The 2022 NFL season has already seen three head coaches get fired. More could join them on Black Monday — the first day of the offseason for teams that missed the playoffs.
January 9 will begin an official coaching search for a handful of franchises. The Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos each got a head start by ditching their coaches in the middle of the year. Each will try to lock down the kind of football architect who can build a stable foundation and end lengthy postseason droughts for each team.
Which names will be bandied about in rumors and reports as interviews fly across the hiring process? The 2023 crop of head coach candidate is a heady brew of familiar names and rising stars from sidelines in the NCAA and NFL. Here are, in no particular order, 13 of the hottest names prepared to hop on this winter’s coaching carousel as needy teams shake up their core philosophies.
Jim Harbaugh, head coach, University of Michigan
Harbaugh has been successful at every spot in his coaching career … to an extent. The former quarterback won conference titles at the college level at San Diego and Michigan and took Stanford to a top five ranking. He brought the San Francisco 49ers to Super Bowl 47 and had a 44-19-1 record in regular season games in four years with the franchise.
But Harbaugh has struggled to turn success into marquee championships. After two years of College Football Playoff appearances — and losses — with the Wolverines, he may exit Ann Arbor at the top of his bounce and return to the pro game. He reportedly had an informal meeting with Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper earlier this year about the team’s coaching position. However, that job may not be available given interim coach Steve Wilks’ success and standing in the locker room, leaving Harbaugh free to peruse the league’s other openings after Black Monday.
Worth noting: He made a statement recently that he expects that he “will be enthusiastically coaching Michigan in 2023” while also stating “no one knows what the future holds.”
And then there’s the report he could interview for the Broncos’ job.
Eric Bieniemy, offensive coordinator, Kansas City Chiefs
Seemingly every year, Bieniemy is a candidate for a top job. Every year, he’s passed over.
But Bieniemy has proven time and again he’s a capable play caller who adjusts on the fly and wrings every ounce of potential from his roster. While he’s been buoyed by the otherworldly talent of Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, he’s proven to be more than just a stud behind center. In 2022 he was faced with a Tyreek Hill-less offense and a smattering of underwhelming options at tailback. Nevertheless, the Chiefs have once again engineered the NFL’s top offense — in terms of both points scored and yards gained.
Will this help push Bieniemy over the hump and into a head coaching role? Or will he merely be interviewed and eventually passed over, as has become NFL tradition?
Jerod Mayo, linebackers coach, New England Patriots
Brian Daboll’s success in New York may have helped soften the view on coaches pruned from Bill Belichick’s tree. Mayo doesn’t quite have the same chops — Daboll’s biggest resume point before reviving the New York Giants was as the Bills’ offensive coordinator, after all — but he’s a well regarded assistant who has developed veteran and rookie talent in Foxborough to help keep the Patriots relevant post-Tom Brady.
Mayo, a former defensive rookie of the year, is officially a positional coach but reportedly plays a major role in designing Belichick’s top three defense. Under Mayo’s stewardship, Matthew Judon and Josh Uche have developed into one of the league’s top pass rushing combinations. A depleted secondary ranks fourth in passer rating allowed. The Patriots are in contention for a playoff spot despite limited returns at quarterback; Mayo’s role in that success will get him coaching interviews this January.
Sean Payton, former New Orleans Saints head coach
Payton left New Orleans one year after Drew Brees did, leaving before general manager Mickey Loomis’s salary cap shell game could lock his roster into years of mediocrity (the 2023 Saints are a projected $65 million over next season’s projected $225 million cap). He spent 2022 as a television analyst and could do the same next fall. Should he decide to return to the sideline, however, he’ll have his share of suitors.
Payton is responsible for the Saints’ only Super Bowl win. He averaged more than 10 wins per season in 15 years with New Orleans and has a winning record (9-8) in the playoffs. He’s a proven difference maker who can bolster his resume outside Louisiana without Brees in tow — that is, if he chooses.
Dan Quinn, defensive coordinator, Dallas Cowboys
Quinn took the Atlanta Falcons to Super Bowl 51 as head coach and was 43-42 in five-plus seasons at the helm. Since his 2020 firing he’s returned to his defensive roots as the coordinator behind a Cowboys unit that’s ranked in the top 10 in points allowed each of the last two seasons and currently ranks second in overall DVOA.
Quinn may be a realistic candidate in Denver, where has ties to quarterback and current broken toy Russell Wilson. Despite his defensive background, quarterbacks have thrived under Quinn in the past; Matt Ryan was 2016’s MVP after throwing for nearly 5,000 yards and 38 touchdowns against only seven interceptions.
