Remember when it was unusual for an NFL team to fire its head coach in the middle of the season? The thinking then was that an NFL season is not long enough for a coaching change to impact results, the way coaching changes in the NBA or MLB can, with those leagues playing so many more games.
That's all shifted as the cacophony that surrounds each failing regime grows louder, amplified by a news cycle on loop and a social media brew of hyperbole and impatience. Every loss is a crisis, every poor decision is a catastrophe and even the most stoic owners get swept up.
That's part of why there were already three head coaching jobs open with six weeks remaining in the regular season. Another reason: Team owners want a jump on the hiring cycle. With rules in place governing when franchises can talk to coaches who are part of playoff teams and the requirement for any candidate pool to include diversity, owners with vacancies want to have time to start vetting prospects and, in the case of candidates who are currently unemployed, perhaps even begin the interviews. The result is that the hiring cycle -- which was once a blizzard of activity squeezed into a few days before the playoffs even began -- has now stretched out over many weeks. That's not a bad thing. Slowing down almost certainly means newer faces have a chance to enter the mix, and avoiding a frenzy might -- we can only hope -- help prevent teams from making bad decisions that, as in other areas of life, are the result of a rush to judgment.
There were eight head-coaching vacancies at the end of the 2023 season -- representing a quarter of the entire league -- and it was a good cycle for diversity. Four of the jobs (in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Carolina, New England) went to minority candidates. League officials, though, remain concerned about the dearth of offensive coordinators of color, because that is the most popular pipeline that produces head coaches.
This hiring cycle featured one early bombshell development. When Bill Belichick accepted the job at the University of North Carolina in December, it removed the biggest and most intriguing name from the NFL pool. Would he have had suitors after being passed over last offseason, following his departure from New England? Which job would have appealed to him most? We'll never know. In Belichick's absence, one of his former players, ex-Titans coach Mike Vrabel, figured to be one of the most hotly pursued candidates among those who have already been on the job -- until Vrabel agreed to become the Patriots' next coach. Among the newbies, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who drew plenty of interest last offseason, was again highly sought-after, and he became the second coach hired when the Bears tabbed him just two days after the Lions' season ended.
Here are our assessments of the new hires, as well as our thoughts on the Saints' opening -- currently the only head-coach vacancy remaining.
THE HIRINGS
NOTE: The hirings are presented below in chronological order with the most recent moves listed first.
HIRED: Brian Schottenheimer
The Cowboys did not interview any of the top candidates in this hiring cycle, opting for the familiarity of Schottenheimer, who has been on the Cowboys’ staff for the last three seasons, the last two as offensive coordinator, although he was not the play-caller. Familiarity is the key word here -- for quarterback Dak Prescott, certainly, but also for team owner and general manager Jerry Jones. Schottenheimer, the son of the late Marty Schottenheimer, has spent more than two decades as an NFL coach, but he was last seen as a hot candidate about 15 years ago, when he spearheaded a Jets offense that had Brett Favre and Thomas Jones and later went to two AFC Championship Games with Mark Sanchez at the helm. That doesn’t mean he dropped off the map. The last time he was an offensive coordinator before he went to Dallas was in Seattle, where the offense finished in the top 10 in scoring each of his three seasons. Perhaps most importantly, because he was already inside the building, he understands -- and can presumably handle -- the unique dynamics of being the Cowboys’ head coach, who receives more scrutiny than most while also never being the top voice in the franchise. And he has seen up close what works and does not work for Prescott, who enjoyed his best season when Mike McCarthy was running the offense. As a first-time head coach, Schottenheimer’s staff will be important. Schottenheimer must decide who will call plays -- himself or an offensive coordinator -- but most of all he must figure out how to get the offense to rebound from 2024 and do something that others have failed to manage: take the Cowboys deep into the playoffs. Fixing the running game -- and convincing the Cowboys to be more active in free agency than they were in a very quiet 2024 offseason -- would be a good start.
HIRED: Liam Coen
Well, this one took an unusual turn, but the Jaguars wound up with a head coach whom Trevor Lawrence should be very happy about. A few hours after Coen withdrew his name from consideration in Jacksonville and agreed to a new, lucrative contract to remain the offensive coordinator in Tampa, the Jags and general manager Trent Baalke parted ways -- and Coen then reversed course. Coen has had a meteoric rise, and his work making the Bucs one of the league's best offenses, reviving a dormant running game and helping Baker Mayfield to a career-best season, caught Jacksonville owner Shad Khan's eye. Coen will have some talent to work with; running backs Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby should be thrilled, because Coen will presumably bring the running game back for the Jags, too, and receiver Brian Thomas Jr. is a rising star. This franchise is on its fourth coach in six seasons, and the team -- especially Lawrence, who has been in a slump since the end of the 2023 season -- needs some stability. As a first-time head coach, Coen's choices for his staff will be especially important, particularly if, as it is assumed, he will be the offensive play-caller.
