DENVER, COLORADO - JANUARY 25: Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots lifts the Lamar Hunt AFC Championship trophy after the AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High on January 25, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With the regular season over and the Super Bowl just days away, the 2026 NFL head coaching cycle is wrapping up. While we are still a calendar year away from evaluating that group, we can turn our attention back to the 2025 group. Although this offseason has seen 10 openings, last year saw three fewer. As has almost become customary in each cycle, there was a one-and-done casualty, which we’ll get to. All in all, the Year 1 marks from the majority of these seven were pretty positive. Heck, one even made the Super Bowl. With that in mind, let’s dive into a Year 1 evaluation of the seven head coaches hired in 2025.
- Mike Vrabel (New England Patriots)
Following one of the most significant stretches of success in the sport’s history, the Patriots’ fortunes turned sour when their soon-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback, Tom Brady, left New England, turned sour. Year 1 of former quarterback Mac Jones went well, but the Patriots then experienced a trio of losing seasons, leading to the firing of former head coach Jerod Mayo after just one season. The Mayo hiring process felt rushed and haphazard, but owner Robert Kraft didn’t seem to mind repeating it with Vrabel. Luckily for him, the second time was the charm, and their fortunes appeared to make a complete 180 overnight. Heading into last year’s hiring cycle, Vrabel was one of two premier names on the market, and the Patriots wasted no time in getting the former Patriots player in the building to lead the franchise. If Year 1 is any indication of how it will work out, it’s easy to say they did a great job.
The Good:
The end of Vrabel’s tenure in Tennessee felt abrupt in the moment. After leading the Titans to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, it took just two straight losing seasons for him to be shown the door. After taking the year off in the cycle, he found himself at the top of most teams’ lists heading into last January. The 50-year-old moved quickly, yet methodically, as he filled out his coaching staff with familiar names. Although Josh McDaniels’ two head coaching tenures did not go as planned, he’s proven time and time again to be one of the better offensive play-callers in the game. Landing someone like McDaniels not only gave the Patriots a high-level offensive mind for their second-year quarterback but also a virtual guarantee that he’ll never land another head-coaching job.
The Patriots’ season started disappointingly with a 20-13 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. They split their next two games and found themselves at 1-2 heading into Week 4. New England would lose just one game for the remainder of the season, but not before reeling off a 10-game winning streak. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye went from a ball of talent to an MVP runner-up. The defense went from lacking life to getting after the quarterback and making plays. As a whole, the Patriots saw a complete 180 from Mayo to Vrabel in just one season.
By virtue of a tie-breaker, New England narrowly missed landing the top seed in the AFC, despite their 14-3 record. Despite that, they reeled off three playoff wins in a row to find themselves as the conference representatives for Super Bowl 60. Sure, they had plenty of cap space and a bevy of high-round picks to work with last offseason, but their turnaround in just one season is damn-near unheard of. It’s hard not to credit Vrabel and his staff with completely turning around this franchise in one year, and it’s also easy to see a clear path back to the playoffs in 2026 and beyond. You won’t find a head coach in this league who has done a better job in Year 1 on the job with a new team.
The Bad:
After winning a combined eight games over their last two seasons before Vrabel’s arrival, I’m not sure anything from the 2025 season would classify as “bad”. Sure, there are areas where they will look to improve during the offseason, but outside of being the recipient of a “soft” schedule, there’s not a whole lot of negatives to the Patriots’ season.
Year 1 Grade: A+
- Ben Johnson (Chicago Bears)
Number two on this list was a tough call between Johnson and Coen. I stay as objective as possible, and both men did great jobs turning around their respective franchises. In the end, I gave the second spot to Johnson, primarily because he was working with a younger quarterback and a much less established roster.
It’s rare to see a coach stay within the same division when making the jump from assistant to head coach. Yet, that’s exactly what Johnson did, while citing how much he wanted to stay in the NFC North at his opening press conference last January. For the Bears, it was simple: Get the best offensive mind and leader to get 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams back on track. In a nutshell, it’s hard to imagine a better outcome for either party coming out of Year 1.
