With seven head coaching vacancies filled in the 2025 offseason, every new hire brought prior NFL experience to the table. The names include Pete Carroll, Liam Coen, Aaron Glenn, Ben Johnson, Kellen Moore, Brian Schottenheimer, and Mike Vrabel. Carroll and Vrabel are the only ones with previous head coaching experience in the league. The rest — Coen, Glenn, Johnson, Moore, and Schottenheimer — each served as either offensive or defensive coordinators for at least one NFL season.
As we look ahead to the 2026 coaching cycle, one NFL analyst believes the trend of in-house hires may shift to college football’s top coaching talent.
Several 2024 College Football Playoff Head Coaches Have Potential for 2026 NFL Coaching Cycle
College football’s 12-team playoff format brought a jolt of energy for players, coaches, and fans across the country. It gave more teams a real shot at making a run, and more coaches a chance to shine on the national stage.
Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr recently dropped his 100 Bold Predictions for the 2025 NFL season. In it, he lays out some of his wildest takes for the upcoming year and beyond. Among them: a handful of college head coaches could be in the mix for NFL jobs come 2026.
“Texas’s Steve Sarkisian, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Colorado’s Deion Sanders, David Shaw and USC’s Lincoln Riley are among the names to watch,” Orr wrote.
“It’s important to note that the odious Urban Meyer regime in Jacksonville is now far in the distance, Jim Harbaugh is successful, and Chip Kelly is getting another run as a play-caller at the NFL level, which is a sign that attitudes are again shifting. The offensive play-caller pipeline was wiped clean during this past coaching cycle, which means teams will be searching far and wide for solutions at the head coaching spot.”
Sarkisian, Freeman, and Day each led their teams to College Football Playoff semifinal appearances in 2024, with Day’s Ohio State squad ultimately winning the title.
Campbell led Iowa State to an 11-3 record and a 7-2 mark in Big 12 play. Sanders’ Colorado team wasn’t far behind, also finishing 7-2 in the Big 12 and 9-4 overall. Riley, meanwhile, has coached at USC since 2022, guiding the Trojans to a 7-6 overall record in 2024 and a 4-5 run in the tough Big Ten.
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While Sanders missed the chance to land his former NFL team’s coaching job this cycle, it could be something to revisit down the line. Both Schottenheimer and Sanders signed or extended their contracts through the 2029 season, possibly keeping the door open for a return to the league after that.
As for the others, while there’s real hype around their names, none appear eager to leave their current college programs anytime soon.