The 2024 NFL head coach hiring cycle is officially here. Three NFL HCs were fired in-season, and two were dismissed on Black Monday before three of the league’s top head coaches — the Tennessee Titans’ Mike Vrabel, the Seattle Seahawks’ Pete Carroll, and the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick — were let go on successive days.
More changes could be on the horizon, but it’s time to rank the eight current NFL head coach vacancies. Which jobs will the league’s best head coaching candidates prioritize in the coming weeks?
2024 NFL Head Coach Openings Ranked
8) Tennessee Titans
The Titans waited until Tuesday to part ways with Vrabel, whose six-season run in Tennessee featured three playoff appearances and a Coach of the Year award. He’ll be a tough act to follow, complicating the Titans’ appeal.
Meanwhile, owner Amy Adams Strunk’s decision-making is in question around the NFL after she not only canned Vrabel but did so without first attempting to trade him. Tennessee will now be forced into something of an arranged marriage, trying to broker a power-sharing agreement between holdover general manager Ran Carthon and the club’s next head coach.
Carthon seems sold on 2023 second-round quarterback Will Levis, who showed flashes but hardly secured the Titans’ long-term starting job over his first nine NFL starts. With free agent RB Derrick Henry likely to depart, fellow RB Tyjae Spears, aging WR DeAndre Hopkins, and young pass catchers like Treylon Burks and TE Chig Okonkwo comprise Levis’ weapons.
Tennessee projects to have more than $70 million in 2024 cap space, so it will have money to bolster its offensive depth chart and improve a defense that’s relatively anonymous behind star DT Jeffery Simmons. But the Titans seem directionless at the moment.
7) Carolina Panthers
The Panthers’ job looked like one of the top openings on the market heading into last offseason, even before Carolina acquired the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft from the Chicago Bears.
Fast forward one year. Bryce Young struggled through his rookie campaign, Frank Reich was fired after 11 games, and owner David Tepper was spotted throwing a drink at a fan in the Panthers’ season-ending loss, which dropped them to 2-15.
Tepper has already outed himself as one of the NFL’s most impatient owners. Reich didn’t make it through his first year in Carolina, former head coach Matt Rhule was fired with roughly $40 million remaining on his contract, and GM Scott Fitterer is gone, too.
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Tepper is wealthy enough to attract a bevy of coaching candidates, but the Panthers’ next HC will enter the job with the knowledge Tepper could blow things up at any time.
As for the roster, believing in Young is probably a prerequisite for Carolina’s new head coach. The former Alabama star was considered an excellent prospect in 2023, and it’s no surprise that the Panthers have primarily been targeting offensive-minded candidates with the hope Young’s career can be salvaged.
The rest of Carolina’s roster isn’t in great shape, and the club has already traded its 2024 first-round pick and its 2025 second to the Bears. On the plus side, the NFC South is the worst division in the NFL, clearing a path for the Panthers to contend immediately.
6) Las Vegas Raiders
Is the Raiders’ head coaching position even open? Interim HC Antonio Pierce may have the inside track on the full-time role after leading Las Vegas to a 5-4 record. The Raiders have not requested any interviews with other candidates thus far, but Pierce has been asked to interview for the vacant Titans’ job.
If the Raiders don’t promote Pierce, owner Mark Davis may have to open his checkbook — as he did when he signed former head coach Jon Gruden to a 10-year, $100 million contract in 2018.
While Las Vegas rosters superstar talents like WR Davante Adams and EDGE Maxx Crosby, the team doesn’t have a quarterback. Veteran Jimmy Garopppolo will likely be released this offseason, while fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell finished 25th in QBR. Running back Josh Jacobs seems likely to leave in free agency after playing out 2023 on the franchise tag.
The Raiders also have the misfortune of playing in the AFC West. Facing Patrick Mahomes twice per year is already enough of a penalty while playing against Sean Payton’s Denver Broncos and the Justin Herbert-led Los Angeles Chargers isn’t exactly a treat, either.
5) Washington Commanders
Daniel Snyder is gone. The former Commander owner’s absence — and new owner Josh Harris’ presence — is Washington’s No. 1 selling point as it looks to restart its organization heading into 2024.
Sam Howell led the NFL in interceptions and sacks last season, but the Commanders secured the No. 2 overall pick in next year’s draft, meaning either USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye will likely be wearing burgundy and gold in 2024. Pair that rookie QB with RB Brian Robinson Jr. and WRs Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson, and Washington could have an intriguing offseason next year.
The Commanders’ midseason trades of Chase Young and Montez Sweat will net the club additional draft capital but left Washington’s defense devoid of talent. Jonatan Allen and Daron Payne are outstanding DTs — every other position on the Commanders’ defensive depth chart can be upgraded after the team allowed a league-leading 518 points last year.
