Now that the 2025-26 NFL regular season has concluded, the NFL coaching carousel has begun. Once the regular season is completed, teams that have not made the playoffs will evaluate their entire team. Team owners, executives, and decision makers will evaluate the head coach once the regular season ends. Many coaches’ fates were decided following the concussion of Week 18. Overall, teams will spend the first few days after the end of the season evaluating if they believe their current head coach and his staff are helping the team progress or holding them back.
Throughout the regular season, many names will be brought up as speculative NFL head coaching candidates. The pool is made up of former head coaches, elite offensive/defensive coordinators, and head coaches from the college level. At this point of the year, the candidates that receive the most buzz are the names likely to land one of the head coaching opportunities.
Teams will be interviewing NFL head coaching candidates over the next few weeks. Prior to Week 18 there were two vacancies open. Now there are eight openings available overall this offseason. Here are the 2026 NFL Head Coaching Candidates that can make the leap from up-and-coming coordinator to head coach.
The “Belle of the ball” of this coaching cycle is former longtime Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. It is extremely rare for a coach of Harbaugh’s stature to be available this head coaching cycle. Future Hall of Fame head coach Bill Belichick was let go during the 2024 head coaching cycle but was not hired by an NFL team. Super Bowl champion Sean Payton was acquired via trade by the Denver Broncos during the 2023 head coaching cycle because his rights were still owned by the New Orleans Saints despite taking a sabbatical year to work for FOX Sports. The last time a coach with a resume comparable to Harbaugh’s was available on the open market was when the Philadelphia Eagles let go of Andy Reid during the 2013 offseason. That same offseason, Reid was hired as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and has coached this team to win at an elite level, putting together one of the most dominant decade-long stretches in NFL history.
Above all else, a team looking to bring in Harbaugh is looking for a program builder. No coaching candidate in recent memory has as many resources to build a program into a consistent winner as Harbaugh does this offseason. Over the past two decades, Harbaugh has developed a ton of players and coaches into consistent winners.
No matter where Harbaugh ends up, he will have the opportunity to bring in whoever he wants to fill out his staff and roster to expedite the winning process. This offseason, Harbaugh has a ton of former Ravens assistant coaches available on the open market to bring onto his new team, including Anthony Weaver, Dennard Wilson, Zach Orr, Todd Monken, and Greg Roman. On top of that, other top assistants around the league will want to join Harbaugh’s staff to learn from him and attach their names to Harbaugh, who has a reputation for winning over the past two decades.
During his 18 years in Baltimore, Harbaugh had a 180-113 regular season record (.614 winning percentage) and 13-11 playoff record (.542 winning percentage). He made the playoffs in 12 of his 18 seasons, including winning the Super Bowl during the 2012-13 season.
The team looking to bring in Harbaugh will likely need to restructure its front office as well. Harbaugh will be looking to have a large role in player personnel on his new team.
It is unlikely that Harbaugh will sit out the season to wait for another opportunity. As it currently stands, there is no “slam dunk” opening that Harbaugh can’t say no to, but he will likely take a job this offseason. However, if that were to happen, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him be a Senior Analyst on his brother’s staff in Los Angeles. In recent years, former head coaches have taken gap years or finished the remainder of the season as part of other teams’ coaching staffs as senior assistants or advisors.
Best Fits: New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers (if available)
Updated: “New York Giants expected to finalize a deal to make John Harbaugh their next head coach” as per Adam Schefter
Just when all the speculation of where John Harbaugh will be going starts to heat up, Mike Tomlin decides to step down as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He stepped down following their loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round. Early reports are that Tomlin is likely to take the next season off and land a TV job. Since Tomlin stepped down, the Steelers do retain his rights if he did want to return to coaching.
Some teams with openings will try to convince Tomlin to coach next season for their franchise instead of taking the year off. Since it is unclear if he will coach in 2026, he will not be viewed as a prized coaching candidate because he is unlikely to interview for a job this offseason. Teams would be doing themselves a disservice by not treating Tomlin like he’s a legitimate coaching candidate. It isn’t every offseason that an elite coach and future Hall of Famer like Tomlin is available to be hired by a team with a vacancy.
