For the 10 NFL teams that either hired or are about to hire a new head coach this offseason, Super Bowl LX is the blueprint for how quickly things can change if they make the right calls. The Seahawks hired Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and made it to the Super Bowl in the 38-year-old's second season at the helm. The Patriots did them one better, as Mike Vrabel has taken his old team to the Super Bowl in his first year on the job in New England.
Macdonald and Vrabel are two of the 37 full-time head coaches hired over the past five years, not including the eight hired so far this month and the handful of interim coaches who didn't earn full-time jobs. I want to sort through those hires. Which coaching hires worked out best? Which ones were disasters? Was it better to hire offensive wizards, as many teams prefer, or go against the grain to hire defensive-minded coaches? Vrabel and Macdonald both come from that side of the football, but are they the exceptions to the rule?
So I'm going one through 37 and ranking those coaching hires. Performance and playoff success obviously matter most, but I'm also trying to look for evidence of the impact these guys have had as coaches. Do they do a good job of managing fourth downs and late-game situations? Have players who were already on the roster improved after their arrival? Have free agents added from other teams excelled after joining the lineup? And do their draft picks routinely exceed expectations?
Subscribe: 'The Bill Barnwell Show'
Where the team succeeds also matters. For coaches with an offensive background, I'm going to give more credit if the team is thriving by virtue of that side of the ball, as opposed to being carried by the defense (such as Matt Nagy during his debut season with the Bears). And, of course, being great on both sides of the ball is a big positive.
Some of these coaches also have only one season under their belts, and we've seen coaches such as Nagy and Adam Gase put together playoff campaigns in their debut seasons before quickly falling off. I tried to use some context to get a sense of how sustainable their early success might be moving forward. I also leaned toward rewarding coaches who have proven they're up to the task for an extended period of time, which might be why my top two hires are the only two coaches left from the class of 2021.
1. Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions
Seasons: Five
Record: 48-36-1 (.571)
It's worth noting just how low the Lions were before Campbell arrived. Detroit had gone 14-33-1 under Matt Patricia and interim coach Darrell Bevell. It hadn't won a playoff game since 1991. One of the first things new general manager Brad Holmes did was trade Matthew Stafford to the Rams for two first-round picks and Jared Goff, who was essentially a salary dump from an organization that had completely lost faith in the 2016 first overall pick. The only significant player from the roster Campbell inherited who is still on the team in 2025 is offensive tackle Taylor Decker. This has been a complete rebuild in Detroit.
It took a year and a half of frustrating losses, but Campbell turned the Lions into one of the league's model organizations. Yes, 2025 was a frustrating year, as the Lions missed departed offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, dealt with injuries and ran into some tough luck in one-score games, but they have one of the best rosters in football. Campbell's aggressive decision-making on fourth down has been a huge plus, even if the Lions haven't succeeded 100% of the time in those situations. They came within a drop or two of making it to the Super Bowl in 2023, and they overachieved in 2024 by winning 15 games despite being down to third-stringers on defense.
Put it this way: If you had to predict a single hire from the past five years to still be in his current job 15 years from now, whom would you pick? My choice would be Campbell, who has become the face of the franchise in Detroit.
2. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
Seasons: Five
Record: 59-26 (.694)
Sirianni is by far the most difficult coach to rank on this list. His résumé is comfortably the best of any coach over the past five years. He took over a 4-11-1 team and immediately coached it to the playoffs, where it has been each of the past five seasons. The Bills are the only other team to make it to the playoffs every year over that span. Sirianni has made two Super Bowls and won one. No other coach on this list has won a Super Bowl, although that will change two weeks from now.
And yet, it's simultaneously true that there are Eagles fans who don't believe Sirianni is even a good coach, let alone a great one. I wrote about this dichotomy at length earlier this season: It's easy to assign credit for what Sirianni has done to the players, general manager Howie Roseman or the various assistant coaches who have made their name in Philadelphia while Sirianni has been in the job, including several future head coaches who show up much later on this list. All of that has some truth to it.
There's no arguing that the highs under Sirianni have been spectacular. But the lows have been wildly frustrating, including a defense that forgot how to play football in 2023 and an offense that hopelessly banged its head against the wall for most of the 2025 season. Sirianni has to own both. But his floor is nine wins and a playoff appearance (2021 season), and his ceiling has been the Lombardi Trophy (2024).
3. Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks
Seasons: Two
Record: 24-10 (.706)
Seahawks fans who spent years seeing their defenses tormented by Kyle Shanahan's offenses must be so happy to watch Macdonald's unit do its thing. Just as he did as a coordinator in Baltimore, Macdonald has built one of the league's best defenses in two years in Seattle. It's not hard to make star cornerback Devon Witherspoon look good, but everybody has gotten better for the Seahawks, including free agent additions such as defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and unheralded players such as corner Josh Jobe, linebacker Drake Thomas and safety Ty Okada. Nobody in the league is better at finding the right role for the right player than Macdonald.
It's impossible to know how much Macdonald figured into the decision to hire offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and essentially swap Geno Smith for Sam Darnold at quarterback this offseason. But after deploying a frustrating offense in Year 1 of Macdonald, the Seahawks have gotten enough on that side of the ball to make the Super Bowl this season.
The only hole I can poke in Macdonald's coaching is his habit of being too conservative on fourth down. But given the defense he wields, you can understand why he trusts it. The Ravens got the next best thing by hiring fellow former Michigan assistant Jesse Minter as their head coach, but Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta & Co. have to wish that they found a way to keep Macdonald in the building two years ago.
4. Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots
Seasons: One
Record: 14-3 (.824)
One season, one Super Bowl appearance. Seems pretty good to me.
Vrabel has unquestionably benefited from a massive offseason of free agent additions and one of the easiest schedules in modern football history, but he has been able to quickly stamp his imprint on a Patriots team that lacked an identity before his arrival. Players on both sides of the ball who were on the team a year ago or signed in free agency have played better in New England this season, a testament to both Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has done excellent work molding quarterback Drake Maye into an MVP candidate.
Vrabel's game management has helped the Patriots hold on to their many leads this season. And while the defense didn't rate out well by advanced metrics during the regular season, it has been absolutely dominant so far in the playoffs.
The "Get Up" crew lauds the job Mike Vrabel has done in turning around the Patriots.
5. DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans
Seasons: Three
Record: 32-19 (.628)
Ryans took over a Texans team that had won three or four games in each of the three seasons before his arrival. It has won 10 or more games in each of his first three years at the helm, adding a playoff victory in each of those campaigns for good measure. Ryans has been one of the league's most conservative coaches on fourth down, which has been a liability at times, but you can understand why given the struggles the Texans have had running the football.
Houston added quarterback C.J. Stroud and defensive end Will Anderson Jr. to its roster after Ryans' arrival, which helped quite a bit. But Ryans has also built the league's best defense. As much as that's constructed around stars such Anderson and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke have made players at all levels better -- including draftees Kamari Lassiter and Jalen Pitre, notable free agents Danielle Hunter and Azeez Al-Shaair, and lesser-known players such as Tommy Togiai. If the Texans could just fix the offensive infrastructure around Stroud, they would be Super Bowl contenders.
6. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
Seasons: Three
Record: 32-19 (.628)
While Payton and Broncos fans might be ruing their loss in the AFC Championship Game, there's no doubting that the Broncos have made major strides since trading a first-round pick to hire Payton in 2023. The longtime Saints coach has improved Denver's record by an average of three wins each season, leading to a division title in 2025. Payton wasn't able to turn Russell Wilson around, but he has managed to build a solid offense around an inconsistent young quarterback in Bo Nix, creating open receivers on a weekly basis.
I could see a case for putting Payton even higher, but I'd refer back to the factors in the introduction. The Broncos are 15th in EPA per play on offense over the past two years, which is very reasonable given their personnel. They're second over that same time frame on defense, which is coordinator Vance Joseph's purview. Payton hired Joseph, and the head coach obviously has some say on that side of the ball, but if we're going to credit coaches for how their focuses influence their teams' success, it shifts Payton down just a tiny bit.
7. Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota Vikings
Seasons: Four
Record: 43-25 (.632)
There's no doubting that O'Connell is a good coach, having put together 13- and 14-win seasons over his first four years in Minnesota, but we can poke a few holes in that record. One is the Vikings' performance in close games. They are 25-12 in one-score games over that span, and while O'Connell does a solid job of managing late-game scenarios, the wild fluctuations in their record in those games from year to year suggest their record in close games is more randomness than a sustainable skill.
