Grading NFL coaching hires 2025: Best, worst head coach, coordinator hirings

Aaron Glenn to the New York Jets always felt inevitable. Much like DeMeco Ryans with the Houston Texans, another defensive-minded head coach, this was a return home for Glenn to where he spent the majority of his playing career. He’s not walking into the best of situations, but we genuinely believe this has been the best hire in the NFL coaching carousel.

Related: Worst NFL owners

For as brilliant of a play-caller and offensive architect as Ben Johnson is, he is untested as the leader of a locker room. Defensive coordinators have to command the respect of defensive play-callers, get buy-in from everyone and find unique ways to motivate each player. As we also saw this season, Glenn also had to constantly make adjustments because of all the injuries the Detroit Lions suffered defensively. It’s those traits and a highly-regarded reputation as a leader of men who is respected by everyone who comes in contact with him, that makes Glenn the best hire. It might not necessarily lead to success because of owner Woody Johnson, but the Jets aced the process.

The Chicago Bears wanted Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams wanted an offensive-minded head coach and Johnson wanted a young franchise-caliber quarterback. It’s seemingly the perfect marriage for all parties. Johnson also seems to be assembling a strong Bears coaching staff, with the expected hires of defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi providing both the expertise and head-coaching experience he needs.

Johnson is walking into a great situation, but what prevents this from being an ‘A+’ hire is the simple fact that Johnson didn’t get to hand-pick his general manager. Maybe things work out with Ryan Poles, but team president Kevin Warren is still around and he’s earned a reputation for being power-hungry. It would’ve been better to just move on from both Poles and Warren, bringing in a GM that Johnson already has a great relationship with. However, the Bears’ organization never seems to do everything the best way and it’s why they’ve largely struggled for decades.

Related: NFL power rankings 2025

When Liam Coen first signed a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we were prepared to give the Jacksonville Jaguars the lowest grade among our NFL coaching hires. Jaguars owner Shahid Khan at first inexplicably ignored what everyone told him, no quality coaching candidate wanted this job if general manager Trent Baale was kept around. Evidently, Khan didn’t want to have to put in the work to find a new GM and head coach. Then, rejection provided a moment of clarity.

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense (2024): 6.2 yards per play (4th), 29.7 PPG (4th), 50% third-down conversion rate (2nd), 0.131 EA per Play (5th), 147.3 rush ypg (4th)

Related: Early NFL free agency predictions 2025

Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, it came at the cost of an outstanding play-caller. How Coen went about this – ignoring the Buccaneers’ phone calls and leaving them in limbo – in a disrespectful manner. With that acknowledged, Jacksonville landed a play-caller who exceeded what even Dave Canales did in Tampa Bay. More importantly, the worst GM in football is gone. This is a much-needed fresh start for the Jaguars’ franchise and while it could’ve been done more professionally, the result makes it worth it for Jacksonville.

Mike Vrabel is a very good football coach. It’s also worth recognizing that in an NFL coaching carousel with so many coordinators being hired, the New England Patriots landed a leader with a proven track record as a head coach. Vrabel delivered four winning seasons with the Tennessee Titans, including consecutive seasons with double-digit wins from 2020-’21. He also inherits a young franchise quarterback in Drake Maye who can achieve far more as the centerpiece of a team than Vrabel ever had with the Tennessee Titans. Plus, New England has more than $100 million in cap space this offseason to improve the roster.

Related Best NFL dynasties ever

With all of that acknowledged, we also had to lower the Patriots’ grade. Just like last year, owner Robert Kraft fired a head coach and failed to conduct a legitimate coaching search. He wanted Vrabel from the beginning, made a joke of the Rooney Rule and sped through this process as quickly as possible. Kraft is still chasing the past, all in an attempt to cement his legacy so he can make it into the Hall of Fame. Maybe Vrabel leads this team to success, but Kraft’s reputation keeps taking hits.

After striking out on their top options – Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson – the Las Vegas Raiders went for experience with Pete Carroll. He certainly provides credibility to a Raiders’ organization that needs more of it and he offers the player-friendly approach that the locker room will love. However, there are also a lot of reasons the Seattle Seahawks moved on from Pete Carroll.

Related: NFL cap space by team 2025

The Seahawks’ defenses were abysmal in his final seasons with the team and they dramatically improved under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald. Carroll’s track record of picking offensive coordinators also leaves a lot to be desired and there are already NFL rumors about a reunion with Russell Wilson. If Wilson winds up being the Raiders QB in 2026, this becomes a C- hire.