Not only did Johnson help the Bears break a five-year postseason drought, but he led them to their first playoff victory in 15 years. Chicago has struggled with sustained success since the days of Lovie Smith, which means Johnson still has plenty of work to do in the years ahead. With that said, it’s impossible to overlook the dramatic turnaround, not just from a team standpoint, but also in how well he handled a young quarterback’s development. Winning a division, hosting two playoff games, and beating your most-hated rival is a great way to start what many fans hope is a long tenure and a new chapter in Chicago Bears football.
The Good:
Let’s be honest. The Bears defied every preseason expectation and then some. No one had them winning the NFC North. Heck, most fans would have been happy with a winning record and proof of actual progress. Instead, they received a thrilling season with seven comeback wins, a reinvigorated atmosphere at Soldier Field, and a team many will view as a Super Bowl contender in 2025. Heading into the season, the primary focus was on the relationship between the head coach and quarterback. Despite Williams’ lofty draft status and general expectations, there was plenty that went wrong for the Bears in 2024.
Although the offense did not hit the ground running in the early part of the season, Williams started to find his footing in spurts over the first half of the year. Following a 0-2 start, it would have been easy to throw in the towel and simply write the season off as a changing of the guard. Instead, Chicago won 11 of their next 13 games en route to their first NFC North title since 2018. Williams’ growth was far from linear, but it was clear that his confidence and natural abilities were starting to take over as the second half of the season progressed.
In total, Johnson’s aggressive offseason approach led to one of the most productive rookie classes in the league, a completely reimagined offensive line, and an offense that went from Bottom 5 to Top 10, and a team that not only learned how to win, but was almost impossible to put away. No matter how you slice it, the changes in just one season were about as dramatic as we’ve seen in the NFL in quite some time. Johnson filled his staff with a great mix of different backgrounds, most of which he had no prior relationships with. Similar to Vrabel in New England, landing a great coordinator after two failed stops as a head coach should all but guarantee that the marriage on the other side of the ball stays intact for as long as both sides desire. The division won’t get any easier, and as Johnson pointed out, the Bears will be starting from square one again in 2026. That said, the renewed passion around the city for this team is unlike anything Bears fans have ever seen, and Johnson’s presence has a lot to do with that.
The Bad:
In the general sense, it’s hard to have many negative feelings about how the season went in 2025. Going from worst-to-first, and taking the division by storm, was not something anyone had on their bingo card heading into the season. With that in mind, the biggest issue plaguing this team throughout the year was its defense. Allen did a fantastic job, all things considered, but that side of the ball should be an extreme focal point heading into the offseason.
For as productive as the offense was, there were still far too many presnap penalties, missed assignments, and dropped balls. A lot of that can be attributed to Year 1 in a complex offensive scheme, but those lack of details (and drops) cost them when their season was on the line in the Divisional Round, so it’s worth bringing up. Johnson is already seeing his staff get picked over thanks to the unreal amount of openings this offseason, so how he decides to backfill those roles will be worth monitoring. Johnson’s aggressive nature on offense came back to bite them a few times, but one would assume that with a full offseason of review and more trust in both sides of the ball, next year could see some adjustments.
Year 1 Grade: A
- Liam Coen (Jacksonville Jaguars)
The Doug Pederson era started off promising in Jacksonville, but quickly fizzled after one playoff appearance. Despite what appeared to be a talented roster, the Jaguars were trending in the wrong direction over the two years leading up to 2025. After almost fumbling their head coaching search by their insistence on keeping general manager Trent Baalke, the team finally came to their senses. It snatched Coen away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in one of the most bizarre sets of circumstances we will ever see. Once the theatrics of Coen’s departure from Tampa Bay had settled, he pieced together a young but quality staff while also having a say in the general manager search. Even if Coen’s opening press conference came off as awkward and meme-worthy, it wasn’t long into the season when he showed why he was one of the more coveted names in last year’s cycle.
