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Dan Graziano
The new year is right around the corner, and with it comes the NFL head coaching cycle. Two jobs — the Titans and Giants — have become available during the season, and as always, more are expected to open up once the season ends. It’s the reality of the NFL that a half-dozen or so of these jobs change hands every year. It might not be the best way for teams to do business, but these decisions can shape the futures of these franchises.
When a coach loses his job, the attention shifts to who will replace him. This time last year, Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel were some of the top candidates. They are now having success as first-year head coaches in Chicago and New England, respectively. We weren’t hearing much about Pete Carroll, who surprisingly got the job in Las Vegas. There are always surprise candidates, but we do the best we can late in the season to call around to various agents and team executives to get a sense of who might be interviewed — and more importantly, get the jobs.
A lot of names are flying around, but we pared down this annual list to the most interesting candidates. I ranked the top nine head coach candidates based on what I’m hearing, and I included one wild card at the bottom who might not be available.
Jump to the …
Top offensive coordinator
Top defensive coordinator
Wild-card candidate
1. Vance Joseph, defensive coordinator, Denver Broncos
Joseph’s defense in Denver has ranked among the league’s best the past couple of years and has a chance to break the single-season sacks record in 2025 (55 through 13 games). Joseph is also a former head coach, having led the Broncos in 2017 and 2018. He didn’t have much success in the role, but he also didn’t have a star quarterback and has performed well enough in his current role that teams are interested in him for a potential second chance.
Several people to whom I spoke for this list indicated that NFL head coaching experience will be a priority for some of the teams looking for new coaches, and Joseph has it.
Los Angeles Rams
It sounds like a lot of defensive coordinators will be intriguing head coaching candidates this year. That is a shift from recent years but also likely reflects the speed with which many of the in-demand offensive coordinators have been hired and fired as head coaches in recent years.
Shula is well-regarded, as the Rams’ young defense has had an excellent season, and Sean McVay’s assistants always get plenty of attention (and often head coach jobs). Shula has been the Rams’ defensive coordinator for two years, and Los Angeles is fourth in defensive EPA (59.8) and has given up the third-fewest points per game (17.5) in 2025.
Expect Shula to be a popular candidate in several places this cycle. And don’t be shocked if the ties to McVay lead to interview requests for Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur and passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase.
3. Jeff Hafley, defensive coordinator, Green Bay Packers
Hafley was the head coach at Boston College before taking the Packers’ defensive coordinator job before the 2024 season. He has generated a lot of attention for the job he has done scheming and coaching the Packers’ defense, and the fact that he has been a head coach (even though it was in college) is a point in his favor. Green Bay has allowed just 4.7 yards per play, fifth best in the NFL. Hafley is also extremely well-liked by players and fellow coaches, and he has a strong ability to connect with different personalities.
Those factors, plus the Packers’ success on defense this season, make him one of the top candidates in this year’s cycle. The Packers’ great season means several members of Matt LaFleur’s staff — including well-regarded offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich — could draw interest.
4. Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator, Kansas City Chiefs
Things have turned rough for the Chiefs’ offense during the second half of the season, which might dampen public enthusiasm for Nagy. But his name drew a lot of attention earlier this season when the Titans’ job became available, and he has a connection with Titans GM Mike Borgonzi from the latter’s time in Kansas City.
Another former NFL head coach, Nagy might not be beloved by the Chicago fans, but his Bears teams reached the playoffs twice in his four years at the helm, and he won the NFC North with a 12-4 record in his first season there. (Chicago has not won it since and hasn’t finished better than third since Nagy left.)
0:51
Schefter doesn’t expect big changes to Chiefs’ coaching staff
Adam Schefter doesn’t expect the Chiefs will make any voluntary changes to their coaching staff this offseason.
5. Joe Brady, offensive coordinator, Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s offense isn’t the same efficient machine this season that it was last season, but Brady has still done an excellent job since taking over during the 2023 season. He has been of interest to teams and had several head coach interviews, too.
I expect him to be on several teams’ candidate lists this time around. But as he demonstrated when he turned down an interview with the Jets after last season, the situation probably has to be right for him to leave Josh Allen. Buffalo is third in offensive EPA (94.6), fifth in scoring (27.3 points per game) and fourth in yards per play (6.1).
6. Robert Saleh, defensive coordinator, San Francisco 49ers
The Jets’ defense collapsed after they fired Saleh as head coach early in the 2024 season and hasn’t been the same type of high-level unit since. But the 49ers’ defense this season has held things together despite several significant injuries to key players such as Nick Bosa and Fred Warner.
Saleh is a strong interviewer with an extremely impressive track record as a defensive coach, and he has experience as a head coach. No, it didn’t go well for him with New York (20-36 over 3½ seasons), but the Jets are perceived as one of the more consistently dysfunctional teams in the league. It’s possible that front offices that have liked Saleh as a head coach prospect won’t hold his tenure there against him too much.
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Minter succeeded current Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald as defensive coordinator at Michigan when Macdonald joined the Ravens in 2022. After winning a national title there in 2023, Minter followed Jim Harbaugh to the Chargers, and his defenses have earned respect around the league as one of the better-coached defensive units. Los Angeles is tied for second in interceptions (15) and tied for eighth in takeaways (18).
The Harbaugh connections, the Chargers’ success, his success at Michigan and Macdonald’s success in Seattle all boost Minter’s stock as a rising star in coaching circles and make him a strong candidate to land a job as early as this cycle.
8. Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator, Seattle Seahawks
Teams chase success, and the Seahawks are having plenty of it this season with Kubiak running the Sam Darnold-led offense and overseeing the superstar breakout of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Seattle is fifth in yards per play (6.0).
Kubiak was getting recognition early in the 2024 season when the Saints started as one of the hottest offenses in the NFL before injuries struck and the season went off the rails. He has flourished in Seattle, and in a year when the offensive coordinator pool might not be perceived as quite as deep as past years, it sounds like he’s a guy teams will want to talk to this winter.
9. Arthur Smith, offensive coordinator, Pittsburgh Steelers
We’ll wrap up the nine-name ranking with another former NFL head coach who has gone back to his coordinator roots and preserved his reputation around the league as a good coach and strong playcaller. Smith has worked with several starting quarterbacks during his time as an offensive coordinator and head coach in Tennessee, Atlanta and now Pittsburgh — and not all of those QB situations have been ideal. He has nevertheless built successful offenses around different personnel in multiple places.
Smith interviewed for a couple of head coach jobs last cycle, and I believe he will again this time around. It’s worth keeping his connection with the Titans in mind; he was Mike Vrabel’s offensive coordinator before getting the head coach job in Atlanta and retains strong relationships in that building.
1:19
Cam Heyward: We appreciate Mike Tomlin being locked in and consistent
Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward joins Rich Eisen and explains how coach Mike Tomlin’s demeanor hasn’t changed despite the calls for his job.
The wild card
OK, let me explain. I feel pretty confident that Stefanski will be the head coach of an NFL team in 2026. That team might be the Browns. We do not know whether Cleveland is interested in letting him go. But I’m mentioning him because, if the Browns let him go, I have been told by several people connected with these situations that Stefanski would jump to the front of the list of desirable candidates. He would have a strong chance to hop from one head coach job to the next in short order, similar to what Andy Reid did when his tenure in Philadelphia ended.
Stefanski is well-liked and well-regarded around the league, and the perception is that the Deshaun Watson situation and the quarterback mess that has ensued aren’t his fault. Again, it’s possible — likely, even — that the Browns feel the same way and decide they don’t want to lose him. However, if they move on, I’d rank him near the top of this list.
