Compared to 2022, 2023 was an oasis of job security for NFL head coaches. More than a quarter of the league’s sideline generals were replaced last offseason, leading to promising hires that returned immediate dividends (Doug Pederson, Brian Daboll), others on which the jury is still out (Kevin O’Connell, Matt Eberflus) and a couple of one-year flameouts (Nathaniel Hackett, Lovie Smith).
Only five teams fired their head coaches after the start of last fall’s regular season, starting with Matt Rhule’s deserved departure in Carolina. That set the stage for a hiring process filled with the typical mix of retread veterans and rising coordinators as each franchise looks for the guy who can take their team to the next level.
With the Arizona Cardinals settling on Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to replace Kliff Kingsbury, we now know what 2023’s class of new head coaches officially looks like. With some very minimal data about their pasts and the rosters they’ve inherited, which hire looks best? Well, looks like it’s time to get into some way-too-early, almost-certainly-wrong rankings.