- Andy Reid’s Chiefs résumé stands at the top: Reid has Kansas City prepared for seemingly every scenario, and the team used that to win all 12 of its one-score games last season.
- Credit is due for Nick Sirianni: The Eagles’ head coach job is no walk in the park, and Sirianni shrugged off criticism to lead Philadelphia to a Super Bowl victory in 2024.
- Subscribe to PFF+: Get access to player grades, PFF Premium Stats, fantasy football rankings, all of the PFF fantasy draft research tools and more!
Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
Players ultimately decide who wins and loses football games, but coaching plays a massive part in optimizing their performance. There certainly isn’t a shortage of excellent head coaches, both old and young, in the NFL, and we’re ranking the best among them.
This will be a ranking of head coaches returning to their incumbent positions in 2025. Newly hired coaches — Aaron Glenn, Mike Vrabel, Liam Coen, Pete Carroll, Brian Schottenheimer, Ben Johnson and Kellen Moore — will not be included.
1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
Like Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots teams before them, the Kansas City Chiefs are the masters of situational football. The Chiefs played in 12 one-score games last season, including the playoffs, and won all of them. They found a way to reach the Super Bowl for the third straight season because Andy Reid has his entire team prepared for any situation.
The Chiefs ranked 17th in PFF offensive grade during the first three quarters of games but slotted into fourth in that same category in the fourth quarter and overtime. They simply find ways to step up their game despite their flaws, injuries and lack of explosiveness. That’s a testament to Reid’s levelheaded approach to the game and wealth of experience.
2. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
Payton inherited a disaster in Denver in 2023, and his quarterback, Russell Wilson, was clearly unhappy. After a 1-5 start, Payton rallied the team behind a strong defense to win seven of their final 11 games. Wilson was jettisoned, and the Broncos selected their new quarterback, Bo Nix, in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Payton and Nix turned out to be a match made in heaven, giving Broncos fans a vision of Payton renewing the success he cultivated for so long in New Orleans. Denver’s defense was still strong last season, and Nix’s excellent 1.8% turnover-worthy play rate perfectly represented a team that didn’t beat itself. The Broncos lost only two games all season by more than one score, defeats to AFC elites Baltimore and Buffalo. Denver has only added more talent this offseason and should continue to contend with its elite head coach leading the way.
Lowest Turnover-Worthy Play Rates in 2024
3. Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
McVay isn’t yet 40 years old but is already entering his ninth season as the Rams’ head coach. Los Angeles has made the postseason in six of the first eight seasons with him at the helm, including a Super Bowl 56 victory over the Bengals. The Rams were the closest team to upending the Eagles in the postseason before their Super Bowl win this past season.
McVay is known as an offensive mastermind, but his adjustments to his rushing attack may be his most impressive feat yet. McVay is a Shanahan disciple, which makes him fluent in outside-zone run schemes. From 2017 to 2022, the Rams ranked second in outside-zone rate. Over the past two seasons, however, they rank just 15th in that category while leading the NFL with their usage of man run schemes. That newfound downhill approach has allowed Los Angeles to sustain the offensive balance needed to be a Super Bowl contender.
4. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
Harbaugh perpetually has Baltimore contending for championships but has not won a Super Bowl since the 2012 season. The Ravens have endured only two losing seasons since he took over in 2008. Baltimore’s consistency is incredibly impressive, considering the team hasn’t lost a game by more than one score since Week 18 of 2022, a contest in which their starters didn’t even play.
At the center of Harbaugh’s success is Lamar Jackson‘s development. Coming off an injury-plagued 2022 season in which he earned just a 72.3 PFF passing grade, Jackson and his team were at a crossroads. Since Todd Monken was brought in to be the Ravens’ offensive coordinator in 2023, Jackson has become an unstoppable force, leading the NFL with a 95.1 PFF overall grade. As long as Harbaugh and Jackson are in the building, the Ravens will be AFC contenders.
5. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Despite recent criticism about a lack of playoff success, Mike Tomlin still finds a way to squeeze every ounce of execution out of his teams. He still has yet to go through a losing campaign across 18 seasons as Pittsburgh’s head coach, though there have certainly been close calls. Making the postseason in 2024 despite a turbulent quarterback situation is an impressive feat.
