It’s hard to believe that at one point it seemed like there would be just four head coaching vacancies, which would have been the fewest in a hiring cycle since all the way back in 2010. Instead, this is as buzzy a coaching carousel as we’ve had the last few years, with a pool that’s been juiced by multiple proven commodities like John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski and Mike McDaniel. We might not even be done, with Packers HC Matt LaFleur still in some degree of limbo as I write this and a chance of change in a couple other cities. 

Both the Packers and LaFleur would shoot near the top of the lists for top available vacancy and candidate, respectively. There are some complicated layers to that situation, though, so for now we’ll keep the focus on the eight known job openings and try to piece together which candidates could land where. 

The first step in that exercise is ranking the vacancies. Generally the most sought-after candidates land in the best jobs, and that causes a domino effect down the line as other pairings click into place. There can be some subjectivity involved when it comes to determining “the best” openings, though. For instance, DeMeco Ryans was a top candidate a few years ago and landed with the Texans, who weren’t necessarily viewed as a priority destination after firing three head coaches in three years. But Ryans was drafted by Houston and played there for six years, so there was a sentimental angle no other team could play. 

The best candidates landing in the best jobs doesn’t guarantee anything when it comes to results, as coaching hires are a famously inexact science, but it’s a good starting point when trying to predict how the puzzle comes together. Once the top options are off the board, fit becomes something that will matter significantly. This is where an unknown like Dan Campbell or Dave Canales (or Joe Judge if you want to take a more pessimistic view) can separate themselves from the pack and land the opportunity of a lifetime. 

At the end of the day, there are only 32 head coaching jobs in the NFL, so no matter how undesirable a job may appear, someone is going to give it a shot. 

A quick note before diving in — we’ve got candidate lists for all eight vacancies and where those searches stand so far in our 2026 NFL Head Coach & GM Tracker.

No. 1 – Baltimore Ravens

By cutting Harbaugh loose, the Ravens did the equivalent of chucking a cinderblock into a pond, with ripple effects that will touch every corner of this hiring cycle. Harbaugh had been in Baltimore for 18 years and was the second-longest tenured head coach (behind only Steelers HC Mike Tomlin). He ranks 14th in NFL history with 180 career wins, and is one of just six active coaches with a Super Bowl ring. Proven coaching commodities like that don’t become available every year, which is why Harbaugh rocketed near the top of every coaching list as soon as he was fired, including for some jobs that weren’t technically available at the time. 

So why did the Ravens move on? By all reports, it was owner Steve Bisciotti who made the call, superseding the desires of some others in the building because he felt it was time for a change. The Ravens have been one of the most talented teams in the AFC the past few years, but have consistently come up short in many of their biggest games. In the last seven years, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has won two MVP awards and narrowly missed a third. Baltimore has appeared in just one conference championship in that same span. 

Expectations are high for the next Ravens’ coach but the talent on the roster, especially Jackson, is going to be a big draw for potential candidates. Quarterbacks make or break careers for coaches and general managers, so to have one of Jackson’s caliber already in the fold is a massive advantage. 

Beyond him, there’s still plenty of other talent on the roster, and the Ravens overall have been one of the most well-run and stable organizations since the turn of the century. There are holes that need to be patched, but the Ravens’ front office and scouting department has a long track record of finding gems. 

Best Fit: 49ers DC Robert Saleh

Bisciotti’s voice looms the largest when it comes to figuring out who the next person to lead the Ravens will be, and he doesn’t have much of a track record to project off of. His only head coaching hire before this was choosing Harbaugh after moving on from Brian Billick, another Super Bowl-winning coach who fell on hard times, after the 2007 season. 

There are some bread crumbs to follow, though. Bisciotti took a big chance on Harbaugh, who had just finished a year as a DB coach after nine as a special teams coordinator, and has repeatedly touted how looking beyond the surface is a trait he values highly. 

(It helps that the Ravens’ first choice, then-Cowboys OC Jason Garrett, turned them down, and that Harbaugh had glowing references from both Andy Reid and Bill Belichick.)

Bisciotti also took player feedback heavily into account when making his decision on Harbaugh, and while it doesn’t seem like Jackson issued an ultimatum or anything that dramatic, it’s clear that maximizing the two-time MVP will be the top concern for the next coach. Ideally the Ravens land someone who can break down some of the walls Jackson puts around himself and earn his real trust. 

