Black Monday 2025: Who WASN'T fired? Every hot seat NFL coach and GM who kept their job

The first Monday after the NFL's regular season ends is known for its brutality. Head coaches across the 18 teams that failed to make it to the playoffs have to deal with tense exit interviews that could spell the end of their head coaching careers. No day on the calendar sees more coaches fired than Black Monday.

We've got a running list of this year's firings -- including three during the regular season -- and whether those coaches deserved their fate. Let's take a look at the other side of that bargain; the coaches and general managers who came into the offseason with uncertain fates, just to earn at least one more chance to prove their value. These are the hot seat head coaches and executives are confirmed to be back for 2025.

1. Head coach Brian Daboll, New York Giants

On one hand, it would be surprising for 2022's NFL head coach of the year to be dismissed two seasons later. On the other, Daboll is 9-25 in the years since.

Giants ownership took a look at 2022's surprising playoff run and the roster building and injury issues that have plagued the team since and opted to give Daboll another chance. He'll have to show signs of growth in the first year of the post-Daniel Jones era in 2025. Daboll was able to build around a flawed young passer in his NFL debut; now he may get another chance depending on what New York does with the third overall pick in this spring's draft.

Does he deserve to stay?: Daboll used a throwback approach to prop up Jones in 2022 by leaning heavily of Saquon Barkley. He won't have that kind of backup in 2025, but a rising receiving corps led by Malik Nabers could be a launchpad for the Giants' new quarterback. Daboll deserves the chance to make it work -- but he'll be on the hot seat from the moment next season kicks off.

2. General manager Joe Schoen, New York Giants

Schoen came to New York alongside Daboll and was similarly tasked with building around a flawed young quarterback in Daniel Jones. While 2022 was a success story, there were plenty of misses that followed. He was the executive of record for Jones' regrettable-but-justifiable $160 million contract extension. He was the guy, fairly or not, who let Saquon Barkley become a Philadelphia Eagle.

He's had some hits as well. Bobby Okereke was a solid free agent pickup. Brian Burns only cost a second round pick (and a hefty contract extension). Nabers has All-Pro potential and Dru Phillips is coming along nicely. But fellow high value draft picks like Evan Neal, Wan'Dale Robinson and Deonte Banks have failed to live up to expectations, putting Schoen right next to Daboll on 2025's hot seat.

Does he deserve to stay?: The Barkley debacle could be enough to get anyone fired, but there's been some silver linings dotting the gray cloud that hangs over the Giants. New York needs a hard pivot in 2025. Schoen has typically played things safe -- and it may not be enough to justify his position.

3. General manager Trent Baalke, Jacksonville Jaguars

Baalke has alligator blood. He survived the Urban Meyer and Doug Pederson eras in Jacksonville. Despite being the architect of one of the NFL's weakest rosters, he'll persist alongside whomever the Jaguars hire in 2025.

It's an unorthodox choice. Baalke's drafting has produced only a single Pro Bowler and it was a no brainer pick of Trevor Lawrence with the first overall selection (Brian Thomas Jr. is pretty good, too). His big free agent additions have been players like Christian Kirk, Foyesade Oluokun and Brandon Scherff -- key figures for 2022's postseason run who have failed to have an outsized impact in the years since. His 2024 signings were topped by Arik Armstead, Gabe Davis and Darnell Savage, all of whom kinda stunk.

Does he deserve to stay?: He probably didn't deserve the job in the first place, given how badly his tenure ended in San Francisco (7-25 his final two seasons) and how much better the 49ers got after he left.

4. Head coach Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts

Steichen has been placed in a tough situation in Indianapolis. He's got a talented but raw quarterback in Anthony Richardson whose athleticism is game-changing but also liable to lead him into injury trouble. He's also got a defense capable of giving up 45 points to Drew Lock and the New York Giants in the midst of a playoff race.

Still, he hasn't been bad -- just mediocre. Steichen is 17-17 in two seasons with the Colts. He's beaten playoff teams and lost to ones angled toward the top of the draft. Like his young quarterback, consistency has been an issue but the potential is too great for team owner Jim Irsay to give up on him.

Does he deserve to stay?: Yes. Steichen hasn't been great, but he's been able to pull off some key wins and showcase what the team's ceiling could be if he can get Richardson on track -- or even healthy for a full season. He's been hamstrung by some conservative personnel decisions, but that's more an issue for the next guy on this list.

5. General manager Chris Ballard, Indianapolis Colts

Ballard's main task since 2019 has been finding the Colts a quarterback solution following Andrew Luck's surprising retirement. 2024 looked like the year with a healthy Anthony Richardson in tow, which led the veteran executive to go on a re-signing spring in hopes the young gunslinger could push a 9-8 roster to new heights. Guys like Grover Stewart, Kenny Moore and Tyquan Lewis stood as the team's top free agent priorities, but a weak defense remained that way and Richardson lacked the consistency to meaningfully improve this team.

That leaves Ballard to dive into the breach once more. He'll enter 2025 like he normally does -- with middling salary cap space and middling draft position. The second piece of that puzzle is a concern; after crushing the 2018 NFL Draft (selecting Quenton Nelson, Shaquille Leonard, Braden Smith and Zaire Franklin) he's only drafted a single Pro Bowler in the six years since.

Does he deserve to stay?: It doesn't seem like it. Ballard has one playoff win and two postseason appearances in eight years. His teams exist in a state of limbo -- not quite bad enough to tear down nor good enough to truly threaten contenders.

The Colts feel like they're one difference maker away from a playoff run, which may be why team owner Jim Irsay keeps Ballard around. But year after year he's proven incapable of identifying or securing that missing piece.

6. De facto general manager Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys

Jones was never going to disassociate himself from America's team. But the NFL's most recognizable owner could have taken a step back from the roster management he's spent the last five years bungling. The octogenarian's inability to come to timely contract extension decisions with his star players has created tension and inflated salary cap numbers that have chipped away at Dallas's depth in recent seasons.

Does that mean he'll step down in order to further his quest to see one more Cowboys Super Bowl before he dies? No, of course not, don't be silly.

“No. Just, no,” Jones told The Athletic's Saad Yousuf Sunday when asked if he'd step back from decision making roles. “I bought the team, I think the first thing to come out of my mouth … somebody asked, ‘Did you buy this for your kids?’ I said, ‘Hell no. I bought it for me.’ And I didn’t buy an investment. I bought an occupation, and I bought something I was going to do.

“I was 46 (years old). I bought something I was going to do for the rest of my life. That’s what I’m doing. So, no. The facts are, since I have to decide where the money is spent, then you might as well cut all of the bull—- out. That’s who’s making the call anyways.”

Does he deserve to stay?: No, but who's gonna fire him?

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Black Monday 2025: Who WASN'T fired? Every hot seat NFL coach and GM who kept their job