Taylor Jenkins isn’t far removed from the days when he was among the NBA’s most promising up-and-coming head coaches. He finished second in Coach of the Year voting after the 2021-22 season, sandwiching that honor between a pair of 50-win campaigns.

Nothing changes faster than sentiment toward coaches, though, and we’ve seen much more decorated ones than Jenkins fall out of favor with head-spinning quickness. The two most recent COY winners, Mark Daigneault and Mike Brown, are still employed by their current teams, but only one of the preceding six can say the same. Monty Williams has been fired twice since beating out Jenkins for the award in 2022.

In other words: Jenkins’ track record insulates him from nothing, particularly with Memphis’ recent shakiness.

Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant got suspended last year for a litany of off-court issues. While it’s unfair to chalk those up to a failure of organizational leadership, Jenkins is bound to catch blame for some of it. A 27-win season in 2023-24 won’t help his cause either, even if that monumental slide owed as much to injuries as anything else.

Memphis enters the upcoming season with renewed expectations. Healthy again and hopefully featuring a reformed and motivated Morant, the Grizz look capable of competing for a top-four spot in the West. A slow start could increase the temperature on Jenkins’ seat, which might already be warm enough as it is.

The Athletic’s John Hollinger, a former Grizzlies exec, noted in May that “Memphis also fired the majority of [Jenkins’] assistant coaches just before the combine; that’s always a tell the head coach isn’t a great spot.”

Jenkins’ job security is a topic before the 2024-25 Grizzlies have even played a game.