This week we may eventually get a football coach-centric national holiday. In case you hadn’t heard, the Seahawks dismissed Pete Carroll as head coach, Nick Saban retired and Bill Belichick parted ways with the Patriots, all in a span of less than 24 hours. Not only is this a memorable fork in the road in the history of the sport, it’s accelerated what was already a highly-competitive 2024 coaching cycle around the NFL.
After this morning’s breaking news that Jerod Mayo is succeeding Belichick in New England, there are now seven teams looking for a new head coach and a couple-dozen strong candidates to fill them, including a few future Hall of Famers. Where will they land? That’s anybody’s guess, but we can tell which teams offer a better chance to win. Here’s how we rank all seven head coach openings around the league.
7
Carolina Panthers
This is not only the least attractive head coach opening in the NFL, it may be the least-appealing in all of professional sports. David Tepper’s mismanagement has run what was already a struggling franchise firmly into the ground. They have the league’s worst roster and a poor starting quarterback in Bryce Young. Whoever signs up for this job will have their work cut out for them.
6
Washington Commanders (4-13)
Things aren’t much better in the capitol, which has been mismanaged for years, even before Ron Rivera came in. The Commanders do have some interesting pieces like Terry McLaurin and DaRon Payne. However, overall this is a significantly below-average roster made much worse by Sam Howell’s decline in the second half of the season.
5
Tennessee Titans (6-11)
The options start to get significantly better from here. Tennesssee has a promising young quarterback in Will Levis, strong skill players like DeAndre Hopkins and some damn-good linemen like Denico Autry. A more dynamic coach than Mike Vrabel might have a better chance of making the playoffs, but they’ll probably need to smooth out the rough edges of this roster first.
4
Las Vegas Raiders (8-9)
These Raiders were easily one of the worst teams in the NFL early on – but after firing Josh McDaniels they made a quick turnaround under interim coach Antonio Pierce. He deserves to continue leading this team in 2024 – but if they go in another direction the next head coach in Vegas will inherit blue-chip pieces like DaVante Adams and Maxx Crosby plus some underrated playmakers. If they can find the right coach/QB combo, this team could be dangerous as soon as next season.
3
Atlanta Falcons (7-10)
The Falcons have one of the most-exciting young rosters around the league. On offense they have rare talents like Bijan Robinson and Drake London. Meanwhile, on defense they’re well setup at all three levels. The only thing that’s missing is a true franchise quarterback. Ditching Desmond Ridder and drafting a new starter should be at the top of the list for whoever takes over here.
2
Los Angeles Chargers (5-12)
The Chargers are easily the most-desirable destination among the AFC teams looking for a new head coach. They have by-far the best QB of the group in Justin Herbert, who performs at a top-five level when he’s healthy. They also have a strong receiver corps, a couple great running backs and a defense that has stars all over the place. The window may be small though, and a lot of those pieces may soon be on their way out due to cap constraints.
1
Seattle Seahawks (9-8)
It only takes a tiny bit of homerism to see that Seattle is the best team that’s trending up among those that are looking for a new head coach. They have more than enough talent on offense to be a top-five scoring unit and defensively there are several excellent young pieces to build around. Once they shed some burdensome safety contracts and shift those resources towards their offensive and defensive lines this team could be dangerous. Going into 2023 we felt they had the potential of an 11-6 team. With the right leader they may be even better.
