With the NFL season upon us, at GoldSheet, we are ranking each positional group and coaching staff in the NFL. Each positional group will be ranked and placed into a tier to give us a better understanding of how each team is expected to fare at each position.
The significance of having a great coaching staff should need no explanation. Having a head coach who sets the culture and coordinators who buy in and maximize talent is invaluable. Good coaching in the NFL can make a bad team good and a good team great.
Despite the importance of coaching, there are not many truly great coaches in the NFL. Some teams have good head coaches but poor coordinators or good coordinators and bad head coaches. Having a coaching staff that is on the same page is paramount, yet not many teams can say they have that. All three coaches are considered in these rankings.
Without further ado, let’s break down all 32 coaching staff, rank each team’s coaching situation, and put them into tiers.
2023 NFL Coach Rankings
! Indicates a new coach
The order of coaches listed is head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator.
Tier One:
No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs
Andy Reid, Matt Nagy!, Steve Spagnuolo
No. 2 New England Patriots
Bill Belichick, Bill O’Brien!, Bill Belichick
No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Tomlin, Matt Canada, Teryl Austin
No. 4 Seattle Seahawks
Pete Carroll, Shane Waldron, Clint Hurtt
No. 5 Tennessee Titans
Mike Vrable, Tim Kelly!, Shane Bowen
These coaching units are the best of the best in the NFL. Andy Reid and Co. and Bill Belichick and Co. need no introduction – look at their coaching history, and enough said. While I do not love the rest of his staff, Mike Tomlin is an outstanding coach. The man has never coached a team to a losing record. Let that sink in.
Pete Carroll and Mike Vrabel are also elite head coaches. You can give these guys little to no talent, and they can produce wins. I do not love either of these guys’ coordinators either, but they are so good at leading that their coaching prowess is enough to keep their teams competitive no matter what.
Tier Two:
No. 6 Los Angeles Rams
Sean McVay, Mike LaFleur!, Raheem Morris
No. 7 Baltimore Ravens
John Harbaugh, Todd Monken!, Mike Macdonald
No. 8 Denver Broncos
Sean Payton!, Joe Lombardi!, Vance Joseph!
No. 9 San Francisco 49ers
Kyle Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan, Steve Wilks!
No. 10 Cleveland Browns
Kevin Stefanski, Alex Van Pel, Jim Schwartz!
Tier two consists of a ton of great coaching staff, and all these coaches are closer to tier one than they are to tier two. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan are elite offensive minds who also motivate and have great defensive coordinators with them. John Harbaugh and Sean Payton have both been elite coaches in their NFL careers, and both have won a Super Bowl and sustained a high level of play year in and year out. It helps that the rest of their staff is good as well.
Stefanski makes a ton of +EV 4th down decisions, and he is on the verge of being an elite offensive mind. Jim Schwartz is also a renowned defensive coordinator, and he will be a major boost to the staff this season.
Tier Three:
No. 11 Philadelphia Eagles
Nick Sirianni, Brian Johnson!, Sean Desai!
No. 12 Jacksonville Jaguars
Doug Pederson, Press Taylor, Mike Caldwell
No. 13 Buffalo Bills
Sean McDermott, Ken Dorsey, Sean McDermott
No. 14 Detroit Lions
Dan Campbell, Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn
No. 15 New York Giants
Brian Daboll, Mike Kafka, Wink Martindale
No. 16 Cincinnati Bengals
Zac Taylor, Brian Callahan, Lou Anarumo
No. 17 Minnesota Vikings
Kevin O’Connell, Wes Phillips, Brian Flores
No. 18 Miami Dolphins
Mike McDaniel, Frank Smith, Vic Fangio!
Tier three is a unique mix of coaching staff. A lot of coaches in this tier are younger head coaches with a great start to their coaching career or mediocre head coaches with a good staff around them. Nick Sirianni, Brian Daboll, Kevin O’Connell, and Mike McDaniel are the former. Dan Campbell and Zac Taylor are the latter. The Giants have arguably the best mix of talent here with Daboll, Kafka, and long-time veteran Wink Martindale.
Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl and brought the Jags to the playoffs last season, so it is not a secret that he is a good coach. Sean McDermott has done an outstanding job in Buffalo as well. These two teams are in tier three and not tier two because I do not love the rest of the Jaguars staff, and I think losing Leslie Frazier is bigger for Buffalo than it seems.
Tier Four:
No. 19 Los Angeles Chargers
Brandon Staley, Kellen Moore!, Derrick Ansley!
No. 20 Atlanta Falcons
Arthur Smith, Dave Ragone, Ryan Nielsen!
No. 21 New Orleans Saints
Dennis Allen, Pete Carmichael, Joe Woods!
No. 22 Green Bay Packers
Matt LeFleur, Adam Stenavich, Joe Barry
No. 23 Dallas Cowboys
Mike McCarthy, Brian Schottenheimer, Dan Quinn
No. 24 Carolina Panthers
Frank Reich!, Thomas Brown!, Ejiro Evero!
No. 25 Chicago Bears
Matt Eberflus, Luke Getsy, Alan Williams
At this point in the rankings, I do not have many complementary things to say about these coaching staff, especially the head coaches. Brandon Staley had a good rookie year coaching, but he was not a great coach last season, though I do like the Kellen Moore hire. Arthur Smith and Dennis Allen are meh. Matt LeFleur looks great on paper, but I am down on him and DC Joe Wood. We know Mike McCarthy is bad, but Dan Quinn is great. Frank Reich is probably a bad coach, but I like the outlook of new DC Ejiro Evero. As for the Bears, the coaching staff in Chicago needs to prove they are good this season – nothing they did last season supported whether or not they were a talented unit.
Tier Five:
No. 26 Washington Commanders
Ron Rivera, Eric Bienemy!, Jack Del Rio
No. 27 New York Jets
Robert Saleh, Nathaniel Hackett!, Jeff Ulbrich
No. 28 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Todd Bowles, Dave Canales!, Todd Bowles
No. 29 Las Vegas Raiders
Josh McDaniels, Mick Lombardi, Patrick Graham
If I didn’t make it clear about how bad tier four is, tier five is much, much worse. Ron Rivera is a candidate to get fired immediately. Robert Saleh is talking to the media like the Jets are a juggernaut when they have not played meaningful football in over a decade. Todd Bowles is clueless in the media, and he does not inspire confidence. Josh McDaniels, despite being last here, actually has the biggest upside as a head coach. He can prove a lot this season.
Tier Six: Rookie HCs
No. 30 Indianapolis Colts
Shane Steichen!, Jim Bob Cooter!, Gus Bradley
No. 31 Houston Texans
DeMeco Ryans!, Bobby Slowik!, Matt Burke!
No. 32 Arizona Cardinals
Jonathan Gannon!, Drew Petzing!, Nick Rallis!
It would be unfair to rank these head coaches as we have no idea what they are capable of, especially DeMeco Ryans and Jonathan Gannon as their teams are in a full rebuild. These guys also built staffs of relatively unknown coaches, so it’s not like they can get a boost based on their hires. Shane Steichen hired Jim Bob Cooter and was grandfathered in a respected DC in Gus Bradley, so he gets the nod… for now.
2023 NFL Coach Rankings: Head Coaches
- Bill Belichick
- Mike Tomlin
- Andy Reid
- Mike Vrable
- Pete Caroll
- John Harbaugh
- Sean McVay
- Sean Payton
- Kevin Stefanki
- Kyle Shanahan
- Doug Pederson
- Nick Sirianni
- Sean McDermott
- Brian Daboll
- Kevin O’Connell
- Dan Campbell
- Zac Taylor
- Mike McDaniel
- Arthur Smith
- Dennis Allen
- Brandon Staley
- Matt LeFleur
- Matt Eberflus
- Mike McCarthy
- Robert Saleh
- Josh McDaniels
- Frank Reich
- Ron Rivera
- Todd Bowles
- Shane Stichen
- DeMeco Ryans
- Jonathan Gannon
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