12. Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Todd Bowles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now 6-2 on the season and riding high, but you’d like to see this defense play a little bit better, and as good as this team has been in recent years, you’re never tricked into thinking they’re a legitimate juggernaut, and I think that’s an issue.
Bowles and QB Baker Mayfield are awesome, but it’s not a Super Bowl-caliber duo, and I have a feeling that Tampa is going to lose in the first or second round of the playoffs again, but the success they have sustained isn’t anything to scoff at.
11. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
The 5-3 Kansas City Chiefs are surging, but they’re in third place in the AFC West and have to walk uphill to take the division back and win it for the 10th year in a row. The Chiefs have looked sloppy at times, and it’s not like this team is 8-0 or anything. They lost two regular season games all of 2024 and are seeing some of their slim margins disappear, so let’s not act like this isn’t a slight regression thus far.
10. Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars
Liam Coen, a first-year head coach, has done a pretty impressive job with the Jacksonville Jaguars thus far, as the team is now 4-3 on the season and have multiple impressive wins on their record already. The defense is stingy and aggressive, and the run game has already come alive.
The Jags simply need more talent and also need to see their QB play a bit better as well, but the foundation is set for some long-term success.
9. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers have lost a ton of quality players this season and haven’t had their starting QB out there much at all but are still 5-3 on the season. The roster is flawed, yes, but this team would be a juggernaut if they could simply stay healthy, and that’s been a theme for years in the Kyle Shanahan era.
He gets a ton of credit for being 5-3 despite all that the team has went through, though, so he’s no. 9 in our coaching power rankings.