With the last two vacancies now being filled in Las Vegas and Arizona, all 10 head coaching openings for the 2026 season are secured. The head coaching carousel was a wild one this year, as getting to 10 openings is definitely on the high end.
Typically, 5-7 openings are more in the 'normal' range, but teams definitely felt like change needed to come. Nearly one-third of the league will have a new head coach on the sideline for 2026 and beyond, which is just crazy turnover.
And it also goes to show you just how dysfunctional teams can be. Not only were there a lot of openings this cycle, but long-time head coaches in Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh either stepped down or were fired. If the head coaching cycle this year is any indication, the rest of the 2026 offseason could be flat-out wild. Let's power rank the 10 head coaching vacancies as the offseason approaches. Our basis for the rankings will be projected 2026 success, and if the style of coach fits what the franchise needed.
Power ranking the NFL head coaching vacancy hires for the 2026 offseason
10. Mike LaFleur - Arizona Cardinals
Matt LaFleur's brother, Mike LaFleur, gets his first shot to be a head coach, but it's with the Arizona Cardinals, and there might not be a team in a worse overall spot than the Cards. Kyler Murray's status with the team seems unclear at best, and the NFC West might just be the best division in football. You get the sense that Arizona had many other candidates in mind, as they were the last time to settle on a coach.
LaFleur does obviously come from a sharp offensive-minded tree in the NFL, but the path to success for this team feels like a mountain no one can climb, and I am almost wondering if there were candidates who simply did not want this job given the circumstances.
9. Jeff Hafley - Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins fired Mike McDaniel after a four-year stint that included two postseason berths, but no playoff wins. The Dolphins have since turned to the defensive-minded Jeff Hafley, a coach who was most recently with the Green Bay Packers as the team's defensive coordinator in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Before that, Hafley was a 22-26 coach in the 2020-2023 seasons at the collegiate level at Boston College. Hafley doesn't have the most impressive resume, and while his tenure with the Packers was solid, that defense also had a ton of talent, so I am not sure this hire was the best of them all.