O'Connell deserves credit for what he has done in building offenses around everyone from Kirk Cousins to Joshua Dobbs to Sam Darnold over that time frame, but after a frustrating 2025 campaign from 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, some perspective might matter here, and it's similar to what I mentioned with Payton. The Vikings are 18th in EPA per play on offense over O'Connell's four years in charge, behind the likes of the Jaguars and Falcons, who haven't been offensive juggernauts for most of that time.
The driving force for the Vikings over the past three years has instead been their defense. If this were a list of best coordinator hires over the past five seasons, Minnesota's Brian Flores might be at the very top.
8. Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears
Seasons: One
Record: 11-6 (.647)
The prodigy. Bears fans treated Johnson like a superstar addition when they landed the Lions' offensive coordinator as their next head coach, and so far, he has generally lived up to the hype. There have been game management issues, especially early in the season, but Johnson quickly built one of the league's best run games and helped refine quarterback Caleb Williams' game.
The Bears benefited from excellent timing and good fortune late in games in 2025, which might not stick around, but I'm not sure you can find a single Bears fan on the planet who is upset with the decision to hire Johnson after one season.
Dan Orlovsky, Ryan Hawkins and Mike Greenberg discuss Ben Johnson's mindset heading into the Bears' offseason.
9. Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers
Seasons: Two
Record: 22-12 (.647)
Hire Jim Harbaugh ... win football games. The former NFL quarterback has won everywhere he has coached, and he instantly turned around a Chargers team that had collapsed to 5-12 the season before his arrival, with Los Angeles jumping to 11-6 in each of Harbaugh's first two seasons. His ability to sustain the offense and keep the team afloat without starting tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater for most of the 2025 season was quietly valuable; there aren't many teams that could have survived with replacement-level tackle play for most of a season.
At the same time, Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman arrived to town with the espoused plan of getting quarterback Justin Herbert a run game, and the Chargers rank 27th in success rate on designed runs over the past two seasons. They've suffered through a pair of ugly wild-card round defeats, something that wasn't the case for Harbaugh's teams in San Francisco, which made three consecutive trips to (or beyond) the NFC Championship Game in his first three seasons. Harbaugh has made major strides, but both he and Chargers fans will expect more in 2026.
10. Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders
Seasons: Two
Record: 17-17 (.500)
What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, Quinn was fresh off a trip to the NFC Championship Game, having won as many playoff games in his first season with the Commanders as the franchise had claimed over the prior 30 years. Jayden Daniels' fantastic rookie campaign played a significant role, but Quinn nailed his fourth-down decision-making to help the offense blossom, and the former Falcons coach got the most out of the many veterans added to his roster by GM Adam Peters.
Things have changed. Daniels struggled through an injury-hit 2025, but Quinn's defense completely collapsed in Year 2. The Commanders ranked 30th in EPA per play and points allowed per drive, as they were easily stretched by any offense with a pulse. Quinn wasn't able to fix the problems during the season, and the Commanders shook things up by moving on from offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt.
Quinn deserves more time to prove that 2025 was an anomaly, but Falcons fans will point out that their former coach peaked early in his Atlanta tenure and never reached those heights again.
11. Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars
Seasons: One
Record: 13-4 (.765)
It was a successful first season for Coen with the Jaguars, but it was also a strange one. The Jaguars repeatedly struggled with unnecessary pre-snap penalties. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence had extremely rough stretches before playing like an MVP candidate to finish the regular season. Rookie Travis Hunter, the team's most notable addition during an aggressive offseason, barely made an impact as a receiver before getting injured. Jacksonville's top playmakers by the end of the season were receivers Jakobi Meyers (who was struggling to make an impact in Las Vegas) and Parker Washington (who had been marginalized and buried on the depth chart by the moves Jacksonville made during the offseason).
Coen deserves credit for getting more out of players he inherited from the prior regime, including Lawrence, Washington and running back Travis Etienne Jr. The Jags built an improved run game as the season wore on, although Coen simply didn't run the ball enough in their playoff loss to the Bills. Jaguars fans should be excited about Coen and what he might do in Year 2, but a fair amount of the credit for Jacksonville's turnaround should go to defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile.
12. Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Seasons: Four
Record: 35-33 (.515)
Taking over for the retired Bruce Arians after winning a Super Bowl as Tampa Bay's defensive coordinator, Bowles has kept the Bucs atop the NFC South for most of his tenure. He was able to transition the Buccaneers from the end of the Tom Brady era to the start of Baker Mayfield's tenure at QB smoothly, and Tampa has been solid in the postseason, blowing out the Eagles and playing the Lions and Commanders tough in competitive losses.
After the Bucs blew a 6-2 start to this season and missed the postseason, though, Bowles has understandably faced some criticism. Tampa Bay fired offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard after one season, meaning Mayfield will have his fourth coordinator in four years with the Bucs. Bowles' defenses have also struggled to live up to what they were doing while he was focusing exclusively on that side of the ball, as Tampa Bay has ranked 11th, 16th, 18th and most recently 16th in EPA per snap.
I still think Bowles is a good coach, and he has improved his late-game decision-making after being too conservative earlier in his tenure, but 2026 seems like a make-or-break year for his future in Tampa.
13. Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins
Seasons: Four
Record: 35-33 (.515)
We can't fault what McDaniel did with the Dolphins' offense. Hired to get the most out of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and spark scoring in Miami, McDaniel transformed the Dolphins upon his arrival. They were second in scoring offense in 2023, Tagovailoa's lone healthy season as a pro. McDaniel got more out of receiver Tyreek Hill than Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes had on the Chiefs, and the highly regarded offensive architect delivered a run game that was capable of taking the ball to the house from anywhere on the field.
The results just weren't where they needed to be, sometimes as a product of bad timing. Tagovailoa missed the end of the 2022 season because of an injury, and when backup Teddy Bridgewater went down shortly thereafter, the Dolphins had to start third-stringer Skylar Thompson in the postseason. In 2023, a late-season collapse cost the Dolphins the AFC East and sent them to frigid conditions in Kansas City in the wild-card round.
McDaniel struggled to find the right balance on defense, and it seemed telling that the organization basically fired Vic Fangio after one year in town, leaving the veteran assistant to go to Philadelphia and win a Super Bowl. McDaniel did enough to eventually earn a second head-coaching opportunity elsewhere, though he'll take 2026 to recharge his batteries as the offensive coordinator with the Chargers.
14. Robert Saleh, New York Jets
Seasons: Four (fired before end of fourth season)
Record: 20-36 (.357)
There's no doubting what Saleh did for the Jets' defense. Taking over one of the league's worst units before his arrival in 2021, Saleh turned the Jets into an elite defense in two years. Defenders John Franklin-Myers, Quincy Williams and D.J. Reed all hit new heights under the former 49ers assistant, and Saleh immediately got cornerback Sauce Gardner playing at an All-Pro level after he was selected with the fourth pick in 2022. The defense notably collapsed after Saleh's firing midway through the 2024 campaign, and it hasn't recovered with the arrival of former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as Saleh's replacement.
And yet, it's tough to really put Saleh higher given the quarterback fiascoes in New York. Saleh likely stuck with Zach Wilson too long in 2022, even given that the alternatives were Mike White and Joe Flacco. The ill-fated decision to get into the Aaron Rodgers business was likely above Saleh's pay grade, but the coach wasn't able to talk the Jets out of the decision or minimize Rodgers' impact on the rest of the roster and the coaching staff.
Saleh never posted a winning record in New York, but he was much better than the guy before him (Adam Gase), and interim coach Jeff Ulbrich and Glenn haven't been anywhere near as effective as Saleh since the latter's departure.
15. Doug Pederson, Jacksonville Jaguars
Seasons: Three
Record: 22-29 (.431)
Pederson was already beloved in Jacksonville solely by virtue of not being Urban Meyer, so when he helped lead the Jaguars to a playoff berth and a comeback victory over the Chargers in the wild-card round after the 2022 season, he might have been, at that moment, the most popular coach in franchise history. Through November 2023, Pederson was 17-11 as the Jags coach.
But with Trevor Lawrence injured and ineffective for most of Pederson's remaining tenure, the coach went 5-18 over the rest of his time in Jacksonville, as a stagnant offense led to his departure after three years.
16. Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts
Seasons: Three
Record: 25-26 (.490)
After two difficult seasons with Anthony Richardson Sr. at quarterback, Steichen was able to turn the Colts into the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams for half a season with Daniel Jones. After a 7-1 start, though, turnovers, bad luck and Jones' season-ending torn Achilles sank the Colts, who fell all the way out of the playoffs and didn't even finish with a winning record.
Steichen has built fun, logical offenses for Jones and Richardson over the past few seasons, and the run game has revitalized Jonathan Taylor's career after the star back battled ankle issues. Still, the former Eagles assistant has gone either 8-9 or 9-8 in each of his first three campaigns as a head coach, and that sort of consistent averageness makes him a perfect fit in the middle of this list. He has essentially been a league-average hire.
Stephen Holder breaks down the Colts' decision to retain GM Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen.
17. Brian Daboll, New York Giants
Seasons: Four (fired before end of fourth season)
Record: 20-40-1 (.328)
Was Daboll a victim of his own early success? The former Bills coordinator unexpectedly took the Giants to the playoffs and even won a wild-card game over an average Vikings team in Year 1 of his tenure, with Daniel Jones having what was to that point his best season as a pro. You know what happened next: The Giants signed Jones to an extension, didn't commit to star running back Saquon Barkley and saw both excel after leaving New York. Daboll went 11-33 after his great season, but nobody else below him on this list won a playoff game.
18. Dave Canales, Carolina Panthers
Seasons: Two
Record: 13-21 (.383)
Taking over what had been a disaster in Carolina, Canales has gotten a lot of things right. He made the unpopular decision to bench quarterback Bryce Young two games into the 2024 season, a move that turned out to be the best thing for the QB. Young was better after returning to the lineup. The Panthers' offense has improved over the past two years, and Canales oversaw upset victories over the Rams and Packers, helping the team to a division title this season. (His Panthers also came within a drop of beating the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles in 2024.)
At the same time, Carolina's NFC South title came with an 8-9 record, and it required the Falcons to bail out their division rivals after the Panthers laid an egg with a chance to clinch the division on their own in Week 18. Canales' offense is 26th in points per drive over the past two years, and that has come against a generally weak schedule. I believe Canales has the Panthers heading in the right direction, but there's still a lot of work for the former Bucs coordinator to do in Carolina.
19. Brandon Staley, Los Angeles Chargers
Seasons: Three (fired before end of third season)
Record: 24-24 (.500)
Staley's legacy as a head coach is complicated. The former Rams assistant was criticized for his decision-making on fourth down. I'm not sure I agree with that critique; if anything, Staley grew too conservative as his time as Chargers coach went on after starting his run as one of the most aggressive coaches in the league -- and the perception that he blew that fateful Raiders-Chargers game in Week 18 of 2022 was mostly untrue. Staley managed an even record over two-plus seasons in Los Angeles, and he also took the Chargers to a playoff game, something a handful of the coaches ahead of him can't say.
At the same time, he was brought in on the strength of his defensive work, and his defenses weren't any good. The Chargers were 21st in points allowed per drive before Staley arrived and finished 29th, 19th and 23rd over his three seasons in charge. Big free agent signings, such as cornerback J.C. Jackson, turned out to be disasters, and Staley was unable to get the most out of the players he inherited, including defensive end Joey Bosa and safety Derwin James Jr. The Chargers lost that one playoff game under Staley after going up 27-0 against the Jaguars, owing to Staley's defense collapsing and dismal clock management.
Staley comes in just ahead of his current boss in New Orleans ...
20. Kellen Moore, New Orleans Saints
Seasons: One
Record: 6-11 (.353)
Nobody is going to the Hall of Fame for a six-win season, but Moore has gotten off to a promising start in New Orleans. His offense didn't necessarily put up great numbers throughout the season, finishing 28th in scoring, but Moore had quarterback Spencer Rattler playing solid football before turning things over to second-round pick Tyler Shough, who looked even better during a promising second half.
Turnovers were an issue, which shouldn't be surprising for a team with such inexperienced signal-callers, but Moore was able to create an offense that got the most out of a quarterbacks room that looked underwhelming on paper. The days of Mike McCarthy criticizing Moore for lighting up the scoreboard are in the past.
21. Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys
Seasons: One
Record: 7-9-1 (.441)
Schottenheimer's ascension didn't exactly thrill Cowboys fans when he was promoted to replace Mike McCarthy in Dallas last offseason, but the 52-year-old was inoffensive in his first season as head coach.
Put in a compromising position by ownership's decision to trade star edge rusher Micah Parsons just before the season, Schottenheimer did a solid job of handling an impossible situation. He also coaxed a career year out of receiver George Pickens, whom many saw as a liability heading into the season, and was the lead architect of the fifth-best offense by points scored per possession. Schottenheimer's defense was a disaster, which is why the Cowboys missed the playoffs, but it seems more realistic to pin that on coordinator Matt Eberflus.
22. Arthur Smith, Atlanta Falcons
Seasons: Three
Record: 21-30 (.412)
Fantasy managers were infuriated by Smith's seeming desire to build the offense around the likes of Jonnu Smith and Cordarrelle Patterson as opposed to top-10 picks Drake London and Bijan Robinson, but his offense was more creative and progressive than the box scores might have suggested. The Falcons had a fun, diverse rushing attack and leaned into the bigger personnel groupings that teams such as the Rams thrived with this season.
A fun scheme makes for entertaining All-22 clips, but Smith never found his quarterback. He moved on from Matt Ryan, used Marcus Mariota as a bridge QB and then built around Desmond Ridder, all while the organization publicly disavowed any interest in acquiring Lamar Jackson. The Falcons went 7-10 for three seasons in a row, were unable to create the sort of play-action chunk yardage Smith generated during as Tennessee's offensive coordinator and never fixed their pass rush problems.
23. Dennis Allen, New Orleans Saints
Seasons: Three (fired before end of third season)
Record: 18-25 (.419)
Promoted from defensive coordinator to replace the "retired" Sean Payton, Allen quickly earned the ire of Saints fans with lofty expectations. The former Raiders head coach still fielded top-10 scoring defenses in each of his first two years with the top job, but after starting 2-7 in Year 3, Allen didn't have enough juice to hold on to his role. The firing worked out well for everyone involved in 2025; Allen ended up joining the Bears, Klint Kubiak left for the Seahawks after one season in town, and longtime special teams coordinator and interim head coach Darren Rizzi followed Payton to Denver.
24. Raheem Morris, Atlanta Falcons
Seasons: Two
Record: 16-18 (.471)
If you've been on social media over the past few days, you've probably seen the screenshots from the Falcons' last hiring process, when they interviewed Mike Macdonald and Mike Vrabel before hiring Morris as their head coach. Morris didn't take the Falcons to the Super Bowl, and an Atlanta defense that ranked 15th in points allowed per drive before Morris' arrival ranked 28th and 15th over the two ensuing seasons by the same metric.
I thought the Falcons would have given Morris another year, especially because his team finished with the same record as the Panthers, who won the NFC South on a tiebreaker. Atlanta's biggest issue has been at quarterback, where it invested so much in Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. and hasn't gotten much of a return. If that was Morris' idea, he needed to go. I suspect those decisions fell more on the shoulders of GM Terry Fontenot, though, and I'd hesitate to blame the defensive-focused Morris too much for bad decisions at QB. But both were fired earlier this month.
25. Matt Eberflus, Chicago Bears
Seasons: Three (fired before end of third season)
Record: 14-32 (.304)
There was a good defense in there for half a season! Eberflus' charges were excellent in the second half of 2023, as the Bears were third in EPA per play and fifth in success rate. Otherwise? They were a mess, as Eberflus never got the penetrating defensive tackle he wanted from GM Ryan Poles and the Bears struggled to get after the quarterback. Eberflus' game management was a problem, and after a disastrous end to a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Lions, the Bears fired their third-year coach. Ben Johnson has quickly become a folk hero as Eberflus' replacement.