Perhaps that results in a slight lean toward a candidate with an offensive background, but it’s clear expertise on either side of the ball isn’t a prerequisite for the Ravens. Beyond that, the Ravens aren’t doing a hard reset and there are no signs that big front office changes are coming, so it’s more important for a new coach to fit in and tweak the existing culture rather than come in and create something entirely new. 

There have been plenty of dots connecting to Chargers DC Jesse Minter, a former Ravens assistant lauded for his defensive acumen and emotional intelligence. Baltimore could keep the same defense if it hired Minter, and the system has been proven to work at multiple stops around the league. 

However, I think Saleh might be equally viable. While he runs a different scheme, it’s one that’s been proven to work at multiple coaching stops with a wide swathe of players. His work to keep San Francisco competitive despite tons of injuries this year was admirable, and it was clear every defender who took the field for the 49ers was well-coached. For a Baltimore franchise that has an identity synonymous with good defense, Saleh is a good fit. 

Saleh has consistently drawn praise for his leadership skills and ability to connect with players. He has prior head coaching experience from his stint with the Jets, a chapter that has aged a little better considering the team regressed this year. There are philosophical connections with the front office, as former Jets executives during Saleh’s tenure, Joe Douglas and Chad Alexander, have deep ties to the Ravens. Saleh can also tap into his connections to the Shanahan and McVay coaching tree for offensive coordinators — a vital consideration for any defensive-minded head coach. 

There’s no magic bullet to hiring a coach. Having said that, there is some history of former head coaches doing better with a second chance. The biggest issue during Saleh’s time in New York was an inability to figure out the quarterback position. That wouldn’t be a problem with the Ravens. I can see Saleh captivating Bisciotti with the energy and the edge he brings, and the owner might just see him as the perfect fit for a Ravens team that feels like it lost its way in 2025. 

No. 2 – New York Giants

A common sentiment in the weeks and months after the Giants fired HC Brian Daboll midseason is that New York would be the top available coaching vacancy and have zero issues filling the role, despite just two winning seasons in the past 10 years. Reasonable minds can disagree but that wasn’t just media fluff. There are several legitimate selling points the next coach of the Giants will be well aware of when they take the job. 

Near the top of the list is the talent on the roster. Things didn’t go according to plan this past season, but the Giants have:

• One outstanding edge rusher in Brian Burns, another pair of top draft picks in Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux, and another potential top 100 player when healthy in DT Dexter Lawrence. 
• A young nucleus of offensive skill position talent, including WR Malik Nabers, RB Cam Skattebo and RB Tyrone Tracy. 
• A franchise left tackle (when healthy) in Andrew Thomas. 
• Some building blocks in the secondary with CB Paulson Adebo and S Jevon Holland. 
• Last but not least, a promising quarterback on a rookie contract in Jaxson Dart. 

That’s a decent group, even if the roster still has glaring holes elsewhere like offensive line and receiver that will need some attention. The quarterback, especially, is what will be a selling point to prospective coaches, as not being able to solve that position has killed many head coaches’ careers before they even get off the ground. Time will tell exactly how good Dart is but his rookie season offered a lot of promise. 

New York isn’t flush with salary cap space but the books are in a reasonable spot. They are down a third-round pick from trading up for Dart last year, but still have seven draft picks in total in 2026. There’s a lot to work with here for a new coach to try and author a quick turnaround, which will be the expectation from the pressure-packed New York media market. 

Being on that kind of stage offers its own unique challenges, but also plenty of rewards if a coach can find success. Giants owner John Mara has had a quick trigger at times in the past but seems determined to change that. He’s also not known as an owner who sticks his nose into his football personnel’s day-to-day, unlike his crosstown counterpart in green. The legacy and tradition of the Giants will be a real pull for some candidates. 

Prospective head coaches will have to accept being paired with GM Joe Schoen, who was retained and is leading the search. However, unlike the situation last year with the Jaguars and GM Trent Baalke, who was infamously hard to work with, it does not seem like Schoen will be a major deterrence. In a weird way, Schoen could provide some cover as a fall guy for a new coach if things don’t go according to plan in 2026. 