The first thing that is mentioned whenever Mike Tomlin is brought up is that he never had a losing season at all in his 19-year head coaching career. Over the past couple of seasons, Tomlin has shown an ability to raise the floor of a team that may not be as talented on paper, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The last time Tomlin had above-average quarterback play was the 2020-21 season, one year before Ben Roethlisberger’s final season. Tomlin has the ability to will less talented rosters to at least 9 to 10 wins, even in a division as tough as the AFC North.
Since the 2007 season, Tomlin has a 193-114-2 record (.628 winning percentage). He made the playoffs in 13 of his 19 seasons in Pittsburgh. Tomlin has an 8-12 record in the playoffs (.400 winning percentage). However, he has not won a playoff game since 2016.
Similar to Harbaugh, Tomlin has connections with players and coaches around the league to build a roster and staff that could compete right away. He immediately changes the tone and culture in the building of whatever team he joins. Whoever hires Tomlin to coach their football team will be getting a dramatic change in the team culture, a phenomenal leader in the locker room, and will be building a program that normalizes winning consistently year in and year out.
Best Fits: FOX Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN, NBC Sports, Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Falcons
The top candidate many expected to be available this offseason was former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski. It is very fair to say that Stefanski has been one of the greatest head coaches the Browns have had since they returned to the league in 1999. His availability had to do with the fact that both sides appeared to have needed to move on from each other. After a great stretch where Cleveland felt like a playoff team (and at times a Super Bowl contender), this team fell into a rut where it got old and expensive very quickly. This process was expedited because of the lack of flexibility and the inability to find a long-term answer at quarterback, Deshaun Watson’s contract has given Cleveland.
Stefanski is a two-time coach of the year, winning in both 2020 and 2023. In 2020, Stefanski ended a 17-year playoff drought and had the Browns looking like a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Then, in the 2023 season, Stefanski coached Cleveland into the playoffs despite losing Pro Bowl running back two games into the season and starting five quarterbacks over the course of the season, including Deshaun Watson, P.J. Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Jeff Driskel, and 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Joe Flacco.
In six seasons in Cleveland, Stafanski had a 45-56 record (.446 winning percentage). He made the playoffs twice, winning one of his three playoff games.
In a market that feels limited when it comes to hiring an offense-minded head coach, Stefanski is the best offense-minded coaching candidate on the market. Not only did he develop Baker Mayfield (before giving up on his too early), but he also has gotten production from multiple below-average quarterbacks throughout his stint with the Browns.
Teams looking to develop their offense as a whole should look to bring in the two-time coach of the year to lead their franchise.
Best Fits: Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons
Updated: “The Atlanta Falcons are finalizing a deal to hire Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach” as per Adam Schefter
Following the Buffalo Bills’ loss in the Divisional Round to the Denver Broncos, the Buffalo Bills let go of head coach Sean McDermott. This move was controversial considering two of the premier coaching candidates John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski have already committed to new teams. Also many teams have made it to the part of the head coach hiring process where they can interview candidates for a second time and make a hire while Buffalo still has to assemble a list of candidates of whoever is left in the coaching pool. McDermott immediately becomes one of, if not, the best coaching candidate on the market.
During McDermotts nine years with the Bills he had a 98-50 record (.662 winning percentage). He made the playoffs in eight of those nine seasons. In his first season with the team McDermott ended Buffalo’s 17 year playoff drought. He had an 8-8 record (.500 winning percentage) in the playoffs.
Teams looking to bring in McDermott not only get one of the most respected defensive play callers in the league but a real program builder. McDermott was instrumental for building Buffalo into the perennial Super Bowl contender that it is today. Before he got there the Bills were a mediocre team that dreamt of becoming the team that it is today. He could have the opportunity to do that again. He will start by loading up the defensive side of the ball with high-end talent.