The Steelers’ identity, though, is their defense, which played at an elite level once again in 2024. They ranked fourth in PFF defensive grade and first in PFF pass-rush grade, led by future Hall of Famers T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward. They could use the occasional spurt of offense, though, as they went 8-0 when allowing 18 points or fewer and 2-8 when they allowed 19 or more.
6. Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers
Across 21 years as a head coach at the collegiate and NFL levels, Jim Harbaugh has endured just three losing seasons — 2007 and 2008 at Stanford and a COVID-shortened 2020 at Michigan. His 2012 49ers outfit was a mere 5 yards short of defeating his brother, John, and the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl. He has since won a national championship at Michigan and has seemingly turned around the Chargers’ previously moribund culture.
The primary appeal for Harbaugh taking the Chargers job was quarterback Justin Herbert. Harbaugh and Greg Roman recaptured the magic of Herbert’s abilities in their first year on the job. Herbert set career highs last season with a 90.2 PFF passing grade, 7.7 yards per attempt and a 5.7% big-time throw rate. Also on the list of accomplishments for Harbaugh is leading a previously porous defense to the third-best PFF grade in the NFL in 2024.
All Jim Harbaugh knows is success, and he’s carried that tradition with him to Los Angeles.
7. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
Shanahan is still one of the game’s greatest offensive minds and best head coaches. After appearing in their second Super Bowl in five seasons in 2023, the 49ers took a big step back last season. However, they started 5-4 before losing seven of their final eight games. Those shortcomings came about more due to injuries to star players and a lack of run defense than anything within Shanahan’s control.
Despite their difficulties, Shanahan’s 49ers still ranked ninth in PFF grade last season, the second-highest mark by any team with a losing record. Offensively, San Francisco still notched the fifth-best PFF grade in the league despite injuries to superstars Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams. Shanahan’s playcalling and work to develop Brock Purdy are the biggest factors in that success. If they are healthy, the 49ers are a legitimate bounce-back candidate this season.
8. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
Sirianni is often the target of criticism when the Eagles lose, but credit needs to be given when it’s due. He’s an outstanding 48-20 in the regular season as Philadelphia’s head coach and has made the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. The Eagles emphatically proved they were the best team in football last season. They were the NFL’s highest-graded team and lost just one game after Week 4.
Philadelphia’s commitment to the run game in 2024 was its biggest adjustment from a confounding 2023. The offense ranked just 13th in run-play percentage in 2023 but led the NFL with a 51.2% clip last season. The Eagles were the only team to run the ball more than throw it. Of course, it helps to have Saquon Barkley, who racked up more than 2,500 rushing yards last year, including the postseason. Sirianni and the Eagles committed to an old-school style of football, and it paid off with a championship.
9. Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions
When Dan Campbell was first hired in 2021, he emphatically announced that he would change the Detroit Lions’ culture. He’s done that and so much more. After starting 4-19-1 over his first year and a half as head coach, Campbell found a way to flip the switch, and the Lions have now won 35 of their past 44 regular-season games.
Across that stretch, which started in Week 9 of 2022, the Lions rank second in PFF offensive grade as they’ve resurrected Jared Goff’s career. They’ve carried an elite offensive line for multiple years and have a deep stable of weapons. The defense is more of a work in progress, but there is hope with stars Aidan Hutchinson, Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph. Campbell’s biggest challenge this season will be coping with the losses of coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, but he has proven that he can lead the Lions out of any abyss.
10. Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns
Stefanski has dealt with a cascade of issues in Cleveland, particularly surrounding the Deshaun Watson trade and subsequent contract extension. However, the two-time NFL Coach of the Year deserves respect as someone who gets his team to compete regardless of the circumstances.
Stefanski broke the Browns’ long playoff drought in 2020 and picked up the franchise’s first playoff win since reentering the league in 1999. He also led a surge to the postseason in 2023 with Joe Flacco as his quarterback from Week 14 onward. Stefanski has proven he can succeed if given even adequate offensive tools. The team just needs to provide him with that to complement its excellent defense.
This news was originally published on this post .
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