The official NFL logo is seen on the back of a hat in Los Angeles on July 21, 2020. (Photo by Chris DELMAS / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
The 2025 NFL season has now come and gone, and prior to the Seattle Seahawks hoisting the Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl Champions, many teams below them experienced great struggles, resulting in a record-tying ten head coach firings across the league. To replace them, two coaches were immediately hired by other teams following their dismissal, seven previous coordinators took the desired step up to be a head coach, and one coach who was out of the league for the 2025 season stepped back in to take over for another organization. Below, I give my grade for each new hire, as well as my reasoning behind each grade.
New York Giants: John Harbaugh
Grade: A-
The New York Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll the morning after their Week 10 matchup against the Chicago Bears, where the team blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to lose 24-20. Such late-game blunders had become a regular occurrence under Daboll’s leadership, as three weeks before the Giants’ loss in Chicago, the team entered the fourth quarter up 19-0 on the road against the Denver Broncos, only to allow 33 points in the final quarter before ultimately losing 33-32. Daboll’s nearly four-year tenure in New York ended with a 20-40-1 record.
The Giants weren’t in the market for a new coach long after the regular season ended because they moved quickly to lock up John Harbaugh. Harbaugh brings a veteran presence to the Giants organization with a proven track record of winning and high-level quarterback play. Traits that the Giants valued highly. As the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens for 18 seasons, Harbaugh attained a .614 winning percentage paired with a Super Bowl win in 2012. He also oversaw the emergence of Lamar Jackson, who became an MVP and one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL under Harbaugh’s leadership.
He takes over in New York with a promising young roster to work with. Quarterback Jaxson Dart showed flashes of great potential as a rookie in 2025 while forming a special on-field bond with fellow rookie running back Cam Skattebo. Before Skattebo suffered a leg injury in Week 8, he and Dart were easily the best rookies at their positions. The Giants also have a genuine franchise wide receiver in Malik Nabers. Nabers was in the midst of a stellar sophomore season before an ACL tear sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
The combination of Dart, Skattebo, and Nabers – to go along with an elite defensive front – is the future in New York. With Harbaugh steering the ship, it’s hard to imagine a reality in which the New York Giants aren’t significantly more competitive moving forward. Though with Harbaugh now in his mid-sixties and coming off an incredibly disappointing season in Baltimore, it remains unknown as to what the ceiling of a Harbaugh-led team really is at this stage of his career.
Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski
Grade: A
Like Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski immediately surged to the top of any available coaches list when he was let go from the Cleveland Browns. The two-time NFL Coach of the Year has made the playoffs twice with average (at best) quarterback play and overall roster talent, all for an organization notorious for poor operation. He now gets a fresh start in Atlanta with an entirely new operation above him in new general manager Ian Cunningham, and the return of Matt Ryan in a president of football role.
The Falcons have enticing talent already in place on the offensive side of the ball. Running back Bijan Robinson is a top-tier rusher in the NFL by any measure, and Drake London has cemented himself as one of the best do-it-all receivers in the game. Atlanta has also invested heavily in their defense, stocking up on young talent like Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. Both of whom combined for 16 sacks in their rookie seasons. Though Pearce’s recent legal troubles make it difficult to gauge the impact he will have on this team moving forward.
The biggest question mark for the Falcons moving forward will undoubtedly be the quarterback position. Michael Penix Jr. has shown great flashes in his limited action, but missed the majority of the second half of last season with an ACL injury, which made for his fifth season-ending injury dating back to his college days. If Penix can return to full strength and stay healthy, chances are high that a coach like Stefanski could maximize his talents. However, if his injury history continues to repeat itself, Stefanski’s tenure in Atlanta could get off to a bumpy start.
Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley
Grade: B-
If any head coaching job was considered the most likely to come open at the beginning of last season, it was the Miami Dolphins. Mike McDaniel has always been thought of as a brilliant offensive mind and play caller, but his results as the head man in South Beach garnered some high highs and some low lows. Coming into the 2025 season, many believed it would take a big year to avoid a major reset for the Dolphins, and going 1-6 in their first seven games only threw kerosene on an already stoked fire. Miami was, however, able to rally after its dreadful start to the season, scraping together wins in six of the final ten games. Such a turnaround quieted some of the noise surrounding McDaniel and his job security, but failed to extinguish it completely as the Dolphins ultimately decided to cut ties with McDaniel after four seasons.
