Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season is done and dusted, and the league’s coaching carousel is already starting to spin. Several head coaches have been dismissed during the season, and according to longtime NFL insider Josina Anderson, as many as seven teams could consider making a change this offseason.
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Among them, three veteran head coaches stand out as being under the most scrutiny as the calendar turns toward 2026.
Pete Carroll, Las Vegas Raiders
Pete Carroll’s first season in Las Vegas has gone about as poorly as it possibly could.
Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants, the Raiders’ 10th straight defeat and 14th loss in their last 15 games, was the latest low point in a season that has spiraled completely out of control. At 2-13, Las Vegas has all but secured the No. 1 overall pick, removing any remaining doubt that this franchise is in a full rebuild, despite preseason insistence otherwise.
Certainly, this is not what the Raiders brass envisioned when they hired Carroll. A respected figure with championships at both the college and NFL levels, Carroll was expected to stabilize the organization. Instead, the product on the field has been brutal.
Carroll handpicked Geno Smith as his quarterback, and the move has not paid off. Highly touted rookie Ashton Jeanty has failed to make a consistent impact. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was fired midseason. Star edge rusher Maxx Crosby has openly expressed frustration with teammates. According to PFSN’s Impact metrics, the Raiders rank bottom five on both offense and defense.
Compounding the issue, the coaching staff barely played an entire draft class for much of the season. After publicly stating in the offseason that he expected at least 10 wins, Carroll watched those expectations collapse quickly when the Raiders fell to 2-6. Following the Giants’ loss, Carroll bluntly summed up the year.
“We did not win a game in the preseason. We were fortunate to tie with Seattle at the end of the preseason. We just have not found our wins. We have not found a way to win.”
The decision to sit Brock Bowers, Jeremy Chinn, and Crosby ahead of Week 17 further signaled a franchise looking toward the future, not the present. That raises the obvious question: does Carroll fit into that future?
At 74 years old, asking Carroll to oversee a multi-year rebuild seems unrealistic. PFSN analyst Brandon Austin described this situation as a potentially unfortunate ending to an otherwise legendary career. Yet, with a reportedly weak coaching market and Carroll recently expressing openness to helping with a rebuild, owner Mark Davis could opt for continuity. Even if Raider Nation is largely hoping otherwise.
Carroll may not deserve to go out this way, but in Las Vegas, his tenure has been defined more by failure than legacy.
Jonathan Gannon, Arizona Cardinals
Jonathan Gannon entered the 2025 season under pressure to show progress. Instead, the Cardinals appear to have taken a step backward.
Arizona hoped to contend for a playoff spot this year or, at the very least, show tangible signs of momentum. That hasn’t happened. The offense has lacked consistency, the defense hasn’t made the expected leap, and the team has struggled to close games.
With the Cardinals drifting toward another losing season, questions are mounting about whether Gannon is the right leader for this rebuild. Unlike some other teams, Arizona may not want to wait around for incremental improvement. League-wide expectations suggest the Cardinals could move quickly to make a change once the season ends, especially if ownership believes the roster is further along than the results indicate.
Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
Zac Taylor’s seat may be just as hot, if not hotter.
Taylor earned significant goodwill by leading the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance following the 2022 season. Since then, however, Cincinnati has largely underachieved. The 2025 campaign has been another disappointment, with the Bengals falling well short of playoff expectations.
In a league driven by quarterback-centric urgency, patience is thin. Despite Taylor’s past success, the sense around the league is that Cincinnati may be ready to move on if the season ends without a postseason berth. The Bengals believe their window to contend is open now, and anything less than tangible results could cost Taylor his job.
