Players ultimately decide who wins and loses football games, but coaches play a massive part in optimizing their performance. There certainly isn’t a shortage of excellent head coaches in the NFL, both young and old, and I’m ranking the best among them.
Newly hired head coaches like Aaron Glenn, Liam Coen, Ben Johnson, and Kellen Moore for example, will not be included.
Top 10 Head Coaches Entering 2025
1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
Like Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots teams before them, the Kansas City Chiefs are masters of situational football. Last season, the Chiefs played in 12 one-score games, including the playoffs, and won every single one. They found a way to reach the Super Bowl for the third straight season mainly because Andy Reid has his entire team prepared for any situation.
Kansas City ranked 17th in PFF offensive grade during the first three quarters of games but moved up to fourth in that same category in the fourth quarter and overtime. They simply find ways to step up their game despite their flaws, injuries, and lack of explosiveness. That’s a testament to Reid’s levelheaded approach to the game and wealth of experience.
2. Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
Sean McVay isn’t even 40 years old yet but is already entering his ninth season as the Los Angeles Rams head coach. The Rams have made the postseason in six of the first eight seasons with him at the helm, including a Super Bowl 56 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams were also the closest team to upending the Philadelphia Eagles in the postseason before their Super Bowl win this past season.
McVay is known as an offensive mastermind, but his adjustments to his rushing attack may be his most impressive feat yet. McVay is a Mike Shanahan disciple, which makes him fluent in outside-zone run schemes. From 2017 to 2022, Los Angeles ranked second in outside-zone rate. Over the past two seasons, however, they rank just 15th in that category while leading the NFL with their usage of man run schemes. That newfound downhill approach has allowed the Rams to sustain the offensive balance needed to be a Super Bowl contender.
3. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
John Harbaugh perpetually has the Baltimore Ravens contending for championships but has not won the Super Bowl since the 2012 season. The Ravens have endured only two losing seasons since he took over in 2008. Baltimore’s consistency is impressive, considering the team hasn’t lost a game by more than one score since week 18 of 2022, a contest in which their starters didn’t play.
At the center of Harbaugh’s success is Lamar Jackson and his development. Coming off an injury-plagued 2022 season in which he earned just a 72.3 PFF passing grade, Jackson and his team were at a crossroads. Since Todd Monken was brought in to be the Ravens’ offensive coordinator in 2023, Jackson has become an unstoppable force, leading the NFL with a 95.1 PFF overall grade. As long as Harbaugh and Jackson are in the building, the Ravens will be contenders.
4. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
Sean Payton inherited a disaster in 2023, and his quarterback, Russell Wilson, was clearly unhappy. After a 1-5 start, Payton rallied the team behind a strong defense to win seven of their final 11 games. Wilson was cut from the team after the season, and the Denver Broncos selected their new quarterback, Bo Nix, in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Payton and Nix turned out to be a match made in heaven, giving Broncos fans a vision of Payton renewing the success he cultivated for so long with the New Orleans Saints. The Broncos’ defense was still strong last season, and Nix’s excellent 1.8% turnover-worthy play rate perfectly represented a team that didn’t beat itself. Denver only lost two games all season by more than one score, to AFC elites Baltimore and the Buffalo Bills. Denver has added more talent this offseason and should continue to contend with its elite head coach leading the way.
5. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
Nick Sirianni is often the target of criticism when the Eagles lose, but credit needs to be given when it’s due. He’s an outstanding 48-20 in the regular season as the Eagles’ head coach and has made the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. Philadelphia emphatically proved they were the best team in football last season. They were the NFL’s highest-graded team and lost just one game after the fourth week of the season.
The Eagles’ commitment to the run game in 2024 was its biggest adjustment from a confounding 2023. The offense ranked just 13th in run-play percentage in 2023 but led the NFL with a 51.2% clip last season. Philadelphia was the only team to run the ball more than throw it. Of course, having an elite running back like Saquon Barkley helps, who racked up more than 2,500 rushing yards last year, including the postseason. Sirianni and the Eagles committed to an old-school style of football, and it paid off with a championship.
6. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Despite recent criticism about a lack of playoff success, Mike Tomlin still finds a way to squeeze every ounce of execution out of his teams. He still has yet to go through a losing campaign across 18 seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, though there have been many close calls. Making the postseason in 2024 despite a turbulent quarterback situation is an impressive feat.
Pittsburgh’s identity is its defense, which played at an elite level once again in 2024. They ranked fourth in PFF defensive grade and first in PFF pass-rush grade, led by future Hall of Famers T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward. They could use the occasional spurt of offense, though, as they went 8-0 when allowing 18 points or fewer and 2-8 when they allowed 19 or more.
7. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
Kyle Shanahan is still one of the game’s greatest offensive minds and best head coaches. After appearing in their second Super Bowl in five seasons in 2023, the San Francisco 49ers took a big step back last season. They started 5-4 before losing seven of their final eight games. Those shortcomings came about more due to injuries to star players and a lack of a run defense than anything within Shanahan’s control.
Despite their difficulties, Shanahan’s 49ers still ranked ninth in PFF grade last season, the second-highest mark by any team with a losing record. Offensively, the 49ers still notched the fifth-best PFF grade in the league despite injuries to superstars Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, and Trent Williams. Shanahan’s playcalling and work to develop Brock Purdy are the biggest factors in that success. If they are healthy, the 49ers are a legitimate bounce-back candidate this season.
8. Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers
Across 21 years as a head coach at the collegiate and NFL levels, Jim Harbaugh has endured just three losing seasons, 2007 and 2008 at Stanford and a COVID-shortened 2020 at Michigan. His 2012 49ers were a mere five yards short of defeating his brother, John, and the Ravens in the Super Bowl. He has since won a national championship at Michigan and has seemingly turned around the Los Angeles Chargers‘ previously moribund culture.
The primary appeal for Harbaugh taking the Chargers job was quarterback Justin Herbert. Harbaugh and Greg Roman recaptured the magic of Herbert’s abilities in their first year on the job. Herbert set career highs last season with a 90.2 PFF passing grade, 7.7 yards per attempt, and a 5.7% big-time throw rate. He could be on the cusp of becoming elite. Also on the list of accomplishments for Harbaugh is leading a previously poor defense to the third-best PFF grade in the NFL in 2024.
9. Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions
When Dan Campbell was first hired in 2021, he emphatically announced that he would change the Detroit Lions‘ culture. He’s done that and so much more. After starting 4-19-1 over his first year and a half as head coach, Campbell found a way to flip the switch, and the Lions have now won 35 of their past 44 regular-season games.
Across that stretch, which started in the middle of the season in 2022, the Lions rank second in PFF offensive grade as they’ve resurrected Jared Goff’s career. They’ve carried an elite offensive line for multiple years and have a deep stable of weapons. The defense is more of a work in progress, but there is hope with stars like Aidan Hutchinson, Brian Branch, and Kerby Joseph. Campbell’s biggest challenge this season will be coping with losing his offensive and defensive coordinators, but he has proven that he can lead the Lions out of any abyss.
10. Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills
Sean McDermott is, by every metric, one of the best sideline bosses in the modern NFL. He’s transformed what was once a perennial bottom-dweller into a legitimate contender, inheriting a team in the midst of a 17-year postseason drought in 2017 and leading them to the playoffs in seven of his eight seasons in charge. He’s already the second-winningest coach in franchise history (86 regular-season wins), with his .656 winning percentage placing him atop the Bills record books in that category.
The Bills have constructed double-digit win totals for six consecutive seasons under McDermott, and have claimed the AFC East crown for five consecutive seasons. Sure Josh Allen deserves plenty of credit for that and there are justifiable concerns about the coach’s decision-making in big moments and his ability to get the team over the proverbial hump, but in terms of constructing a culture with an annually successful football team, few in Buffalo history have been more successful than McDermott.
Main Image: © Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
