NFL Head Coach Churn Ends

It appears that the NFL’s Annual Head Coach Churn has come to an end. A week from the Super Bowl, the final two head coach vacancies were filled. The Las Vegas Raiders reportedly plan to hire Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak following his team’s Super Bowl obligations. The Arizona Cardinals announced the hiring of Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. So, the league has 10 new head coaches. Well, some are old coaches in new places. 

New York Giants: John Harbaugh

Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy

Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken

Buffalo Bills: Joe Brady

Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak

Arizona Cardinals: Mike LaFleur

All but John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, Robert Saleh, and Mike McCarthy are first-time NFL head coaches. Jeff Hafley had a four-year run as the head coach at Boston College. Todd Monken was the head coach at Southern Mississippi for a couple years. Jesse Minter, Joe Brady, Klint Kubiak, and Mike LaFleur will be running a team for the first time. 

It’s easy to single out Jesse Minter and Joe Brady as the coaches in the best situation to immediately succeed. Success in the NFL starts with the quarterback and the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills have an elite quarterback in Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, respectively. The Ravens are only two years removed from an AFC Championship appearance. The Bills are only a year removed from an AFC Championship appearance. Minter’s Ravens and Brady’s Bills will enter the 2026 season as serious AFC contenders.

Here’s a Flea Flicker ranking of the 10 head coach hires.

1.   Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

2.   New York Giants: John Harbaugh

3.   Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak

4.   Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

5.   Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

6.   Buffalo Bills: Joe Brady

7.   Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

8.   Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken

9.   Arizona Cardinals: Mike LaFleur

10. Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy

Robert Saleh selection of Brian Dabol as his offensive coordinator bumped him up a couple spots. Saleh and Dabol are an intriguing defense-offense pairing. 

On the diversity front, this was a disappointing coaching churn. Robert Saleh is the only minority of the 10 new head coaches. All 10 teams were idiots for not hiring Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. It’s even worse that only two teams even interviewed him. The snowy white complexion of the new head coaches shouldn’t be a surprise. The focus is so often on offensive coaches in these searches. There were zero black offensive coordinators in the league last year. The Kansas City Chiefs bringing back Eric Bieniemy gives the league one black offensive coordinator, so far, for the 2026 season. Black defensive coordinators Brian Flores, Vance Joseph, Anthony Weaver, and Ejiro Evero received token attention in this year’s head coach searches. While Evero was reportedly a finalist for the Las Vegas Raiders job, teams might’ve brought in those four coaches simply for Rooney Rule requirements. The continued shunning of Flores is a great thing for the Vikings but he deserves another head coach opportunity. The lack of diversity among the NFL’s 32 head coaches appears to be a problem without end. There are few black offensive coaches in the pipeline. Promising young coaches Nate Scheelhasse, Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator, and Jerrod Johnson, Houston Texans quarterback coach, could change that narrative in the coming years. Scheelhasse received some head coach attention. Johnson received some offensive coordinator attention. The presence of only two promising black coaches near the top of the offensive coaching pipeline is ludicrous. It must be tough to enter a pipeline with few opportunities available at the top of it. 

Congratulations and best of luck to the 10 new head coaches.