On paper, the Jaguars didn’t do anything spectacular this offseason. Yet, in many ways, it shows how desperately this team needed the right head coach in the building. Despite a strong start from the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville hung around long enough for the Colts’ collapse and was able to take hold of the AFC South. It took a while for the offense to get going, but the defense made an impressive turnaround, headlined by its massive number of takeaways in the first half of the season. It wasn’t always pretty for the Jaguars, but Coen and his staff had them playing their best football heading into the playoffs. Unfortunately, a bad Wild Card matchup landed them an early exit, but there are plenty of reasons for optimism heading into next season.
The Good:
Outside of their dramatic turnaround, there was no bigger storyline for this team than quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The start of the season was questionable at best. While many were starting to wonder if the fifth-year quarterback truly had “it”, Coen and his offensive staff stayed calm. Then, the second half of the season happened, and Lawrence finished the season on such a heater that he was a Top 5 finalist for the MVP.
As a whole, the Jaguars’ offense had some issues to work around. For starters, their rebuilt offensive line was an improvement, but still far from a top unit in the league. Their running game was held together by hopes that their former high-round running back would regain his old form (which he did). The most surprising development of the season was 2024 first-round receiver Brian Thomas Jr. completely forgetting how to catch the ball. Heading into the season, Thomas Jr. was seen as a candidate to become one of the best receivers in the league. Yet, he finished his sophomore campaign with eight fewer touchdowns, almost half the amount of receptions as his rookie year, and close to 600 yards less receiving. We’ve seen lesser developments completely derail a season, yet Coen was able to work around that and give his fifth-year quarterback a new lease on life.
There’s no question that the Jaguars will need to make additional improvements on both sides of the ball this offseason. That said, the deadline acquisition of Jakobi Meyers was arguably the most impactful move made at the deadline for any team in the league. Locking him down with a team-friendly extension was simply a cherry on top. Their disappointing Wild Card round playoff exit will linger in the minds of many throughout the offseason, but with a quality core of players, a return to the playoffs, and more success in 2026 are well within the cards.
The Bad:
In terms of overall roster turnarounds, the Patriots and Bears both did more in Year 1 for their new head coaches. The Jaguars had an infusion of talent, but not in the same way that some of these other teams did. The offensive line will need some work, and the gamble to trade up for Travis Hunter will be a big storyline as he looks to return from a mid-season injury that ended his rookie campaign. How they handle his usage will be interesting to monitor, especially regarding the offense. Thomas Jr. will have a chance to rebound from a rough Year 2, but Jacksonville would be smart to look into additional options this offseason.
As a whole, the Jaguars far exceeded expectations, but, similar to Vrabel and Johnson, 2026 will be a very different story in terms of perception. In a division that is expected to field at least two other highly competitive teams, Coen and the front office cannot rest on past success.
Year 1 Grade: A
- Kellen Moore (New Orleans Saints)
In many ways, the Saints’ job felt like an afterthought in last year’s cycle. Their roster was in shambles, and their cap situation was even worse. Many, including myself, question whether Moore was the right choice, but in the end, I’m not sure many head coaches in the country could have done more than Moore in 2025.
By all accounts, the Saints should have been the favorites for the No. 1 overall pick. On paper, they had one of the worst rosters in the league, and while Moore did a quality job of filling out his staff, he was a late hire in the cycle. That said, they might have found their franchise quarterback in Tyler Shough, and their success in the NFC South is notable. Splitting the division at 3-3 was impressive, as was their ability to win six games. They’ve still got plenty of questions to answer in the offseason, and even if all goes well, this is a team that is still a year or two away from competing for anything more than a less-than-favorable divisional title (like the Panthers at 8-9). That said, Moore made quite the impression in Year 1 and should inspire hope moving forward.
The Good:
Since his playing career ended and he dove headfirst into coaching, Moore has been on a fast track to landing a head job. That finally came to fruition last offseason, despite taking the job at 35. Coming off a Super Bowl win, Moore could have decided to sit out the cycle for a better job, and frankly, with how things have played out this cycle, he wouldn’t have been wrong. In some ways, the credit for his offensive mind lies in the Eagles’ struggles offensively in 2025. The offense looked night and day, which means there’s no denying his influence from previous stops.
