Early NFL offseason grades for every first-year head coach ahead of training camp

A little over a month ago, I wrote a piece about every mistake first-year head coaches made at their new jobs. Let’s check in on them, see how their early offseason went, and give them a very subjective grade. 

Keep in mind, all of these guys are in charge of their teams, but CEO head coaches have a different job than a defensive head coach. And all of these guys have different levels of experience doing what they’re doing. Also, these are grades for the coaches themselves, not for the teams. 

Mike LaFleur, Arizona Cardinals

• Years of NFL HC Experience: 0
• Last stop: Rams OC

It’s really tough to separate Mike LaFleur from everything else that’s going on with the Cardinals. It’s his team, but he’s inheriting a bad roster built by a mud-brained general manager, Monti Ossenfort. On top of that, LaFleur is kind of an enigma, which makes this even more difficult. 

A big negative for LaFleur is that he canceled one of the Cardinals’ minicamp days. Maybe this is the old-head/concussion uncle part of me, but if I’m a dog in my division, I want my team practicing as much as humanly possible. 

And his reasoning for it wasn’t even all that good. The 49ers canceled their practices because they had really good attendance during OTAs … But LaFleur canceled his because they’re starting a week earlier (they’re in the Hall of Fame game). Again, concussion uncle: it seems like that’s not taking advantage of an opportunity.

It’s not like the 2025 Cardinals made a super deep postseason run, and the guys needed more rest during the offseason. Their season ended more than six months ago … They’ve had the rest, and one extra day of practice should be taken advantage of, right?

It feels wrong to give him a grade based purely on that, so let’s throw something else into the equation:

LaFleur was asked about what he plans on doing over the summer. He said, “I’ll be with my family a lot … I’m going to take [my wife] up to Sedona. Just her. That’s going to be our quick little trip for two days ...”

SEDONA, MIKE? SEDONA? Brother. Ain't nothing but bad vibes coming from Sedona this offseason. ESPECIALLY FOR NFL COACHES NAMED MIKE.

I mean, based on the pictures of Diana Russini and Mike Vrabel, it looked beautiful there … But buddy, you have to pick somewhere else. That’s a bonehead decision, and it’s going to drop your grade.

Overall Grade: a disappointing C+

Kevin Stefanski, Atlanta Falcons

• Years of HC experience: 6
• Last stop: Browns HC

This ain't Kevin Stefanski’s first rodeo coming into a franchise that’s on an incredibly long streak of sub-.500 seasons. He’s been the head coach of a team with a quarterback battle. He knows what he’s doing, and he doesn’t really make a scene about it.

He’s got Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa battling for that QB1 spot. The former is coming off of his 50th ACL tear, and the latter is coming off of being straight-up terrible. In reality, this quarterback battle is Tua’s to lose because he’s actually able to play … but Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt (QBs coach) are saying they haven’t decided on QB1. As a matter of fact, they’re saying the competition won’t start until both guys are fully healthy.

Normally, I’d rag on a coach and ding their grade for not committing to a quarterback, but this is different:

The front office and coaching staff that drafted Penix are gone, but that doesn’t stop him from being a former first-round draft pick. To keep him engaged, they can’t just say, ‘Hey man, you’re toast,’ straight to his face. That’d bury him, and it’d crush his future trade value. 

This is a great move … genius even. He’s keeping his guys motivated and not blowing up the future. I imagine that by the time we get to September, it’ll be a ‘Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to see enough of Penix because of his knee. He’ll be ready if his number is ever called,’ type of thing. 

Overall Grade: B+

Jesse Minter, Baltimore Ravens

• Years of HC experience: 0
• Last stop: Chargers DC

Jesse Minter was brought in to turn the Ravens' defense around. It was a pile of trash last year, but a whole lot of that was due to injuries rather than it just being all-around bad. The biggest, both in how brutal the injury was and who it was to, was Nnamdi Madubuike having a potentially career-ending neck injury. It’s looking like he’s heading in the right direction rehab-wise, so that’s good, but it still sucks big-time.

He’s their All-Pro-caliber defensive tackle who eats and beats double teams and also does a lot of damage against the pass. If that defense is going to get back on track, which would lead to the team getting back on track, Madubuike has got to be healthy … but that goes for the rest of the defense as well. 

Luckily, that’s working well. The Ravens made it through the spring without any big injuries or any other bad stuff happening. I’m going to count that a win for Minter. 

The other thing that’s going into Minter’s grade is his offseason message, and it sounds like he’s telling everyone they have a clean slate. 

In a press conference, he was asked about Tyler Loop (their kicker who missed a field goal to end their season last year) and if they talked about that kick. It was a weird question, but fair given how much gravity it had. 

Minter said that they talked about it a little bit, but they didn’t harp on it, and that the “first team meeting with every player was an opportunity for this to be a clean slate.”

