The NFL head coaching vacancies have gone from 10 to two as of Wednesday. The Cleveland Browns’ surprise hire of Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken was the latest in the coaching carousel spin.
Teams hunting for a new head coach are desperate to make the right hire who can turn things around quickly, whether it was DeMeco Ryans a few years ago with the Houston Texans or Super Bowl-bound Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots. Just about any situation can be turned around with the right hire at coach, along with some key personnel moves.
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These seven other teams hope they made the right move:
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Pittsburgh Steelers ➡️ Mike McCarthy
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Buffalo Bills ➡️ Joe Brady
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Baltimore Ravens ➡️ Jesse Minter
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New York Giants ➡️ John Harbaugh
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Atlanta Falcons ➡️ Kevin Stefanski
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Miami Dolphins ➡️ Jeff Hafley
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Tennessee Titans ➡️ Robert Saleh
The last teams waiting to fill their top spots: the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals.
Here’s why I give the edge to the Raiders over the Cardinals in desirability:
2. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals lost 14 of their last 15 games. Injuries impacted their season, but not that much. It was simply a bad team. And what’s the main selling point? General manager Monti Ossenfort will stay, and in this era of GMs and coaches coming in a package deal, that might not be a positive. Kyler Murray’s time with Arizona seems to be over, and even if he returns, that’s not a great thing either. There’s no quarterback, the team’s best player is a tight end, the defense was bottom six in points and yards allowed, and the franchise has just one playoff appearance (a one-and-done loss) since the 2015 season. Maybe the possibility of drafting a quarterback third overall will be appealing, but it’s not like this is a great quarterback class. Arizona has been a dead-end job for many years, and there’s not much reason to believe that will change soon.
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1. Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders are a flailing organization. They hired the oldest coach in NFL history and traded for a 35-year-old quarterback last offseason just to go 3-14. There never seems to be any plan. The search for Pete Carroll’s replacement will be led by general manager John Spytek and limited owner Tom Brady, the latter of which was a great quarterback but has no track record of helping lead a coaching search. But he’s a big name, which is what team owner Mark Davis likes. The one selling point to the new coach would be having the first overall draft pick and a choice of quarterbacks to start fresh with. Brock Bowers is a great talent, Ashton Jeanty should be a good running back with a little help, and Maxx Crosby is either a fantastic defensive star or a prime trade piece. There are some things to like, but it’s the Raiders. Everyone knows how bad this franchise has been for decades.
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