Looking at the Saints more directly, his work with his rookie quarterback was quite impressive. Shough is an older prospect, which usually leads to more success out of the gate, but the rookie showed flashes of a franchise quarterback at multiple points this season. Even after dealing Rashid Shaheed to the Seahawks, he led the Saints’ offense to respectability. Most forget that Derek Carr’s retirement came as a surprise, and their quarterback situation heading into the year was viewed as less than ideal.
There’s no debate that the Saints still have a long way to go, but in many ways, the arrow is pointing up for this entire team. Their cap situation still isn’t great, but as we’ve seen, general manager Mickey Loomis can pull off the impossible when it comes to clearing up cap space to make some moves. The first goal for this group should be to get younger, but don’t be surprised to see a big jump from the offense in Year 2 of the Moore-Shough marriage.
The Bad:
On paper, this team is still not very good. That’s, of course, if we are being honest with ourselves. Loomis’s reckless cap management over the last decade also gives me pause about this team’s overall future, as does the age of some of their core players. While what Moore did was impressive, that was with the lowest of low expectations. It’s fair to wonder what the “cap” on this group is, but that can’t garner a fair answer until we see the offseason play out. All in all, Moore did a damn good job with this team, but it’s also fair to wonder how we’ll grade him with higher expectations.
Year 1 Grade: B
- Brian Schottenheimer (Dallas Cowboys)
The 2025 offseason was an odd one in Dallas. Although owner Jerry Jones loves to take the headlines, the handling of Mike McCarthy’s expired contract and the search overall were unconventional, to say the least. For a while, it seemed like the two sides would reach a deal, but after allowing a 10-day window to expire, the Cowboys found themselves in the mix of last year’s coaching cycle. Following rumors of Deion Sanders, Jason Witten, and others, their search was short and, if we are being brutally honest, uninspiring. In the end, it led them to promote offensive coordinator Brian Shottenheimer, who was not viewed by many as a top candidate.
All things considered, Schottenheimer was able to put together a quality staff, including poaching Klayton Adams from the Cardinals. His one slip-up, which we’ll get to in more detail later, was hiring defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. However,h there’s been plenty of speculation that his inclusion on the coaching staff was much more ownership-driven than anything else. When all was said and done, the Cowboys’ midseason push for a playoff spot came up short, but there’s justified optimism that with a better defense in 2026, they could be right back in the playoff mix.
The Good:
The offense continued to be one of the best in the league, which probably shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, considering their personnel didn’t change, and neither did their playcaller. Adams was an outstanding hire from Arizona, and the trade for George Pickens paid off in a big way. Dallas’ offense ranked second in yards per game, seventh in points per game, and eighth in offensive DVOA.
Schottenheimer’s overall command and leadership of the teams shone through, especially given the adversity they faced over 17 games. First came the blockbuster trade that sent star pass rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. A few months later, Marshawn Kneeland tragically took his own life. In between those two significant events, the team also traded for Quinnen Williams. Being an offensive-minded head coach, having to handle that level of change on the other side of the ball would have been challenging for any coach, much less one who was in his first year on the job.
The Cowboys took the changes in stride and went on a three-game winning streak in the middle of the season to make things interesting, even for a short time. Considering the amount of change they experienced and the general chaos that tends to surround the franchise, Schottenheimer did a quality job as a first-year head coach.
The Bad:
Finishing 7-9-1 is never going to be a positive, even if it’s with the context that Dallas experienced in 2025. A big reason for their lack of success was their defense. Trading away Parsons was always going to hurt, but Eberflus’s lack of adjustments and his overall unwillingness to adjust his scheme to his personnel led to one of the league’s worst defenses. On paper, the hiring of Eberflus never made a ton of sense. The Cowboys’ defensive personnel, especially in the secondary, was geared much more toward man coverage, which has never been a strength of Eberflus. As we saw in Chicago, the veteran defensive coaches’ inability and unwillingness to adapt to their personnel ultimately led to their downfall. Dallas’ defense finished dead last in defensive DVOA and points per game (30.2), all while allowing 377 yards per game, which was third worst in the league.
