25 potential NFL head coaches for 2025

Every year, the NFL sees an influx of new head coaches and assistants. There are always many opportunities and space for changes.

Just like we did last year, let's make an exercise to analyze names that potentially will be talked about over the next months.

The list has former NFL head coaches, offensive- and defensive-minded coordinators, special teams coordinators, position coaches, and college head coaches.

Former HCs

Bill Belichick, former New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns HC

It's not always that one of the greatest coaches of all times becomes available, but Belichick didn't get another job in 2024 after parting ways with the Patriots. The Atlanta Falcons interviewed him, but they went in another direction. After a season in the media, Belichick will try to get back to the NFL for his third HC job — with the main goal to surpass Don Shula as the winningest head coach in history.

Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks senior advisor

Carroll also considered other opportunities but didn't draw much interest around the NFL after being replaced by Mike MacDonald in Seattle. He stayed with the Seahawks in an advisory role, but the door is not closed for what would be his fourth NFL head coaching job — he led the New York Jets in 1994 and the New England Patriots between 1997 and 1999.

Mike Vrable, Cleveland Browns consultant

Vrable's firing from the Tennessee Titans was the most surprising move of last offseason, even though there was decent reasoning behind it. Now, he is spending the season with the Browns as a consultant, and his CEO profile can bring appeal to franchises wanting a strong leader.

Offensive coordinators

Todd Monken, Baltimore Ravens

Monken has been an offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers and Browns. With the Ravens since last season, he unlocked a new version of Lamar Jackson and of the Ravens offense, who leads the NFL in DVOA through five weeks.

Ben Johnson, Detroit Lions

Johnson was the main name of our list last year, but he opted to stay with the Lions waiting for the perfect opportunity. The problem is that the Lions offense regressed a little bit to start the season, so he might have to make a quick decision to finally have a HC opportunity if he really wants one.

Bobby Slowik, Houston Texans

The Texans offense hasn't been as good as it was last season either, but what Slowik did to help CJ Stroud is notable. The main problem for the Texans has been the running offense, but this shouldn't get in the way for him to get a promotion.

Kliff Kingsbury, Washington Commanders

Kingsbury wasn't successful in his first HC experience with the Arizona Cardinals, but his work with the Commanders early on has been surprisingly effective with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Adam Stenavich, Green Bay Packers

It's hard to separate what the Packers offense does from Matt LaFleur, but Stenavich is the main assistant putting together run gameplans — and they worked pretty well even when Green Bay was without Jordan Love.

Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers

Smith had an up and down tenure with the Falcons, but he's been able to put together a decent performance even without great pieces. The Steelers offense isn't great, but it's well-designed and it's maximizing what Justin Fields can do.

Zac Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

Robinson runs the offensive scheme du jour in the NFL, so his name is a natural fit for teams wanting to install some version of the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan/Matt LaFleur schematic philosophy.

Klint Kubiak, New Orleans Saints

Talking about that coaching tree, Klint Kubiak is a former Kyle Shanahan assistant and has done a good job elevating an offense with a low ceiling in New Orleans. It's impossible to know if he will keep his early effectiveness throughout an entire season, but the early results are impressive.

Drew Petzing, Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals had a sound offense last year, even without much talent to work with — especially before Kyler Murray returned from an ACL injury. The talent is not absolutely there yet, but Arizona has had solid results with Murray and rookie receiver Marvin Harrison.

Ryan Grubb, Seattle Seahawks

Grubb translated his college offense into the NFL well, because it was always an NFL offense. From the get go, the results are notable. The Seahawks is fifth in offensive DVOA, even with some offensive line question marks coming in.

Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills

Brady was a scapegoat in Carolina, but his work with the Bills has rebuilt the value he has coming out of LSU. The balance between knowing what Josh Allen does well but implementing a sustainable rushing offense.

Defensive coordinators

Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings

Flores had a controversial exit from the Dolphins, but his results with the Vikings are simply too good to pass up. Even without much talent, he created a unique and crazy defensive scheme. This year, with more talent, it became the best defense in football.

Steve Spagnuolo, Kansas City Chiefs

Spagnuolo might not want that hard to be a HC again after his tenure with the St. Louis Rams and considering he is 64 years old already. However, Spagnuolo has been one of the most important pieces of the Chiefs' dynasty, so he deserves to be here.

Jesse Minter, Los Angeles Chargers

Look at how Minter rebuilt the Chargers defensive culture in one season. Coming from college alongside Jim Harbaugh, he leads the third defense by DVOA after a series of underwhelming seasons from the unit under Brandon Staley. Before his tenure with the Chargers, he had experience as a lower-level assistant for the Baltimore Ravens.

Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos

The Broncos have the fifth best defense in football, and it's again Vance Joseph designing a creative and effective unit. Even if his tenure as the Broncos HC wasn't that good, Joseph has had strong defenses with the Dolphins and Cardinals as well, so it's a sustainable process.

Nick Sorensen, San Francisco 49ers

Sorensen replaced Steve Wilks and is putting together a defense that's more aligned with what the 49ers successfully created under Kyle Shanahan when his coordinators were Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans. The 49ers have problems along the defensive line, but it's still sixth in defensive DVOA.

Special teams coordinators

Darren Rizzi, New Orleans Saints

Rizzi has been a premier special teams coordinator for a decade plus, and this year isn't different. The Saints are third in special teams DVOA, and Rizzi is a top leader.

Position coaches

Josh McCown, Minnesota Vikings QB coach

The Texans considered McCown as a head coach even if he hadn't had any coaching experience. He didn't get the job, but his work with Sam Darnold on the Vikings just confirmed that he has a bright future.

College HCs

• Kirby Smart, Georgia
• Dabo Swinney, Clemson
• Matt Campbell, Iowa State
• Ryan Day, Ohio State

It's been a hard transition from college coaches to the NFL world — the exception is Jim Harbaugh, who had already had NFL experience. But some teams might still want to give these options a shot considering their successes as program developers. The format changes in the college game could be a motivation for them to make the transition to the pros.

Other names to keep an eye on: John Fassel, Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator; Zach Orr, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator; Jim Schwartz, Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator; Teryl Austin, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator; Liam Coen, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator; Kellen Moore, Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator; Jerrod Johnson, Houston Texans QB coach; Ben Kotwica, Denver Broncos special teams coordinator; Aubrey Pleasant, Los Angeles Rams AHC/PGC; Dennard Wilson, Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator; Mike Kafka, New York Giants offensive coordinator.