Hell, in one of Kyler Hamilton’s pressers, he was asked, “How do you think the defense might be different than a year ago?” And he answered, “Um. It’s a fresh slate. I really can’t tell you right now how that’s going to be … “

That’s not an answer to the question he was asked; it’s not even a real answer to any question at all … But Minter’s clearly been pushing that message. 

I think that’s a good idea, though. John Harbaugh was the Ravens' head coach for 18 years, and the franchise is entering uncharted territory. If that’s the case, then it’s a great idea to tell everyone that they’re all starting from scratch … especially if last year was as wire-to-wire terrible as it was. 

Overall Grade: A-

Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills

• Years of HC experience: 0
• Last stop: Bills OC

The grading scale for Joe Brady is weighted heavily. Sean McDermott was the Bills' head coach from 2017 to 2025. It took him just three quick years to use the terrorists on 9/11 as an example of excellent teamwork. Most coaches never get to that point, but McDermott was truly built different. 

So, for Brady to have a good spring, all he has to do is pretty much not be an absolute psychopath. It sounds like he’s doing a pretty good job at that. 

The Athletic had an article about everything they learned from offseason workouts. For the Bills, Tim Graham said that Brady’s made a switch from McDermott’s aggressive, non-nonsense spring workouts and now they’re playing games, doing obstacle courses, and much more light-hearted stuff. 

That’s cool and all, but it seems like the pendulum might be swinging too far the other way. Just because you’re not invoking a national tragedy doesn’t mean you have to play games. There’s a pretty good-sized middle ground. 

But hey, with Mike McDaniel being out of the AFC East, maybe Joe Brady will take up his mantle as the token divisional goofball. 

Overall Grade: A very concussion-uncle C 

Todd Monken, Cleveland Browns

• Years of HC experience: 0
• Last stop: Baltimore OC

It would’ve been very cool and smart for Todd Monken to pick a QB1 going into the spring, but he didn’t. Then, during the workouts, Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson took turns with the first and second teams. 

I don’t like that. If I’m the Browns and I have a pair of high-end rookie wide receivers and an offense that has been nothing but disjointed for the better part of the last 20 years, I would make a decision on which guy I want to take all of the reps with the first-team and make the other guy earn it. That way you’re getting as much familiarity and building as much comfort between the ball thrower and the ball catcher. 

Now this competition is going into the summer and fall, and it’s going to be a whole thing … and again, this is competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. No one wants this.

Overall Grade: C-

Klint Kubiak, Las Vegas Raiders

• Years of HC experience: 0
• Last stop: Seahawks OC

The best part of watching Bar Rescue is the stress tests. John Taffer goes in, teaches the staff a little bit, puts the bar at capacity, and then has everyone order all at once. It’s great because you know that someone is going to fail, but every once in a while there’ll be someone who kind of knocks it out of the park. 

That’s what Klint Kubiak has been doing with his offense, and he knows it can work because he’s done this kind of stuff before. 

In 2024, he was the Saints’ offensive coordinator, and in the first two games of the season, they outscored their opponents (Panthers and Cowboys) 91-29. Everything ended up going off the rails after that because of injuries and whatnot, but it was a record-breaking two games. 

In 2025, he was the Seahawks' offensive coordinator, and that team scored 30+ points in three of its first five games. 

That's two straight seasons where he installed his offense, and they came out of the gate red hot. 2026 is going to be his third straight year doing it. 

During his post-minicamp presser, he was asked about his experience doing this. He said, “... being a part of many year ones, you learn from your mistakes, you learn what works, how to best bring the players along, how not to load them up too much and kind of give them things in the install piecemeal …  And then there's days where you go out there and just stress the heck out of them mentally and see what they can retain.”

If it works, then that’s all great, and the Raiders will have a mondo-sized boost of confidence going forward. So far, there’s no reason to doubt Kubiak, and if he’s saying that he’s learned from his mistakes, then you've got to believe him. 

Overall grade: A- … relative to what the Raiders are normally at

Jeff Hafley, Miami Dolphins

• Years of HC experience: 0
• Last stop: Packers DC

It’s tough to say who the most important Dolphin is right now. Is it Devon Achane? Is it Jordyn Brooks? Is it Kenneth Grant? You’d think it’s Malik Willis, but you’d be wrong.

This offseason, Miami lost three of its six captains from last year: Alec Ingold, Tua Tagovailoa, and Bradley Chubb. 27 of the 29 teams with season-long captains had a quarterback as one of their captains (only the Browns and the Saints didn’t).

You would think that Jeff Hafley would try to make sure he gets Willis in a situation where he becomes a leader of the team, right? Apparently not. 

Hafley was asked about how Willis has adapted to taking on the leadership role, and he said, “My main focus for him right now is to learn the scheme, get to know the players, and not overdo the whole leadership thing. I mean, I think that's my job and our job right now, so he can focus on becoming the best quarterback and the best player and the best teammate he can be. Don't worry about the other stuff right now.”

