Three NFL coaches have been fired during the regular season with even more head coaches poised to be axed on ‘Black Monday’ following the final week of the regular season. With the NFL coaching carousel just weeks away from starting, we’re making early predictions for which NFL coaches will be hired in 2025. Let’s quickly dive into our early predictions for the NFL coaching carousel 2025. For this exercise, we’re focusing on the three teams who already fired their head coaches and those widely expected to make a move.
New Orleans Saints hire Aaron Glenn to replace Dennis Allen
Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn will be one of the most coveted names in the NFL coaching carousel. He’s spent multiple years learning from Dan Campbell and Sean Payton, two of the best head coaches in the NFL who also know how to lead a locker room. Glenn will have his pick of jobs in 2025, but his ties to the New Orleans Saints (defensive backs coach from 2016-’20) and the New York Jets (played from 1994-2001) give both clubs a real shot at landing him.
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Ultimately, the choice may come down to which organization Glenn gives as a more stable operation that can put him in the best position to succeed and run a team his way. While the Saints’ cap situation and long-term outlook is iffy, the dysfunction at the top of the Jets’ organization is a much riskier bet for a head coach. In the end, Glenn returns to New Orleans as the Saints head coach.
Las Vegas Raiders hire Mike Vrabel
Similar to Aaron Glenn, Mike Vrabel will have his choice of jobs from the NFL coaching carousel in 2025. Given his previous success as the Tennessee Titans head coach and how well-regarded he is around the league, Vrabel is arguably the best coaching candidate in 2025. He’ll be on the radar of every team with a head-coaching vacancy and his availability could even make the New England Patriots consider a change. For now, though, we think this comes down to the Chicago Bears and Las Vegas Raiders.
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Both teams didn’t take advantage of Jim Harbaugh hitting the market last offseason and it cost them. They can’t afford a short-sighted mistake this year. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams would provide Vrabel with a young franchise-caliber quarterback and that can be a golden ticket for a head coach. However, Vrabel does have a history of friction with front office execs and that doesn’t bode well for Chicago given the reports on team president Kevin Warren.
Instead, we think Vrabel will become the next Raiders head coach with owner Mark Davis ready to spend and co-owner Tom Brady certainly very happy to bring in an experienced head coach who can instill a culture in Las Vegas. Vrabel will a better relationship with ownership, he can fix the Raiders’ defense and he’s done well (Matt LaFleur and Arthur Smith) in hiring offensive play-callers.
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New York Jets hire Brian Flores
While there are only a handful of jobs available in the NFL coaching carousel this offseason, there is a hierarchy of jobs. The New York Jets offer more exciting, young talent than the Saints or Raiders, but circulating rumors about Garrett Wilson demanding a trade this offseason and the issues with Woody Johnson attach jet-sized red flags to this job. There’s also the fact that New York has the longest playoff drought in sports right now.
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However, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has some issues working against him. An active civil suit against the NFL will immediately take him off the radar for several teams, including the New York Giants. On top of that, the comments made by Tua Tagovailoa about how Flores treated him will raise more questions.
With all that said, Flores is arguably the best defensive play-caller in the NFL right now and he won far more games as the Miami Dolphins head coach than anyone expected. He’s also spent two years with the Minnesota Vikings, time to find a great offensive mind who has spent years learning from Kevin O’Connell. Flores’ connections can help him build a staff and he can fix the Jets defense.
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New York Giants hire Liam Coen to replace Brian Daboll
We’ve seen countless examples from the NFL coaching carousel of teams going in the opposite direction of their last hire. In the New York Giants’ case, that would mean replacing offensive guru Brian Daboll with a defensive-minded head coach. However, New York will likely have the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and the future identity of this team will likely need to be its offense. That leads us to Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
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Coen, age 39, spent several years learning under Sean McVay (2018-’20, 2022) and he’s had successful stints as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kentucky (2021, ’23). Those stops helped him become the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator in 2024 and Tampa Bay’s offense has been even better than it was with Dave Canales. Coen can build an offense based on the skill set of either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward, putting either rookie in the best position to succeed immediately. Plus, he’d be taking over an offense that already has young weapons in Malik Nabers, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Theo Johnson.
Jacksonville Jaguars name Joe Brady head coach
We would’ve predicted Bill Belichick to become the next Jacksonville Jaguars head coach before he took the North Carolina job. Now, it seems likely that Jacksonville will pivot in a completely different direction. This decision could be shaped by who would replace Trent Baalke as the Jaguars general manager, but for now, we’ll focus on the man to replace Doug Pederson.
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Joe Brady, age 35, would be making a return to Florida. He’s also worked with two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, serving as Joe Burrow’s passing game coordinator at LSU in 2019 and Josh Allen’s quarterbacks coach from 2022-’23. Brady has shown remarkable improvement as a play-caller since his failed stint with the Carolina Panthers, displaying an adaptability that Pederson hasn’t shown in years. Jacksonville needs someone to get the most out of Trevor Lawrence, Brady is the best option since Ben Johnson probably won’t consider this job.
Chicago Bears poach Ben Johnson from the Detroit Lions
We believe there’s a legitimate chance that Ben Johnson won’t take an NFL head-coaching job in 2025, sticking around with the Detroit Lions for another year. However, a storied franchise’s desperation can make them go to great lengths for respectability. In this case, we think the Chicago Bears will make an all-out effort to land Johnson.
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That could even mean parting ways with general manager Ryan Poles, who seems to be losing the power struggle in the Bears front office to Kevin Warren. The McCaskey family could sweeten their proposal to Johnson, allowing him to hand-pick the next Bears general manager. It would be similar to what the San Francisco 49ers did to land Kyle Shanahan.
Johnson would then have a GM he has a great working relationship with and who would allow him to help shape the Bears roster. With a franchise quarterback already in place and young offensive weapons (Rome Odunze, DJ Moore and D’Andre Swift), Johnson could engineer a top offense in short order. The key will be the Bears’ willingness to allow Johnson to shape this team his way.