The 2026 head coach hiring cycle is underway, and with the surprising firing of Buffalo’s Sean McDermott after the Bills lost in the divisional round of the playoffs, 10 teams will be hiring a new coach in 2026. That’s the most openings since 2006. Two of the jobs have already been filled, with the Giants hiring John Harbaugh and the Falcons picking Kevin Stefanski. The eight remaining openings are: the Bills, Steelers, Ravens, Browns, Dolphins, Falcons, Cardinals, Raiders, Giants, and Titans.
And if last year’s coaching searches are any indication, there will be dozens of candidates vying for those spots. In 2025, 38 coaches interviewed for a head job, according to CBS Sports. Of those candidates, 17 interviewed with multiple teams. Aaron Glenn talked to five teams, and Ben Johnson was right behind him with four.
There don’t appear to be any standouts like Glenn and Johnson in this year’s hiring pool, but there are plenty of familiar candidates who could draw interest from multiple teams, as well as some fresher names who could cut the line and take some of these jobs. This may be one of the more unpredictable hiring cycles in some time, as teams are casting wider and wider nets in their interview processes. The Bears talked to 19 candidates for their head coach vacancy last season. The Jets interviewed 16 coaches for theirs. If your team is in the market for a coach this offseason, get ready to learn a lot of new names.
To help you familiarize yourself with this year’s hiring pool, The Ringer’s Diante Lee and Steven Ruiz have put together profiles of all the top candidates, covering their NFL experience, schematic philosophies, coaching influences, and anything else you need to know about them. They’ve also ranked the candidates based on all of those factors. Let’s get to know the next class of NFL head coaches.