Dallas Cowboys have a Forbes‘ franchise value of $10.1 billion and Jerry Jones is one of the richest franchise owners in American sports. Inexplicably, he runs this franchise as if it’s a mom-and-pop shop that has to fight for every dollar it makes. Brian Schottenheimer was only hired as the Cowboys head coach because he’s one of the few coaches Jones trusts who is willing to be one of, if not the, lowest-paid head coach in the NFL.

There’s nothing redeemable about this hire. If the Cowboys wanted continuity for Dak Prescott, they could’ve kept Mike McCarthy or hired Kellen Moore. However, Moore evidently rejected Dallas and McCarthy had no interest in being low-balled by a $10 billion franchise. Cowboys Nation deserves better than this and the Cowboys locker room deserves better, but Jones is stuck in his ways. Maybe Schottenheimer surprises everyone, but there’s a reason not a single other NFL team brought him in for a head-coaching interview in recent years. Jones has set a new low point for this franchise and his decision all but guarantees the Cowboys’ NFC Championship Game drought continues for years.

The best hire in the FL coaching carousel this offseason is the San Francisco 49ers reuniting with Robert Saleh. When he served as the defensive coordinator under Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco consistently had one of the best NFL defenses, especially in critical situations. He also has Shanahan’s trust, which proved to be an issue in recent years with the last two 49ers’ defensive play-callers. San Francisco doesn’t have the talent or depth on the defensive side of the ball that it used to, but there’s still more than enough here for Saleh to field a top-12 defense in 2025. The only downside for San Francisco is this might be a one-year reunion, with Saleh a top head-coaching candidate in 2026.

Related: Best NFL players of all time

With a first-year head coach, adding experience to the Chicago Bears coaching staff was critical for Ben Johnson. He will have plenty of help, in more ways than one, with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. As a head coach, 26-53 record, Allen was abysmal. However, six years of head-coaching experience. can help Johnson next season when he encounters a lot of the head-coaching responsibilities that are rarely talked about.

Just as important, Allen’s track record as a defensive play-caller speaks for itself. Before Father Time caught up to the New Orleans Saints defense, this unit ranked third in EPA per Play (-0.054) and second in Defensive Success Rate (41.6 percent) from 2019-2022, finishing as a top-10 defense in yards and points allowed from 2020-’22. Best of all, he’ll never be a head coach again, which could give Johnson his own version of what Vic Fangio and Steve Spagnuolo are for their teams.

Matt Eberflus just wasn’t cutout to be a head coach, his time with the Chicago Bears proved that. However, the Dallas Cowboys likely found their new Dan Quinn. In his final two seasons as the Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator (2020-’21) the team ranked 10th in EPA per Play (-0.004) and they finished top-seven in takeaways in three consecutive years. He now gets to call plays for a defense with Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland. Unlikely to be hired as a head coach again for several years, this was an excellent hire by Dallas.

Related: 2025 NFL Draft order, picks by team

Unsurprisingly, the New England Patriots are trying to recreate their glory days with a defensive-minded head coach and Josh McDaniels as play-caller. Many will rightfully point to the lack of success that McDaniels had with offenses during his stints with the Raiders and Rams. However, it’s also worth acknowledging what he did with Mac Jones before becoming the head coach in Las Vegas.

Related: NFL coaching candidates 2025

Back in 2021, McDaniels orchestrated an offense that ranked seventh in scoring (26.6 PPG), red-zone touchdown rate (63.08 percent) and third-down conversion rate (43.95 percent) while placing 14th in yards-per-play average (5.7). He also spent the 2024 NFL season meeting with top college coaches, picking up concepts that could soon be influencing the NFL. This isn’t a splashy hire, but McDaniels is a quality play-caller with a great track record of success with quarterbacks and New England doesn’t have to ever worry about him being poached again for a head-coaching job.

After losing Liam Coen in a fashion the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are rightfully still bothered by, the club refocused its efforts on finding his replacement. Josh Grizzard spent last season as the team’s pass game coordinator, with the 34-year-old previously credited by Coen for the third-down offense. of note, Tampa Bay finished the regular season with the highest third-down conversion rate (50.9 percent) and no other team eclipsed 49 percent. Grizzard’s success with this offense on critical downs and the continuity Baker Mayfield gets because of this hire, earn a strong grade.

