Ranking NFL Head Coaches by Replay Challenge Success Rate as Rule Change Takes Effect

The NFL announced a trio of rule changes on Monday at the league owners’ meetings in Orlando, Fla. Banning the hip-drop tackle drew most of the attention, especially after the NFLPA released a statement ahead of the vote condemning the idea. But league owners voted 32-0 to ban it.

The other change garnering a lot of reaction is to allow coaches who win a replay challenge to be awarded a third challenge. Previously, a coach had to win both of his challenges to get a third one.

It’s surprising that the rule, proposed by the Detroit Lions, took this long to be adopted.

New Challenge Rule May Not Have Major Impact

What’s noteworthy is how infrequently it came into play last season. There were only 13 games last season in which a coach used two replay challenges. Only seven games would have been affected by the new rule, with the coach winning one challenge and then losing the other.

Let’s take a look at every coach’s challenge record, both in 2023 and for his career. Coaches are listed with their 2023 employer and are ranked by best career success rate on challenging plays. Challenge win-loss records are according to Pro Football Reference.

Jonathan Gannon, Arizona Cardinals | 1.000

Gannon went 1-0 in his first season as head coach.

Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts | .750

Another first-year head coach who succeeded at throwing the red flag, Steichen won three of his four challenges last season.

Brian Daboll, New York Giants | .700

Daboll challenged seven plays in 2023, tied for the fourth most. After going 3-0 in his first year as head coach in 2022, he returned with a 4-3 mark last season to stand at 7-3 overall.

He was one of eight coaches with a multi-challenge game in 2023, but the new rule wouldn’t have affected it because Daboll won both of his challenges in New York’s 26-25 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17.

DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans | .667

He went 2-1 in his first season at the helm.

Dennis Allen, New Orleans Saints | .611

Allen had a rough 2023, going winless on three challenges. But he still has a winning record overall at 7-4.

Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles | .583

After challenging 10 plays in his first two seasons with the Eagles, Sirianni was a modest 1-1 last year.

Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota Vikings | .545

The first coach on the list who would have been affected by the rule change, O’Connell won a challenge and lost one in Minnesota’s 27-19 win against the Saints in Week 10. He is 6-5 in two seasons with the Vikings.

Mike Vrabel, Tennessee Titans | .538

He was 3-2 in 2023 and was 14-12 in six seasons with the Titans.

Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs | .503

The future Hall of Famer has been far from average at winning games, but challenges have been a different matter. However, Reid was tied for the most challenge wins in 2023, going 4-1.

Reid’s only loss came in a 20-17 loss to the Bills in Week 14. He also won a challenge in that game and would have earned a third one under the new rule.

He is 72-71 in his career.

Antonio Pierce, Las Vegas Raiders | .500

In nine games as an interim head coach, Pierce won one and lost one.

Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns | .500

Another coach who would have benefitted from the new rule in 2023, Stefanski was 2-3 with one win and one loss coming in a 13-10 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11.

Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys | .495

He went 1-0 in 2023 to draw closer to .500 for his career. McCarthy is 51-52 in 17 seasons as a head coach.

Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | .480

Bowles went 1-3 to dip below .500 for his career at 12-13.

Ron Rivera, Washington Commanders | .476

He won two of his five challenges in 2023 to move to 39-43 for his career.

Brandon Staley, Los Angeles Chargers | .474

No one won more challenges than Staley in 2023, but no one threw more flags. He went 5-6 and had three games where he challenged multiple plays.

Staley was 1-1 in the 36-34 season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins, and he went 1-1 in a 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 14. Staley was 2-0 in a 20-17 loss to the Cowboys on Monday night in Week 6.

His career record is 9-10.

Matt LaFleur, Green Bay Packers | .472

He was second to Staley in the number of challenges last year with nine. LaFleur went 3-6 to fall below .500 for his career at 17-19.

LaFleur threw down that challenge flag with authority.pic.twitter.com/FL6EADOJRE

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) January 24, 2021

Doug Pederson, Jacksonville Jaguars | .462

He was 1-1 last year and is 18-21 overall.

Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams | .457

After a brutal 9-16 start in his first four seasons with the Rams, McVay has been at .500 or better in each of the last three, including a 3-1 mark in 2023. He is 16-19 overall.

Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks | .455

The veteran coach had two games with multiple challenges last season. He was 2-0 in a 20-10 win against the Cardinals in Week 7. And he was 1-1 in a 20-17 victory against the Titans in Week 16.

Carroll was 3-3 in 2023 and is 51-61 for his career.

Pete going for the challenge flag and pulling out anything but that 🤣

(Via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/sMMUVVEH89

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 25, 2021

Sean Payton, Denver Broncos | .452

Payton went 2-1 in his first season in Denver to improve to 56-68 overall.

Josh McDaniels, Los Vegas Raiders | .444

He didn’t last long enough to throw the flag before getting fired. McDaniels is 8-10 in his career.

Robert Saleh, New York Jets | .444

He went 0-2 last year to drop to 4-5 in three seasons with the Jets.

Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers | .430

Tomlin had two games with multiple challenges in 2023, including Week 2 when he went 1-1 in a 26-22 victory against the Browns on Monday Night Football. Tomlin went 2-0 in a 34-11 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16.

For his career, Tomlin is 40-53.

Arthur Smith, Atlanta Falcons | .429

Second only to Staley in 2023, Smith challenged eight plays and went 4-4. His lone multi-challenge game was a 13-8 victory against the Jets in Week 13. Smith won both challenges.

He is 6-8 overall.

John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens | .425

Harbaugh was winless in 2023, going 0-3 to fall to 54-73 in his 16 seasons in Baltimore.

Bill Belichick, New England Patriots | .405

The greatest of all time was anything but when it came to overturning calls. Belichick was 1-2 in 2023 and 53-78 in his career.

The best challenge flag throw we’ve ever seen 🤣 pic.twitter.com/CAEqrCh5gY

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) September 18, 2023

Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions | .400

Interesting that the team that proposed the rule has a coach who went 0-4 in 2023 and wouldn’t have benefitted anyway.

Campbell is 6-9 in three seasons with the Lions and one interim year with the Dolphins.

Frank Reich, Carolina Panthers | .400

Reich won as many challenges as games in 2023, going 1-0 on the former and 1-10 on the latter before getting fired. He is 10-15 for his career.

Matt Eberflus, Chicago Bears | .400

He went 1-2 in 2023 to improve to 2-3 overall.

Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals | .353

Taylor went 1-2 last year to fall to 12-22 in five seasons with the Bengals.

Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills | .303

The only coach to throw multiple challenge flags in a playoff game last season, McDermott won one and lost one in the 31-17 Wild Card Round win against the Steelers.

Despite going 3-3 in 2023, McDermott is a dismal 10-23 overall during his seven seasons in Buffalo.

Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins | .231

A rough 2-5 campaign in 2023 dropped McDaniel to 3-10 overall.

Chris Tabor, Carolina Panthers | .000

In his six-game stint as interim head coach, Tabor threw two challenge flags and lost both times.

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