An extensive coaching search lay ahead, but Miami ultimately landed on Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Hafley has spearheaded stingy defenses in his two seasons in Green Bay, ranking in the top 10 in team defense according to Pro Football Reference for the majority of his tenure. The one time his defense dipped outside the top 10 came near the end of this past season when the team was littered with injuries that notably included superstar edge rusher Micah Parsons. While Hafley’s only head coaching experience came by way of a mediocre four-year stint at Boston College, he has nearly a decade of coaching experience in the NFL and is still relatively young at 46 years old.
Without a clear future at quarterback, Hafley and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan’s job of building Miami into a contender becomes even more difficult. The only certain thing is that Hafley will bring a completely different approach and overall mentality to the Dolphins organization, and time will tell if it is what they need to turn things around.
Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter
Grade: B
The Ravens somewhat surprisingly parted ways with John Harbaugh following their close loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which resulted in them missing the playoffs. It was clear that the lack of recent postseason success, compounded by the massive disappointment of last season, made it evident to Baltimore’s management that running it back with the same staff was not in their best interest. With that, the Ravens began their search for a new head coach for the first time in nearly two decades.
The search ultimately led them to a familiar face in Jesse Minter. Beginning in 2017, Minter spent three seasons in Baltimore as a defensive assistant on Harbaugh’s staff before taking a job as the defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt University. He then found his way to the University of Michigan as the defensive coordinator under his former mentor’s brother, Jim Harbaugh, before ultimately following him to fill the same position with the Los Angeles Chargers.
In his two seasons as the defensive play-caller for the Chargers, Minter led back-to-back top 10 team defenses according to Pro Football Reference, while putting together the number one team defense in 2024. He now heads back to Baltimore as a first-time head coach, albeit in a building of which he has some familiarity. Minter brings with him an impressive coaching staff, including a highly regarded defensive coordinator in Anthony Weaver and a young, ascending offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle. The Ravens also have an extremely talented roster already in place, headlined by two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, which is what made the Ravens’ job so enticing.
Though the hiring of Minter comes with many unknowns due to his lack of experience in the position, if it works, Baltimore could have their leader and defensive signal caller in place for the next decade or more.
Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh
Grade: B+
The Brian Callahan era proved to be short-lived in Tennessee. The young offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals took over for Mike Vrabel in 2024, and quarterback woes would plague his tenure for as long as he was there. The early second-round drafting of Will Levis would not bode well for the Titans in Callahan’s first season, as the young quarterback would eventually lose his starting job to veteran journeyman Mason Rudolph while the Titans limped to a 3-14 record.
All hope was not lost, however, as Tennessee held the number one pick in the 2025 NFL draft and a chance to fix their quarterback dilemma with the selection of Cam Ward out of Miami. Ward came into the league highly touted and showed flashes of special talent in his rookie season, but the team started the season 1-5 as questions of Callahan’s leadership and in-game coaching ability arose. Ultimately, Callahan was fired only six games into his second season with a 4-19 overall record in Tennessee.
With the firing of Callahan, the Titans are still reeling from their regrettable decision to let go of Mike Vrabel following the 2023 season. Since the two parties went their separate ways, the Titans are back in the market for a new head coach, while Vrabel just coached the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Now, the Titans have landed on former Jets head coach and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to lead them into a new era.
Saleh is highly regarded as one of the brightest defensive minds in all of football. While his time with the Jets ended unceremoniously, he still managed to squeeze back-to-back seven-win seasons out of a bottom-tier NFL roster while orchestrating a top 5 team defense in 2022, per ESPN. If on-field leadership was a serious problem in Tennessee, Saleh would remedy that immediately. He also brings Brian Daboll with him, a well-respected and successful offensive coordinator, to potentially maximize Cam Ward’s development.
It would be difficult to argue that Saleh is not a clear upgrade for the Titans. If everyone in the organization can get on the same page, and Cam Ward develops into his full potential as a franchise quarterback, the Titans will have found their best chance to finally remove themselves from Vrabel’s shadow.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy
Grade: D+
In a rather shocking move, the Pittsburgh Steelers fired Mike Tomlin after 19 seasons with the organization. Though Tomlin never had a losing season, it was a clear opinion amongst the fanbase that the product had become stale under Tomlin’s leadership, resulting in zero playoff wins since 2017. Ultimately, ownership heard the sentiment loud and clear and began their search for a new head coach for just the second time in over 30 years.