With a full offseason and more resources at their disposal, it will be interesting to see how much of a turnaround the Cowboys’ defense can experience in one season. In many ways, the Schottenheimer hiring felt like the Jason Garrett promotion. That said, the ceiling should be higher with Schottenheimer, simply because he displays better traits of a successful NFL head coach.
Year 1 Grade: C+
- Aaron Glenn (New York Jets)
The last two spots on this list would have been interchangeable if one of them hadn’t gotten fired. Since Glenn kept his job, while Pete Carroll did not, the former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator avoided the bottom spot. To put it simply, the Jets were a disaster in 2025. Sure, some of that stems from poor ownership, but the bottom fell out this past season, and it’s hard to look at it any other way.
Lucky for Glenn (and the organization), first-year general manager Darrell Mougey recognized it and made a pair of big moves in an apparent sell-off. Unfortunately for Glenn, that didn’t help an already struggling defense when an All-Pro defensive tackle and cornerback were shipped out for future high-round picks. That said, the Jets were the first team since the league started tracking interceptions in 1933 to finish the regular season without one. Yes, you read that right. The defensive-minded head coach, brought in to capitalize on the team’s defensive talent, led a unit that went without an interception for the first time in NFL history.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I was high on Glenn as a potential head coach and won’t fall into the trap of determining his fate after one season. That said, everything about this team was a disaster from Week 1 on. Not only did they give up 29.6 points per game, but they ranked in the bottom 10 in yardage allowed, forced just four takeaways, and finished the season ranked 31st in defensive DVOA. We’ll dive more into the bad here in a few, but there was a lot more than meets the eye when it came to the 3-14 Jets in 2025.
The Good:
Even if there wasn’t a whole lot to write home about in a three-win season, there are still a few things worth pointing out. Although I’m not sure any of this is a credit to Glenn himself. We’ll start with the re-emergence of running back Breece Hall. Following back-to-back disappointing campaigns, Hall broke through with the first 1,000-yard season of his career. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry behind an anemic passing game, while also accounting for 350 receiving yards in that struggling passing game. Hall is set to be a free agent next month, but don’t be surprised if the Jets try to retain him following a career year.
Although the offensive line was far from perfect, they still have a young core of players, headlined by Armand Membou, who looked pretty dang good for a rookie. The core baseline for any rebuilding team should start with the quarterback, but before that, it is in the trenches, especially along the offensive line. Even if players like Olu Fashanu underperformed in his sophomore year, there’s plenty to like about this group moving forward.
Finally, the commitment to a full-blown rebuild should be welcomed. It’s not only a clear direction instead of desperately grasping for relevance, but it might be Glenn’s best chance of buying extra time. Obviously, this group needs to show some progress, but the expectations in Year 2 will be lower than those of any other coach (still employed) from this cycle.
The Bad:
So, we’ve already established that the defense was about as bad as it gets, but what about the offense? They gave quarterback Justin Fields a two-year, $40 million deal in free agency, with $30 million guaranteed. After an impressive Week 1, the wheels completely fell off. Not only was their defense one of the worst in the league, but their offense wasn’t too far behind. After owner Woody Johnson publicly berated the team’s starting quarterback, they opted for a switch, only for Tyrod Taylor to get hurt before the game, and Fields was reinserted as the team’s starter.
On the season, the Jets’ offense averaged 263.6 yards per game, but a league-worst 140.3 passing yards per game. To make matters worse, Fields had four separate games where he completed fewer than 10 passes and accounted for less than 100 yards through the air. On those four different occasions, the team’s starting quarterback posted QBRs of 1.6, 7.3, 10.1, and 18.6.
Just as concerning as their horrible offense and even worse defense, they had a league-worst -203 point differential. I guess that’s what happens when a team has a league-high six losses by 20 or more points. By all accounts, 2025 was a complete disaster for the organization, which says a lot, all things considered. They showed no progress on the field, and it’s easy to question what type of “culture” was created after that embarrassing season.
