NFL head coach power rankings for 2025

Another NFL offseason is upon us, and masses of NFL fans will be closely monitoring trades and free agency signings next week when the new league year kicks off. The Draft will follow in a month and a half later in April.

But once the rosters are assembled and teams start to prepare to play actual games, the head coaches will take center stage in training camp.

The landscape has shifted dramatically from last season, with the Eagles and Nick Sirianni winning a title and several established skippers falling flat last season. Who is really the best coach in the NFL right now?

Jimmy Kempski, our Eagles beat writer, Evan Macy, the managing sports editor, Shamus Clancy, the deputy sports editor and Nick Tricome, a staff writer, each ranked all of the current head coaches with one guideline in mind, looking to craft a hierarchy based on "what have you done for me lately" as well as a full career's body of work.

We averaged out the rankings of our four staff writers and will discuss them below.

Here is a look at the NFL head coach power rankings for 2025:

1. Andy Reid, Chiefs (last year: 1)

Shamus Clancy: Reid is the GOAT play-caller except when he's facing a Vic Fangio-led defense in the Super Bowl.

2. Nick Sirianni, Eagles (last year 15)

Jimmy Kempski: I don't care how good the Eagles' rosters have been. Sirianni has a .706 winning percentage during the regular season and he's 6-3 in the playoffs with two Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl win. He also does more behind the scenes in keeping up player morale than is known to the general public.

3. Sean McVay, Rams (last year: 2)

Nick Tricome: The Rams were the definition of "all in" for their Super Bowl run in 2021, and were looking completely cashed out and in for a lengthy rebuild right after that. But credit to them, and especially McVay, they stocked themselves back up quick and have stayed far more competitive than most would've thought.

They came the closest to beating the Eagles in the playoffs, and flipped the NFC West on its head when the 49ers were supposed to be the juggernaut of that division.

McVay has this team getting taken seriously again.

4. John Harbaugh, Ravens (last year: 3)

Evan Macy: Maybe this is a little influenced by Hard Knocks but I thought Harbaugh was a fantastic coach, particularly as a motivator and guy who can relate to his players. He's had the Ravens right there for a few seasons now — but if he doesn't get them into a Super Bowl in the next year or two he could plummet like Kyle Shanahan did.

5. Dan Campbell, Lions (last year: 7)

Jimmy: Campbell had a hard training camp, and he didn't rest starters when the opportunity arose late in the season. Maybe that gives his team a little added "grit," but they were also without a couple handfuls of starters for the playoffs, and were one and done. You'd think a guy with 10 years of playing experience would understand that the NFL season is a marathon.

6. Jim Harbaugh, Chargers (Last year 14)

Nick: Jim Harbaugh was an absolute upgrade over Brandon Staley and grants Justin Herbert a much more direct path to improvement. They still hit that Wild Card wall pretty hard against Houston, but the Chargers are probably in much better shape to hang around in the playoff picture now than they were a year ago, especially if the Chiefs are about to slip a little.

7. Kevin O'Connell, Vikings (last year: 20)

Evan: I am always extremely impressed when a team is a contender without a top five, or even top 10 quarterback. Minnesota was just that last year, and O'Connell is looking more and more like one of those guys whose teams always win.

8. Sean McDermott, Bills (last year: 11)

Shamus: Sorry, I'm low on McDermott. Buffalo needs a reset to get over the hump finally.

9. Sean Payton, Broncos (last year: 12)

Jimmy: He's unlikeable to many, but his record in New Orleans was outstanding, and he brought a bad Broncos team to the playoffs in 2024.

10. Matt LaFleur, Packers (last year: 4)

Nick: LaFleur handled the transition from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love smoothly, and gets bonus points for the Packers' playoff thrashing of the Cowboys in 2023, but now Green Bay sits in the good-but-not-great zone that tradition-heavy teams like Dallas and Pittsburgh always seem to occupy anymore – or in other words, the teams with fanbases that are always pointing to their championships from forever ago.

The Packers could only swing 10 points against the Eagles in the Wild Card, Love threw three picks, and Dallas Goedert stiff-armed their season straight to the couch. And even before that, they closed out their schedule with brutal and ill-afforded losses to the Vikings and Bears.

They might still be a playoff team next year, but will they be an actual threat to anyone?

11. Mike Tomlin, Steelers (last year: 9)

Jimmy: The streak on non-losing seasons loses some cache when the Steelers reliably get waxed in the Wild Card Round every year.

12. DeMeco Ryans, Texans (last year: 6)

Shamus: Ryans is the best defensive-minded head coach in the NFL. It's just the nature of the sport, however, that his new offensive coordinator Nick Caley will determine the fate of the Texans and soon-to-be third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud.

13. Dan Quinn, Commanders (Last year: 24)

Jimmy: I was impressed by the Commanders' willingness to go for it on 4th down all season long, but Quinn turtled up on their first drive of the game in the NFC Championship Game.