HIRED: Pete Carroll
Every divisional showdown between the Raiders and Chargers just became a lot more interesting. Las Vegas' hire of Carroll -- who will be the NFL's oldest head coach at age 73 (to be fair, he's the youngest 73-year-old in history) -- reignites a rivalry with Jim Harbaugh that has leaped between college football and the NFL. It also gives the Raiders a Super Bowl-winning coach to lead what is probably going to be a lengthy rebuild. Carroll is the ultimate culture guy, and this franchise certainly needs a serious culture makeover, but his first priority has to be figuring out the quarterback situation. Carroll will be working with a first-time general manager in John Spytek to reshape the roster, but Tom Brady's fingerprints will be all over this franchise. Brady is expected to have real input on the quarterback decision. That's a lot of star power working to improve the Raiders, but patience is going to be required, and given Carroll's age, he is unlikely to be the coach for a very long time. Still, if anybody can set the Raiders on the right course and improve the feeling in the building, it's Carroll. Keep expectations in check, though. This is a beast of a division -- the three other teams all made the playoffs in the 2024 season, and the Chiefs have a stranglehold on the division with nine straight titles.
HIRED: Aaron Glenn
The Jets got their guy -- the same guy who was their first-round draft pick in 1994, and the same guy who began his march to a head coaching job in the Jets scouting department after his playing days were over. Do not mistake him as “just a defensive coach.” Glenn will be a culture builder and someone who holds others accountable. He was like that as a team leader in the locker room, and it is what made him a favorite among coaches and players with whom he played and later worked. Glenn is a first-time head coach -- that follows a long pattern for owner Woody Johnson -- and so his staff selections will be important. Watch to see if he brings on a former head coach who can help Glenn manage the mountain of things head coaches deal with. Especially critical will be Glenn’s choice of an offensive coordinator. This team has been offensively challenged for years and the biggest decision Glenn will make this offseason will likely be among the first: Does he want to keep Aaron Rodgers? Glenn will make that decision in tandem with new GM Darren Mougey, who arrives in New York after more than a decade working with the Broncos, most recently as the team’s assistant GM. The Jets have some talent on the roster -- receiver Garrett Wilson, running back Breece Hall, cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, among others. After 14 years without a playoff appearance, the pressure is on to turn things around quickly.
HIRED: Ben Johnson
As soon as the Detroit Lions lost in the Divisional Round, you could hear the sounds of the coaching cycle picking up speed. Johnson was one of the most sought-after candidates in recent years, and his choice of the Bears speaks volumes about their potential. Johnson is a creative play-designer, a fearless play-caller and the person who coordinated the NFL’s most explosive offense. Now, he gets to work with Caleb Williams -- a huge win for Williams and the Bears -- and he also gets receivers Rome Odunze and DJ Moore and tight end Cole Kmet (and a lot of salary cap space to improve the roster, especially the offensive line). That Johnson chose the Bears over the Raiders, where Tom Brady was wooing him, is a fascinating element of his decision. This was Brady’s first major action as a minority owner of the Raiders, but even he could not overcome Las Vegas’ lack of a quarterback, a roster with a lot of holes and an organization without a clear direction after firing its previous coach and general manager after just one season. Bears fans should be thrilled with this hire, because now Williams has a chance to develop into the quarterback everyone expected when he came out of USC. Quick improvement would not be a surprise, even for a first-time head coach in the very difficult NFC North.
HIRED: Mike Vrabel
Vrabel was the obvious target from the moment the Patriots fired Jerod Mayo, and the very rapid interview and hiring process made sure nobody else -- read: Tom Brady and the Raiders -- had a chance to woo him. This is the right hire for this job. Vrabel was an accomplished, tough, deeply respected Patriot as a player and because of his success in Tennessee -- the Titans went to the playoffs three times, including an AFC Championship Game appearance, despite not having top-level quarterback play -- he has immediate credibility. Vrabel is almost certainly going to have significant input on personnel matters, a good thing because the Patriots roster still needs plenty of work, particularly on the offensive line and at wide receiver. Vrabel is considered a “culture guy” and the Patriots need a dose of that, too, after multiple down years on the field and one year under Mayo in which the team felt adrift. Vrabel will demand accountability, and the Patriots should see an immediate improvement in discipline and game management. The big hire was of Josh McDaniels, the once -- actually twice -- and future offensive coordinator. McDaniels was the favorite all along. Despite two failed stints as a head coach with the Broncos and Raiders, he is still well-regarded as an offensive coordinator, a job he will now hold for the third time in New England. McDaniels is charged with developing quarterback Drake Maye. The 2024 third-overall pick, now under the tutelage of the coach who made his reputation working with Tom Brady, is the reason for hope that the Patriots, with Vrabel in charge, can execute a quick turnaround.
THE OPENING
The Saints offer something most coaches crave: an embrace of stability. Few general managers stay with one team as long as Mickey Loomis has been with the Saints, and although Dennis Allen did not make it through his third season as the head coach, he had previously spent seven seasons in New Orleans as defensive coordinator. The Saints face a salary-cap quagmire born of years of kicking the can down the road, and that means the new coach might not be able to make significant roster changes right away. Derek Carr is there as the quarterback, so the new coach should probably make sure he can work with him, presuming Carr returns. The biggest plus for this job is that the NFC South is winnable. There is no dominant team or dominant quarterback, so a run to the postseason is entirely within reach, with the right hire and a few more wins.