26. Jonathan Gannon, Arizona Cardinals
Seasons: Three
Record: 15-36 (.294)
Hired after his Eagles defense racked up 69 sacks and made it to the Super Bowl, Gannon wasn't able to get the same results in Arizona. The Cardinals toyed with some fun simulated pressures and were film nerd darlings at times, but Gannon never got the personnel right. And 2025 was supposed to be the breakout season after adding linebacker Josh Sweat and defensive tackle Walter Nolen III; instead, Gannon's defense fell from 21st in EPA to 27th. Losing quarterback Kyler Murray for most of the season might have been a blessing in disguise, but if a defensive coach hasn't fixed the defense after three seasons, he's usually going to be moving on.
27. Jerod Mayo, New England Patriots
Seasons: One
Record: 4-13 (.235)
It's never fun to be the guy who replaces the guy. Just as Cam Newton ended up being the short-term replacement for Tom Brady and lasted one season as the starting quarterback in New England, Mayo was one-and-done after taking over for Bill Belichick. Even with Drake Maye at quarterback, Mayo's offense repeatedly battled mental mistakes and couldn't protect the rookie.
More surprisingly, Mayo took over a defense that was among the best in football during the second half of Belichick's final season and couldn't get the same results. It's unfair to compare Mayo to Mike Vrabel given how much the Pats spent to upgrade the roster this offseason, but New England is in the Super Bowl ...
28. Brian Callahan, Tennessee Titans
Seasons: Two (fired before end of second season)
Record: 4-19 (.173)
It's not Callahan's fault that the Titans fired Mike Vrabel to hire the former Bengals assistant as their head coach, but that move looks like organizational incompetence with the benefit of hindsight. Hiring Callahan to develop the team's quarterback of the future made sense, especially given that he was bringing his father, legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan, along for the ride.
But Callahan's offenses weren't able to consistently execute essential concepts, and the expensively assembled offensive line struggled to live up to expectations. Cam Ward flashed at times under Callahan, but when the second-year coach appeared to suggest that he didn't know (or correctly apply) the league's catch rule, it was going to be tough to retain the needed level of credibility. The Titans also fielded some of the worst special teams I've ever seen in 2024.
The Titans fired Callahan after a 1-5 start in 2025, with the one win requiring the Cardinals to essentially hand Tennessee the game.
29. Aaron Glenn, New York Jets
Seasons: One
Record: 3-14 (.176)
A former Jets cornerback, Glenn was hired to restore a defense that fell off after Robert Saleh was fired. The front office promptly traded Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner, the team's two best players, at the trade deadline (admittedly for massive hauls). Glenn's defense completely collapsed afterward, sleepwalking through the final few games of the season, while his handling of Justin Fields and the quarterback situation left much to be desired. I'm giving Glenn some grace, given that the Jets essentially waved the white flag at the deadline, but the early returns aren't promising for the first-time head coach.
30. Antonio Pierce, Las Vegas Raiders
Seasons: Two
Record: 9-17 (.346)
Promoted to the interim head coach role in the middle of the 2023 season, Pierce was able to restore some element of swagger in the Las Vegas locker room and delivered a surprising run of victories, including a 63-21 blowout win over the Chargers and a 20-14 victory over the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs. That was enough to earn the former Giants linebacker the full-time role, but Pierce's game management wasn't up to modern NFL standards. And with Patrick Graham running the defense, Pierce wasn't really bringing much to the table.
31. Pete Carroll, Las Vegas Raiders
Seasons: One
Record: 3-14 (.177)
I was optimistic that Carroll's experience would make him an upgrade over Pierce. I was wrong. Despite beating the eventual AFC champion Patriots in the opener, Carroll's Raiders were hopeless for most of the season, especially when star tight end Brock Bowers and left tackle Kolton Miller were out of the lineup. Carroll's defense never showed any consistent aptitude for stopping offenses, and he fired both special teams coordinator Tom McMahon and highly-paid offensive coordinator Chip Kelly before the end of the year.
Carroll has earned his status as a legend for his work elsewhere, but he wasn't able to build the program in Las Vegas.
Stephen A. Smith and Dan Orlovsky agree with the Raiders' decision to fire Pete Carroll after one season.
32. Josh McDaniels, Las Vegas Raiders
Seasons: Two (fired before end of second season)
Record: 9-16 (.360)
Three straight Raiders coaches! McDaniels finished with a better winning percentage than Carroll or Pierce, but we should keep in mind that he took over a Raiders team that was coming off a playoff berth in the AFC. McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler decided to make a series of aggressive moves, trading two picks for Davante Adams, signing Chandler Jones as a free agent and eventually moving on from longtime Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, replacing him with Jimmy Garoppolo.
