If you have two things solidified in the NFL, you're probably going to find some measure of sustained success: Head coach and quarterback.
On rare occasions, some teams are elite in both categories, and that's how powerhouses are built. Regardless if you have it or not, every team is chasing after it. And the AFC has an absolutely loaded lineup of coaches heading into the 2026 season.
There are way more newcomers among AFC head coaches entering the 2026 season than anyone expected with some of the most notable names (Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh) no longer in the conference.
Our newest NFL Power Rankings are going to take a look at every head coach in the AFC, ranking them worst to best based on their history, projection for the upcoming season, and just how much of an advantage they give their team in the chess match of football. (Rookie head coaches will be listed at the bottom in almost their own sub-category of rankings.)
NFL Power Rankings: Every AFC team ranked by head coach in 2026
16. Todd Monken, Cleveland Browns (rookie)
You have to give Todd Monken some credit. Not every head coach candidate out there was fighting the others to get the Cleveland Browns' job this past offseason. At the age of 60, Monken feels like he's coming in to establish a culture of toughness in the trenches, but how much of a long-term solution will he be?
We've seen Monken have success at both Georgia and with the Baltimore Ravens in recent years calling the running game, and really emphasizing toughness in the trenches. The Browns have a completely revamped offensive line for Monken this year, but the quarterback position is still a major concern.
And now, there's no Myles Garrett. Monken will be a coach of the year candidate -- in my eyes -- if the Browns can get 7 or 8 wins this season.
15. Jeff Hafley, Miami Dolphins (rookie)
I thought about putting Jeff Hafley a lot higher than this because of the fact that he's been a head coach recently, albeit at the college level. Hafley was the head coach at Boston College for four years before jumping back into the NFL in 2024 as the Green Bay Packers' defensive coordinator.
And we saw that unit in Green Bay take a huge leap forward in the last two seasons thanks not only to Hafley, but a huge influx of top-tier talent on that side of the ball.
Hafley had a good friend in a high place with former Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan being hired by the Dolphins as their GM, and subsequently hiring Hafley as his head coach. Hafley, just like Todd Monken, has a major undertaking and rebuilding project ahead of him.
14. Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills (rookie)
The Buffalo Bills were another team that moved on from their head coach after the 2025 season ended in major disappointment. Sean McDermott had been the head coach of the Bills since 2017, and oversaw the franchise's ascent with star quarterback Josh Allen.
But there was an apparent ceiling for the Bills under McDermott, and that ceiling was apparently AFC West teams in the playoffs.
The Bills are shifting gears in a dramatic way, going with a rookie head coach in Joe Brady, who was previously the team's offensive coordinator. Not only is Brady a first-time head coach, but he'll have a first-year NFL defensive coordinator in Jim Leonhard. The Bills are taking a big risk in such a competitive window, but they're hoping the offensive wunderkind can push them over the top.
13. Jesse Minter, Baltimore Ravens (rookie)
Out of all of the rookie head coaches in the AFC this year, Jesse Minter probably had the most dominant individual unit last year, certainly over the last two years. You could make a strong case for Klint Kubiak in that regard, but Minter's defense in Los Angeles has been difficult for even the best offenses in the league to figure out.
And his player development on that side of the ball has been fantastic.
Minter's first NFL job came back in 2017 as a defensive assistant with the Ravens, so this job is sort of a full-circle moment for him. He's going from working under Jim Harbaugh to taking his brother's job in Baltimore, a job John Harbaugh had previously held since 2008.
Because of the enormity of taking a head coaching gig for a team that previously had that kind of stability, the pressure will be on Minter to get this Ravens team back into the top 4 of the AFC in a hurry.
12. Klint Kubiak, Las Vegas Raiders (rookie)
The top rookie head coach on our list is Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak. Kubiak has been in the NFL basically since birth. His dad is Super Bowl champion head coach Gary Kubiak, who won it all in 2015 with the Denver Broncos (and other times as an assistant).
Klint has that same type of offensive genius of his dad, and the same hardware as an OC. He just helped the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl as their offensive coordinator, proving he's got what it takes to lead a team on his own.
