Fabulous Five: Top 5 Head Coaches in 2023
The Fabulous Five series truly begins by taking a look at the figureheads of each team: the head coach. A teams’ success (or lack thereof) starts and ends with guy leading the team. So of the 32 head coaches in the NFL, who are considered the cream of the crop?
Honorable Mentions
Before we jump into the list, two head coaches stood out to me that couldn’t crack my top 5. But these seven coaches create one big “tier” that do stand above the rest of the league.
John Harbaugh
Harbaugh has had the Ravens as a perennial contender when they aren’t decimated by injuries. Winning Super Bowl 47 nearly a decade ago over his brother Jim was the highlight of John Harbaugh’s career thus far. Though they’ve been in the playoffs plenty of times since then, the Ravens have failed to so much as reach the conference title game again. With questions surrounding the status of Lamar Jackson’s future in Baltimore, combined with the amount of competition in the AFC, it could be awhile until they reach that point again.
Doug Pederson
Pederson just wrapped up his first season in Jacksonville by nearly beating the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the Divisional Round. Before taking a year off from coaching, Pederson had a great run in Philadelphia. He orchestrated their first (and only thus far) Super Bowl in franchise history. Pederson very quickly has the arrow pointing upward for the often lowly Jags, and 2023 could be a statement year. Now, onto the Top 5….
#1 - Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
HOW BOUT THOSE Chiiiiieeeeefsss. Andy Reid has cemented himself as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. While he hasn’t surpassed Bill Belichik on the all-time lists, I do believe he has leap frogged him in modern times. The NFL is a “what have you done for me lately?” type of league. Let’s look at Bill and Andy’s last 5 seasons:
Bill Belichik
2018 - Win Super Bowl
2019 - Loss in Wild Card
2020 - Miss Playoffs
2021 - Loss in Wild Card
2022 - Miss Playoffs
Andy Reid
2018 - Loss in AFC Championship Game
2019 - Win Super Bowl
2020 - Loss in Super Bowl
2021 - Loss in AFC Championship Game
2022 - Win Super Bowl
As you can see, Reid has the far more impressive resume, even if that 2018 AFC Championship game loss was head to head with Belichik. Reid has already said he isn’t retiring anytime soon, so this Chiefs dynasty-in-the-making may come to fruition. Then we can compare it to New England’s reign. For now, Reid is the top coach in 2023.
#2 - Bill Belichik, New England Patriots
I know I just poked holes in his most recent 5 seasons, but The Emperor still has New England playing tough. Those seasons they missed the playoffs, the Pats were very much still in the hunt in December. He’ll have his team ready to go every week and be competitive, even if the team’s talent level is less than ideal. A strange decision was made to have second year QB Mac Jones go without a true offensive coordinator, but that will be rectified for Jones’ third season. New England may not be as true of a contender as Kansas City or Cincinnati, but that’s not due to their head coach. Belichik will get the most out of his team, and continue navigating this post-Brady era in Foxborough.
#3 - Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
Tomlin falls into a similar category as Belichik and Harbaugh. He' rounds out the trio of the longest-tenured head coaches with those two. Tomlin has been a model of consistency during his tenure in the Steel City, winning a Super Bowl right at the start of his tenure, as well as playing in another one only a few years after. But since then? The best the Steelers have done was make an AFC Championship game appearance. What locks Tomlin in is what the worst has been. Tomlin has never had a losing season. Never! Not once! Every time it looks like that impressive streak will come to a close, Tomlin rallies his guys, and they scratch their way back above a .500 record. These past two years have been the best examples of that. In 2021, they snuck in as the AFC’s 7th seed. It looked they’d do it again in 2022, but just didn’t get the outside help they needed. Tomlin is one of the best leaders in the game, and you’ll never be able to fully count Pittsburgh out as long as he’s leading the charge.
#4 - Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
The past two years haven’t ended they way Shanahan wanted for his 49ers. But the fact they both ended in the NFC Championship game should tell you the quality of team he leads. So long as San Francisco remains as healthy as possible, they’ll be contending for a Super Bowl berth. Shanahan may have also devised a “QB-proof” offensive system, so long as they have a healthy QB available to play. He’s even had a couple defensive coordinators go on to become head coaches. Whoever is playing QB for San Fran in 2023, Shanahan will have this team right back at the top of the NFC. They’ll be looking to finish what was started in 2019 when they lost Super Bowl 54 to the Chiefs.
#5 - Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
McVay has been a revolution since being hired as the youngest NFL head coach ever. After 6 seasons, 2 Super Bowl appearances, and 1 championship victory, McVay still holds that distinction. With so much ahead of him, and such an impressive resume thus far, it makes the annual retirement rumors all the more head scratching. Amazon reportedly offered McVay $100 million dollars to join the Thursday Night Football crew just after his Rams won last year’s Super Bowl. Not even McVay’s great football intellect could have saved TNF’s slate in 2022. Early retirement once again creeped up following a disappointing title defense year that was derailed to injuries. But McVay is too bright to allow back to back bad years for LA. Expect them to return to the postseason party before McVay heads to broadcasting.