Harris and Co. seem likely to hire a general manager or football operations czar before bringing in a head coach. The Commanders are reportedly zeroing in on impressive candidates like the San Francisco 49ers’ Adam Peters and the Chicago Bears’ Ian Cunningham, either of whom would be trusted to spend Washington’s $78+ million in cap space.
4) New England Patriots
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Bill Belichick is one tough act to follow.
Belichick is arguably the greatest NFL head coach of all time and the only one with six Super Bowl titles. Whoever the Patriots hire won’t be able to match Belichick’s resume, because no coach can. However, New England missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons, so even the most diehard Belichick fans could be amenable to a fresh start.
The Patriots’ roster has myriad issues. It’s old. It’s slow. It’s injured. But New England also has the third overall pick in next year’s draft, enabling the organization to find a new quarterback and move on from the Mac Jones debacle. The Pats also boast over $70 million in available cap space, the third-most in the league.
But the most appealing aspect of the New England job is Robert Kraft and the rest of the team’s ownership group. Sure, it’s easy for an owner to exude patience when their coach wins number Lombardi trophies. But Kraft knows what NFL success looks like, offers an excellent support system, and is willing to spend when required.
3) Atlanta Falcons
Stable ownership is the primary selling point in Atlanta, too. Arthur Blank has typically given his decision-makers time to build a winner. Head coaches Mike Smith and Dan Quinn lasted into their sixth seasons, while former GM Thomas Dimitroff was in charge for over a decade. Even Arthur Smith might’ve hung on after this past season had he managed one more victory.
Smith went down with the Desmond Ridder ship, and the Falcons’ next head coach will need to help solve the team’s quarterback problem. Atlanta will pick eighth for the second consecutive draft, giving them a chance to land a young signal-caller.
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But the Falcons’ roster might be ready to win right now. Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts comprise a tantalizing set of offensive options, while Atlanta’s OL remains underrated. This team could use a veteran quarterback, and Blank has never restricted spending in the past.
There are other reasons for in-demand candidates to take the Falcons’ job. First-year DC Ryan Nielsen coaxed solid production from a veteran-laden defense and could return in 2024. And the NFC South is an eminently winnable division. Atlanta’s next coach will have work to do, but the Falcons aren’t far off.
2) Seattle Seahawks
Pete Carroll is a future Hall of Famer with titles at the NCAA and NFL levels — like Belichick, he leaves a significant void that will be difficult to fill. But the Seahawks’ head coaching position has a lot to offer.
While every other team looking for a new HC is either conducting a parallel general manager search or employing a relatively inexperienced GM, John Schneider is the NFL’s third-longest-tenured personnel chief. Schneider built the Super Bowl-winning Legion of Doom, executed one of the biggest trade heists in league history (Russell Wilson), and routinely knocked his draft selections out of the park.
Seattle’s next head coach won’t need to worry about shopping for groceries — they can focus on cooking the dinner.
The Seahawks disappointed in 2023, but their roster features an inviting set of ingredients. Geno Smith is under center, but Seattle could draft a young QB and exit Smith’s contract at virtually any time.
While Tyler Lockett is aging, fellow WRs DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are 26 or younger. Offensive tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas look like long-term assets, and the Seahawks defense has dynamic contributors like CBs Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen and pass rusher Boye Mafe.
The NFC West is a challenging place to compete, but Seattle is built to win now and in the future.
1) Los Angeles Chargers
Quarterback is the most critical position in sports, and the Chargers already have their long-term solution. Justin Herbert hasn’t been helped by his coaching staff, Los Angeles’ offensive schemes, the players around him, or the Chargers’ injury luck, but he remains an elite QB heading into his fifth NFL campaign.
Without Herbert, LA would rank much further down on our list, probably sixth after the Commanders. But the opportunity to work with Herbert should be too enticing for most of the Chargers’ preferred candidates to pass up.
Admittedly, the rest of Los Angeles’ roster needs work, and the club is also hunting for a new GM. The Chargers are projected to be $35 million over the 2024 salary cap. That’s an issue, but LA could conceivably fix its financial situation in one offseason.
The Bolts could shed nearly $100 million in 2024 cap space by cutting WRs Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, C Corey Linsley, EDGE Khalil Mack, and LB Eric Kendricks and trading pass rusher Joey Bosa. With fresh management in place, the Chargers could take their lumps during the upcoming campaign before rebuilding with Herbert and OL Rashawn Slater and Zion Johnson as their building blocks.
Los Angeles plays in a difficult division and doesn’t have much of a home-field advantage. While they need to upgrade their facilities, concerns that the Chargers’ ownership is unwilling to spend might not be valid, given that they ranked seventh in active cash spending last season.
Rebuilding with the NFL’s second-highest-paid quarterback under contract is undoubtedly strange. But Herbert is the type of asset no other team searching for a head coach can offer.
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