The NFL’s coaching carousel began spinning early in the 2022 regular season. That’s when the Carolina Panthers decided they’d seen enough from Matt Rhule and kicked him to the curb after 38 underwhelming games.
Frank Reich and Nathaniel Hackett joined him soon after on the ignominious list of in-season firings. Once Week 18 came to an official close, the Houston Texans couldn’t even wait until Black Monday to fire Lovie Smith. That left Kliff Kingsbury, architect behind a rich tradition of Arizona Cardinal collapses, as the only man to lose his job on the traditional carving grounds for foundering head coaches.
That leaves the blossoming 2023 offseason with five coaching jobs not yet filled by full-time coaches. Which provides the best landing spot for a stacked cast of rising young assistants and valuable retreads? Well, the thing is that each needy team is bad in its own way — but some provide an easier path to success than the rest.