Once the season was over, the first-year head coach cleaned out a coaching staff that he had hired the year prior. That included his defensive coordinator and demoting his offensive play caller. Glenn was granted a Year 2, with ownership fully backing him in the process. That said, it’s reasonable to wonder how long of a leash he’ll have in Year 2 if things don’t look drastically better in a short amount of time.
Year 1 Grade: F
- Pete Carroll (Las Vegas Raiders)
The track record surrounding third-time NFL head coaches is bleak. Add in a coach over 70, and the chances of a “hit” become remote. That said, if there was any coach that had a chance to break the cycle and at least get his new team on the right track, it should have been Carroll. Instead, the entire operation went down in flames over a 17-game season, and he was fired shortly thereafter.
Hiring Carroll was never about the long-term. After missing out on Ben Johnson, the Raiders quickly pivoted to their next target. On paper, it made some sense. The organization has lacked stability and a true winner for decades now. Getting Carroll and a strong coaching staff in the door, even for three to four years, could have helped change the entire trajectory of the franchise. Instead, the coaching staff turned out to be a bust, and Carroll’s last stand as an NFL head coach went up in flames.
The Good:
I’m not sure there’s any “good” to cover here, is there? They took a short-term approach with this hire after being spurned by Johnson, failed to build up the offensive line, gambled on an older quarterback, and drafted a running back with their first-round pick. I guess the only good news about how bad 2025 went is that there wasn’t much long-term damage to be done, since it was already quite broken to begin with. Sure, there was damage, but nothing so catastrophic that it set them back five-plus years.
Las Vegas ended up with the No. 1 overall pick, which is likely to be spent on quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Now they need to parlay the rest of their high-round picks and free agent money into building a better support system around their (soon-to-be) young quarterback and first-round running back from a year ago.
The Bad:
All of it. Seriously. On paper, trading for Geno Smith made sense, yet it failed miserably. The offensive line was a disaster on paper, yet they bypassed a prime opportunity to take a franchise-level offensive tackle. The thinking that putting any running back behind that offensive line was a good idea was enough to convince me there was an issue, but wasting a talent like Ashton Jeanty in Year 1 was about as bad as it gets.
Carroll fired both coordinators in-season. One of his biggest (supposed) pulls was that he could build out a good coaching staff, and once again, that failed miserably. If all of that wasn’t bad enough, finding a way to alienate your one All-Pro caliber player in Maxx Crosby was beyond foolish. Sometimes a team needs to protect players from themselves, but in this particular instance, it sure didn’t feel like that was the primary cause behind placing him on season-ending Injured Reserve before the season.
Instead of using the rest of this space to continue to destroy this hire and choices during the season, let’s take a look at what they should do once March rolls around. First, they should trade Crosby. Not because he’s a “problem” but because wasting a soon-to-be 29-year-old star pass rusher in the midst of a rebuild would be unwise. At this point, the Raiders need young talent. Any trade involving Crosby would fetch quite the return, and that should be the starting point for how they approach the offseason. Next, they need to figure out the offensive line. How that happens, I don’t know. Mainly since the No. 1 overall pick will be used on Mendonza. One way or another, they need to look at the past failures from teams like the Panthers, Bears, and Titans to see that surrounding a young quarterback with a good offensive line is Step 1. Once they can field at least a league-average offensive line, they need to get Mendoza more pass catchers. Brock Bowers and Jeanty are good starts, but adding a reliable veteran would go a long way in Mendoza’s Year 1 development.
In short, their entire offseason should be geared toward propping up their hopeful franchise quarterback. If Mendoza doesn’t work out, at least the infrastructure will be in place. For teams like the Raiders (and Jets), the key to a quick and sustainable turnaround is having a superstar quarterback. Unlike the Jets, the Raiders will at least have a shot to make that happen in April.
Year 1 Grade: F-
(@BearsNoContext) 
