Grading and Ranking NFL’s First-Year Coaches: Who is No. 1?
The NFL landscape is populated with contenders led by familiar faces. Super Bowl hopefuls such as the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, and Kansas City Chiefs have enjoyed years of stability under their respective head coaches. This continuity is often an underestimated asset in a league that often demands immediate results.
However, some teams have benefited from swift transitions to new leadership. The New England Patriots, for instance, needed just one season to realize that Jerod Mayo wasn’t the ideal successor to Bill Belichick. While Mayo wasn’t solely responsible for the Patriots’ struggles in 2024, the team appears more cohesive under the guidance of Mike Vrabel, another former Belichick disciple now at the helm.
Speaking of Vrabel, where does he rank among this season’s first-year coaches? Like Pete Carroll, another hire for the 2025 season, Vrabel is not a complete newcomer to head coaching, having previously led the Tennessee Titans. Here’s a breakdown of the seven coaches embarking on their first seasons with new teams this fall, evaluated and ranked based on their performance thus far:
7. Aaron Glenn (New York Jets)
- Record: 0-7
The Jets were always destined for a transitional year, moving on from the ill-fated Aaron Rodgers experiment. However, even the most pessimistic fans likely expected more grit and innovation from Gang Green under Glenn, who seemingly earned the job based on his association with the aggressive Detroit Lions. While it’s too early to declare his efforts a failure, the Motown rebuild required considerable patience. For a defensive-minded coach who promised to quell, not amplify, the drama in New Jersey, Glenn currently oversees a bottom-10 defense, struggling to generate any spark since a surprising Week 1 shootout.
- Grade: D-
6. Pete Carroll (Las Vegas Raiders)
- Record: 2-5
Carroll might receive a slight advantage due to his established resume as a Super Bowl-winning culture-builder. However, at 74, his presence atop the Raiders seems increasingly perplexing. Unsurprisingly, his "win-now" approach has led Las Vegas to rely heavily on past-their-prime players, most notably journeyman quarterback Geno Smith. Smith has lost the magic from his brief Seattle Seahawks resurgence and has become a turnover liability. The situation is so dire that even Chiefs coach Andy Reid, a division rival, expressed sympathy after a Week 7 thrashing: "My heart goes out to Pete."
- Grade: D-
5. Kellen Moore (New Orleans Saints)
- Record: 1-6
Similar to Aaron Glenn in New York, Moore was hired to lay a foundation for the future rather than deliver immediate results. Despite only one win in seven games, he appears more promising than Glenn. Growth is rarely linear, but Moore’s Saints offense has shown progress rather than regressing, even with an unproven quarterback, Spencer Rattler, leading an aging, rebuilding roster. Moore’s unit has rarely been embarrassed and arguably lacks the blue-chip building blocks that Glenn has with the Jets (e.g., Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner). This operation will heavily rely on a future influx of talent.
- Grade: C-
4. Brian Schottenheimer (Dallas Cowboys)
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