# Zachary Pereles: An unsigned CBS Sports piece ranks the five NFL head coaches on the hottest seats entering the 2026 season, with Bengals coach Zac Taylor most likely to be fired, followed by Dan Quinn, Todd Bowles, Aaron Glenn and Shane Steichen.

**Claimed:** Sep 8, 2026
**Pundit:** Zachary Pereles — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/zachary-pereles
**Outlet:** CBS Sports — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/cbs-sports
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2026-nfl-coach-hot-seat-tiers-zac-taylor-dan-quinn/

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in.

> With one day until the 2026 season kicks off, we assess the five coaches with the hottest hot seats, as well as a few who could be a potential surprise split come season's end.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **we assess the five coaches with the hottest hot seats ... 5. Shane Steichen, Colts ... 4. Aaron Glenn, Jets ... 3. Todd Bowles, Buccaneers ... 2. Dan Quinn, Commanders ... 1. Zac Taylor, Bengals**
  - Kind: Head Coach Rankings
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## More head coach rankings

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Jesse Holley: Jesse picked the 49ers to beat Seattle (expecting Sam Darnold to revert to form), the Texans over New England, and the Rams over the Bears. He also called Oregon's tight end a first-round player and ranked the Giants' new head coach as the best in the NFC East ahead of Quinn and Schottenheimer. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/ac1244ea-9b1b-4b60-b3e6-f7beb62adf4c (scored 25)
- Gregg Rosenthal: In a snake-draft-style ranking of the NFL's returning head coaches, Rosenthal made the even-numbered selections, taking Sean McVay second overall, Kevin O'Connell fourth, John Harbaugh sixth and on down to Raheem Morris at 26. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/f1dd8036-757c-4f3e-9089-2429df99c92a (scored 62.2)
- JP Acosta: Acosta made the odd-numbered picks in the head-coach draft, naming Andy Reid the best coach in the NFL, Dan Campbell third, Kyle Shanahan fifth, and continuing down to Brian Daboll at 25. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/c84ddac3-964c-40fe-a238-31130b5f9e4f (scored 51.92)
- Colin Cowherd: Cowherd likes Jacksonville, Chicago and Pittsburgh (with DK Metcalf back) in the wild-card round, ranks the league's head coaches with McVay first and Ben Johnson seventh, and predicts Lamar Jackson has about two strong years left. He also names the Rams as a possible team to draft a receiver and floats next year's draft having seven first-round quarterbacks. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/432d7268-d5b1-49f6-9435-12c9442d3023 (scored 47.62)
- Ollie Connolly: Connolly ranked his Coach of the Year top five with Kyle Shanahan first, Mike Vrabel second, Mike McDonald third, Liam Cohen fourth and Ben Johnson fifth, naming Shanahan his winner. He also predicted the Broncos would blow out the Chiefs on Christmas night. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/c07e055c-4ff1-47bf-9062-548b240402ae (scored 75)
- John Middlekauff: In a mid-July podcast, Middlecoff reacted to the Garrett Wilson extension and Jauan Jennings' contract unhappiness, predicting Jennings is San Francisco's clear No. 1 receiver and will top 80 catches; he also expects the Browns to keep Quinshon Judkins on the roster, ranks Mahomes as the top quarterback, calls Dak a top-12 QB, backs Bo Nix as a top-15 starter, says the Bears should win 10 games but must be ranked behind Denver, and would take Dan Campbell over Nick Sirianni. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/32b8564c-773f-4dcf-94bf-654d342ddcec (scored 0)

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Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages.

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