The NFL has turned itself into a year-round league over the last couple of decades. There are only a few times a year when something isn’t happening, especially now with events created for things like the NFL schedule release and special releases for international games.
With the NFL moving forward so fast, it is sometimes hard to take account of all the moves and decisions made since the end of the 2025 regular season. This offseason, 10 head coaches were hired to replace those who failed previously with their teams. Almost a third of the NFL have new head coaches heading into the 2026 offseason:
The Athletic asked nine coaches and executives to rank their top five hires. They note that none of those nine work for any of the 10 teams listed above. Harbaugh came in first, no surprise, but former Browns HC Kevin Stefanski got the second most points in the exercise.
Coming in last? Monken and LaFleur.
Much like grading NFL drafts right after they happen, of course, these rankings are silly. Also, nine is a very small sample size to create such a definitive list. The reality is that each of these decisions should be viewed at one of two points: After three full seasons or when the coach gets fired, whichever comes first.
In the case of the Browns and Cardinals coming in last, the executives most likely viewed the hires in the vacuum of the team’s history and current roster, as noted in the piece:
There’s just too much unknown with Monken, LaFleur and their respective organizations. Both are first-time, offensive-minded NFL head coaches coming from successful teams, and they’re joining two franchises that are perpetually rebuilding.
Ranking a head coach based on things unrelated to that head coach is mildly amusing.