There are arguably 10 NFL head coaches who warrant consideration for a top-five list. Perhaps a dozen if you are feeling particularly generous. This is a subjective exercise and can vary depending on how much one weighs the importance of sample size. There are some special football minds and leaders who have become head coaches in the last few years who have taken the game by storm.
Could I put Ben Johnson in this list after just one season, for instance? No, but I believe a year from now we’ll be talking about it, and the way people I trust speak about him and have talked about him since he was a young offensive coordinator in Detroit have me believing big in the Bears. How important is it for the coach to have won some serious hardware, either individually or his team, and to have done so recently? What if he has also done some special things in the college ranks?
All of that matters and all of it came up as I discussed this topic with people around the league through the offseason. And in a quarterback-driven league, with that being the most important singular position in all of professional team sports, it carried heavy weight in this process. I may have skewed too far in that regard, and it’s why ultimately I had DeMeco Ryans (Texans) just outside this top five. And the preponderance of Super Bowl-winning offensive play-caller/QB-guru types pushed Kyle Shanahan (49ers) and Nick Sirianni (Eagles) on the outside, too, though obviously Philly had another parade during Sirianni’s reign.
Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
As someone who covered a lot of NFC East football as a beat writer back in the day, I believed Reid was underrated during his time in Philadelphia. All those NFC title game losses hung over his head, but he was an innovator and had special people skills and you don’t win that much and last that long in a city like that without being among the best of breed.
What he’s done in Kansas City, we will never see again. Not as long as the NFL maintained a CBA anything close to the one currently negotiated. He has a chance to catch Bill Belichick in many ways, including some of his unprecedented playoff records, and assuming he wants to do this another 3-5 years he’s going to be atop the mountain no matter how you size it up in terms of pure victories.
Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
Entered the league as young as they come and immediately showed he belonged. Had already been to the Super Bowl with two different quarterbacks and won it once. I was chatting offense with Sean Payton (won’t have to wait too long to see him on this list) recently, and his admiration and respect for McVay popped up several times, unsolicited. It was clear he is watching McVay as closely as McVay studied people like Payton on the way up.
This isn’t just about being one of the greatest minds, greatest schemers, greatest play-callers and greatest at in-game adjustments in the game. He puts skill players in position to thrive and is also a master evaluator; make no mistake he has final say over everything football-related with the Rams and general manager Les Snead facilitates for him.
“Sean is genius,” one GM told me once. “I don’t use that word a lot … He’s a genius. He has as much power as (Bill) Belichick had, but he has genius people skills, too.”
Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
Some coaches fall off once they no longer have a generational QB with them anymore. Payton takes as much pride in winning games with back-up passers as he did with Hall of Famer Drew Brees and he nearly went to a Super Bowl with Jarrett Stidham filling in during the AFC Championship Game.
People scoffed when he selected Bo Nix where he did, and all he’s done is get to the playoffs both years with Payton in Denver. Payton understands the game at all levels, not just offense, and has helped constrict elite defenses in New Orleans and Denver. Stepping away from play-calling duties to try to get this franchise over the top will probably prove to be sage as well, because assistant Davis Webb could be special and is likely to be a head coach himself pretty soon.
“I think he’s one of the best coaches in the history of the game, I really do,” longtime NFL general manager Marty Hurney, who battled Payton for years in the NFC South, told me.
Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks
Only two years on the job. So what?
He went 10-7 as a rookie head coach at an exceedingly young age and did it basically with Pete Carooll’s players. Seattle didn’t alter the roster much in 2025, and Macdonald still almost made the playoffs and then he won the Super Bowl in Year Two despite being in the toughest division of football and knocking off the No. 2 guy on this list twice and also besting the guy who would be no lower than 8 or so (Shanahan).
His defense quickly became the envy of the NFL. Players respect him; he commanded it immediately, really. He’s done nothing but win, as a defensive coordinator in Baltimore and as a defensive coordinator at Michigan under the guy who came in at fifth on this list. Did I mention yet he is 16-4 on the road?
I had the chance to shoot the bull with McVay shortly after the Seahawks hired him, and he knew what was coming to his division. “He’s just about as good as it gets,” as a defensive play caller McVay noted. He manages to repeat, and he’s going even higher next year.
Their matchups are already becoming epic. Including all three last year.
Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers
The only guy on this list without a Lombardi, but he did win it all at Michigan and he nearly won it all in San Francisco and I believe he will have his best Chargers team this year and has a chance to go quite far in the postseason, too.
He tends to be too old school in certain ways, especially in terms of his assistant coaches on offense, but bringing in Mike McDaniel will be sage. And it's decidedly outside his comfort zone. He has continued to meld college concepts and college coaches with the pro game.
Nearly put Ryans here. But gave the edge to longevity and also projected a bit about these teams in 2026 and what I believe they are capable of.
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