NFL coaching hire grades for every team involved in 2026 cycle

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Grading the hire of every head coach during the 2026 NFL offseason

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A wild head coach hiring cycle is underway in the NFL, as nine different teams have that role to fill ahead of the 2026 NFL season.

The New York Giants made the first move, hiring John Harbaugh just days after he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens. When it was time for the second job to be filled, a similar path was followed. An AFC North head coach was headed to the NFC, as the Atlanta Falcons hired Kevin Stefanski after he was let go by the Cleveland Browns.

Those are the first two moves, but there will be more. We’ll grade them all as they come in.

New York Giants: John Harbaugh

When the initial job vacancies were listed, the Giants’ job was one of our favorites on the open market. Only when the Ravens parted ways with Harbaugh was New York pushed down the list.

And when the Ravens parted ways with Harbaugh, it made him one of the more attractive candidates on the open market.

To us, this looks like a perfect pairing. More than anything else, the Giants need stability at the head coaching position. Since Tom Coughlin’s last season, the 2015 campaign, New York has cycled through four different head coaching options.

Harbaugh will be the fifth.

Giants fans are not hoping to see a sixth anytime soon.

Grade: A

Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

As noted above, the Falcons have filled their head coaching vacancy with a coach coming from the AFC North, as Atlanta is turning to Kevin Stefanski.

Similar to the hire of Harbaugh, this is a fantastic move for both the coach, and the team.

The big focus in Atlanta is maximizing the talent on the offensive side of the football.

Enter Stefanski, a coach rooted on that side of the ball.

Think of the offensive talent that Stefanski will get to work with in Atlanta: Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts give Stefanski an incredible trio of offensive weapons to build around. Figuring out quarterback is going to be a big part of the equation, but Stefanski is a coach who can perhaps get the most out of Michael Penix Jr., who will be working back from another knee injury but entered the year as the team’s starting quarterback.

Grade: A-

Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

The Miami Dolphins have made their decision.

Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has been one of the hottest names during this hiring cycle — he underwent interviews with seven teams and was set for a second round with both the Dolphins and the Titans — has agreed to become the next coach of the Dolphins. This sets up a reunion of sorts with incoming general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, as the two shared time in Green Bay.

The excitement around Hafley this cycle is one reason for optimism in Miami, and the fact that Hafley built a strong defense in Green Bay is another. Then there is the fact that after parting ways with Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins have engineered the common coaching flip: Move to the other side of the football with the next hire.

However, there is also reason for skepticism. This is Hafley’s first NFL head coaching job, and he went 22-26 as the head coach at Boston College. And while he did build a strong defense in Green Bay, he also had several first-round picks along the defensive front at his disposal including Micah Parsons, after the team traded for him ahead of the 2025 season.

So, cautious optimism might be the best way to feel about this.

Grade: B

Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

It’s far from the splashiest hire of the cycle, but when the dust settles the Titans might wind up with one of the best coaches on the market. Robert Saleh’s talent as a defensive coordinator and strategist have few peers in the NFL, and the way he was unfairly booted from the Jets after being saddled with Zach Wilson was the highest level of ineptitude.

Saleh returned to the 49ers and managed to piece together a Top 15 defense in points allowed, and a Top 10 rushing defense in spite of the litany of injuries San Francisco faced, including its two most critical defensive players in Nick Bosa and Fred Warner.

With a reputation for non-nonsense coaching and demanding discipline from his players, Saleh is the perfect coach to come into Nashville and mold a young team in need of stewardship. Offensively he’s admitted that’s not his forte, so finding someone to held develop Cam Ward is a must — but there’s enough talent on a defense anchored by Jeffrey Simmons that Saleh could make some noise in the ever mercurial AFC South.

The only small knock is that a coach like Saleh is going to need time. This is a culture shifting coach, and the Titans have a tendency to be impatient.

Grade: A-

Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

A former Raven is coming home.

The Baltimore Ravens announced that Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter will be their next coach, bringing home an assistant under John Harbaugh from 2017 from 2020.

While some believed the right move for the Ravens was to hire an offensive-minded head coach to get the most out of Lamar Jackson, the Ravens are looking to improve on the defensive side of the football. Minter built one of the league’s best defenses in Los Angeles this past season, as the Chargers raned first in passer rating allowed and fifth in yards per game.

The choice of offensive coordinator will be critical, but this feels like a great move for the Ravens.

Grade: A-

Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy

Similar to the Jesse Minter move, this is a homecoming for Mike McCarthy.

McCarthy grew up in the area, and now gets a chance to coach the team he rooted for when he was younger. McCarthy becomes just the fifth head coach of the Steelers since 1969, when the organization hired Chuck Noll. Since then Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin were their only two other coaches, until today.

The biggest question will be the quarterback position. Does this open the door to a return for Aaron Rodgers? When Tomlin stepped down the immediate thought was that the door was closed, but now a could a reunion be in the works?

Still, even with those two factors, this feels like a step back for the Steelers, and it is also a departure from their recent trendline of hiring younger coaches and growing with them. Instead at 62 McCarthy brings experience and a veteran presence to the Pittsburgh sideline.

This also feels like a grade worthy of a more “wait and see” approach.

Grade: C+

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