Given that the Steelers went outside the box to hire Tomlin in 2007 when he was just 34 years old and had only been a defensive coordinator for one season in the NFL, it was speculated by many around the league that Pittsburgh would follow a similar plan this time around. However, the Steelers chose quite the opposite route, landing on former Packers and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native.
McCarthy has been away from the coaching ranks since he and the Cowboys parted ways following the 2024 season. The 62-year-old coach won a Super Bowl in 2010 with the Packers but never reached that peak again in his ensuing 13 years as an NFL Head Coach. McCarthy has proven that he can achieve great success in the regular season, including three straight 12-win seasons in Dallas, but also failed to advance past the divisional playoff round in that span. He now takes over in Pittsburgh with uncertainty at the quarterback position and an aging roster elsewhere.
From the outside looking in, it appears that the Steelers replaced a coach who could consistently make the playoffs but had trouble competing for championships with a coach who can consistently make the playoffs but has trouble competing for championships. It feels as if the Steelers wanted to bring some new ideas into the building, while also keeping the floor of the team relatively high. If so, McCarthy should be able to deliver. However, if they truly had their sights set on returning to a championship level, it’s difficult to understand the hire.
Buffalo Bills: Joe Brady
Grade: B-
In a coaching cycle filled with franchises pulling the plug on longstanding head coaches, the Bills joined the club, firing Sean McDermott after nine seasons. The parting of ways came as a result of the Bills’ disappointing playoff exit in the divisional round against the Denver Broncos, which had become somewhat of a trend during McDermott’s tenure. Buffalo’s front office ultimately decided that if they were ever going to get over the hump, they would need a new head coach to push them over that threshold.
When the job opened, many around the league viewed it as one of the very best jobs to come available in recent memory, mainly because of the once-in-a-generation talent already set at quarterback in Josh Allen. With that kind of bargaining chip available to the organization to entice potential coaches into taking their job, it was likely that Buffalo would essentially have their pick of the available candidates. For this reason, it came as a slight shock when they ultimately decided to promote from within, hiring offensive coordinator Joe Brady to take over the reins.
Brady has seen plenty of success in Buffalo as it pertains to his offense’s production. According to ESPN, the Bills ranked among the top 10 in total offense in his two full seasons as the offensive coordinator. Brady also guided Josh Allen to an MVP award in 2024. The hiring of Brady on face value makes some sense, but to fire a coach like McDermott, who had achieved about as much success short of a Super Bowl win as one could imagine, it signals a recognition that the regime had run its course and an entirely new approach would be welcomed. It’s hard to envision that approach coming from someone who was already on the same staff that was let go for underachieving. Now, Brady will be in charge of the entire team rather than just the offense, and time will tell if adding more to his plate is what the Bills need to take that next step.
Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken
Grade: B
Much was made of the Cleveland Browns’ unusual search for a new head coach. NFL insider Tom Pellissero appeared on The Rich Eisen Show in the midst of the search and revealed that coaching candidates for the Browns were required to present written essays and take personality tests to go along with their formal interviews. Some might call this method thorough, while some would call it unnecessary. Regardless, speculation began to mount that the Browns might be hindering their own chances at landing a quality candidate due to their uncommon approach.
In the end, the Browns came to terms with former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken to be their new head coach. Monken has spent the last three seasons in Baltimore, orchestrating two top 10 total offenses in the NFL according to ESPN, including a career year for Lamar Jackson in 2023 that landed him his second MVP. Before that, Monken spent two seasons at the college level with Georgia, where he worked as the offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs’ back-to-back national championship teams. He now takes over as the head man in Cleveland, where he will undoubtedly be fighting an uphill battle to put together a winning team.
The Browns have been a bottom dweller in the NFL for many years, as they have only seen three winning seasons since the turn of the century. Monken will inherit an offensive unit that was 30th in total offense in 2025, per ESPN, and carries major question marks at quarterback. Rookie Shedeur Sanders took over under center for the final seven games of last season, and while he showed poise at times, the fifth-round rookie looked mostly like a fifth-round rookie. The room will also feature Deshaun Watson in the final year of his contract, who will begin the 2026 season having just recovered from a second Achilles tear.
