Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is far from perfect. He’s entirely too interested in the run game – both on the field and in the draft room – and sometimes his conservative instincts can drive us up the wall on fourth down. That said, Carroll has long been one of the most successful coaches in the NFL and he’s now managed to make the playoffs with several different roster cores since he took over back in 2010. So, how does Pete compare to the competition? Let’s find out.
Here’s how we rank all 32 head coaches around the league going into the 2023 season.
The rookie year head coaches
These coaches are heading into their first year in the NFL. They also have three of the worst rosters to work with. Gannon and Ryans are also working for owners who have tended to blame head coaches for organizational failures in recent years. At least Steichen has Anthony Richardson, boosting his long-term prospects ahead of the other two.
32. Jonathan Gannon – Arizona Cardinals: 0-0
31. DeMeco Ryans – Houston Texans: 0-0
30. Shane Steichen – Indianapolis Colts: 0-0
Experienced, just not very good
These three coaches have been around for a while. While they were all excellent coordinators and playcallers, they have yet to experience sustained success as a head coach at this level.
29. Josh McDaniels – Las Vegas Raiders: 17-28
28. Dennis Allen – New Orleans Saints: 15-38
27. Todd Bowles – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 34-50
Too early to tell
This next group have only been in the league for one or two seasons as head coaches. While their results haven’t been great so far, it’s still too early in their coaching careers to know if they’re going to work out or not.
26. Matt Eberflus – Chicago Bears: 3-14
25. Robert Saleh – New York Jets: 11-23
24. Arthur Smith – Atlanta Falcons: 14-20
The middle of the pack
This next group of coaches have at least a few years of experience and have shown at least some promise. However, there’s no guarantee that they’ll stick around in their positions in the long run (4-5 years).
23. Dan Campbell – Detroit Lions: 17-28-1
22. Kevin Stefanski – Cleveland Browns: 26-24
21. Zac Taylor – Cinncinati Bengals: 28-36-1
20. Frank Reich – Carolina Panthers: 40-33-1
Not great, not terrible
This group of coaches is very experienced, including a lot of playoff games. However, McCarthy, LaFleur and Rivera were boosted by having Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton in their primes. Vrabel is capable but his window to reach the Super Bowl may now be closed.
19. Ron Rivera – Washington Commanders: 98-90-2
18. Mike McCarthy – Dallas Cowboys: 155-97-2
17. Matt LaFleur – Green Bay Packers: 47-19
16. Mike Vrabel – Tennessee Titans: 48-34
Promising but not proven
This next group of three have only been coaching with their current teams for one season. However, they all had solid rookie seasons and the short-term future looks bright for them and their franchises.
15. Kevin O’Connell – Minnesota Vikings: 13-4
14. Brian Daboll – New York Giants: 9-7-1
13. Mike McDaniel – Miami Dolphins: 9-8
The aggressive risers
These three head coaches are known for their aggressive instincts and willingness to embrace “the analytics” as playcallers, also known as math. Pederson has already won a Super Bowl, while McDermott and Staley should have plenty of chances with their top-five franchise QBs.
12. Brandon Staley – Los Angeles Chargers: 19-15
11. Sean McDermott – Buffalo Bills: 62-35
10. Doug Pederson – Jacksonville Jaguars: 51-45-1
Pete and Sean and Sean
As we reach the top 10 we finally find Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who is grouped here with two other proven Super Bowl winners in Sean Payton and Sean McVay.
9. Pete Carroll – Seattle Seahawks: 161-112-1
8. Sean Payton – Denver Broncos: 152-89
7. Sean McVay – Los Angeles Rams: 60-38
The NFC heavyweights
These two get grouped together thanks to their age and the dominance of their championship contender teams, who met in the NFC title game last season. Neither has yet to win a ring, but both should have a legitimate opportunity to do so in the next few years.
6. Nick Sirianni: Philadelphia Eagles: 23-11
5. Kyle Shanahan – San Francisco 49ers: 52-46
The evergreen success group
These future Hall of Famers have proven their mettle time and again, in the regular season, the postseason and the Super Bowl. Harbaugh (1) and Tomlin (2) both have rings, while Belichick has six. Even with awful rosters, these goats will have their teams sniffing the playoffs every year.
4. John Harbaugh – Baltimore Ravens: 147-95
3. Mike Tomlin – Pittsburgh Steelers: 163-93-2
2. Bill Belichick – New England Patriots: 298-152
A1
The cheeseburger king gets his own spot because Andy Reid is coaching in a league of his own right now. It helps to have the most dynamic quarterback in NFL history on his side, but it’s difficult to imagine Patrick Mahomes having the same success with literally any other coach. Kansas City has won two of the last four Super Bowls and at least nine games 10 years running.
1. Andy Reid – Kansas City Chiefs: 247-138-1