14. Pete Carroll, Raiders

Shamus: A Pete Carroll/Chip Kelly tandem would've been a terrifying proposition from the NFL a dozen years ago. It's somewhat laughable now.

15. Todd Bowles, Buccaneers (last year: 18)

Evan: This is my yearly "Temple Made" shoutout for Bowles — whose defense continues to impress. He has taken the Bucs to the playoffs in five consecutive years. Is he underrated?

Biggest risers/fallers

A look at who has moved the most in our rankings since last year

16. Kyle Shanahan, 49ers (last year: 5)

Evan: I personally had Shanahan higher than this, and I have friends who have told me if they were starting a franchise from scratch, this would be their guy. He's a brilliant X's and O's kind of coach but the results speak for themselves. He can't win the big game, and he's been unable to withstand injuries the way Dan Campbell and others have done.

17. Mike Vrabel, Patriots

Evan: I think this was the best hire of the cycle. He could be a staple in Foxboro for a long time with Drake Maye and a pretty solid defense already in place.

18. Mike Macdonald, Seahawks (last year: 28)

Nick: The Seahawks feel like they should be a whole lot worse than they are, but they've strung together some respectable seasons with Geno Smith at quarterback and within Pete Carroll's last couple of years as head coach.

Macdonald kept that going with a 10-7 run in 2024 that, in any other year, would likely swing a Wild Card spot had there not been an insanely strong NFC North and a surprising 12-5 Washington team in the NFC East.

The Seahawks aren't serious contenders or anything, but they've found a way to keep themselves in the mix.

19. Dave Canales, Panthers (last year: 31)

Jimmy: The Panthers were feisty down the stretch last season, and there's hope for Bryce Young yet.

20. Zac Taylor, Bengals (last year: 17)

Shamus: Taylor should've been fired last year. Even more so, he should've been fired this year.

21. Shane Steichen, Colts (last year: 16)

Shamus: I'm still a Steichen believer! He's gone .500 in two seasons with tons of backup quarterback play out there. The lack of development from Anthony Richardson goes back to his flaws from his collegiate days and injury woes. Maybe it goes awry in Indy and Steichen is back on Nick Sirianni's staff 12 months from now, but he remains a skilled play-caller.

22. Kevin Stefanski, Browns (last year: 10)

Evan: Talk about a roller coaster. In 2023 we had Stefanski 25th on this list. Then he somehow got the Browns and Joe Flacco to the playoffs, and we boosted him to the top 10 in 2024. And now, after his team basically disintegrated, he's back in the 20s again.

23. Ben Johnson, Bears

Nick: Johnson has his acclaim and now his head coaching job after the work put into making the Lions' offense a powerhouse, but Chicago is going to be no easy fix. Many before have tried, for years, to little success.

24. Kellen Moore, Saints

Shamus: It's foolish for any assistant to pass up a head coaching job. They don't come around often! Still, Eagles fans have to feel a bit bad for Moore for heading into a situation as dire as the one with the Saints. Their roster is a mess. They have a quarterback who is neither good enough for the team to truly contend nor young. They are football purgatory. Can Moore change all of that? I have doubts. Still, Eagles fans will thank him forever for this latest Super Bowl run.

25. Raheem Morris, Falcons (last year: 26)

Nick: I mean…the Falcons are there, I guess.

26. Mike McDaniel, Dolphins (last year: 13)

Jimmy: For years McDaniel placed high on these types of lists because he has a charming personality, but his teams have wildly underachieved and he still doesn't have a playoff win.

27. Liam Coen, Jaguars

Shamus: I'm higher on Cohen than any new hire this cycle. Tampa Bay had a top-five offense and an elite passing attack in 2024 with Coen calling the plays. The Jaguars feel a bit like a perpetually cursed team that will never have consistent success, but perhaps Coen could figure things out.

28. Aaron Glenn, Jets

Shamus: We're two years away from Glenn being jettisoned and New York making another lackluster hire. It's the Jets.

29. Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals (last year: 32)

Jimmy: Gannon felt like a decent one-and-done candidate after the Cardinals hired him last season, but he has survived to season three. Of course, he has an entirely unimpressive 12-22 record through two seasons. Also, the Eagles' domination of the Chiefs in the Super Bowl under Vic Fangio was a bad look for Gannon, who got pantsed by Andy Reid in 2022.

30. Brian Callahan, Titans (last year: 30)

Evan: Apparently it's not good to be an NFL head coach named "Brian." See below.

Fired and out

A look at where last year's fired coaches were ranked by us in 2024

31. Brian Daboll, Giants (last year: 22)

Jimmy: It remains mind-blowing to me that John Mara didn't clean house this offseason.

32. Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys

Jimmy: Even the biggest homer Cowboys fans had a tough time talking themselves into this hire.

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