There’s a big difference between being an NFL head coach and being a good one.
Every year, a handful prove it when the games matter most. And every year, a few others remind you how thin that margin really is.
We’re in the dead period with a few months before the season starts, which makes it a good time to ask a simple question: who would you trust to coach your team in 2026? Let’s rank all 32.
1. Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams)
This could easily have been Andy Reid, but what Sean McVay is doing at his age is genuinely impressive. He’s entering year nine and still isn’t 40. His offensive system is one of the best in the league, and his teams consistently hold up on defense as well.
He’s already been to two Super Bowls and won one, and it’s hard to think he’s done adding to that total.
2. Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs)
There should be little debate that McVay, Reid, and Shanahan stand above the rest. How you rank those three simply comes down to preference. Reid’s track record is the separator for me. He’s been doing this at a high level for longer than Shanahan has even been a head coach, and that matters.
Three Super Bowl wins, five appearances in a six-year stretch, and nearly 300 career wins tell most of the story. He’s also done it across eras and quarterbacks, from Donovan McNabb to Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes, which says just as much as the rings.
3. Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers)
Shanahan has been one of the most respected offensive minds in the league since taking over in San Francisco. His teams are consistently competitive and always in the mix for the division.
His record with the 49ers isn’t gaudy, with an 82-67 mark in the regular season and 9-5 in the playoffs, and he’s still chasing that Super Bowl win. But he’s turned the 49ers into perennial contenders with innovative schemes, and it’s only a matter of time before he’s hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
4. Mike Macdonald (Seattle Seahawks)
It may be unfair to have him behind Shanahan, considering Macdonald just won a Super Bowl in dominant fashion. His defense was top-notch, physical, fast, and aggressive, everything you want on that side of the ball.
He’s entering his third year as the Seahawks’ head coach and is already one of the top names in the game. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him at the top of this list next season.
5. John Harbaugh (New York Giants)
Recent struggles are probably why he’s a bit lower than he should be, but John Harbaugh has been one of the best coaches in the league since taking over the Ravens in 2008. He’s posted a .614 winning percentage with 12 playoff appearances in 17 seasons, along with a Super Bowl win and a Coach of the Year award.
He built and sustained a winning culture in Baltimore, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t do the same in New York, even if it takes a few seasons for the playoff results to follow.
6. Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers)
All four NFC North teams look set at head coach for the foreseeable future, but LaFleur’s sustained regular-season success is what separates him from the rest. He’s posted a .670 winning percentage and already has over 75 wins in his first seven seasons, putting him in rare company historically.
That success hasn’t been a one-year spike either. Five playoff appearances, four seasons with 11 or more wins, and multiple deep runs highlight the consistency. He’s also navigated a major quarterback transition, from back-to-back MVP seasons with Aaron Rodgers to the emergence of Jordan Love, without a drop-off in results.
7. Mike Vrabel (New England Patriots)
Let’s set the off-field stuff aside for now and focus strictly on Vrabel as a coach. Fresh off a Super Bowl appearance in his first year in New England, he joins Stefanski as one of the few active head coaches with multiple Coach of the Year awards.
Vrabel has a history of building winning cultures, first in Tennessee and now in New England. That showed up immediately with the Patriots, where he led a 10-win jump from 4-13 to 14-3 and an AFC title in year one.
His style is pretty clear: physical, accountable, and disciplined, and it tends to translate quickly. That’s why he’s been able to get results out of different rosters, and why New England is so far ahead of schedule with him on the sidelines.
8. Sean Payton (Denver Broncos)
Payton had the Broncos as the AFC’s No. 1 seed and one win away from the Super Bowl. It’s fair to wonder how that game looks if Bo Nix is healthy, because his absence clearly mattered.
Payton’s resume speaks for itself. He won Super Bowl 44 in New Orleans, has over 180 career wins, and has been doing this at a high level for a long time.
9. Jim Harbaugh (Los Angeles Chargers)
Harbaugh is an interesting case. He went to a Super Bowl with the 49ers and lost to his brother, then followed it up with another NFC Championship appearance before returning to his alma mater, where he won a national title at Michigan.
Now back in the NFL, he’s picked up right where he left off. In two seasons with the Chargers, he’s won 11 games each year, with a Wild Card loss both times. He has the potential to move up these rankings with some playoff wins in LA, but for now this seems like a fair spot.
10. Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles)
Sirianni made the Super Bowl in his second season as Eagles head coach and lost, but got his redemption two years later by beating the Chiefs. He’s skippered the Eagles into a dangerous contender every year, and boasts one of most loaded rosters.
And that’s why I have him a bit lower than others might. It’s not that he hasn’t had success, it’s that a lot of it feels tied to the talent around him. The Eagles have been stacked on both sides of the ball, and it’s fair to question how much of the edge comes from the roster versus the coach.
11. Ben Johnson (Chicago Bears)
Johnson completely changed the culture in Chicago. The Bears went from non-competitive under Matt Eberflus to winning 11 games the next year, including a Wild Card win over the Packers.
What he did in year one was impressive, and it has the Bears set up to be contenders as long as he’s there. I would be shocked if Johnson doesn’t crack the top 10 on this list next season.
12. Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions)
Campbell is a clear culture coach. He’s a more likable version of Sirianni, but without the postseason success. He’s aggressive, sometimes to a fault, and he’s had a good roster that’s only a couple years removed from being the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
That said, it’s uncertain how much of that peak was tied to Ben Johnson’s offense. In the first year without him, the Lions missed the playoffs.
13. DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans)
Ryans obviously knows how to coach a defense, but the offense has been more inconsistent. He turned the Texans around quickly, going from three wins in 2022 to 10 in both 2023 and 2024, before taking another step with a 12-5 season last year.
The defense has become a real strength, and they’ve won a Wild Card game in each of his three seasons so far.
14. Liam Coen (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Coen has only been a head coach for one year, but he’s off to a strong start and his future looks bright. His first season in Jacksonville mirrored Ben Johnson’s in Chicago, where both won 13 regular season games, but Coen’s Jaguars couldn’t get a playoff win and exited in the Wild Card round.
Coen helped revive Trevor Lawrence’s career and has shown he knows how to build an effective run game. Even with the early exit, Jaguars fans should feel good about where this is headed.
15. Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings)
O’Connell has done a nice job turning the Vikings around over the past four years and has them regularly in the mix. That said, the results have been uneven, with two standout seasons of 13-plus wins and two more modest years where he missed the playoffs both times. He has also yet to win a playoff game, getting bounced in the Wild Card round in both postseason appearances.
16. Kevin Stefanski (Atlanta Falcons)
I was surprised when the Browns fired Stefanski. He’s a strong schematic coach, even if he benefited from having Myles Garrett anchoring the defense. What ultimately hurt him in Cleveland was the lack of stability at quarterback.
He’s a two-time Coach of the Year, tied for the most among active head coaches. In six seasons with the Browns, he made the playoffs twice and delivered a postseason win, the franchise’s first since 1994.
It’ll be interesting to see how he fares in Atlanta, but Falcons fans should feel pretty good about having him on the sidelines.
17. Shane Steichen (Indianapolis Colts)
The Colts started the season on fire, going 8-2 into their bye week. After that, Daniel Jones went down, the season unraveled, and they lost out, finishing 8-9.
Steichen deserves credit for helping revive Jones’s career, but in three years under him, the Colts have finished with 9, 8, and 8 wins. Right now, he’s about as average as a coach can get.
18. Dave Canales (Carolina Panthers)
Canales and the Panthers are one of the more intriguing young teams in the league. They snuck into the playoffs at 8-9 atop a weak division and gave the Rams a fight in the Wild Card round.
There were some decent wins, but also a few bad losses, which shows where they are right now. Canales has done a nice job developing Bryce Young, and with an improved roster, this could be a team competing for the division on a regular basis.
19. Dan Quinn (Washington Commanders)
Dan Quinn’s tenure continues to swing between highs and regression. An NFC Championship run in Washington was followed by a step back, and his 60-59 overall mark tells the same story. Players love him, but whether the results will ever match the buy-in remains to be seen.
20. Brian Schottenheimer (Dallas Cowboys)
I’ll be honest, I thought Brian Schottenheimer would be the first coach fired. I didn’t understand the hire, and it felt like another bizarre move by Jerry Jones. To his credit, he was steady in Year 1, going 7–9–1 while maintaining continuity with Dak Prescott.
