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Come Fan with UsSaturday, June 20, 2026

Ranking the NFL’s head coaching openings

Brandon Lee Gowton and I tackle that and more in today’s SB Nation NFL Podcast

Seattle Seahawks v Carolina Panthers
Seattle Seahawks v Carolina Panthers
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Now that the NFL’s regular season is over, and because the league is now allowing virtual head coaching interviews to take place, the coaching carousel is in full effect. There are currently six open head coaching positions around the league and multiple candidates that will have their pick of jobs to accept. But how does one figure out how to make that decision? Brandon Lee Gowton and I tried to figure that out in today’s SB Nation NFL Show podcast.

Quite simply, we looked at five different categories to help rank the best available jobs:

  1. Ownership - Will they make my job easier or harder?
  2. Quarterback Situation - If I don’t have one, how easy will it be to get one?
  3. Division Quality - How tough are the teams I have to play ever year?
  4. Roster Quality - How much work do I have to do on the rest of the team?
  5. Expectations - Will I have time to build a program?

Using that criteria as a metric, we each then power-ranked the jobs that should be most attractive to perspective candidates. You can hear our lists in the full episode of the show, which is right here for you in the player below:

Other topics in today’s episode:

  • Which coaching candidates are we buying/selling
  • Why Urban Meyer isn’t the college coach teams should be looking to hire
  • The Giants and their fans deserve to be thrown into the Pit of Misery

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the SB Nation NFL Show here!

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