Monken should have some optimism regarding the defense, as the 2025 unit was top five in the NFL, according to ESPN. Though the defense will return plenty of young, talented, and productive players, standout defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will not return in 2026, as he resigned shortly after Monken was hired. The Browns have a long way to go to reach relevancy, much less championship aspirations. The 60-year-old first-time NFL head coach will have his work cut out for him to bring the Cleveland Browns out of the abyss.
Arizona Cardinals: Mike Lafleur
Grade: C+
The Cardinals fired Jonathon Gannon after three years in Arizona, all of which resulted in losing seasons. The final blow to Gannon’s tenure came in the form of a 3-14 record in 2025, including a nine-game losing streak to end the season. After making the change, the Cardinals found themselves in quite a tough spot in their search for a new head coach. Being in arguably the toughest division in the NFL and having no clear option at the quarterback position doesn’t exactly shoot a team to the top of any most desirable destination lists. Ultimately, the Cardinals’ search ended within said division, as they snagged rival Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike Lafleur to take over in Arizona.
Lafleur, the younger brother of Green Bay Packers head coach Matt Lafleur, has coached in the NFL for more than a decade, cutting his teeth under some of the best coaches in the sport, including Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. His most notable position came with the New York Jets, where he served as offensive coordinator and play caller from 2021-22. His offenses during that span were far from great, but considering the state of the Jets organization and the talent with which he had to work, it’s difficult to use his time in New York as an indictment of his coaching ability. Following the brief stint with the Jets, Lafluer was hired to fill the same position under McVay with the Rams, where he held the role for three seasons.
Lafleur is now the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and immediately inherits one of the most challenging jobs in the NFL; competing in a division headlined by the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, as well as the 49ers and Rams, both of which are coming off 12-win seasons. To make matters worse, it is unclear who will be the Cardinals’ quarterback moving forward. Kyler Murray has been the team’s starter since 2019, mostly generating mixed results. The former number one overall pick was replaced by Jacoby Brissett last season, and multiple reports suggest that trade options involving Murray will likely be explored as the offseason progresses. Regardless of the path Lafleur and the Cardinals choose to take, getting the quarterback position settled must happen before Arizona can even consider itself a contender in the NFC West. Lafleur’s lack of play-calling success, compounded with being a first-time head coach, leaves the likelihood of the Cardinals seeing a significant turnaround entirely unknown.
Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak
Grade: A-
The Pete Carroll experiment in Las Vegas can only be described as a complete failure from the jump. The 74-year-old coach was seemingly brought in to steady the ship; to get things back on track for a franchise that has been in the gutter for the better part of two decades, so the incumbent coach can have the benefit of stepping into a ready-made program. A stopgap approach is always short-term by design, but the Raiders were forced to head back to the drawing board much sooner than anticipated by firing Carroll after just a single season and bringing in a new coach for the second consecutive year. After every other team on the market filled their coaching vacancy, the revolving door that is the Raiders head coaching position found its next suitor in Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
The 38-year-old Kubiak brings to Vegas an offensive scheme that just won a Super Bowl, produced a 1,000-yard rusher, and featured an offensive player of the year at wide receiver. In Vegas, however, he won’t have the same level of talent to work with immediately, but he will have the one thing that made the Raiders an intriguing destination for a new head coach: a highly touted quarterback.
The Raiders hold the rights to the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft, which will certainly be used to select Heisman Trophy and National Championship-winning quarterback out of Indiana, Fernando Mendoza. With Mendoza essentially guaranteed to be a Raider, Las Vegas avoids having the dreaded question mark at quarterback, which has plagued many other franchises with a head coach opening this cycle. Kubiak will have his work cut out for him to improve the offensive line, which ranked last in the NFL last season, per PFF. But with a top-of-the-line running back prospect like Ashton Jeanty and a premier tight end in Brock Bowers to go along with an elite quarterback prospect, if the offensive line can improve, the Raiders’ offense has the potential to be quite formidable moving forward.
Being a first-time head coach always leaves room for worry, but given Kubiak’s offensive prowess, along with his experience working under elite head coaches like Kyle Shanahan and Mike Macdonald, fans in Vegas have plenty to be excited about regarding the future of the Raiders.
Gage Roberts 
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