Still, that’s underwhelming for this roster. The offense held up, but defensive issues dragged them down, and I’m just not convinced he can elevate Dallas beyond mediocrity.
21. Joe Brady (Buffalo Bills)
I’m relatively high on Joe Brady as Buffalo’s head coach. He’s a strong fit with Josh Allen, and the continuity on offense matters. I liked Sean McDermott, but he may have run his course, and this is a bold call that could help the Bills take that long-awaited next step to the Super Bowl. It will be interesting to see whether he can handle the full scope of the job now that he's the head guy and finally get this team over the playoff hump.
22. Mike McCarthy (Pittsburgh Steelers)
McCarthy was an interesting choice for Pittsburgh after moving on from Mike Tomlin, but with their track record of stability, it’s hard to completely doubt the move. He feels like the safe hire, a proven winner with a Super Bowl on his résumé and familiarity with Aaron Rodgers, if he even plays. His teams tend to win in the regular season, but recent stops raised real questions about his ceiling, particularly in the playoffs. With a decent roster, another winning year feels within reach, but whether he can deliver anything more than that remains very much in doubt.
23. Kellen Moore (New Orleans Saints)
Moore parlayed a Super Bowl run in Philly into the Saints job and was respectable in Year 1, finishing 6-11 with a late surge. The offense showed promise, but it is time to prove he can build more than just a scheme.
24. Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Bowles remains under pressure after an 8-9 season following a 10-7 playoff year. His 62-77 career record and 1-3 postseason mark highlight his limitations. The defense holds up, but offensive stagnation and struggles against top teams continue to limit his ceiling.
25. Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals)
Taylor is now the longest-tenured coach in the AFC North, which says more about the division than his résumé. Outside of the Super Bowl run, he’s 52–63–1 with consistently shaky defenses. Last season was a disappointing 6-11, and while his 5–1 playoff pedigree stands out, much of the success has been tied to Joe Burrow. Until he shows he can sustain it, Taylor remains a below-average coach.
26. Jesse Minter (Baltimore Ravens)
He’s a strong defensive mind, but how much of that came from Jim Harbaugh’s system? He inherits a loaded Baltimore roster that was the AFC’s No. 1 seed two years ago and battled injuries last year. Of the rookie coaches, he and Brady are best positioned to win right away.
27. Robert Saleh (Tennessee Titans)
Saleh went 20–36 with the Jets and never made the playoffs, despite strong defenses. Now in Tennessee, he faces another rebuild with the same major question: Can he thrive as the lead guy or is he better suited as a coordinator? Until that is answered, the skepticism is warranted.
28. Klint Kubiak (Las Vegas Raiders)
The Raiders are picking No. 1 for a reason, but they’ve started to build the right way. Kubiak’s offensive background fits well with Fernando Mendoza and a young core, but with no head coaching experience and a franchise still in rebuild mode, he can’t be slotted much higher for now.
29. Aaron Glenn (New York Jets)
His first season with the Jets couldn’t have gone much worse, a 3–14 finish with an 0–7 start and a late-season collapse. That’s especially concerning given his defensive background, as the unit fell off sharply, and the offense never found answers with Justin Fields. There’s still some belief in his defensive pedigree, and the Jets had a very nice draft, but Year 2 must bring a dramatically better record or Glenn will firmly feel the pressure.
30. Todd Monken (Cleveland Browns)
Replacing a two-time Coach of the Year is tough, but so is winning in Cleveland. Outside of Myles Garrett, this roster has major holes. Monken has had success as a coordinator, including strong runs at Georgia and Baltimore, but this is a different challenge. With his only head coaching stint coming over a decade ago at Southern Miss and now stepping into a difficult situation, it’s hard to see things turning quickly.
31. Mike LaFleur (Arizona Cardinals)
The last two spots aren’t necessarily an indictment on their coaching, just difficult situations for first-time head coaches. LaFleur has a strong offensive background, but he’s young, inexperienced, and inherits a 3–14 Arizona squad with a lot to fix. A quick turnaround feels unlikely.
32. Jeff Hafley (Miami Dolphins)
This isn’t a knock on Hafley. He’s a good defensive mind, but the situation in Miami is rough, and they’re likely years away from making a playoff run.
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