Ranking the best potential NFL head coaching openings

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 05: Head coach Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys throws a ball during warmups prior to a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 05, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears defeated the Cowboys 31-24. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

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As we head toward the firing of NFL head coaches in this year’s cycle, with a couple of opportunities already known, here’s how the current and potential job openings rank.

Heading into Week 16 and Week 17, the list of possible NFL head coaching openings will get clearer. There are already two teams looking for a permanent coach, as Washington fired Jay Gruden in October and Carolina dismissed Ron Rivera in early December, with at least a handful or so more seeming certain.

The narrative that there’s only 32 of these jobs and anyone who can get one should jump at it feels flimsy, even if a raise in profile and pay follows. There are sham searches to clumsily satisfy the Rooney Rule, with the hire all but sure (see Oakland and Jon Gruden a couple years ago), while other teams genuinely vet multiple candidates before landing someone (whether it’s the right or wrong guy is an analysis left for hindsight).

Counting the two permanent head coaching posts that already open, we are counting nine job openings right now. There is almost always a surprise firing, and occasionally there’s someone who jumps from one job to another in a surprise fashion. The latter scenario is impossible to predict much of the time.

Here is our ranking of the current and potential NFL head coaching openings, from worst to best.

9. Washington Redskins

The Redskins got a head start on a search for a new head coach by firing Jay Gruden in October, but other than Urban Meyer’s appearance in owner Daniel Snyder’s box for Week 15’s home game (as wide receiver Terry McLaurin’s guest, apparently) the speculation has been kept in check regarding who the next guy will be in Washington.

Meyer looks like a fit, with former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins in place as the Redskins presumed quarterback of the future. If Snyder insists a new coach has to be committed to and sold on Haskins, Meyer has made his feelings about his former quarterback clear with consistent praise.

Even if president Bruce Allen is fired, a head coaching candidate with other options will hesitate to take the Redskins’ job with Snyder still entrenched as owner. A first-timer, like current offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, could get the gig if Snyder’s attempts to go for a big fish like Meyer, David Shaw or Mike Tomlin fall short.

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