PFF has put Matt LaFleur on its unwanted hot seat list heading into the upcoming 2026 season, placing the Green Bay Packers coach in the category it calls “Worth Monitoring in January.” That means LaFleur is being watched, but not yet treated as the sort of coach whose job is in immediate danger.
The timing matters because LaFleur is entering his eighth season in Green Bay, and the early part of his run gave the Packers every reason to think bigger. Hired away from the Tennessee Titans ahead of the 2019 campaign, he won his road debut against the Chicago Bears, then went 13-3 in each of his first three seasons. No head coach in NFL history had opened with three straight seasons of 13 wins or more, and LaFleur’s 39 victories were the most by any coach in his first three campaigns.
That résumé is why the PFF placement stands out. LaFleur led the Packers to the NFC title game in each of his first two years, but both trips ended in losses, and the postseason drag has been part of the conversation ever since. Green Bay missed the playoffs in Aaron Rodgers’ final season in 2022, then made the playoffs in each of Jordan Love’s three seasons as the starter. The team has stayed in the picture, but it has not turned that into the kind of January breakthrough that would shut down questions about the coach.
PFF’s grouping makes the distinction clear. Aaron Glenn, Todd Bowles, Zac Taylor and Shane Steichen were placed in the first four spots as the coaches it viewed as possible in-season job dangers, while Nick Sirianni joined LaFleur in the January-monitoring tier. LaFleur is not being pushed into the most urgent danger zone, which suggests PFF sees more stability than crisis. But the message is still plain: another season without meaningful postseason progress would keep his status in the spotlight, even after the early success that once made him one of the NFL’s fastest-rising coaches.
For LaFleur and the Packers, the next test is not whether the regular season can keep them relevant. It is whether 2026 finally gives him the kind of January result that changes how his place on the sideline is judged.