Best Fit: Former Ravens HC John Harbaugh

Every report says the Giants want Harbaugh badly. The good news is they have a great shot to reel in the biggest fish of the coaching cycle. Harbaugh wouldn’t have to move too far up the Beltway for this job, and the Giants offer him a tremendous opportunity for a second act. Despite the struggles, they’re still one of the NFL’s blue blood franchises. They also have one of the better ownership situations out of the available openings. 

Harbaugh should be able to reel in far better coordinators than what the Giants have been working with in recent years, and that should pay dividends for the talent on the roster. As an added bonus, Harbaugh gets out of the quarterback gauntlet in the AFC, although the NFC East is no slouch in that department. 

Regardless, this shouldn’t be a deep rebuild. If Harbaugh can reach the locker room, there’s enough talent for the Giants to have the kind of massive, one-year turnaround we’ve seen become an almost annual trend. 

No. 3 – Atlanta Falcons

There’s a case to rank the Falcons a spot or two higher on this list. This team has had playoff expectations the last two or three years because of the talent on the roster. Atlanta has boasted a ludicrously talented and athletic trio of skill players in RB Bijan Robinson, WR Drake London and TE Kyle Pitts, a solid offensive line anchored by G Chris Lindstrom and an improving defense that saw veterans like S Jessie Bates, CB AJ Terrell and LB Kaden Elliss joined by impressive rookies like OLB James Pearce Jr., S Xavier Watts and OLB Jalon Walker. 

A few things hold the Falcons back, though. Despite spending $100 million in guaranteed money and a top-ten draft pick to add both QBs Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. in 2024, the Falcons will enter 2026 still unsure of whether they have a franchise passer on the roster. Cousins is probably headed elsewhere after reworking his deal to facilitate a release, and Penix is rehabbing from the third ACL reconstruction of his playing career. He might not be ready for the start of next season, though he should be able to play at some point. 

Moves like that have left the Falcons with a deficit in team-building resources left over from the previous regime, which sunk tons of spending and draft resources into fixing holes at quarterback and pass rusher over the last two years with mixed results. Atlanta doesn’t have its first-round pick in 2026 thanks to a trade for Pearce, and they’ll likely rank in the bottom half in cap space thanks to $35 million in dead money from Cousins. 

The other consideration is the radical restructuring team owner Arthur Blank signed off on this year. After working with a consulting firm, Blank decided to have both the head coach and the general manager report to a president of football operations who would have final say over all decisions, like the draft and free agency. It’s a structure the Titans used this past year and one that’s common in other sports, but Tennessee abandoned it after this past year to give potential HC candidates more clarity. 

In Atlanta, the president role will be filled by former Falcons QB Matt Ryan, a borderline Hall of Famer and Falcons legend, but someone with zero front office experience. Coaches are already wary of the dynamic between the owner and general manager, as GMs tend to have more job security and (probably not unrelated) more direct facetime with ownership. Add in another layer between the big boss, and some coaches will be spooked by this setup. 

Blank has a reputation as a solid owner to work for and historically has been very patient, although former HC Raheem Morris got caught up in his planned restructure and was jettisoned after just two years. The expectation is for the Falcons to win the NFC South given the talent on the roster and that’s not unreasonable. Penix has some fans in the coaching community, and when it comes to the quarterback position, you could definitely do worse as a prospective coach this year. 

Best Fit: Former Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel

Ryan will be the one hiring the next head coach, so with no history of previous moves to go off of, it makes sense to lean on prior connections. There are a few of those in this candidate pool, including Packers DC Jeff Hafley who had a solid stint as the coach at Boston College, Ryan’s alma mater. 

The most notable one to overlap with Ryan during his playing career, however, is McDaniel, who was an offensive assistant for two years under Dan Quinn and Kyle Shanahan, including Ryan’s MVP 2016 season. Since then, that coaching tree has spread all around the league to great success, and it’s a scheme the Falcons tried to tap back into with OC Zac Robinson the past two years. 

Unlike Robinson, McDaniel is a proven commodity as an offensive architect and a play designer. His offenses with the Dolphins were some of the most explosive and productive in football before some entropy toward the end of his tenure. It’s still remarkable how much he got out of QB Tua Tagovailoa, and any team looking to maximize their current starting passer will likely take notice. 