The NFL coaching carousel 2025 had a theme, reunions. Al Golden returns to the Cincinnati Bengals, where he spent two seasons (2020-’21) as linebackers coach, following an outstanding stint as the defensive coordinator for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. There’s obviously plenty of uncertainty when projecting how his system will fare in the NFL. He’s never called plays at this level and he’s taking over a defensive roster that is a bit short-handed on talent outside of Trey Hendrickson. We’re also iffy on the Bengals front office consistently drafting players that will make Golden’s system work. With that said, the success of Jeff Hafley last year does provide enough confidence to view this as a B- hire.

Related: NFL defense rankings

Klint Kubiak’s lone season as the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator feels impossible to judge. The first two games were historic and then injuries decimated the Saints’ offense the rest of the season. Alvin Kamara (3 games missed), Chris Olave (9 games missed), Derek Carr (7 games missed) and Taysom Hill (9 games missed) all missed huge chunks of the year. With a bottom-three offensive line, almost no one could’ve made this Saints’ offense function.

Related: NFL expected to make massive rule change ahead of 2025 season

Kubiak now gets a fresh start as the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator. The offensive line might be just as bad, at least entering the offseason, but he’ll be orchestrating a scheme that will be executed by Geno Smith, Kenneth Walker III, D.K. Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Many around the NFL were high on Kubiak, formerly the San Francisco 49ers passing game coordinator, before he landed in New Orleans. For now, we’re slightly optimistic but this B- grade would be hovering at 80.05 percent on the number scale. It just barely avoids a C+ mark and it will be that if Seattle doesn’t overhaul the offensive line this spring.

The Detroit Lions surprised plenty by hiring John Morton as their offensive coordinator to replace Ben Johnson. Dan Campbell’s track record speaks for itself and Morton’s years spent under Sean Payton, including as the Denver Broncos pass game coordinator last season, offer hope for success.

Related: Where NFL revenue comes from

We’re not necessarily lower on this hire because of Morton’s lone stint as offensive coordinator with the New York Jets because that 2017 team had Josh McCown and Bryce Petty at quarterback with Bilal Powell as the leading rusher. That’s not nearly enough talent to fairly judge Morton. It is fair to say, though, that this is probably going to be a noticeable downgrade from a play-calling perspective and Campbell made the hire in part because of his close relationship with Morton. While this is only a C+ grade, the talent on the Lions roster is more than enough to generate a top-10 offense next season.

Just a few years ago, most people inside the NFL thought Lou Anarumo would become a head coach. He seemed to be the lone defensive coordinator who had an answer for what Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs do. Then, the talent on the Cincinnati Bengals defense fell off dramatically and Anarumo’s system fell apart.

Related: Indianapolis Colts insider names potential QB target in NFL free agency

The problem with this hire is, as of now, the Indianapolis Colts don’t have the secondary to make this work either. Indianapolis can get after the quarterback with its defensive front and it will be nice to see the Colts deploy the blitz more in 2025 with a more modern scheme. However, general manager Chris Ballard also hasn’t demonstrated that he is willing to make the necessary investments to improve the secondary. Until that changes, it’s hard to see Anarumo returning to glory with the Colts.

Kelvin Sheppard spend the last year being mentored by Aaron Glenn, making him the natural successor as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator. A third-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Sheppard just turned 37 in January and his NFL coaching career started just a few years ago when Detroit hired him as outside linebackers coach in 2021.

What prevents this hire from being a B-minus is Sheppard’s lack of coaching experience. We’ve never seen him forced to make in-game adjustments or have to adapt on the fly because of injuries to star players. There will also be growing pains, which could be especially apparent early in the 2025 NFL season. With that said, Sheppard is getting a talent-rich Lions defense that will have more experience when it takes the field next fall. This is a relatively conservative grade, but the confidence the Lions’ organization has in Sheppard leads us to believe he can be a very good defensive play-caller.

The Jeff Ulbrich hire is a unique situation. He wasn’t the architect of the New York Jets’ defense during its best years, that credit goes to Robert Saleh. When the Jets fired Saleh this season, Ulbrich was then tasked with being a first-time interim coach who had to focus on a team that was a massive disappointment all the while the Jets’ defense fell apart. Now returning to the Atlanta Falcons, where he served as interim defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2020, Ulbrich will be helping run Raheem Morris’ system. The set-up feels a bit similar to his role under Saleh in New York. It’s a ‘fine’ hire, but certainly not one that leads us to believe the Falcons’ defense will be instantly fixed.

Related: Richest NFL owners