That seems … weird. Hafley wants himself and the coaches to be the leaders. That’s totally fine, but it seems like he should want his young quarterback to come in on day one and be a leader on an otherwise (mostly) leaderless team. 

On one hand, having the coach be the guy that people have to look to could really backfire because he’s not a CEO head coach (he’s defensive). That means he wouldn’t really be there to galvanize guys on the sideline. 

On the other hand, encouraging your quarterback not to focus on being a leader should eliminate any chance of a players-only meeting. Those never happen because things are going well. 

This is just something to keep in mind whenever things inevitably go poorly for them and/or people start complaining that Jalen Hurts isn’t a good leader because the camera only shows him being stoic on the sideline. 

There’s also a chance that Willis hasn’t been operating the offense the way he should, and Hafley wants him to be single-minded and focus on being a better football player. Regardless, this is bad vibes. 

Overall grade: D, maybe a D+

John Harbaugh, New York Giants

• Years of HC experience: 18
• Last stop: Ravens HC

When the Giants hired John Harbaugh as their head coach, they hired a guy who was going to turn them into a real NFL team. He’s going to be consistent, develop a team with a real identity, and raise the floor of a broken franchise. That’s all good stuff. 

Apparently he’s gotten to work quickly. That article from The Athletic says he was turning up the intensity of practices, making them go over two hours, and he was already focusing on situational football. 

If you’re looking to turn a cupcake team into a tough team, building that grit early is a great way to do it … and he started doing that in May. 

Now, you could say that the New York media is infatuated with this guy, that they’ve been fawning over him since the day he got hired, that they won’t rag on anything that he does, and that Joe Schoen got a multi-year extension to be Harbaugh’s fall guy for when something inevitably goes wrong …

But let’s stay positive going into the summer and fall in line with what we’re being told.

Overall Grade: A+++

Mike McCarthy, Pittsburgh Steelers

• Years of HC experience: 18
• Last stop: Cowboys HC (2024)

You don’t really want to be the guy after the guy. Do you remember who the Patriots' quarterback was after Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay? Cam Newton. It was just as weird as it was terrible … But everyone knew that it wasn’t going to work, and everyone knew that it wasn’t going to last long. 

It seems like that’s where the Steelers are right now. Their past three head coaches were defensive-oriented guys who got hired in their 30s and stayed for a minimum of 15 years … And then they hired the 62-year-old offensive-minded Mike McCarthy.

It seems like everyone knows that McCarthy’s the Steelers Cam Newton, except for McCarthy himself. 

He’s been changing up the way that the Steelers are running their spring workouts. They’re earlier, focused on fundamentals and scheme installation, and he also did the mandatory minicamp in between two sessions of OTAs.

His plan was for the veterans to get it all down and then focus on the younger guys. You have to develop those guys, and training camp is going to focus on the starters getting their work … but does this dude really think that he’s going to be able to reap what he sows? Surely not, right?

On top of that, you have franchise staples like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt having less-than-confident responses to questions. 

Heyward said, “I've just tried to be open to it, just try to learn. It's not like there can only be one good coach in the league, and I've always admired Coach McCarthy from afar and just want to learn. I think that's the easiest thing you can do is put your ego aside and just learn from great coaches.” 

Watt said, “Not going to lie to you, it's been a lot of studying, a lot of learning, a lot on the iPad. Also trying to see the new faces, not only players, but coaches. There's been a lot of really good work. As you guys can see, practices are a little bit different around here. It's tougher as you get older to get the work in, but it's all been phenomenal."

Even the compliments they gave to the process are kind of veiled in skepticism. In a perfect world, the keystones to your team are excited to work with new coaches and a new scheme. There are just some weird vibes coming out of Pittsburgh, and it all stems from McCarthy.

Weird vibes aren’t always bad, but it’s important to acknowledge them.

Overall Grade: B-? C+? A naive and tone-deaf A?

Robert Saleh, Tennessee Titans

• Years of HC experience: 4
• Last stop: 49ers DC

Over the past five seasons, the Titans have been a lost franchise. They got rid of Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season and hired Brian Callahan … who was completely incompetent and got fired after 23 games (he went 4-19).

This offseason, they hired Robert Saleh. He seems like one of those hard-headed guys who’s going to turn everything around. If you're planning on changing the culture of a franchise, you have to start from the ground up.

Saleh was asked what he would change in the building. He said, “... One of the first things I think we did here is get rid of all the seed oils in the building, which I think the players appreciate …”

Oh. Okay. If that’s your priority, then sure. Whatever. You’re the head coach of a football team, and I’m a slob typing on a keyboard … But yeah … sure. It seems like maybe your first move in the building might be something substantial and not something based on influencer-based claims that the American Heart Association says are “flawed in numerous ways.”

But hey, you do you, Mr. Saleh. It can’t go worse than it did with the Jets. Right? Right?

Overall Grade: An apathetic D.

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