Ranking Potential NFL Head Coach Openings in 2024 Offseason After Frank Reich Firing

The NFL head coaching carousel is starting to spin in earnest following the second in-season firing of the season. With Frank Reich joining Josh McDaniels on the unemployment line, it's time to start looking ahead to the 2024 hiring cycle.

It will be a good time to be a hot head coaching commodity, as it looks like there will be at least four more vacancies in addition to the two already open. Not all of these job openings are equal, however, as some have far more appeal than others.

With that in mind, read on for a ranked list—based on factors such as roster construction, draft capital, team ownership, salary-cap constraints and potential—of the potential NFL head coach openings this coming offseason.

The Las Vegas Raiders became the first team to start looking for a head coach when they fired Josh McDaniels after an ugly 3-5 start to the campaign. While the squad seemed like it would turn things around when it won its first two contests under interim head coach Antonio Pierce, he's now lost two consecutive games while the Raiders have plummeted from playoff contention.

Barring an exceedingly strong finish from Pierce, Vegas' ownership will likely commit to an exhaustive search to find its next coach. Candidates like Michigan's Jim Harbaugh have already been linked to the club, but it may not be easy for the Raiders to entice a top-tier candidate.

Vegas is lacking a proven asset at the most important position on the field. The organization has cycled through five starting quarterbacks since the start of the 2022 campaign, most recently benching offseason pickup Jimmy Garoppolo for rookie fourth-rounder Aidan O'Connell. While O'Connell has shown flashes, it's far from certain he'll develop into a decent NFL starter.

Quarterback isn't the only issue the Raiders will run into when it comes to recruiting a new head coach. The Athletic's Jeff Howe polled coaches and executives around the league and found that owner Mark Davis' decision to axe McDaniels so early in his tenure—after initially committing to what could be a lengthy rebuild given McDaniels' six-year contract—has made the job unappealing. An anonymous exec told Howe: "I don't know who you're going to convince to take those jobs. I think Mark Davis made it harder on himself."

While the Raiders do have some talent—notably an all-world wideout in Davante Adams and an elite pass-rusher in Maxx Crosby—they likely won't earn a draft pick high enough to land top-tier quarterback. Top head coaching candidates should steer clear of the Raiders due to their QB conundrum and the perception that it's not worth it to work for this ownership group.

If the New England Patriots part ways with Bill Belichick after the season, the incoming head coach will have some big shoes to fill. While the Patriots dynasty has wound down since the last Super Bowl victory a half-decade ago and Tom Brady's departure in 2020, this organization still expects to contend on a yearly basis. After winning six championships between 2001 and 2019—not to mention the three other Super Bowl berths, 17 playoff appearances and 17 AFC East crowns—it's hard to blame New England fans and ownership for desiring that same success.

Unfortunately for the Pats, those wins have been hard to come by in recent seasons and it won't get much easier in 2024. The team still has a major question mark under center—Mac Jones once looked to be a proper heir to Brady, but after two consecutive years of regression, he looks to be closer to out of the league than the Pro Bowler he was as a rookie—and plenty of other issues to sort out on its roster. New England has to find far more than a new signal-caller to turn things around, and while landing one near the top of the upcoming draft will help, there are major concerns related to the offensive line, receiving corps, tight end's room and on the edge.

Belichick is still regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time, but he hasn't helped the Patriots with his draft selections in recent years. This lack of homegrown prospects would severely hamstring an incoming regime.

The next Patriots coach will probably get a chance to take a blue-chip quarterback prospect like Caleb Williams or Drake Maye when they are on the clock—a major benefit that will help sell this position in the offseason—but there's so much work to be done before the impatient Pats can become contenders again.

The Chicago Bears came into 2023 with hopes of turning a corner on their rebuild. The squad seemed to have a franchise quarterback ready to make the leap in Justin Fields and enough of a supporting cast to contend for a wide-open NFC North title. That hasn't been the case, however, and that lack of progress is likely going to spell the end for head coach Matt Eberflus after just two seasons.

Whoever takes over for Eberflus will have their work cut out trying to get this organization back to its former glory. The No. 1 goal will be identifying Fields' future and unearthing a replacement if the new regime feels he isn't the long-term solution. There's a good chance that will be the case considering the third-year signal-caller has completed a meager 62.7 percent of his throws for 1,370 yards while going 1-6 in his first seven starts.

Fortunately for the Bears, they are armed with not only their own Day 1 pick in the 2024 draft—which should fall near the top of the order—but also the Carolina Panthers' first-rounder. After trading out from the top slot last year, Chicago won't want to miss out on a chance to secure one of the coveted quarterbacks in this upcoming class. With the 1-10 Panthers currently on track to secure the No. 1 overall selection, the Bears' next head coach could have their pick of the litter.