Kubiak not only did an incredible job with the Seahawks last year, but had the New Orleans Saints looking like the most explosive offense early in the 2024 season before injuries derailed their progress. Again, Kubiak is the son of a coach who has been around football all his life. He's entering a really solid situation with #1 pick Fernando Mendoza to work with.
11. Aaron Glenn, New York Jets
The Detroit Lions clearly missed both Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson this past season, and the Jets were right to continue being patient with Glenn.
It's sort of going against the grain to hire a defensive-minded coach in today's NFL, so the Jets have to buy the vision they had with him in the first place. It's still wild that Glenn's defense in New York didn't have a single interception last season.
But now, hope is renewed for the Jets as a franchise. Even though Glenn still doesn't have a future franchise QB on the roster (unless...Cade Klubnik?), the Jets have a much better roster overall and have reloaded in the past couple of offseasons with the wheeling and dealing of GM Darren Mougey. Glenn needs to show improvement this season to hold onto his job for 2027 and beyond.
10. Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts
If you were to make a list of head coaches under the most pressure entering the 2026 season (and we probably will, on several occasions), Shane Steichen might be at or near the very top.
Steichen and the Colts were 8-2 last year heading into their bye week, and then they ended up missing the playoffs altogether. It felt like Steichen's job was really on the line last season, because he called up his pal Philip Rivers out of retirement to come and try to salvage a playoff spot.
Even though it didn't happen, we saw Rivers operate the Colts' offense better than pretty much anyone thought he could. Steichen is a good coach, and a really good offensive mind. But another failure to reach the playoffs after the failed draft investment in Anthony Richardson and the Brinks Truck of cash given to Daniel Jones?
That might be the end of the line.
9. Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
Zac Taylor has quietly become one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the entire AFC. And that has to mean something, right? He became the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals all the way back in 2019, and the team landed Joe Burrow atop the 2020 NFL Draft.
In 2021, the Bengals had become one of the most explosive offenses in the entire NFL, reaching the Super Bowl and giving the Los Angeles Rams a run for their money. It looked like they were ready to become a true powerhouse in the AFC, but that hasn't happened.
Zac Taylor can't control whether or not injuries happen, but the reality is, over the last three seasons, the Bengals have not finished better than 3rd place in the AFC North, they've had an embarrassingly bad defense, and this season, they probably need to do more than just make the playoffs.
8. Robert Saleh, Tennessee Titans
Robert Saleh has clearly established one thing as absolute truth: He's a phenomenal defensvie coordinator. The question he has to answer in 2026 is simple: Is he capable of being a phenomenal head coach?
Unlike his time with the New York Jets, Saleh has a franchise quarterback to build around. The Jets tried while Saleh was there with players like Zach Wilson and Aaron Rodgers, but the vision never came to fruition, and even with some great defenses in New York, the offense simply couldn't give those teams any semblance of balance.
There's an element of unknown with Cam Ward in Tennessee, but he's expected to skyrocket in 2026 and Saleh could be a Coach of the Year candidate in his first year with Tennessee. The second stint as a head coach is expected to go much better in Saleh's case.
7. Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars sort of backed into Liam Coen as their head coach, and it appears they made the right call last offseason to move on from GM Trent Baalke. There was a whole saga with the Jaguars trying to hire Coen, the Bucs trying to keep him, and Coen not wanting to work with Baalke.
Ultimately, owner Shad Khan made the right call to go with Coen (and fire Baalke), who took the Jaguars not only from the depths of the AFC to the playoffs, but from the depths of the AFC to the AFC South division title. And going forward, that will be the expectation.
Coen put Trevor Lawrence in position to at least be somewhere in the NFL MVP conversation, even if it's a longshot at this point. He got the most out of the roster last year, to the point that the Jaguars appeared years ahead of schedule. We'll see how he can do this season without a key weapon: Travis Etienne.
6. Mike McCarthy, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers knew they had to bring in the right guy to replace Mike Tomlin, who will go into the Hall of Fame one day as one of the best head coaches in the history of the league. Even though Tomlin never had a losing season with the Steelers, it seemed like that simply wasn't good enough anymore, so the team brought in McCarthy for a spark.
