The 7 worst NFL coaching candidates in 2025 from Ron Rivera to Rex Ryan
With Black Monday 2025 in the rearview mirror, this year's NFL head coach hiring cycle is already well underway. That means we're seeing all six teams with openings -- including a late addition from Mark Davis' inept Las Vegas Raiders -- beginning their searches in earnest for the people who could potentially turn their respective organizations around (Ben Johnson, perhaps?).
That also means we're seeing some squads cast an extremely wide net with unconventional and unforeseen candidates. For example, I'm not entirely sure the New York Jets aren't just consulting owner Woody Johnson's sons for advice about who to hire based on their running list so far. Of course, not every interview means someone is being seriously considered. Most interviews and requests announced at this early stage of the process are short introductory video conversations at best and courtesy information-gathering phone calls at worst. It's important to make a distinction between the serious and unserious candidates.
Still, it's admittedly quite amusing seeing some of the below names invoked in any head coaching capacity in 2025. It's like some NFL leadership structures can't help themselves and have no idea how to win in modern football. Which, duh. Is anyone surprised?
Let's take a look at the worst NFL coaching candidates during this specific hiring cycle and break down exactly why teams should stay away from them. Please note: this is in no particular order. That's because it's impossible to rank retreads and people who would likely embody the Peter principle to a tee on the same list. With that said, it should also surprise no one the Jets are reportedly interested in most of these people.
1. Pete Carroll
I know what you're thinking. A coach with Carroll's track record deserves more respect than this.
After all, Carroll was last seen coaching two separate mediocre Seattle Seahawks teams to back-to-back winning seasons before leaving the Pacific Northwest. Based on his resume, the guy can flat-out coach. However, Carroll will be 74 by early next season. Is he really going to want to take on a rebuild as he gets older and older? And let's not pretend an aging and somewhat outdated Carroll didn't have a hand in the unceremonious downfall of the Russell Wilson era. If I'm an NFL team serious about winning, I treat hiring Carroll with a hands-off approach. He had his time in the sun.
2. Mike McCarthy
On the one hand, McCarthy's track record shows a coach who has been there and done that. He has 174 regular season wins, 11 playoff wins, and a Super Bowl. He helped build both the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys into consistent winners.
On the flip side, most of McCarthy's success came at the hands of a peak Aaron Rodgers, the kind of elite quarterback who could win in spite of everything around him. And even though McCarthy's Cowboys have usually been regular-season world-beaters, they've usually petered out in spectacular fashion in the postseason because McCarthy has never bothered to learn proper game management in nearly two decades as a professional head coach. This man is just begging to turn another franchise into a paper tiger. No one better let him.
3. Rex Ryan
Once upon a time, between stops in New York and Buffalo, Ryan staked his entire reputation on beating Bill Belichick's New England Patriots. He, of course, flamed out spectacularly, but the ambition was admirable nonetheless. That was nearly a decade ago. A decade in which Ryan has mostly spent bloviating about NFL decision-making on national media platforms as if he has any room to criticize league people who can last more than a few years on the job.
Ryan, point blank, knows nothing viable about modern pro football. He is more of a cartoon media personality than the quality leader of a promising team. And almost always has been. Extending an olive branch to him to coach your squad now is akin to metaphorically setting fans' time and money on fire.
There is nothing here. Proceed with caution.
4. Ron Rivera
What do you get when you take away one of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks of all time (Cam Newton) and semi-aggressive fourth-down decision-making (and a silly nickname) before it became in vogue? You get the milquetoast Ron Rivera, middling records, and a man who would probably need a bona fide superstar quarterback AGAIN to stay above water anywhere he coached. In 2025, especially, Rivera is one of the least appealing candidates I can remember. You should be able to do much better than him. Well, if you want to win, anyway.
5. Brian Griese
Here's a list of Griese's coaching chops:
Becoming the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback coach, where Kyle Shanahan is the first and last answer to any semblance of their offensive design, for the last three years. Before that, he was a semi-recognizable football talking head on ESPN for nearly a decade and a half. You know, one of those guys who likes to enunciate "National. Football. League" every time instead of just saying NFL like a normal person.
What a resume!
While Griese may well get there in the future, I truly do not know why he's even a head coaching candidate for anyone at this stage. It boggles the mind.
6. Bobby Slowik
Everyone loves Bobby Slowik, the hotshot offensive coordinator who once worked for Pro Football Focus and helped C.J. Stroud along to a historic Offensive Rookie of the Year award!
One year later.
Everyone hates Bobby Slowik, the overmatched coach with no discernible offensive scheme who was most responsible for Stroud's stunning sophomore slump on an underwhelming Texans squad that won the AFC South by default.
7. Arthur Smith
The last time Arthur Smith had a head coaching gig, he was busy telling reporters on a semi-regular basis about why he had to ignore his various top-10 picks on offense in Atlanta. His most recent work? Helping animate whatever Russell Wilson has left in the tank on a popgun Pittsburgh Steelers offense destined to doom another winning season for Mike Tomlin in the playoffs. That Smith is already back in head coach talks -- in any capacity, even with courtesy interviews -- is so funny and so NFL.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The 7 worst NFL coaching candidates in 2025 from Ron Rivera to Rex Ryan
