Not every NFL team that’s looking for a new head coach will hit a home run in this cycle. They’re all hoping for a Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel or Liam Coen and the immediate turnaround those coaches brought to their franchises. It’s far from a guarantee.
We won’t know for a while how each of the 10 teams that were looking for a head coach did with their new hires, but we can assign grades based on how each hire looks in the moment. We’ll also do it for the buzziest coordinator positions that have opened up.
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This post will be updated for each new hire.
Head coaching hires
McCarthy has a track record. He has won 60.8% of his regular-season games over 18 seasons and has a Super Bowl. But there have been plenty of playoff disappointments since that Super Bowl that have given McCarthy the reputation of a coach who has one title many years ago and can get you to the playoffs but not go on long postseason runs anymore, which is exactly what the Steelers just moved on from in Mike Tomlin. McCarthy was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area and maybe that was a draw, but it’s also an unusual reason to hire a head coach. Perhaps hiring McCarthy leads to Aaron Rodgers coming back for another season, but is that much of a draw anymore? The hire is fine but it’s not going to lead to much excitement or the belief that the Steelers found another coach who will be on the job 20 years.
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Grade: C
Let’s be clear: Getting Harbaugh was as good as the Giants could have done. It’s their best hire since landing Tom Coughlin in 2004. The Giants can only hope for similar results from Harbaugh.
Harbaugh comes in with a 61.4% career win percentage and a Super Bowl ring. He hasn’t had a ton of playoff success lately, but neither have the Giants. They haven’t even been reaching the playoffs most seasons, as they stumbled through hires like Ben McAdoo, Joe Judge and Brian Daboll.
Harbaugh immediately raises expectations in New York. There is a good, young core here. Harbaugh had only three losing seasons in his 18 years with Baltimore, and while there might not be that level of success right away with the Giants, this is the best coach they have had since the end of the Coughlin era, and it’s not close. Harbaugh was the best coach on the market (unless you prefer Mike Tomlin, who seems set on sitting out at least a season), the Giants were quickly identified as the favorite to land him and they got it done before any other team swooped in. For a franchise that has gotten a lot wrong lately, this was a major win.
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Grade: A+
The Ravens had Mike Macdonald as their defensive coordinator a couple seasons ago, and he left to be the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach. Macdonald led Seattle to a 14-3 record this past regular season, and the Ravens might have regret that the timing didn’t work out better for them to simply promote Macdonald to head coach. So they hired someone with a similar profile in Minter. He is 42 years old, was a Ravens defensive assistant from 2017-2020 and the past two seasons he has done a fantastic job guiding the Los Angeles Chargers’ defense. He was working under Jim Harbaugh, whose brother John was just fired by the Ravens. Before that he was with Jim Harbaugh for two seasons as Michigan’s defensive coordinator, and his final season there resulted in a national championship. Minter was a prime head-coaching candidate in this cycle, due to a lot of respect for his schematic excellence, and he should be a good fit with the Ravens. There is some risk in pairing a rookie head coach with a roster that should believe it can bounce back to being a Super Bowl contender next season.
Grade: A-
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NFL Coach of the Year might be a flawed award, but Stefanski has two of them. It’s rare that a coach like that is available, and the Falcons saw an opportunity.
It’s easy to like this hire. Stefanski and the Falcons still has a quarterback situation to work through, but he’s used to that after his seasons with the Browns. Stefanski steps into a situation with a talented team in a bad division. And he should be able to elevate the Falcons right away. This seemed like a great fit, with a coach who succeeded at times in a tough situation in Cleveland with a team that underachieved last season and could make a big improvement right away. It’s easy to be impressed with this hire.
Grade: A
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Considering the pitfalls of the Dolphins job, Miami did fine in landing Hafley, who was a hot name after two good seasons as the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator. Hafley steps into a tough situation, with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s time in Miami likely done and a massive dead salary cap hit in his wake if he’s let go. There are other issues with the roster too. Reuniting with new Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, who had been the Packers’ vice president of player personnel, had to be a big draw. Hafley has some head-coaching experience, albeit in college at Boston College for four years. That should help him with what might be a rough transition season or two as the Dolphins start to build back up.
