There are five new NFL head coaches for 2023, three of whom have never held the HC position before — and eight who are entering their second seasons with their respective clubs.
Quite a bit of head coach turnover over the last two years…and then you have guys who might be lifers until they decide to retire. With that said, let’s dive into our annual rankings for all 32 NFL head coaches for 2023 — from worst to first.
32. Jonathan Gannon (Arizona Cardinals)
Gannon’s two-year stint as the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator landed him his first head coaching gig.
He really has his work cut out for him as the coach of football’s least-talented roster that will open the year without Kyler Murray. Good luck, coach.
31. Shane Steichen (Indianapolis Colts)
Steichen helped unlock Justin Herbert in La La Land before joining the Eagles in 2021, where he spent two years as their OC. Steichen turned Jalen Hurts into a superstar QB who NEARLY led Philly to its second Super Bowl championship.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
Steichen, like Gannon, has a challenge in working with a limited amount of talent here in Indy, and with a rookie QB.
30. Matt Eberflus (Chicago Bears)
Eberflus’ first year was a disaster, with Chicago finishing as football’s worst team thanks to the league’s worst scoring D. The Bears have to show immense improvement for Eberflus to get a third year here in the Windy city.
29. DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans)
Absolutely loved the Ryans hiring for Houston after his brilliant two-year run as the San Francisco 49ers’ DC. His defensive wizardry of a mind and energy should lead to special things in H-Town.
But we can’t rank him higher here. He has never held a head coaching position, and it is going to take some time for things to come together with this rebuilding franchise.
28. Dennis Allen (New Orleans Saints)
We would’ve understood if the Saints fired Allen, who now owns a 15-38-0 record as an NFL head coach. But we also understand why they’re giving him another year after watching the 2022 season go to waste because of injuries and a depleted roster.
Without a doubt, though, the Saints will have to make the postseason or finish with a winning record for Allen to keep his job.
27. Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
The transition from Bruce Arians to Todd Bowles was a disaster that nobody could have expected. In some ways, it’s surprising the Bucs let Bowles fire a bunch of assistants while keeping him in charge on the sidelines.
Bowles is 34-50-0 as a head coach. If the Bucs aren’t a playoff team in 2023, he’ll likely be shown the door — and we daresay he won’t have another head coaching position after this. It’ll be an assistant role the rest of the way.
26. Josh McDaniels (Las Vegas Raiders)
The Raiders offense was actually better under McDaniels in 2022 than the 2021 group. But results are results: Vegas regressed by four wins and missed out on the postseason despite all-world play from Davante Adams and rushing champion Josh Jacobs.
McDaniels’ horrible stint in Denver also factored into these rankings. He was a great OC in New England, but another losing season in Sin City will send him out the door and back into the assistant coaching world. Permanently.
25. Ron Rivera (Washington Commanders)
The glass half full view: Rivera has a .450 winning percentage in Washington without a stable QB option and with a horrible owner in Dan Snyder. The glass half empty view: The Commanders haven’t had a winning season under “Riverboat Ron”.
New owner Josh Harris won’t hesitate to fire the fourth-year head coach if the Commanders fail to miss the postseason for a third straight year.
24. Robert Saleh (New York Jets)
Saleh turned the Jets’ defense into a juggernaut last year, finishing fourth in scoring. It’s also impressive that he squeezed seven wins out of a team with three different starting quarterbacks.
Saleh has a good rep in Gotham, but you also have to think he’ll be fired if the Jets don’t finish with a winning record in 2023. The Jets traded for Aaron Rodgers to win immediately — not to disappoint again.
23. Arthur Smith (Atlanta Falcons)
Getting seven wins out of a not-so-talented Atlanta roster with mediocre QB play in back-to-back years is utterly impressive. But with the NFC South wide open, you gotta think Smith’s Falcons need to go above .500 if he’s to earn a fourth year here.
After two up-and-down seasons, it’s time for Smith’s Falcons to start flying higher.
22. Brandon Staley (Los Angeles Chargers)
Staley’s in-game management has been, oftentimes, painful to watch. See: The Bolts blowing a 27-0 lead to Jacksonville in the Wild Card Round. But you can only critique a coach with back-to-back winning seasons so much.
Staley coached the Chargers to their first playoff appearance in four years. But you gotta think anything less than a trip to the Divisional Round will lead to his dismissal.
21. Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns)
The 2020 Coach of the Year has endured back-to-back losing seasons in The Land, making 2023 the make-or-break year for him. Stefanski has a full year of Deshaun Watson now, and GM Andrew Berry went great lengths to add more pieces on both sides of the ball.
Stefanski’s gotta take this team back to the postseason if he’s to buy a fourth year on the job.
20. Mike McCarthy (Dallas Cowboys)
Might feel weird putting a former Super Bowl-winning HC here — considering he’s led Dallas to consecutive 12-win seasons. But it’s fair to wonder if McCarthy is really a good coach or just the beneficiary of coaching good teams.
Aaron Rodgers has done well without McCarthy, and Dak Prescott was a star well before McCarthy arrived. It’s Super Bowl or bust mode every year in Big D, but is McCarthy’s job really in jeopardy? I mean, Jerry Jones kept Jason Garrett around for 10 years.
Stay tuned to find out.
19. Kevin O'Connell (Minnesota Vikings)
K.O.C. helped Kirk Cousins play at a borderline MVP level and fully unlocked the potential of this star-studded Minny offense.
That said, Minny’s promising 13-win season ended with a one-and-done outing in the playoffs. O’Connell made a good first impression in Minny, but 2023 will be deemed a disappointment if the Vikes don’t win at least one playoff game.
18. Frank Reich (Carolina Panthers)
Reich was fired by Indy in the midst of 2022 after failing to make it worth with Matt Ryan as his QB. But maybe Colts GM Chris Ballard should have given him a young QB to work with instead of all these past-their-prime dudes?
Reich was once viewed as a top-10 coach in football. He can rebuild that status if he can unlock the potential of first overall pick Bryce Young.
17. Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions)
This was supposed to be a painful long-term rebuild in Detroit, but the ultra-motivator in Campbell led the Lions to nine wins in year two — marking their first winning campaign in five years.
Campbell can coach alright. GM Brad Holmes repaid him by adding the likes of CJ Gardner-Johnson, David Montgomery, Cam Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley in free agency. With more talent to coach with in Motown than ever before, Campbell could very soon make his case as a top-10 coach in the game.
16. Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins)
In his first year as a head coach, McDaniel turned Tua Tagovailoa into a star and led the Dolphins to their first postseason appearance in six years. Almost equally impressively, he nearly coached Miami to a mega upset over the Buffalo Bills in the wild card round with a third-stringer at QB.
Tua was the NFL leader in QB rating and yards per completion. If he’s healthy throughout the entire year, Miami will contend in the loaded AFC.
15. Brian Daboll (New York Giants)
Daboll took over a not-so-talented Giants squad and turned them into a playoff club that reached the elite eight. That’s a testament to his coaching and leadership ways.
He turned Daniel Jones into a stud and a $160 million man. With Jalin Hyatt, Parris Campbell and Darren Waller joining the Giants’ offense, we’re excited to see what Daboll does in year two with Jones.
14. Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers)
Can’t ignore the major step back the Packers took in the final year with Aaron Rodgers. LaFleur obviously thinks the world of Jordan Love, but he better be right on this one.
If Love doesn’t get it going within the next two years, LaFleur will go down as a coach who looked better than he was because of a great QB.
13. Sean Payton (Denver Broncos)
Payton was a consensus top five or 10 coach during his final years with the Saints. Now we wait to see if he can be like Andy Reid and write another Hall of Fame-like chapter with his second team.
Payton was brought in to fix Russell Wilson after a disaster-filled 2022 season under Nathaniel Hackett. The Broncos don’t quite have to make the playoffs in 2023 for Payton to buy himself long-term job security, but he does have to show that coaching was the problem in Denver last year — and not Wilson himself.
12. Mike Vrabel (Tennessee Titans)
Four winning seasons, three playoff berths and a trip to the 2019 AFC title game speaks for itself. Vrabel has turned this franchise into a consistent playoff contender which is amazing considering the lack of all-star talent outside of Derrick Henry.
Yes, the Titans imploded by losing their final seven games last year. But Tennessee would’ve won the division if Ryan Tannehill was healthy. If the Titans flop again in 2023, then you can start to question Vrabel a bit. But so far, there’s been way more good than bad in Music City.
11. Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals)
There wasn’t much of anything to like in Taylor’s first two years as the Bengals’ head coach. Fast forward to 2023, and his Bengals are coming off consecutive AFC North division crowns and AFC Championship appearances. This guy can coach after all.
It would take a catastrophe of a season for Taylor to lose his jobs. His magic with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins doesn’t go unnoticed. A Super Bowl appearance would certainly propel Taylor into the top-10 next year.
10. Doug Pederson (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Pederson coached the Eagles to a Super Bowl title with a backup QB but was fired three years later. Taking one year off worked out just fine for Pederson, who did incredible things with Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars in his first year here.
The Jaguars won their final five games to lock down the AFC South. They erased a 27-point deficit over the Bolts in the Wild Card Round and gave the Chiefs a run for their money in the Divisional Round, losing by just a touchdown.
In other words, we’d say Pederson is an upgrade over Urban Meyer. We can’t wait to see what the Jaguars do for an encore with the Pederson-Lawrence tandem.
9. Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams)
Sorry, but one losing season in six years ain’t enough to keep McVay out of the top-10. The Rams were crushed by injuries in their Super Bowl defense season, where absolutely nothing went right.
If the Rams are an afterthought again in 2023, McVay will fall well out of the top-10. But a coach with two NFC Championships, four playoff appearances and a Super Bowl ring before his 37th birthday is not a person to scoff at.
8. Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks)
Carroll cemented himself as a Hall of Famer — if he wasn’t already — by turning Geno Smith into a star. Just when everyone thought Seattle was doomed following the Russell Wilson trae.
2022 was a year full of pleasant surprises in Seattle. Following some major offseason reinforcements.
7. Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Will the Mike Tomlin criticism end already please? The Steelers haven’t had a losing season since 2003. News flash: he’s been here since 2007.
The Steelers were 3-7 last year and finished with a winning record and only missed out on the postseason because of a tiebreaker to Miami. Tomlin’s going to the Hall of Fame. We wish the unnecessary criticism would end.
6. Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills)
Buffalo has made the postseason five times under McDermott, who has also coached them to three straight division titles. However, he’s also the only coach in the top 11 who has yet to coach his team to a Super Bowl appearance.
We love all McDermott has done in turning Josh Allen and company into must-watch TV. But another early playoff exit will lead to calls for the Bills to replace him.
5. Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles)
Two years of Sirianni, two playoff appearances and a Super Bowl berth. We think this guy knows a thing or two about coaching.
Sirianni made Jalen Hurts an MVP-caliber QB and quickly restored the winning culture in Philly following the departure of Doug Pederson. Up next: Unfinished business. Time to bring back that Super Bowl after losing it on a cheap penalty call…
4. John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens)
This future Hall of Famer got the Ravens back into the playoffs despite losing Lamar Jackson for the final five games of 2022. When Jackson is the starting QB? Harbaugh is 45-16-0, which we consider a pretty good record.
Not to mention this guy won a Super Bowl with Joe Flacco of all guys. Harbaugh is headed to Canton. Anything he accomplishes from here is gravy.
3. Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers)
How many coaches would lose their two main quarterbacks with season-ending injuries, take a third-stringer and Mr. Irrelevant, make him a star and go to the NFC Championship Game? We’re not sure how many, but we do know that Shanny did it.
Shanahan gets some hate for disappointing playoff results, but three NFC Championship Game appearances in four years is nothing to laugh at.
2. Bill Belichick (New England Patriots)
We’re not fully pardoning Belichick for two losing seasons and zero playoff wins since Tom Brady’s departure. But it’s unfair to hate too much on the greatest coach in NFL history with six Super Bowl rings.
If the Pats bounce back in 2023, all criticism about Belichick will hopefully go away for good. Another losing season? Maybe Robert Kraft makes the mistake by firing him and watches Belichick work his magic elsewhere.
1. Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs)
Reid doesn’t have Belichick’s six rings, but he has 10 winning seasons in 10 years with the Chiefs, nine playoff berths, five AFC Championship appearances, three conference title banners and of course two Super Bowls.
Reid’s work with Patrick Mahomes is a sight to behold. These two have made NFL history together, and to think it’s only been six years of this partnership. KC is the golden standard of modern football. Mahomes is the NFL’s best player. Reid is the NFL’s best coach.
Plain and simple.