The moves ranged from ill-advised to disastrous. McDaniels endured a series of embarrassing losses, most notably when Baker Mayfield joined the Rams in the middle of December and beat the Raiders with a bunch of backup linemen and receivers, having barely learned the playbook. McDaniels was fired midway through his second season, which was also how his brief tenure in Denver came to an end. I'm not sure there's another coach who was fired before completing two seasons in two different head coaching roles.
33. Lovie Smith, Houston Texans
Seasons: One
Record: 3-13-1 (.206)
An experienced coach with the Bears and Buccaneers, it looked like Smith's time as an NFL head coach had come to an end after he was fired by Illinois. Smith joined the Texans as a defensive coordinator, and the following year, he was promoted to head coach. The Texans were in the middle of a rebuild, having just traded Deshaun Watson, and there weren't high expectations for Smith in his third head coaching opportunity on the pro level.
Smith was one-and-done in his third opportunity, but he's best remembered for what happened in his final game. Amid rumors that the Texans were about to fire their coach, Smith led the team to a 32-31 win over the Colts, converting a 2-pointer with 50 seconds left to win. The move cost the Texans the first pick, but given that they used the second selection to take C.J. Stroud, Smith's folly turned out to be the best possible thing for the organization.
34. David Culley, Houston Texans
Seasons: One
Record: 4-13 (.236)
Smith took over in Houston from Culley, who might have been the most out-of-nowhere hire on this list. At 65, Culley was the oldest first-time coach hired by a team since 1970, and while the veteran assistant had worked under head coaches such as Andy Reid and Sean McDermott, his only experience as a coordinator was in 1990 at UTEP. It's incredibly rare for veteran coaches toward the end of their careers and coaches without coordinating experience to jump into head coaching roles, but Culley did both.
With Watson holding out and the organization rebooting the roster, this wasn't a very desirable job for candidates with many other options, which was realistically why the Texans ended up hiring a coach who wasn't on anybody's radar.
35. Nathaniel Hackett, Denver Broncos
Seasons: One (fired before end of first season)
Record: 4-11 (.267)
The 2022 season might as well be an eternity ago. The Broncos decided to take a major swing during the offseason by trading for Russell Wilson and hiring Hackett to take over for Vic Fangio as their head coach. Things fell apart quickly, as Hackett butchered a late-game scenario to help cost the Broncos a win in the season opener against Wilson's former employers, the Seahawks. Hackett couldn't handle the game management element of the job, and given that the Wilson-led offense finished last in points scored, it probably wasn't a surprise that the Broncos fired Hackett before the end of his first year with the organization.
Dan Orlovsky and Rex Ryan question Sean Payton's decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter.
36. Frank Reich, Carolina Panthers
Seasons: One (fired before end of first season)
Record: 1-10 (.090)
A respected coach for most of his tenure in Indianapolis before the bottom fell out in his final season, Reich was seen as a reliable, experienced pair of hands for first pick Bryce Young when the Panthers hired him in 2023. Instead of getting the Reich who had gone 37-28 with four starting quarterbacks over his first four years in Indianapolis, though, the Panthers got the one who oversaw a desperate, flailing offense the prior year.
The combination of Reich and offensive coordinator Thomas Brown never really coalesced, as the Panthers struggled to find an offensive identity. By the end of the year, Young's footwork and confidence were shot.
37. Urban Meyer, Jacksonville Jaguars
Seasons: One (fired before end of first season)
Record: 2-11 (.154)
None of the coaches on this list were accused of physically assaulting their players, which puts Meyer in a world of his own. Truly mismatched with the NFL universe, Meyer was completely disconnected from reality, including reports that he wasn't familiar with Rams star Aaron Donald. His offensive goal was to run for 250 yards and throw for 250 yards, something that happens about once a year in the NFL.
Meyer feuded with his players and coaches, abandoned the team plane to fly back to his bar in Ohio, set first pick Trevor Lawrence's development back a year, signed Tim Tebow to play tight end, showed little familiarity with who was even playing for his team and was fired after just 13 games. Your high school coach might have done a better job.