McCarthy has been one of the winningest head coaches in the NFL in his time with both the Packers and Cowboys. His winning percentage of .611 is the 10th-best among active NFL head coaches in the league right now.
And while it was plenty long ago at this point, he does have a Super Bowl win to his name. And he did it with the guy he once again has at QB: Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers are banking on a repeat of history, and that McCarthy can usher in a new era at QB when Rodgers hangs it up. As a Pittsburgh native, this job means everything to McCarthy.
5. Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers
Jim Harbaugh doesn't have the biggest sample size of all head coaches in the AFC, but he does have the highest career regular season winning percentage of any head coach in the AFC at .679.
Harbaugh is quirky, but he's smart. He knows how to build teams from the inside out, and he's done that with the Los Angeles Chargers. Unfortunately, the offensive line has suffered far too many injuries, and that area has been a weak spot the Chargers haven't been able to overcome.
There is a longstanding "curse" with the Chargers when it comes to January football that Harbaugh is being paid a lot of money to cure. Harbaugh has to change the meaning of "Chargering" and he might have the right guy calling the offense to get it done: Mike McDaniel.
It feels like there's a proverbial floor Harbaugh brings to the table. He's a truly elite head coach.
4. DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans
The Houston Texans hired DeMeco Ryans at a time where there were rumors he wouldn't even want to take the job because of how bad the organization looked after the Deshaun Watson fiasco.
The Texans either convinced him to take the job, or those rumors were never true. One way or another, Ryans has gone from rocking the No. 59 for the Texans to walking the sidelines with a headset, leading this team to become a true contender in the AFC.
The Texans enter the 2026 season with unquestionably the best defense in the NFL, and that's thanks largely to Ryans and his ability to put players in positions to succeed. He's got elite player development skills dating back to his time with the 49ers, and that has continued with the Texans.
3. Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots
Although there are off-field issues for Mike Vrabel to deal with this offseason, along with plenty of bad PR, he's still one of the best head coaches in the NFL.
Vrabel was already one of the best coaches in the league with the Tennessee Titans, and while things didn't work out there, there's a reason why the Patriots moved on from Jerod Mayo after just one season and pivoted to Vrabel. He's now a two-time AP Coach of the Year, and helped lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl this past season.
Vrabel's ability to maximize talent and win the chess match of football comes from a long time playing for Bill Belichick. He's hyper aware of game situations and game management, and we saw that on display in last year's playoffs. The Patriots, even struggling offensively, were able to run through a gauntlet of AFC teams en route to another AFC Championship.
2. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
Simply put, Sean Payton is one of the best head coaches in NFL history. His history is a bit divisive for some because of the Saints and "bountygate" from a long time ago, but Payton has proven he's a culture changer on multiple occasions.
When he took the job with the New Orleans Saints, he morphed them into a Super Bowl contender extremely quickly. As a disciple of Bill Parcells, Payton has a bit of an old-school flare but is an absolute wealth of wisdom.
As the head coach of the Saints, he became a Super Bowl champion and proved himself as an offensive mastermind. As the head coach of the Denver Broncos, Payton has his eyes set on becoming the first NFL head coach to win a Super Bowl with two different teams. And he has already come close.
The Broncos are Super Bowl contenders, winning the AFC West last season and hosting the AFC Championship Game. They might have gone the distance if it weren't for Bo Nix getting injured in the Divisional Round. Denver's turnaround has been drastic and impressive, especially considering the albatross of a contract they offloaded when they cut Russell Wilson in 2024.
1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the best advantages of any team in the AFC. Andy Reid is a head coach whose body of work speaks for itself.
Once upon a time, the Chiefs were considered to be taking a huge risk with Andy Reid, because he was a coach who proved in Philadelphia that he couldn't win the big games in January. Reid has always been a really good head coach, but in his time with the Chiefs, he's become arguably the best head coach of the last decade-plus.
Even when Peyton Manning and the Broncos were running the AFC West, Reid had some outstanding teams. With Patrick Mahomes at QB, the Chiefs have largely dominated the NFL. They've taken some steps back in recent years, but are expected to bounce back in 2026.
Reid is 50 wins away from the most for a head coach in league history.