My ranking for every non-new NFL head coach
Not including new head coaches (college doesn’t count) because I don’t think it would be fair to judge. Also, this is the second time me posting this because for some reason I accidentally deleted almost the entire thing and I don’t know how.
1. Andy Reid (Chiefs)- One bad year and people are already writing him off. He has three Super Bowl wins and five appearances. Anyone saying he’s only good because of Mahomes needs to take a look at his records pre-Mahomes. He didn’t have a single losing season until last year.
2. Sean McVay (Rams)- He’s turned the Rams into a winner and has gotten them to the playoffs in all but 2 of his nine seasons as a coach. He has a Super Bowl win, lost another, and got a nearly 40-year old Stafford to win MVP last year. Just an unbelievable coach.
3. Mike MacDonald (Seahawks)- Might be recency bias but he’s already shown he’s one of the best. His defense was unstoppable and of course he has a Super Bowl win. That was also only his second year as a head coach and the Seahawks were actually projected to finish last in their division entering last year.
4. Sean Payton (Broncos)- He has some baggage but the guy is a winner. He had Brees in New Orleans but still he totally changed the culture there. He has turned around the Broncos faster than pretty much anybody could have expected considering the mess from the Russell Wilson era.
5. Kyle Shanahan (49ers)- You could make a case for top 3 for him but he doesn’t have a Super Bowl and has blown leads in all three of his Super Bowls. Even with that, he has managed to turn around several QBs and has had to deal with several injured teams. He is also well-respected around the league.
6. Mike Vrabel (Patriots)- Not discussing what’s going on with him right now. He is a good coach though. He made the Titans relevant for the first time in forever and guided a 4-win Patriots team to the Super Bowl in his first year. Even if it was a weak Super Bowl team, it’s still impressive.
7. John Harbaugh (Giants)- I’m a Giants fan but trying to be unbiased as I can. I think Harbaugh is still a good coach. He only had one season of fewer than 8 wins in his nearly two decade tenure Baltimore. He has had the benefit of having Lamar but still his teams rarely bottom out and has a Super Bowl win. I think this is a fair ranking.
8. Jim Harbaugh (Chargers)- You could make a case for him for being higher, especially with how he good was in SF but he has yet to win a playoff game with the Chargers. He’s done pretty well there but needs to do more in the playoffs. He’s not higher than John because not only is he 0-3 against him but he lost to him in the Super Bowl.
9. DeMeco Ryans (Texans)- I don’t think he gets enough credit for the turnaround he has had in Houston. Yes, Stroud has struggled the last two seasons and he has made some bad OC hires but the defense has been unbelievable and the culture there is great. The mid-season turnaround last year was very encouraging as well.
10. Nick Sirriani (Eagles)- This is a very tough one to rank. On one hand he has a Super Bowl win and lost in another. On the other hand, he has made some poor coordinator hires and has had some questionable in-game coaching decisions. He also has had some stacked rosters. He has a Super Bowl though so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and put him top 10.
11. Ben Johnson (Bears)- The way he turned the Bears around last year was unbelievable. The culture and vibes were great and the Bears were must watch TV. He is not higher because it’s just been one year but he has potential to move up on this list in the coming years.
12. Dan Campbell (Lions)- Going to get a lot of flack for this but I don’t think Campbell is a bit overrated. He gets credit for the turnaround and definitely has changed the culture but he has made some questionable coaching decisions and he hasn’t done a lot without Johnson and he’s had some stacked rosters too . If they bounce back this year, he will move back up.
13. Matt LaFlauer (Packers)- He’s a decent coach but it feels like the Packers are not living up to their full potential. He has a high floor but three years in a row they barely made it to the playoffs, making it as the 7 seed. They need to start doing a little more than that.
14. Liam Coen (Jaguars)- It was impressive the work he’s done with Baker Mayfield as the OC in Tampa and in Jacksonville with TLaw. Also, did not see 13 wins coming in Jacksonville last year. He could be higher but it’s only been one year and I need to see a little more.
15. Mike McCarthy (Steelers)- I don’t think he’s a bad coach. His clock management is really the biggest issue I have with him. He actually did some decent stuff in Dallas and he has had some great history with QBs. Unfortunately, we don’t know who the QB will be for the Steelers but he’s a veteran coach with a Super Bowl with a pretty good winning percentage.
16. Kevin O Connell (Vikings)- He has had two great seasons and two mediocre ones but still no playoff wins and Kyler needs to show some signs of life this year or OConnell’s days as the QB whisperer will be over.
17. Dan Quinn (Commanders)- He has taken the Falcons to the Super Bowl and did take the Commanders to the NFC Championship two seasons ago but he still has an overall losing record as a coach.
18. Kevin Stefanski (Falcons)- All things considered he was alright in Cleveland but still only two winning seasons out of six. He had a terrible GM and ownership that he has to deal with there. I have to see what he does in Atlanta before I move him any higher.
19. Dave Canales (Panthers)- He gets a lot of credit for taking the Panthers to the playoffs and almost beating the Rams in the Wild Card Game but still it was a weak division and need to see a little more from him but he’s off to a decent start.
20. Zac Taylor (Bengals)- He does have a Super Bowl appearance and an AFC Championship appearance but he’s had three straight seasons since of missing the playoffs. With that stacked offense, that’s unacceptable. To be fair, I think the team did improve this offseason.
21. Shane Steichen (Colts)- I actually don’t think he’s the main problem in Indy and I think he did pretty good work with Danny Dimes but still the results speak for themselves and he has no playoff appearances in three years. Going to need to get there at some point or he’s going to be out of a job.
22. Kellen Moore (Saints)- He actually overachieved his first year in NO but it was with a favorable schedule. He’s off to a good start but need to see more.
23. Robert Saleh (Titans)- Don’t know how to judge his Jets tenure. He had the Jets the best they’ve been in a while but that was also with a decent roster. Working in his favor is the Jets completely collapsed after he was fired early in the 2024 season. Not sure how things will go in Tennessee so I’m going to wait and see on him.
24. Brian Schottenheimer (Cowboys)- He actually has an okay first year in Dallas. Defense was horrible but the offense was good and there’s a new DC this year. If the team improves from last year, he could move up.
25. Todd Bowles (Bucs)- I know he made the playoffs a bunch of times but that’s in a weak division and I think he may have benefitted from decent OCs. Team looked bad second half of last year and it feels like he’s kind of a dead man walking.
26. Aaron Glenn (Jets)- The team is horrible but the guy has no clue what he’s doing. Maybe he’ll improve this year and prove me wrong but for now he’s in last place.
What would you change? Let me know in the comments.