Ranking the head coach-GM combos within each NFC division

In the NFL, it's important for the key decision-makers to be on the same page. That's especially true for a team's head coach and general manager. The GM typically picks the players, who must suit the philosophy and vision of the team's head coach.

Ahead of the opening of training camps in July, Yardbarker NFL writers rank the head coach-GM combos within each NFC division.

NFC East

1. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES | HC Nick Sirianni, GM Howie Roseman | With a 48-20 record in the regular season, Sirianni owns the fifth-highest winning percentage in NFL history among coaches with at least four NFL seasons. Roseman owns two Executive of the Year awards and together, they share two of the past three NFC championships and a Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl LIX.

2. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS | HC Dan Quinn, GM Adam Peters | Quinn and Peters came aboard in 2024 and took a 4-13 team from 2023 all the way to last season’s NFC Championship Game. Washington is fortunate Chicago chose quarterback Caleb Williams over Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels in the 2024 NFL Draft, but Quinn and Peters deserve credit for bringing him along in what should be the first of many winning seasons for Washington. 

3. DALLAS COWBOYS |  HC Brian Schottenheimer, GM Jerry Jones | Schottenheimer has yet to call a play as the team’s new coach, but owner/GM Jerry Jones has a 319-261 regular-season record over the past 36 years. He and Schottenheimer might rank higher if not for the team’s 29-year Super Bowl drought and 16-15 playoff record under Jones.

4. NEW YORK GIANTS | HC Brian Daboll, GM Joe Schoen | Daboll and Schoen arrived in 2022, the season they helped lead the Giants to their first playoff appearance since 2016, a feat that earned Daboll Coach of the Year honors. Since then, the team is 9-25. This combo may never recover from making a mess of contract negotiations with former Giants running back Saquon Barkley during HBO’s "Hard Knocks." — Bruce Ewing

NFC West

1. LOS ANGELES RAMS | HC Sean McVay, GM Les Snead | Since Snead hired McVay in 2017, the Rams are a model franchise. That duo has produced seven winning seasons in eight years (including six 10-win seasons), two trips to the Super Bowl and a Super Bowl title.

2. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS| HC Kyle Shanahan, GM John Lynch | Lynch and Shanahan have had a ton of success together and made four appearances in the NFC Championship Game and two Super Bowls. But not winning a title despite having supremely talented teams knocks this combo down a peg. Plus, the debacle of the selection of QB Trey Lance with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and an ugly 2025 offseason are big negatives.

3. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS | HC Mike Macdonald, GM John Schneider | Macdonald is only entering his second season as HC of the Seahawks and is still a bit of an unknown. But Schneider has been in Seattle since 2010 and produced two Super Bowl teams (including a Super Bowl-winning team) and helped the franchise stay competitive after navigating through Russell Wilson's departure.

4. ARIZONA CARDINALS | HC Jonathan Gannon, GM Monti Ossenfort | There is a lot of potential with the Cardinals going into the 2025 season, and competing for a playoff spot — if not the NFC West overall — should be the bare minimum expectation. But at this point, everything with this duo is based on potential and not results, which puts them at the bottom of the division rankings. — Adam Gretz

NFC North

1. DETROIT LIONS | HC Dan Campbell, GM Brad Holmes | Campbell and Holmes have accomplished what many men before them deemed impossible: They turned the lowly Lions into legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Detroit went from 3-13-1 in the first year of the Campbell-Holmes era in 2021 to 15-2 and the No. 1 seed in the NFC last season, all thanks to its passionate head coach and GM.  

2. MINNESOTA VIKINGS | HC Kevin O’Connell, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah | For as much success as Campbell and Holmes have enjoyed in their four years with the Lions, Minnesota’s duo of O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah isn’t far behind. The Vikings are 34-17 in the regular season since O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah took over the franchise, and they have one of the more well-rounded rosters in the league in 2025.

3. GREEN BAY PACKERS | HC Matt LaFleur, GM Brian Gutekunst | The LaFleur-Gutekunst connection got off to a hot start with three 13-win seasons and two NFC Championship Game appearances in their first three seasons together, but the Packers are 28-23 with only one playoff win since. It’s fair to criticize LaFleur’s hesitance to coach aggressively at times and Gutekunst’s draft strategy. 

4. CHICAGO BEARS | HC Ben Johnson, GM Ryan Poles | As much potential as this Chicago duo has, it doesn’t have enough experience to warrant a ranking any higher than last in this loaded division. The Bears are 15-36 since Poles took over as GM in 2022, and Johnson is entering his first season as an NFL head coach. — Jack Dougherty

NFC South

1. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS | HC Todd Bowles, GM Jason Licht | The Bucs are doing something right, and the NFL has taken notice, with the Raiders hiring Bucs assistant GM John Spytek as its GM and fellow assistant GM Mike Greenberg interviewing with the Jaguars and Jets earlier this offseason. Bowles has been a steady hand following Tom Brady’s 2023 retirement, guiding the Bucs to three consecutive NFC South titles, making this the most successful era in franchise history.

2. CAROLINA PANTHERS | HC Dave Canales, GM Dan Morgan | Canales has developed a reputation as a QB whisperer, coaxing career revivals out of Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield and, most recently, Carolina's Bryce Young, who languished during a tepid career start. Morgan, like Canales, is entering his second season with the Panthers, and invested $92.275M in guaranteed salary during free agency to fix the league’s worst defense; however, the production of wide receivers Tetairoa McMillan and Xavier Legette, the team’s past two first-round picks, looms large in his overall assessment.

3. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS | HC Kellen Moore, GM Mickey Loomis | Moore is an unknown as a first-year head coach, while Loomis is entering his 23rd year as Saints GM, which has coincided with the franchise’s most successful years, including its only Super Bowl win, three NFC Championship Game appearances and eight playoff trips. However, Loomis has made questionable decisions in recent seasons in a ham-fisted effort to keep the Saints in contention. Instead, they missed the playoffs the past four seasons, the team’s longest drought under Loomis since his first four seasons (2002-05).

4. ATLANTA FALCONS | HC Raheem Morris, GM Terry Fontenot | In his second stint as Falcons coach after serving in an interim role in 2020 following Dan Quinn’s firing, Morris went 8-9 last season, his third losing record in four full seasons as an NFL head coach. It’s unclear if the 2021 Super Bowl champion Rams defensive coordinator is the right man to get the Falcons into the postseason for the first time since the 2017 season. But it’s increasingly clear Fontenot, who has made many ill-fated moves since being hired in 2021, is operating on borrowed time. — Eric Smithling