Grade: B
The Titans job ended up being one that attracted interest of top candidates. And Saleh is a very good hire. Saleh had just a 20-36 record as head coach of the New York Jets, but it has been proven over time that the Jets job is one of the toughest in the NFL. Saleh went to the San Francisco 49ers this past season as their defensive coordinator and had a fantastic season, rebuilding his reputation and putting himself right back in the head-coaching cycle. Saleh’s leadership and his defensive acumen will be an instant boost for a Titans team that has gone 3-14 each of the past two seasons. The big question will be what Saleh does on his offensive staff, considering how important that will be for the development of 2025 No. 1 NFL Draft pick Cam Ward.
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Grade: B+
Coordinator hires
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator: Christian Parker
The Cowboys have reportedly passed on some more proven coordinators in favor of a young star on the rise in Parker. Parker, the Eagles’ defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator the past two seasons under respected coordinator Vic Fangio, turned 34 years old last month. He was part of the Eagles’ championship-winning defense during the 2024 season. That group shut down the Chiefs in an impressive Super Bowl LIX win, and rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean were big parts of that effort. Parker had been getting other interviews for defensive coordinator jobs. There’s some risk in hiring an unknown commodity, but the Cowboys are hoping they’re ahead of the curve by hiring Parker now.
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Grade: B
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator: Drew Petzing
Petzing has a good reputation, even though his three seasons coordinating the Cardinals’ offense didn’t have great results. Arizona was 19th, 11th and 19th in yards gained in his three seasons there.
There is some context, however: The Cardinals had sub-optimal quarterback play, whether it was Kyler Murray or Jacoby Brissett. Brissett put up decent numbers when he took over for Murray, and receiver Michael Wilson had a fantastic second half of the season. There are questions over why Marvin Harrison Jr. never broke out that way in his first two NFL seasons. Petzing is close to former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and there’s some schematic overlap there, so maybe that was a draw. Given how many proven offensive coaches there are on the market and the attractiveness of running a Lions offense that has immense talent, the hire of Petzing seems a little underwhelming. But now he has much more to work with.
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Grade: B-
The Chargers might be a force on offense next season. The talent is there, though last season players like Ladd McConkey seemed to have been forgotten. McDaniel should bring everything together. He got head-coaching interest and was the hottest offensive coordinator candidate on the market too, and the Chargers reportedly landed him. The opportunity to take Justin Herbert to the next level must have been enticing. Assuming the offensive line gets fixed starting with more health next season, McDaniel’s play-calling might lead to the Chargers having a top-five offense.
Grade: A
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After three seasons apart, Bieniemy and the Chiefs realized they’re better off together. Since Bieniemy left after the 2023 season his career has stalled, with single seasons with the Washington Commanders as their offensive coordinator, UCLA as its offensive coordinator and then the Chicago Bears as running backs coach. The Chiefs missed him too. In Bieniemy’s five seasons as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator the Chiefs never finished worse than sixth in yards gained or points scored. In the three seasons without him the Chiefs finished ninth, 16th and 20th in yardage. Bieniemy left Kansas City to call plays, something he didn’t do under Andy Reid, but his reunion with the Chiefs makes sense for both sides. The familiarity will make for a smooth transition.
Grade: B
It’s hard to be too excited about Robinson after last season, when his offense with the Atlanta Falcons was criticized for lack of creativity and took a step back in production. The Falcons’ offense was 20th in DVOA after being 14th the season before, Robinson’s first running the offense. Did quarterback play affect Robinson’s play-calling? Perhaps. It’s still hard to view this as a home-run hire for head coach Todd Bowles, who enters the season with some pressure after the Bucs collapsed in the second half and failed to win a weak NFC South.
Grade: C-
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