It doesn’t feel like it, but the 2021 NFL season has reached Week 10. A lot has happened over the last two months, with new standouts emerging while other teams have had more disappointing experiences. Nevertheless, only one coach has been fired up to this point. That man was former Las Vegas Raiders bench boss Jon Gruden, who was forced to resign for an array of off-field reasons.
While nobody has lost their job since then, Bovada has released odds on who’s the likeliest candidate to be fired next. At +160 odds, that honor (or dishonor) goes to Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy.
To say that Nagy’s tenure with the Bears has been disappointing would certainly be an understatement. After an impressive 12-4 record in his debut NFL season, he followed it up with back-to-back 8-8 campaigns. Now, Chicago is 3-6 in 2021 and currently sitting third in the NFC North. Theoretically, anything can happen in the Bear’s final eight games that could lead to a playoff berth, however, they’re the third-worst NFC team for a reason.
The thing is that it hasn’t even been like Nagy and the Bears have been unlucky this season: they’ve just been that bad. For starters, Chicago has one of the worst offenses in the NFL, averaging 16.7 points (30th) and 280.7 total yards (31st) per game. Overall, the Bears’ offense has looked uninspiring and predictable. The rest of the league has clearly solved them and Nagy isn’t doing anything to change up his approach. If Chicago loses a few more games, any hope of salvaging the season will be gone, meaning Nagy likely will be as well.
NFL Odds: Next Head Coach to Lose Job
Odds via Bovada as of Wednesday, November 10
- Matt Nagy (+160)
- Urban Meyer (+450)
- Mike Zimmer (+700)
- David Culley (+800)
- Joe Judge (+1100)
- Brian Flores (+1100)
- Rich Bisaccia (+1200)
- Dan Campbell (+1200)
- Andy Reid (+1600)
- Ron Rivera (+1600)
- Pete Carroll (+1800)
- Nick Sirianni (+2000)
The complete odds list is available at Bovada.lv.
Meyer on the Hot Seat
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer had a terrific college football coaching career, winning three national championships among other accolades. The Jaguars hired him to be a key part of their future, especially with 2021 first overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence in the system.
Unfortunately, things haven’t gone as hoped following Jacksonville’s 2-6 start to the 2021 NFL season. Now, Meyer is the second-likeliest coach to be the next one to lose his job (+450).
The one thing that may have saved Meyer’s job was the fact that the Jaguars defeated the Buffalo Bills, 9-6, in Week 9. It was far from the prettiest victory and some could even chalk it up to Buffalo having a bad game. Regardless, the fact is that the win was credited to Meyer in the record books and that may have been the victory to turn the season around.
Are the Jaguars a playoff team right now? Probably not, but they can still continue to grow and make improvements over the season. If Meyer can get Jacksonville battling as hard as they did against the Bills and keep his off-field issues to a minimum, he may get to stick around a bit longer.
NFL Coaching Odds: Mike Zimmer
At +700 odds, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is the third-likeliest bench boss to leave his post next, according to Bovada. The 65-year-old has been leading the Vikings since 2014, however, he only has five playoff games to show for it. Minnesota also has an overall 10-14 record since the start of 2020, which further illustrates why Zimmer is now on the hot seat.
Whatever is happening in Minnesota, it’s evident that something needs to change. The Vikings can still turn things around at 3-5, however, that’ll be more difficult to pull off if Zimmer continues coaching as he has. Another couple of losses will likely put the team out of playoff contention, meaning it’ll be just another wasted campaign in the Zimmer era.
Minnesota has tough matchups against the Los Angeles Chargers and Green Bay Packers over the next few weeks, so it’ll be interesting to see if Zimmer is still coaching after those two games.
