The 3 Worst Coaching Hires of the 2026 NFL Offseason

It wasn’t without its fair share of chaos, rumors, and controversy, but the NFL coaching hires for the 2026 offseason seem just about complete. All the head coach vacancies are filled, and only the Bears, Rams, and Raiders need to hire an OC/DC.

Chicago is looking for its next offensive coordinator under Ben Johnson, after the Ravens plucked 29-year-old Declan Doyle to their staff, while Mike LaFleur’s hiring as the head coach in Arizona has left the Rams without an OC as well.

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The final team that really has some work to do is the aforementioned Raiders, who plan to hire Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak after the Super Bowl. Once that becomes official, he’ll need to build out his staff by bringing in coordinators on both sides of the ball.

Point being, we have almost every hire in the books for this cycle, and it is about time they were judged beyond the opening press conference and the exciting social media posts that always seem to turn fan bases in favor of the hiring.

Here, we’ll do that by looking at the three worst coaching hires from this offseason.

This list will include one head coach, one offensive coordinator, and one defensive coordinator, so all our bases are covered.

Worst Head Coach Hire: Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills

Former Bills OC from 2024-2025, & QB Coach from 2022-2023.

In Lamins terms, the Buffalo Bills downgraded in defensive playcalling by firing longtime head coach and top defensive mind, Sean McDermott, and kept the exact same offense by promoting the offensive coordinator to the top job.

Joe Brady, 36, has been with Josh Allen and the Bills since 2022, first as the quarterbacks coach and later as the OC. He did a fine job in that role, but his offense never quite reached the peaks that Brian Daboll could as the OC.

Don’t get me wrong, Brady is a young, quality offensive mind with familiarity and relationships in the building, but I don’t see how you can argue this is an upgrade.

Jim Leonhard, the former Broncos assistant, was hired as the defensive coordinator, which is a strong hire; he could absolutely be hired away as a head coach after one season, however, if Buffalo’s D strengthens.

I don’t think it is a crazy idea to start fresh from McDermott after the postseason struggles, but for a “just okay” internal promotion? That’s troublesome.

Worst Offensive Coordinator Hire: Frank Reich, New York Jets

Former Stanford Interim HC in 2025, & Panthers HC in 2023.

The New York Jets seem hellbent on driving their entire fan base into psychosis.

If we go too far back in Jets history, I’ll get there myself, so let’s just return back to last year. In 2025, they hired Aaron Glenn away from the Detroit Lions for a few key reasons.

First, there was this idea that he was a great staff builder, especially with his connections in Detroit. Second, the defense, with talent all over, would make a big jump under his supervision. Third, the fans would get some hope back with his fiery energy and past as a Jet in his playing days.

How have these three things turned out in a year? Well, for starters, he has completely blown up his staff, firing nearly half of his assistant coaches and replacing a respected young offensive coordinator in Tanner Engstrand with Frank Reich, who last held that job in 2017.

What remains of the Jets coaching staff pic.twitter.com/rGJFAuqU6n

— Dylan Tereman (@DTereman) February 1, 2026

Elsewhere, the defense got worse, and that was before they traded their two best defensive players away midseason, and that energy Glenn was supposed to bring to Jet fans has turned to an all-too-familiar dismay.

At 64 years old, Reich is a bizarre hire to run an offense; as I said, he hasn’t done the job in almost a decade. It almost seems like a preemptive move to have a good interim HC after Glenn is canned mid-Fall 2026.

Worst Defensive Coordinator Hire: Jonathan Gannon, Green Bay Packers

Former Cardinals HC from 2023-2025, & Eagles DC from 2021-2022.

To any Packers fans reading this, who were familiar with Jonathan Gannon before his hiring as defensive coordinator, let me ask you this: Did you have a fire in your gut when you heard the news?

I’m willing to bet you didn’t, and I can’t blame you.

The recently-fired Cardinals head coach and former Eagles defensive coordinator has never been a candidate who got the crowd going. He got the Philadelphia job when Nick Sirianni was hired in 2021 because he worked with him in Indianapolis as the DB coach.

In Arizona, he was the last head coach candidate hired in that cycle, and the defense made virtually no improvement in his three years there.

He also had a tampering scandal in the interviewing process that left a very bad taste in the mouth of the Eagles’ brass; the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the front office was “furious” at him for creating a distraction before the Super Bowl, which they’d go on to lose 38-35.

He came into the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator search in January as a top favorite, but he reportedly didn’t interview well at all and was soon ruled out as a candidate.

For Green Bay, it feels like an uninspired hire to replace Jeff Hafley, who was known for his motivating energy in the building. Gannon has the experience you’d like, but not much else.