That draft capital could entice some of the more distinguished candidates to join the Bears this offseason. They will still have to build a competitive roster and coach up a group that is missing plenty of pieces—including on both sides of the trenches and in the receiving corps—but there's some real opportunity for a quick turnaround here.

The Frank Reich era didn't turn out as the Carolina Panthers hoped. According to ESPN's David Newton, Reich was dismissed Monday from his head coaching duties just 11 games into his first season with the franchise following an abysmal 1-10 start. The Panthers were not only the league's most inept team under Reich, but the coach was squandering the development of prized No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.

With Reich clearly not cut out for the job, the Panthers will be left to conduct a head coaching search for the second consecutive year. It's an unenviable position for the organization to be in, but Carolina shouldn't have too tough of a time convincing a quality candidate to sign on.

Not only do the Panthers have a quarterback still oozing potential in Young—the franchise still appears to be fully committed to the Alabama product despite the ugly start to his NFL career—but they also have some other up-and-coming stars in Jaycee Horn and Ikem Ekwonu in addition to established talent in Brian Burns and Jeremy Chinn.

Slightly hindering the Panthers' chances of luring an elite head coach is a lack of draft capital, notably the first-rounder that was given up to the Chicago Bears as part of the package that resulted in Young. Barring a trade, Carolina will not be on the clock until Day 2 of the 2024 draft. While that could be a deterrent, having Young on hand already makes the need for a top pick less dire.

Carolina is already being linked to Ben Jones—the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator who the club tried to hire last offseason—and should leave no stone unturned as it tries to find an offensive-minded coach who can help Young take his game to the next level. It may not be an overnight process, but the talent is here for the Panthers to exit their rebuild and become a contending squad again in the next few years.

The Washington Commanders have been plagued by mediocrity for much of the last decade. The team has at least seven wins in all but one season since 2015 but hasn't won more than nine games in any of those years. Being stuck in the NFL's version of purgatory—not good enough to contend, evidenced by nothing more than a pair of Wild Card Round losses in that span, but not bad enough to earn a franchise-altering draft pick near the top of the order—has left this organization desperate for someone to lead it down a different path.

Ron Rivera has not been the man to do it, going just 26-35-1 during his tenure. With the team now 4-8 and staring down its worst showing since he took the reins in 2020, it's almost certain a different regime will take over soon. The team's new ownership group has been linked with Bill Belichick and seems poised to make a run at a marquee name who could help put Washington football back on the map.

The Commanders do look quite a bit more appealing than they did at this time last year thanks to the emergence of Sam Howell as a potential franchise quarterback. The second-year signal-caller surprisingly leads the league in passing yards and has racked up 18 touchdowns in 12 games during his first full season as the starter. While Howell hasn't been perfect—he's thrown 13 interceptions and taken a whopping 55 sacks, 15 more than the next most sacked quarterback—he offers far more potential and upside than any of the 11 other starting signal-callers Washington has trotted out since Kirk Cousins left in 2018.

It helps that there will be plenty of draft capital for Washington's next coach to craft a roster in their vision with. The Commanders would not only pick No. 5 overall if the draft were held today, but they also have several additional Day 2 selections—including the Chicago Bears' second-rounder—to retool with. These assets, combined with young stars like Terry McLaurin, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, give the next Commanders coach a great starting point for 2024.

The Los Angeles Chargers' lack of success is confounding. The talent-laden roster has nearly everything a head coach could need to win plenty of football games, but Brandon Staley has somehow managed to squander this during his three seasons at the helm. Already on thin ice coming into 2023 following the team's stunning Wild Card Round collapse, the Bolts must move on from the failing coach sooner than later after a 4-7 start.

Los Angeles may want to go for yet another defensive-oriented coaching hire if and when it finds itself looking during the 2024 offseason. Staley was lured away from the Los Angeles Rams after he oversaw their No. 1-ranked defense, but he hasn't had any of his teams rank in the top 20 since taking the Chargers job. With the unit now ranking as the league's worst in yards allowed despite having stars like Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack and Asante Samuel Jr. in the mix, this club needs a steady hand who can maximize the existing pieces while coaching up prospects.

If the Bolts make a defensive hire at head coach, they'll want to be sure a top-end offensive coordinator gets installed by the new regime. While Justin Herbert has proved he clearly belongs in the league, the fourth-year quarterback is currently completing a lower percentage of his passes than he did as a rookie and he's taking sacks on a career-worst 5.9 percent of his dropbacks. If he can polish up his game and get better protection in 2024, Herbert will leap into the upper echelon of NFL signal-callers.

No other potential vacancy offers a coaching candidate as much potential for an immediate Super Bowl run as this one. While the cash-strapped Bolts may have to make some creative financial moves to bring in a few upgrades in addition to the seven draft picks they currently have in their pocket, everything is nearly in place for this team to make a deep playoff push with the right coach on the sideline.