The 2026 NFL coaching carousel keeps on spinning, with the Ravens moving on from 18-year head coach John Harbaugh, creating a seventh opening. More could be on the way, including playoff teams potentially booting their men in charge if postseason results don’t go the way front offices expect.
While there are several retreads you’ll hear over the next few days as potential coaching candidates, such as Kliff Kingsbury, Brian Flores, Kevin Stefanski, and Raheem Morris, fans should also become familiar with the new names out there as potential first-time head coaches.
Jeff Hafley, Packers Defensive Coordinator
In 2024, Hafley made the rare move of willingly leaving a head coaching job at Boston College to become an NFL coordinator with the Green Bay Packers. The intent was clear, as the path to becoming an NFL head coach is easier from a pro coordinator position than from a college head coaching one. Hafley led Green Bay to the No. 6 scoring defense in 2024, and the team was on its way to a similar ranking this year before Micah Parsons’s injury. He has nine years of NFL coaching experience, and that head coaching experience with BC is invaluable, as few other candidates seeking their first NFL head coaching job have that.Joe Brady, Bills Offensive Coordinator
Brady made a name for himself calling plays for the 2019 LSU Tigers, which won the national championship and saw Heisman winner Joe Burrow break college football records for passing touchdowns (60) and passer rating (202.0). But Brady then flamed out in his first stint calling plays in the NFL the next year with the Carolina Panthers. He was eventually fired and had to settle for a job as the Buffalo Bills’ quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator midseason in 2023. Since then, Buffalo has the third-most total points scored despite not having elite pass catchers for Josh Allen. Brady turned down an interview request for the Saints’ opening last offseason, but he’s likely to have several more suitors this year.Chris Shula, Rams Defensive Coordinator
The “Shula” name makes Chris Shula part of football royalty, as he’s the grandson of Don Shula, the winningest head coach in NFL history. Chris’s dad and uncle also coached in the NFL, so it’s clearly in his blood. Chris Shula is also part of the Sean McVay coaching tree, which has branches all over the league, and the former has spent the last seven years in Los Angeles. He’s coached both linebackers and defensive backs, while also serving as the defensive passing game coordinator, the pass rush coordinator, and for the last two years, the defensive coordinator. So he’s well-versed with various roles on that side of the ball, and in 2025 he’s led a defense that has allowed the fewest rushing touchdowns, ranks third in the red zone, and has forced the fifth-most turnovers.Klint Kubiak, Seahawks Offensive Coordinator
The son of longtime NFL coach Gary Kubiak, Klint is with his fifth team in five seasons, having served in a coordinator role in all five stops. This season, he’s led the No. 3 scoring offense that has Sam Darnold as an MVP longshot and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the league’s leading receiver. While that undoubtedly would top his resume, you have to wonder why he’s bounced around so often. It could be that he wanted to try somewhere new, or that his former employers didn’t want to keep him around, but neither of those reasons are likely to endear him to organizations that want stability at the head coaching position.Deion Sanders, Colorado Head Coach
The biggest of wild cards, Coach Prime flirted with the Dallas Cowboys’ head coach opening last season. He’s gone on record saying he would go to the NFL only if he could coach his son, Shedeur Sanders, and wouldn’t you know, the Cleveland Browns job is suddenly available. Deion Sanders would certainly bring headlines and sizzle if he were hired by an NFL team, but not all teams want their head coaches to attract outside noise.Coming off a 3–9 season with Colorado also doesn’t work in Sanders’s favor, and NFL franchises likely also want to see him apply his craft as a head coach a bit longer. It was just in 2019 that Sanders was still coaching at the high school level—as a coordinator, not a head coach—so more experience would make him a better NFL head coaching candidate in future years.
But all it takes is one organization to become infatuated with the charismatic Hall of Famer, so you never know.
