskins team that is very easy to defend. 

No one on that team really strikes fear into a defense. Shanahan may be an offensive guru, but no coach can overcome the deficiencies of the Redskins' roster. 

Steve Spagnulo

The Rams have been pretty putrid on defense for the first half of the season, but when a team loses its first four corners, there are going to be bumps in the road. They are also not getting the play they expected out of their safeties, and the pass rush took eight weeks to finally show some life. 

On offense, before they traded for Brandon Lloyd, the Rams had no one to stretch the field and get open for Bradford. When Steven Jackson is out and Bradford can't stay on the field, this team is devoid of a legitimate talent to threaten a defense.