Hiring McDaniel would likely pave the way to keep DC Jeff Ulbrich, who was also a position coach on the same staff as McDaniel back when Ryan was playing and has been highlighted as a priority to keep given the Falcons’ big jump on that side of the ball last year. That would shore up one question about McDaniel, as he needs a strong defensive coordinator with how much attention he devotes to the offense. 

The other question with McDaniel relates to toughness and command. His teams in Miami developed a reputation for being soft and fading as the year went on. McDaniel’s quirky style didn’t help perceptions either. That said, the Dolphins players didn’t quit on him despite a ton of adversity this year, and he has a much more physically talented quarterback to mold in Penix compared to Tagovailoa. 

No. 4 – Tennessee Titans

This should be a more attractive job than it will end up being. The Titans have gobs of cap space, a full battery of draft picks and last year’s No. 1 pick, QB Cam Ward. Like several recent top picks, Ward dealt with an absolute craptastic environment as a rookie, and he still was able to handle it better than some of his predecessors. After clarifying responsibilities, a front office of GM Mike Borgonzi and president Chad Brinker has a lot of respect from peers around the league as a capable talent evaluation duo. 

The anchor here is owner Amy Adams Strunk, who is making a compelling run at the title of worst owner that was vacated by Dan Snyder a few years ago. Some owners meddle more day to day, but no one has self-sabotaged quite like Strunk. It started with her decision to fire former GM Jon Robinson after Week 13 of the 2022 season, not-so-coincidentally after WR A.J. Brown shredded the Titans the first season after being traded rather than extended. 

On its own, firing Robinson could have been justified, even if the timing was odd. But after another losing season in 2023, Strunk made the shocking decision to fire Vrabel. It was a move people around the league struggled to wrap their minds around at the time, and with Vrabel firmly in the running for Coach of the Year, time has not looked favorably on it. 

Strunk doesn’t talk to the media much but she did address the Vrabel firing, saying she wanted a more “collaborative” approach centered around Robinson’s replacement, GM Ran Carthon. He got a promotion to an EVP role and the Titans hired HC Brian Callahan, selling the two as a long-term duo. The team also quietly hired Brinker to the front office. Just one year later after the Titans earned the No. 1 pick, Carthon was dumped and Strunk was selling the idea of Brinker leading a revamped front office as president with the new GM Borgonzi reporting to him. 

Callahan was fired after a woeful start this year, also not coincidentally before Strunk could suffer the embarrassment of Vrabel hammering the coach she picked to replace him in Week 7. All told, it’s four major firings in four years for Strunk, with at least three organizational restructures mixed in with Borgonzi assuming traditional GM authority this offseason. That’s why any candidate, even a well-established one, will likely view this job with some skepticism. If Strunk can fire Vrabel, she can fire just about anyone. 

Best Fit: Chiefs OC Matt Nagy

Tennessee’s conducting a wide-ranging search, with nearly 20 candidates who have interviewed or are set to interview. So there are a lot of different directions they can go. They’re not locked into a candidate with an offensive background but you have to think that the winning candidate has to have a good plan for Ward. 

The Chiefs connections between Borgonzi and Nagy are hard to ignore and the Ward angle is another potential link. The young passer has physical talent and a creative playmaking streak; what’s missing is the feel for when and how to play in structure, leaving the cape off until it’s necessary. It’s the same thing Patrick Mahomes had to learn with the Chiefs and Nagy’s experience coaching Mahomes should give him plenty to work with for Ward. 

Reid has raved about Nagy and how he’s ready for another head coaching opportunity after his second stint in Kansas City. He did finish with a winning record in Chicago, going 34-31 in four seasons with two playoff appearances, and is interviewing with a few teams for a coaching vacancy. It’s not a deep pool of coaches with a background on offense, and that should help Nagy’s case as he seeks a second opportunity. 

No. 5 – Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders lead off the second half of the list of vacancies this year. Good things first — the Raiders earned the No. 1 pick and a shot at a rookie quarterback, making them perhaps the only team this year that will be able to confidently draft a rookie since this class seems to be Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and a bunch of question marks. Las Vegas will also have the benefit of tons of cap space, currently ranking third in Over The Cap’s projected effective cap space for 2026. 

