Ranking the NFL head coaching openings, from least to most attractive after Bills fire Sean McDermott
- - Ranking the NFL head coaching openings, from least to most attractive after Bills fire Sean McDermott
Frank SchwabJanuary 19, 2026 at 8:46 PM
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The problem for head-coaching candidates in practically every offseason is the group of available jobs is usually bad. There’s a reason those teams fired their coaches.
But there are also many examples of teams making the right hire and turning around quickly, whether it was DeMeco Ryans a few years ago with the Houston Texans, Liam Coen for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mike Vrabel with the New England Patriots, Ben Johnson joining the Chicago Bears this past offseason or many other examples. Just about any situation can be turned around with the right hire at coach, along with some key personnel moves.
Over the weekend, the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh and the Atlanta Falcons hired Kevin Stefanski, while the Buffalo Bills entered the mix by firing Sean McDermott. That leaves these openings, ranked in order of least to most attractive:
8. Miami Dolphins
On the bright side, the new head coach can live in South Florida and also come in with a new general manager. After that, there's not much to get excited about. The Dolphins are about to go into the salary cap and quarterback danger zone with the team likely moving on from Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins were already in bad cap shape and moving on from Tagovailoa is going to make it worse. Many of the teams looking for an opening are seen as poor organizations but the Dolphins are too; they haven't won a playoff game since the 2000 season, which is the longest drought in the NFL. Miami's roster is bad. The quarterback situation is bad. The cap situation is bad. The recent history of the franchise is bad. Good luck.
7. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals lost 14 of their last 15 games. Injuries impacted their season, but not that much. It was simply a bad football team. And what’s the main selling point? General manager Monti Ossenfort will stay, and in this era of GMs and coaches coming in a package deal, that might not be a positive. Kyler Murray’s time with Arizona seems to be over, and even if he returns, that’s not a great thing either. There’s no quarterback, the team’s best player is a tight end, the defense was bottom six in points and yards allowed, and the franchise has just one playoff appearance (a one-and-done loss) since the 2015 season. Maybe the possibility of drafting a quarterback third overall will be appealing, but it’s not like this is a great quarterback class. Arizona has been a dead-end job for many years, and there’s not much reason to believe that will change soon.
6. Cleveland Browns
You don’t think candidates will realize that the Browns just fired a two-time NFL Coach of the Year in Kevin Stefanski, who was stuck with Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and a rotating cast of other quarterbacks? Acquiring Watson was probably the worst trade in NFL history, and the GM who was on the job when it was made, Andrew Berry, remains. Jimmy Haslam has a horrendous track record as a team owner. The hope for the Browns is a strong 2025 rookie class that had immediate contributors throughout. But it’s hard to ignore the Browns’ history.
5. Tennessee Titans
If you like Cam Ward, who showed improvement in the second half of the season, that’s a selling point. Just about everything else is not. It’s the same bad ownership situation that moved on from Mike Vrabel, the presumptive NFL Coach of the Year this season, due to a power struggle with a GM they fired a year later. A few young players did well this season, but the roster isn’t close to contention. The AFC South isn’t a walkover anymore either. If a hot candidate prefers this job, it’s because of absolute belief in Ward being a star, and even that is a risk.
4. Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders are a flailing organization. They hired the oldest coach in NFL history and traded for a 35-year-old quarterback last offseason just to go 3-14. There never seems to be any plan. The search for Pete Carroll’s replacement will be led by general manager John Spytek and limited owner Tom Brady, the latter of which was a great quarterback but has no track record of helping lead a coaching search. But he’s a big name, which is what team owner Mark Davis likes. The one selling point to the new coach would be having the first overall draft pick and a choice of quarterbacks to start fresh with. Brock Bowers is a great talent, Ashton Jeanty should be a good running back with a little help, and Maxx Crosby is either a fantastic defensive star or a prime trade piece. There are some things to like, but it’s the Raiders. Everyone knows how bad this franchise has been for decades.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
If you want to rank this job first after Mike Tomlin stepped down, it's fair. A team that has had three coaches since 1969 offers patience and stability that is unique in pro sports. The Steelers haven't had a losing season since 2003. But it's not a perfect situation. The defense is clearly aging. We could see that through the season. It seems unlikely that 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers returns to the Steelers, if he plays at all, which puts Pittsburgh on the quarterback carousel without any great avenue to land a top-end starter. The Steelers have a decent bit of projected salary cap space, but what are the viable quarterback options this offseason? And in this quarterback draft class, finding a great long-term answer at No. 21 overall is a long shot. If quarterback was the only concern, it would be a more attractive job. But it seems like a team that's on the verge of a rebuild, which is odd for a team that just won 10 games and a division title. So it might be a rocky first couple seasons. But this job is still very good because of a long track record of success from one of the best organizations in the NFL, and more than enough patience to work through the quarterback situation until it's fixed. Maybe even enough time to work through more than one quarterback era, like Tomlin had.
2. Buffalo Bills
The Bills job is good and also comes with a lot of immediate pressure that many of these other jobs don't have. Josh Allen will be 30 years old next season and clearly the organization is feeling the heat to get to a Super Bowl with him. That's why they fired Sean McDermott despite seven straight playoff appearances. There will be no adjustment period for the new coach. He'll be expected to make a Super Bowl right away or it will be considered a failure. That's tough. Also, it's a roster that is flawed around Allen. Yet, the opportunity to coach a player like Allen in his prime doesn't come along often. That makes it a big job, even with the immediate heat involved with whoever is hired.
1. Baltimore Ravens
It's unusual for a team that is a perennial contender, with a two-time MVP, to change head coaches. Especially one that had its previous coach for 18 seasons. But a miserable season in Baltimore brought about a major change, with the Ravens parting ways with John Harbaugh. Many of the most appealing candidates will look at the opportunity to work for a rock-solid organization, which should still be in a Super Bowl window with Lamar Jackson, and put Baltimore at the top of their list of openings.
Source: “AOL Sports”