Then he will have to ensure he gets the production out of the offensive side of the ball and the right quarterback in place. His former offensive coordinators Joe Brady and Brian Daboll should both be available to join McDermott’s staff to try to replicate what they were able to do on offense in Buffalo in developing talents like Josh Allen and James Cook.
If McDermott does not land a head coaching opportunity, he will make a team very happy being their defensive coordinator for a season until he has a full offseason to land with a new team as their head coach.
Best Fits: Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals
Despite the disappointing season by the Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Nagy is one of the hottest coaching candidates in the NFL this offseason. Nagy was the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2018 to 2021. After he was let go by Chicago, Nagy rejoined Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs’ staff. Then in 2023, Nagy was promoted to Kansas City’s offensive coordinator, which was the position he held before he was hired by Chicago in 2o18. Nagy helped lead the Chiefs to back-to-back Super Bowls in his first two seasons in his second stint as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator.
During Nagy’s four seasons in Chicago, he had a 34-31 record (.523 winning percentage). He made the playoffs twice in his four seasons but did not win a playoff game.
When comparing Nagy’s stint with the Bears with his successor, Matt Eberflus, he was very successful, making the playoffs twice in four seasons. The biggest issue with Nagy’s time with Chicago is that he was pinned to Ryan Poles and John Fox’s quarterback selection of Mitch Trubisky for the majority of his tenure. Then, when Nagy was given the opportunity to select his own quarterback (Justin Fields), he was already on the hot seat and was not afforded the time to develop him, and had to focus on trying to keep his job.
NFL teams that are interested in Nagy must believe that he has learned since his time in Chicago and will build upon what he did when he was there. It will be important for Nagy to be on the same page as the front office, which was a major issue during his time in Chicago.
Teams also may believe that they are getting ahead of the curve by poaching Nagy this offseason. As Andy Reid enters his 28th season as an NFL head coach at the age of 72, thoughts of retirement could be crossing his mind. Kansas City will not have an easy season next year, as well as they will likely be without Travis Kelce, who is likely to retire and Patrick Mahomes for a majority of the season because of a torn ACL. It appears that, as it currently stands, Reid will relinquish the head coaching title to Nagy in the event he retires. Other teams could try to get ahead of the promotion by bringing in a coach that a future Hall of Famer in Reid, thinks is capable of sustaining the level of success this team has had for the past decade.
Best Fits: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, , Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons
Every year, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores proves that he deserves another opportunity to become an NFL head coach. Flores was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021. There were some growing pains early in Flores tenure as Miami’s head coach due to some tendencies he learned from his time as an assistant coach of the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick. Since Flores was let go in Miami, he has tried to separate himself from the Belichick coaching tree and develop as a more well-rounded defensive coach.
Flores had a 24-25 record (.490 winning percentage) in his three seasons in Miami. But in his final two seasons, Flores went 19-14 (.576 winning percentage). Unfortunately for Flores, he just missed the playoffs in his final two seasons, which was a reason why they let him go. The primary reason Flores was let go was that he was a scapegoat for (now former) Dolphins general manager Chris Grier to owner Stephen Ross for why the team kept falling short of the playoffs.Grier and Flores did not always see eye-to-eye. Grier would alliterate Flores from conversations with Ross pertaining tothe future of the franchise. That rift between Flores and other decision makers on the franchise is what ultimately led to the loss of his job in Miami.
Part of why Flores has not landed a head coach opportunity despite interviewing for multiple jobs since being let go is the ongoing lawsuit he has against the NFL for the actions of multiple NFL teams that happened during the 2022 head coaching cycle. But Flores’ impact on the Minnesota Vikings and the performance of his defense cannot be ignored by teams in need of a new head coach much longer. His defense largely carried a disappointing Minnesota Vikings team to a winning record this past season.
The team that hires Flores immediately becomes tougher. They also get an upgraded defensive scheme, which will become the identity of the team. Now, after Flores has had stints with different coaching staffs in Pittsburgh and Minnesota, he will be able to build a better offensive staff to take care of the other side of the ball. Flores’ inability to assemble an offense staff in Miami was a large issue during his last head coaching tenure.
