Now that the NFL’s “Black Monday” end of regular season head coaching firings has come and gone, it’s worth wondering who now owns the hottest seat across the league, with a host of candidates entering the 2024 offseason. Among the top candidates to be canned at some point in 2024 is Chicago Bears’ third-year head coach Matt Eberflus, who has gone 10-24 (.294) with the club in his first two seasons in the Windy City, failing to reach the playoffs either year across Illinois sports betting.
In order to keep his job, Eberflus already has turned over much of his staff since the season wrapped up last month, with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, QB coach Andrew Janocko, receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, RB coach Omar Young and assistant tight ends coach Tim Zetts all fired at year’s end.
Now, the proof will be in the proverbial pudding in 2024 for Eberflus and his newfound staff of assistant coaches, with the Bears holding the top pick in the NFL Draft and having a surplus of picks after that to build a playoff caliber roster this year. Can Eberflus, and perhaps a new quarterback like Caleb Williams, finally deliver on the Bears playoff chances?
With all that in mind, IllinoisBet.com broke down the odds on which NFL head coach will be the next one to be fired, with a somewhat surprising candidate ranking ahead of Eberflus at the moment.
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For as difficult of a road as Eberflus has navigated over two years in Chicago, New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh has faced an even more uphill climb in the suburbs of New York City, going 18-33 (.353) with zero postseason berths in three years with the club.
Saleh flopped in 2023 after the Jets made waves by trading for future Hall of Fame QB Aaron Rodgers, after the veteran missed the whole season with a torn Achilles tendon suffered in the team’s first regular season contest — with a decimated offense finishing the year at 7-10 for a second straight season and once again missing out on the league’s playoff bracket.
The 45-year-old Michigan native is our top candidate to be fired next, at +350, ranking ahead of Eberflus (+450) and Mike McCarthy of the Dallas Cowboys, who is listed third at +500, thanks to trigger-happy owner Jerry Jones’ propensity for canning coaches over the years.
With the Super Bowl on the horizon and more than six months of football-free calendar in front of us, there’s still plenty of time for NFL coaches to get their respective houses in order to avoid finding themselves on the firing line next season.
Bears fans can only hope that Eberflus’ new staff, combined with the team’s litany of draft picks, can get Chicago over the hump in 2024, allowing the veteran NFL coach to avoid finding himself swept up in next year’s round of “Black Monday” firings.
Remember, odds like this won't be available at sportsbooks like Fanatics Illinois, these are hypothetical.
The remaining candidates with skinnies:
New Orleans Saints, Dennis Allen +700 (12.5%) - Allen and the Saints improved by 2 games in his second season at the helm, though a 9-8 record wasn't good enough to make the postseason. The underwhelming performance of QB Derek Carr will be a talking point all offseason...
Philadelphia Eagles, Nick Sirianni +1000 (9.1%) - Sirianni's overall record of 34-17 in Philly doesn't tell the whole story, as he oversaw an epic second half collapse this past season before going out in the Wild Card Round to the Tampa Bay Bucs. Owner Jeffrey Lurie is not afraid to move on from coaches who have had overall success...
Minnesota Vikings, Kevin O'Connell +1500 (6.2%) - O'Connell is 6 games over .500 in his two years with the club, but has zero playoff wins to show for it.
New York Giants, Brian Daboll +1500 (6.2%) - One great season, and one disastrous one so far for Daboll in New York. What will Year 3 be?
Any other candidate not listed: +1200 (7.7%).
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer at IllinoisBet.com specializing in covering state issues. He covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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