Now for the bad — this has been one of the most dysfunctional organizations in the league for a while now. Raiders owner Mark Davis means well but he has not been able to find the right head coach and general manager tandem to lead the team, and he’s cycled through plenty in his 14 years in charge. Davis’ latest big idea has been bringing on Tom Brady as a minority owner and theoretical mastermind of winning. Brady’s fingerprints were all over last year’s team. 

Unfortunately, there’s a learning curve to team building, even for the GOAT, and it probably didn’t help that he’s the only big NFL decision-maker who works part-time. The 2025 Raiders were a disasterclass in misalignment between coaching staff and front office, and yet another example of how you can’t just chuck a bunch of big names together on a coaching staff and expect them to work well together. 

Whoever the next coach of the Raiders is has to bet their career on Brady being a quick learner, as well as hope that the Raiders are willing to be patient as they tackle their multi-year rebuild. 

Best Fit: Former Browns HC Kevin Stefanski

There’s not a Ben Johnson for Brady to chase in this cycle, but Stefanski offers a potentially viable alternative. He’s a proven commodity with a quality track record in Cleveland, probably one of the toughest coaching jobs in football. Stefanski also has a reputation as an egoless coach — a rarity in the NFL — who’s willing to be adaptable and tailor things to his personnel. That’s a trait I can see Brady placing a high value on. 

Adding Stefanski should also help raise the floor for the Raiders’ offense, which is pivotal considering they’ll be trying to develop a rookie quarterback in 2026. The last few No. 1 picks have been in absolutely disastrous situations as rookies, a streak the Raiders will be trying to snap. They have their own organizational skeletons when it comes to the top pick, too. 

No. 6 – Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins could end up being a great example of how beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to ranking head coaching openings. If you took a straw poll of candidates, analysts, league personnel, fans, whoever, the Dolphins would probably rank right around where I have them here. But they still have a decent shot to land Harbaugh, the jewel of the cycle, thanks to some strong connections between him and owner Stephen Ross. There are other perks to coaching for the Dolphins, too, like living in Miami and not paying state income tax. 

There are some challenges with this head coaching job that could scare off candidates with options, though. The biggest of those is the quarterback position, where the Dolphins are dealing with something worse than not having a viable franchise starter — having a failed one who’s owed a warehouse of money. 

This past season broke the Dolphins and QB Tua Tagovailoa, and both sides are expected to welcome a fresh start this offseason. However, the Dolphins would incur an NFL-record $99.2 million in dead money to move on from Tagovailoa this offseason. It’s not completely uncharted territory; the Broncos took on a similar amount when adjusted for inflation when they cut Russell Wilson. They bounced back okay considering they’re the No. 1 seed in the AFC. 

They also smashed their head coaching hire out of the park with Sean Payton, and he scored a coup by pinpointing Bo Nix as a quarterback worth building around. If the Dolphins don’t roll snake eyes like that, they’ll be staring at a pretty decent rebuilding job. 

Best Fit: Rams DC Chris Shula

Yes, Chris is related to that Shula. The 39-year-old coach is Don Shula’s grandson and the son of former NFL coach Dave Shula. The bloodlines here are obviously strong, and Shula’s been immersed in the game of football since he was little. He was on Rams HC Sean McVay’s first staff, and over the years McVay has worked closely with Shula as he rose up the ladder, eventually getting tabbed to run the defense a couple of years ago as the team transitioned into the post-Aaron Donald era. Shula’s been a big part of that rousing success. 

Being a Shula in Miami would come with a little extra pressure but there’s also a connection here that no other team would have. This would also be the kind of splash that would justify Ross’ decision to move on from McDaniel, as Shula’s ties to the McVay coaching tree could help keep the offensive system in place. With the Dolphins shifting into a phase that will focus more on younger players, Shula’s track record with the Rams looks especially appealing. 

No. 7 – Arizona Cardinals

If you broke this list down further into tiers, the Cardinals would rank even lower. There’s not a whole lot going for the team right now. Owner Michael Bidwill is one of the worst in the league with a reputation for being a pain to work for, not to mention cheap. The quarterback position is unsettled with QB Kyler Murray getting benched this past year. It seems like that decision went beyond former HC Jonathan Gannon. Murray was inconsistent in 2025 but there are not necessarily clear-cut upgrades available this offseason. 