Best Fits: Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals. Cleveland Browns. Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens
As the season was coming to a close, it appeared the former Miami Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel, was going to retain his job as the Dolphins’ head coach for one more season. After starting the season 2-7, the team finished the season fighting for their head coach and their pride, ending the year with a respectable 7-10 record. After evaluating the open market, Miami decided to let go of McDaniel and have a fresh slate with this regime at general manager and head coach.
McDaniel had a 35 -33 record (.515 winning percentage) in his four seasons as Miami’s head coach. He made the playoffs in his first two seasons with the team but did not win a playoff game. McDaniel’s Dolphins almost beat Buffalo in the 2023-24 playoffs with Skyler Thompson under center for them. The following season, they lost to the Chiefs on the road in Kansas City in a game that was never close.
There were a lot of critiques of the Mike McDaniel era in Miami, but one thing that critics can never take away from McDaniel is that he is one of the best offensive play-callers in the league. He is atop of everyone’s offensive coordinator list and is getting legitimate looks to be a head coach as soon as next season because of it.
He built a phenomenal offense predicated on the speed of Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane in Miami. He has always gotten phenomenal production from his running backs, dating back to his time with the 49ers as their running game coordinator before he was promoted to offensive coordinator. A lot of the issues in Miami were that the team got old and expensive quickly after they had acquired a ton of veteran talent like Hill, Jalen Ramsey, Bradley Chubb, and Terron Armstead to expedite the rebuild.
The Dolphins let a lot of solid starters and quality depth out the door to pay the veterans and young long-term pieces of this roster, like Waddle and Tua Tagovailoa. This left the Dolphins very top-heavy and vulnerable to injuries, especially at quarterback. Tagovailoa had dealt with a ton of injuries in his NFL career, showed on multiple occasions that he is incapable of playing in unideal weather conditions, and overall wasn’t a different maker on a consistent basis. This is why the offense and overall team did not look great throughout a season that it looked great during stretches on McDaniel’s tenure.
If McDaniel lands another head coaching opportunity this offseason, he should look for a situation where he could select his quarterback this time or be paired with a quarterback that he feels more comfortable attaching himself to for his tenure as a head coach. Teams with head coaching vacancies will always look to bring in a young, hotshot, offensive-minded head coach. But McDaniel may have to settle for an offensive coordinator job. That wouldn’t be the worst scenario, considering he will likely become the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the league next season. If it isn’t this offseason, McDaniel could be a premier name in the coaching market next season if he produces on a new team as their offensive coordinator.
Best Fits: Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals
The last coach to be hired by a third NFL team as a head coach (none of the tenures as an interim head coach) was Lovie Smith when he was promoted to head coach by the Houston Texans in 2022. There are not many head coaches around the NFL who earn the opportunity to be the head coach of three different franchises during their NFL careers. Former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers head coach has a legitimate opportunity to become the head coach of his third NFL franchise this year.
As per ESPN, he could join the likes of notable coaches like Wade Phillips, Bill Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer, Pete Carroll, Mike Shanahan, John Fox, Dan Reeves, Dick Vermeil, and Norv Turner to have been the head coach of three or more NFL franchises. As seen from this list, it was more common for coaches to get this many opportunities back in the 80’s, 90’s, and even early 2000’s as opposed to now, where coaches generally struggle to receive a second opportunity.
McCarthy has posted a 174-112-2 record (.608 winning percentage) in his 18 total seasons as a head coach of the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. He went 125-77 (.618 winning percentage) during his 13 seasons in Green Bay. McCarthy had a 49-35 record (.618 winning percentage) in his five seasons in Dallas.
He made the playoffs in 12 of his 18 seasons, including eight in a row between 2009 and 2016. The Packers made the conference championship four times during his tenure as head coach. McCarthy led the Packers to a Super Bowl victory during the 2010-11 season.
