2026 NFL head coach rankings: RotoPat’s analysis for all 32 teams

Of the 10 head coaches who were either fired or resigned this offseason, six made the playoffs with the team that let them go. Two made the postseason in 2025. Three have won Super Bowls, including two with the firing club.

Tough business. It has been made even more so by the inarguable improvement in coaching over the past decade-plus. Coasting on clichés is no longer enough when late 30something or early 40something hires keep winning Super Bowls.

The demands on a coach — leadership, discipline, media savvy, scheme sophistication — are mostly the same as they have always been. What’s changed is the hypersonic speed at which they continue to evolve. The NFL has never slowed down, but like the rest of modern life, it only ever moves faster.

As I say every year, players, owners, assistants, injuries and acts of God can matter as much as coaching ability. That’s why, though this is a rankings article, I try not to think of it that way. I view it as more of an almanac, an assessment of where the league’s 32 coaches find themselves right now.