Ejiro Evero, defensive coordinator, Denver Broncos
While the Broncos could turn to Payton or Quinn, their best option may already be on staff. Evero was the defensive passing game coordinator for the 2021 NFL Champion Los Angeles Rams and spent 2022 designing the seventh-ranked defense of a Broncos team asked to do entirely too much to bail out its awful offense. Denver gave up 17 points or fewer in nine of its first 14 games before effectively checking out in a season where Wilson became a punchline.
Evero only has one season as a coordinator to his name, but he showed enough to stamp his place as a candidate to watch in upcoming coaching cycles. The 41-year-old may not get an offer this time around, but another season of providing 98 percent of the Broncos’ bright spots in 2023 would ensure he’s a part of coaching searches in 2024 and beyond.
DeMeco Ryans, defensive coordinator, San Francisco 49ers
The New York Jets poached the 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 2020 and got Robert Saleh — a man who brought the Jets to the brink of contention despite starting Zach Wilson at quarterback for nine games. Ryans could be the sequel to that success story.
The former Pro Bowl linebacker and 2006 defensive rookie of the year was a top candidate for the Minnesota Vikings’ top spot last season before taking his name off the table and returning to San Francisco. That extra year of experience has seen him build the league’s most efficient defense. The leaky secondary of 2021 has become a strong point thanks to Ryans’ ability to turn Charvarius Ward and Talanoa Hufanga into legit stars at defensive back. At 38 years old, he’s an undeniable young talent who’ll be a commodity whenever he decides to make the leap to head coach.
Brian Callahan, offensive coordinator, Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals ranked 30th and 29th in scoring offense in 2019 and 2020 under Callahan’s stewardship. Then he and a stacked receiving corps helped unlock Joe Burrow’s potential. Cincinnati has ranked seventh in each of the last two seasons.
Callahan has no doubt been helped by stellar playmakers, but he deserves credit for planning around an often-deficient offensive line and finding ways to utilize his skill players to the maximum. Teams in search of an offensive catalyst could turn to the architect behind Burrow’s rise to glory and a daunting Bengal aerial attack. At 38 years old, he’s another example of the young, rising assistant NFL franchises had trended toward in recent coaching searches.
Shane Steichen, offensive coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles
Steichen took the tools at his disposal — a dominant offensive line, two stellar wide receivers and a strong running back corps — and used them to build Jalen Hurts into an MVP candidate. The 37-year-old was offensive coordinator for Justin Herbert’s revelatory rookie season in Los Angeles and has spent the last two seasons guiding the Eagles to back-to-back playoff berths.
Philadelphia has thrived under an extremely modern offense that meshes a mobile quarterback with big throws downfield. Teams looking to do the same with a young franchise passer — perhaps the Texans or Colts, depending on how this year’s draft turns out — will be keenly interested.
Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator, Detroit Lions
Johnson has rehabilitated Jared Goff as a viable starting quarterback, providing the kind of buzz once reserved for Sean McVay’s assistants in coaching circles. His ability to extend the offense to the fringes of his depth chart — Brock Wright and Shane Zylstra are tied for second in touchdown catches this season — is the kind of skill that can lift up a threadbare roster and speed up a rebuild.
Detroit climbed from 29th to sixth in the overall offense DVOA ranks this season and 25th to fourth in points scored. Sure, a punishing offensive line and the development of his skill players had something to do with that, but Johnson deserves credit for the work he’s done. He’ll get it in the form of head coach interviews this winter.
Frank Smith, offensive coordinator, Miami Dolphins
Smith has built himself up over nearly two decades as an assistant. In his first stop as a coordinator he’s been part of the coaching staff that’s engineered Tua Tagovailoa’s jump from “kinda-sorta franchise QB?” to “the league’s most efficient passer.” Granted, some of that luster has worn off recently as Tagovailoa struggled even before missing time due to the league’s concussion protocol, but Smith’s stock remains high.
Leslie Frazier, defensive coordinator, Buffalo Bills
Frazier has been to the mountaintop before, but was unable to guide the Minnesota Vikings to the postseason in three-plus seasons in the Twin Cities — though, in fairness, he got a Christian Ponder-quarterbacked team to 10 wins. His success building the Bills’ defense into a truly fearsome unit should provide the runway to make his return to a head coaching position. Buffalo has ranked in the top two when it comes to points allowed in three of the last four seasons.
Kellen Moore, offensive coordinator, Dallas Cowboys
Moore transitioned from backup quarterback to assistant coach with ease; he went from active member of the roster to offensive coordinator in two years. In four seasons his Cowboys have led the league in yards gained twice and currently average 28.8 points per game — second best in the NFL despite having to start backup Cooper Rush for five weeks.
But Moore is a bit of an unknown commodity having existed solely in Dallas’ system. While his numbers speak for themselves, the Cowboys’ lack of postseason success do as well.