During and now after his tenure in Dallas, it is very clear what McCarthy brings to an organization as a head coach. He raises the floor of a franchise and keeps them competitive throughout the season. His offenses always produce at a high level, regardless of whether it is Aaron Rodgers or Dak Prescott at the helm. He has gotten MVP-level production out of both of them. But in order for McCarthy’s teams to take the next step as Super Bowl contenders, he will need help from a defense and coaching staff to elevate this roster to that level.
Similar to the response that he received when the Dallas Cowboys hired him in 2020, McCarthy is not the “sexy hire”because he is not a young up-and-coming offensive play-caller. But he brings a certain level of stability to a franchise that could desperately need it. He is extremely respected around league circles and showed that he could build a talented staff to support his roster and keep them competitive.
Best Fits: Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills
There was traction for former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to land a head coaching opportunity last season after how impressive Jayden Daniels and Washington’s offense looked in his first season there. However, in shocking fashion, Kingsbury and the Commanders decided to part ways this offseason after a disappointing season where it felt like the bottom completely fell out from underneath a team that was in the NFC Championship the year beforehand.
Prior to landing the job in Washington, Kingsbury was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2019-2022. He had a 22-37-1 record (.432 winning percentage) during his four seasons in Arizona. He only made the playoffs once in his time there, but did not win a playoff game.
It is hard to make excuses for why things did not work for a coach like Kingsbury, who was given a first overall pick quarterback in Kyler Murray, who was Tailor-made to play in his air raid style offense. But his teams were not very talented. Before and during Kingsbury’s tenure in Arizona (at the time), general manager Steve Keim had struggled to draft players who could become real contributors to this roster.
Offensively, Arizona was reliant on veterans like DeAndre Hopkins, Kenyan Drake, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, and Zach Ertz, who were brought in via trade to support Kyler Murray and this offense because they could not draft and develop talent. They also hit gold by taking a chance on former Steelers running back James Conner, who had signed a one-year prove-it deal with them in 2021 before spending the next four seasons with the team.
Not all of the blame should rest on the shoulders of former Cardinals general manager Steve Keim, but Kingsbury showed during his time with the Commanders that he can build a high-octane offense at the NFL level in a short amount of time. Part of the reason that Kingsbury likely decided to leave Washington is that he was likely leaning that way anyway if he was able to land a new head coaching opportunity elsewhere.
He has shown since his college coaching days that he is very capable of developing young quarterbacks. Kingsbury has played a crucial role in developing numerous Heisman-winning quarterbacks, including Johnny Manziel, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Caleb Williams, and Jayden Daniels. The two notable non-Heisman-winning quarterbacks that he has developed at the college level are journeyman veteran quarterback Case Keenum and three-time Super Bowl champion, two-time MVP, and future Hall of Famer Patrick Mahomes.
Teams looking to bring in Kingsbury are looking to add firepower to a stagnant offense. They should also have stability or a veteran coach in place to run the defensive side of the ball. Kingsbury is an offensive first guy and likely won’t have much to do with that side of the ball except for what is required for him to do as a head coach. The best way to maximize Kingsbury is to pair him with a veteran defensive coordinator who can hold down that side of the ball. Despite not having any prior NFL coaching experience before taking the Arizona Cardinals head coaching job, he had done well enough at Arizona and Washington to warrant another opportunity to become an NFL Head coach.
Best Fits: Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans
Many felt that Robert Saleh was walking into a dream situation, returning to San Francisco as their defensive coordinator. However, this season was not an easy one for Saleh because of all the losses the team suffered on defense due to free agency and injury. Despite all the adversity the 49ers faced overall this season, they made it to the playoffs and won their road matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round. Saleh’s coaching on the defensive side of the ball played a major role in San Francisco’s success this season.
Teams were shown this season that Saleh is still one of the elite defensive coaches in the league. What he’s done in San Francisco with a defense without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for most of the year showed that. But the performance of his former team, the New York Jets, also showed what kind of coach Saleh is as well. After Saleh was fired midseason from New York last season, their defense began to regress.