A new head coach would also be set up in a shotgun marriage with GM Monti Ossenfort, who will be going into his fourth year on the job. That creates the potential for misaligned timelines and a power struggle to maintain job security if the losing continues. Ossenfort has put the roster in a better spot than it was when he took over, but there’s still a good way to go to close the gap, even between them and the rest of the NFC West. Candidates who have other options will tread cautiously with Arizona.

Best Fit: Vikings DC Brian Flores

One way to mitigate the issues with matching up a coach with Ossenfort is to pursue a candidate he has a pre-existing relationship with. Both Ossenfort and Flores have deep connections to the Patriots, with most of their formative years as NFL personnel spent in New England. There’s no inside information on whether they were buddies but at minimum, they should see the game of football similarly and share a common language when evaluating. 

Flores is also a quality candidate in his own right who could get pushed down the board by various extenuating circumstances. The pool of candidates got a whole lot deeper with guys like Harbaugh, Stefanski and McDaniel entering the fray. Before that, there was a case for Flores as the No. 1 option. There’s also the matter of Flores’ continuing lawsuit against the NFL for racial discrimination. For some teams, that will be disqualifying. 

However, Flores’ defensive acumen sets him apart from every other coach in this cycle. No one else — and I mean no one — is running the same system as him. Flores is on the cutting edge of defensive innovation right now and bringing that scheme in represents a significant potential edge for a team. The questions with Flores will revolve around two things: can he pair himself with a quality offensive coordinator and build a strong staff? And has he learned from the interpersonal mistakes that got him canned by the Dolphins in his first stint as a head coach? 

No. 8 – Cleveland Browns

I don’t understand the Browns’ process in firing Stefanski but choosing to retain GM Andrew Berry. Both men are equally culpable in Cleveland’s record over the past couple of seasons and should have been a package deal. The Browns evidently expected more from the on-the-field product this past season, but I’m not sure how realistic that was considering the team was in Year 1 of what was, in the best-case scenario, a two-to-three-year rebuilding project. 

At any rate, the Browns have to find a new head coach to pilot the ship for Year 2 of the rebuild, and I would expect them to have a challenging time. They’ll fill the job, there’s no doubt about that, but barring unique circumstances, they have little chance to lure any candidate from the top couple of tiers. There’s too much volatility in Cleveland with a patchwork roster and a GM on shaky ground. Deshaun Watson’s contract is still weighing down the cap, and there’s no clear path to a viable long-term quarterback with the team picking in the back half of the top 10. 

The Browns have two ways to attack this, the way I see it. They can go after coaching candidates who don’t have a ton of options, guys who are feeling pressure to strike while the iron is hot for whatever reason. Ravens OC Todd Monken fits that bill, as while he’s a respected offensive mind, he’s nearly 60 years old and teams tend to skew younger with hires these days. 

Cleveland can also try to go young — really young. The Browns could try to be a year early on a coaching candidate who is promising but needs seasoning, hoping that by locking them up with the opportunity, they can ride out the growing pains and reap the benefits. Judging by their list of candidates, this is a heavy, heavy consideration. 

Best Fit: Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase

If there’s a team responsible for the surprise hire of the coaching cycle, odds are it will be either the Browns or Ravens. Scheelhaase is getting a ton of buzz from those tasked with supplying it during the coaching cycle, and he’s likely to land an offensive coordinator job no matter how things pan out. The 35-year-old could very well be a dark horse to land a head coaching gig from a team seeking to pluck the next McVay from his staff. 

The Rams identified Scheelhaase from Iowa State last year and have raved about him behind the scenes. He’s set up to be a quick riser, which brings up an interesting question. Is it worth passing on the Browns to gain more seasoning and potentially a shot at better opportunities in future years? Most NFL coaches don’t get a second chance at being a head coach, so it makes some sense to be prudent. Then again, the vast majority of NFL coaches don’t even get offered the opportunity. There are plenty of examples of how the hype can be fleeting as the league moves on to the next big thing.