The Dallas Cowboys had a rough go in the 2020 NFL season. Things looked promising through the team’s first handful of games, but everything quickly changed when QB Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the team’s fifth game. Now, the Cowboys will look to rebound next season with a healthier team. However, if things don’t go as planned, head coach Mike McCarthy’s job may be in jeopardy.
BetOnline is projecting that McCarthy will be the first NFL coach fired next season at +750 odds. It’s not a guarantee, but it shows how little leeway he may have. McCarthy previously went 125-77-2 in 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, including a Super Bowl victory. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate into success in his first season with Dallas, as the team finished 6-10-0. Most of last season’s failures were due to injuries, but fans were still disappointed that the Cowboys couldn’t take advantage of a weak NFC East division.
Now that Prescott will be fully healed, McCarthy needs results in Year 2. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants to win badly, especially since his team has just three NFL playoff wins since 2000. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have a pretty good team on paper this season. Their defense is decent and their offense should be top-10 or even top-5 in the league. With that being said, McCarthy fails to show results early on in the season, he might have to kiss his job goodbye.
Of course, McCarthy isn’t the only NFL head coach who could potentially lose his job. Continue reading to see who else is at risk of being fired next season.
NFL Odds: First Head Coach to Be Fired in 2021 Season
Odds via BetOnline as of Friday, May 28
- Mike McCarthy (+750)
- Vic Fangio (+800)
- Matt Nagy (+850)
- Jon Gruden (+1000)
- Mike Zimmer (+1100)
- Kliff Kingsbury (+1200)
- Zac Taylor (+1200)
- David Culley (+1600)
Full odds list available at BetOnline.ag.
Could Fangio Be the Next Coach Fired?
Vic Fangio’s run with the Denver Broncos has not gone the way he or the team had envisioned. Although he’s only been in town for two seasons, Fangio has failed to bring success, going 12-20-0 to start his NFL head coaching career. BetOnline has given the Denver bench boss +800 odds to be the first coach fired in 2021.
The fact of the matter is that the Broncos haven’t made the playoffs since 2015 and there’s only so much failure that the organization and fanbase can take. Fangio was supposed to take a rebuilding team to the next level and he hasn’t been able to do that yet. It hasn’t been all his fault, as nobody could’ve predicted QB Drew Lock’s regression last season. However, Fangio gets another crack at it in 2021 with Teddy Bridgewater as the new signal-caller in town, who was better than Lock last season. If he can’t yield results with either quarterback, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the Broncos giving Fangio the boot.
NFL Odds: Matt Nagy Rounds Out Top-3
Matt Nagy (+850) has been the Chicago Bears head coach for three seasons now. In that span, the team’s made the playoffs twice, however, they’ve been “one-and-done” both times and still haven’t won a postseason game since 2010. Now, Nagy faces the pressure of taking his team to the next level to avoid being fired.
While the Bears defense has been good over the last few seasons, their offense has been uninspiring. With former QB Mitchell Trubisky out of town, Andy Dalton, Nick Foles and rookie Justin Fields are all considered an upgrade, so there’s no excuse this season. If Nagy can’t get results from one of those quarterbacks and the Bears finish another season without a playoff victory, Chicago could be looking for a new coach sooner than later.