This past season, New York’s defense regressed to one of the worst in the league despite beginning the year with the same defensive talent as last year, including Quinnen Williams, Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, Jermaine Johnson, Will McDonald, and Quincy Williams. The past season in a half in New York proved that he elevated the level of the defense and did a great job developing their defensive talent during his tenure there.During his four years with the New York Jets, Saleh had a 20-26 record (.357 winning percentage). He never made the playoffs during his tenure with the team.
It is no secret that it is difficult to coach in New York, especially for the Jets, who have the longest playoff drought in the league. When looking at Saleh’s tenure with the team, his biggest issue was what the team missed at quarterback after two major investments in the position in a three-year span. New York took Zach Wilson second overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. Wilson was clearly overwhelmed by the situation and proved he wasn’t the team’s answer at quarterback by the end of his second season.
Then the Jets made a blockbuster deal, a ton of draft capital for an aging Aaron Rodgers. When Rodgers was with the team, he clearly was not the same player that he was in Green Bay. But he had a stranglehold over the franchise, threatening retirement at any moment if they didn’t give in to his demands. New York brought in former teammates of Rodgers like Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Billy Turner, who were towards the end of their careers and could not contribute much. Those veterans took roles away from young, developing players with more upside. The team was composed of multiple veterans (including Rodgers) who could not elevate the rest of the young developing roster to the level they would have in past years. Saleh seemingly was then pushed out by Rodgers as a scapegoat when the team had a tough start to the 2024-25 season.
Teams looking to bring in Saleh should look to bring in a great leader of men. Not only is Saleh a CEO type of coach, but he is well-regarded as a great locker room presence. His track record shows that not only can he develop young talent on the defensive side of the ball, but his schemes have also led his teams to great production for his defense. For a team with an infrastructure or plan on the offensive side of the ball, Saleh could be a great candidate to become their head coach.
Best Fits: Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals
It is hard to ignore what Vance Joseph has done on the defensive side of the ball for the Denver Broncos the last three seasons. His defense finally received the recognition they deserved as one of the best in the league. Joseph’s defense was the catalyst for the Broncos to take the next step and finish the season as the one seed in the AFC and finally winning the AFC West over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Back in 2017 Joseph was hired as the head coach of the Denver Broncos. He took over a team in transition. Denver was transitioning off of their Super Bowl Champion team led by Gary Kubiak and Peyton Manning. Both Kubiak and Manning retired within two seasons of their Super Bowl victory. Denver did not have a solution at quarterback despite starting multiple quarterbacks like Trevor Siemian, Case Keenum, Brock Osweiler, and Paxton Lynch during Joseph’s tenure.
During Joseph’s two years in Denver he had an 11-21 record (.344 winning percentage). They did not make the playoffs at all during Joseph’s tenure.
Teams looking to bring Joseph in are hoping that he wasn’t ready for his last head coaching opportunity and that he has learned from his first stint in Denver along with his time in Arizona and back with the Broncos as their defensive coordinator. Joseph’s defenses have always performed well going back to his time with the Miami Dolphins. If he could develop defensive talent for his new team the way he has during his recent stint with Denver then he should have a better tenure as a head coach the second time around.
Best Fits: Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins
The first head coach to be let go following the conclusion of Week 18 was former Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris. Despite showing strides in the right direction on the defensive side of the ball this season, it felt like Atlanta needed a fresh start at head coach and general manager. Morris’ tenure was disappointing considering the expectations that were placed on him when he was brought in. However teams could believe that Atlanta’s failures during the Morris era could have more to do with the head-scratching draft picks and signings made during Terry Fontenot’s tenure as general manager.
Morris has been an NFL head coach twice throughout his career. Not only was he the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2024-2025 but he also was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-2011. He was also the interim head coach of the Atlanta Falcons during the 2020-21 season. During all of his head coaching tenures Morris had a 37-56 record (.398 winning percentage). He was 17-31 (.354 winning percentage) in his three seasons in Tampa Bay. Morris then went 4-7 (.364 winning percentage) as the interim head coach in Atlanta. Then in his stint as the full-time head coach in Atlanta Morris went 16-18 (.471 winning percentage) over the last two seasons. Morris had not made the playoffs in any of his stints as a head coach.
Over his career Morris has shown to be a great leader and defensive mind. Many felt that he didn’t get a fair opportunity as a head coach in Tampa. When he took over the Falcons he took over a roster that needed (and still needs) major work. They had pressing needs at quarterback, pass rusher, wide receiver, and cornerback to name a few positions of need. Atlanta struggled to fill out their roster with the talent necessary to compete with impact Day 2 and Day 3 draft picks under general manager Terry Fontenot.
Also during this era the team decided to double down on major needs during the offseason which alienated the other needs on the roster. They signed Kirk Cousins to a massive contract then drafted Michael Penix Jr. eight overall in 2018. Then the following season they drafted Jalon Walker early in 2025 NFL Draft then traded a bundle of draft picks including their first round pick in 2026 to select James Pierce Jr. to address their massive need for an impact pass rusher. In hind site Atlanta should have spread out their resources to address the other needs on their roster.
Morris has gotten a lot of traction in this coaching cycle despite being let go only a few weeks ago. Teams who believe that Morris did not get a fair shake in Atlanta and believe he is still the head coach many thought he could be when Atlanta hired him from Sean McVay’s staff in Los Angeles will prioritize him.
Best Fits: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals
Arthur Smith’s offense may be controversial at times, but he is one of the most highly respected coaches in the league. He has gained a lot of traction as a head coaching candidate after what he’s done in Pittsburgh this past year. His offense did not blow people away week after week, but considering the pieces he had to work with, he got great production out of the players he was provided this past season.
Smith’s offense this past season was led by a 41-year-old quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, who had just signed with the team that summer. They lost their leading rusher for the past four seasons in Najee Harris. Pittsburgh also only had one reliable pass catcher on the roster in newly acquired receiver D.K. Metcalf after trading away George Pickens right before the season started. Despite all the adversity, Pittsburgh’s offense was consistent and had great production from role players Kenneth Gainwell, Darnell Washington, and Calvin Austin III at times throughout the year.
Prior to landing in Pittsburgh, Smith was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2021 to 2023. Smith had a 21-30 (.412 winning percentage) in his three seasons with the Falcons. In all three seasons, the Falcons finished 7-10 and landed the eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft. He did not make the playoffs while with the Falcons.
Similar to Raheem Morris, Smith fell victim to some of the poor decisions made by general manager Terry Fontenot. In Smith’s first draft, the team selected Kyle Pitts fourth overall over the likes of players like Ja’Marr Chase, Penei Sewell, and Patrick Surtain, who were regarded as franchise cornerstone players before entering the league.
The next offseason, the team attempted to upgrade from franchise legend Matt Ryan by trading for Deshaun Watson. After making their intentions public about wanting to acquire Watson to be the team’s starting quarterback, they were outbid by the Cleveland Browns. This resulted in the Falcons being forced to trade their long-time franchise quarterback, Ryan, because they inadvertently damaged the relationship between themselves and Ryan by publicly making it known they would have moved on from him for Watson. They were forced to overpay for journeyman Marcus Mariota because he was familiar with this offense.
The following season, Smith’s quarterback room was composed of Mariota and rookie third-round pick Desmond Ridder. After Mariota proved he wasn’t the answer, Ridder got the opportunity to prove himself and disappointed as well. It felt like, throughout Smith’s tenure with the Falcons, he did get to select his quarterback; instead, he had play whoever they could get in the building. On top of quarterback, the team had major needs at pass catcher and all over their defense during Smith’s tenure that were impossible to resolve in a short period of time.
Teams looking to bring in Smith would be getting a proven offensive play caller. In his second opportunity, Smith should have the opportunity to select his own quarterback to staple himself to and develop if there isn’t one in the building already. He also has a great track record of developing young offensive line talent during his time in Tennessee, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh.
Best Fits: Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers
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