Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh - Jerome Mirone/AP Photo
The NFL season kicks off on Thursday, September 5, when the Baltimore Ravens roll into GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to take on the back-to-back Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.
With a quarter of the NFL teams having new head coaches in control, there are new hopes that they will make the big game themselves.
It won’t be easy, as these new leaders must establish a culture before diving into the process of having the best odds to win.
Let’s examine which new NFL Head Coach has the best odds to win. (in no particular order)
1. Jim Harbaugh- Los Angeles Chargers
Sometimes, winning in the NFL requires patience and full-fledged fan support through thick and thin.
Some head coaches have a natural gift for winning, and Jim Harbaugh is one of them. Like all the great ones, he was once a young coach working his way through the ranks.
He was once a former quarterback, which has helped him become a quarterback whisperer in every place he coaches.
The mentoring coach has coached guys like Andrew Luck, a generational quarterback with the Indianapolis Colts.
He also mentored FCS quarterback turned NFL career backup Josh Johnson and led Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick to the NFC championship.
Shaping JJ McCarthy from Michigan to a first-round draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings.
Fast-forward to today and the QB whisperer will now pass on his wizardry and mystical powers to Justin Herbert.
The Chargers made an excellent hire here, and Herbert should be excited to work with such an experienced coach.
2. Dan Quinn- Washington Commanders
This will be Dan Quinn’s second stint as a head coach after coming over from their NFC East Rival, Dallas Cowboys, as their defensive coordinator.
His first head coaching job was with the Atlanta Falcons, and he led the Birds to the Super Bowl against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
His defenses are excellent; getting sacks and creating turnovers, whereas blitzes are his bread and butter.
The Cowboys had a sack parade with Micah Parsons, but his defenses could not stop the run.
Now, he comes to Washington hoping to improve defensively, but on offense, they are debuting a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels.
We will watch what OC Kliff Kingsbury can do with the new QB to see if he has what it takes to be in the NFL.
Time will tell, and while this looks like a mid-hire, it’s still an upgrade over Ron Rivera.
3. Antonio Pierce- Las Vegas Raiders
Antonio Pierce enters his first full season leading the Silver and Black, and it was well-earned. He has seemed to pump energy back into the team.
The aggressive head coach went 5-4 last year as an interim head coach, including a Christmas Day upset over the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-14.
Pierce brings in a tough style of coaching similar to the old Raiders when they were in Oakland.
He also has a nasty defensive game plan called “Mahomes Rules,“ which is a throwback to the Jordan Rules of the “Bad Boy Pistons.“
This year, the Raiders are confident that they can steal the division from the Chiefs and temporarily dethrone Mahomes, possibly giving the Raiders the best odds to win.
4. Raheem Morris- Atlanta Falcons
Raheem Morris earned his second opportunity as head coach. The charismatic coach had an unsuccessful first stint as head coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011.
His calling card is stopping the opposition, which his Ram units did for him in his three years of being the defensive coordinator.
The Falcons need a defensive coach, as that side of the ball hasn’t stopped opposing offenses since Dan Quinn was head coach.
Morris installs multiple schemes and coverages to show different looks to confuse offenses.
Taking over the offense will be Zac Robinson, as Arthur Smith is now the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Atlanta should be fired up to finally have a guy whose calling card stops the opposition rather than having a high-octane offense.
5. Jerod Mayo- New England Patriots
There are two types of Bill Belichick disciples. Those who coached under the “GOAT” and those who played under the “GOAT.”
Jerod Mayo builds a happy medium as a star linebacker and a rising defensive assistant under the HOF coach.
He understands how the “Patriot Way” works both ways and can now mold it into his own version.
Mayo understands the pressure of replacing a reputable coach like Belichick.
As the player’s coach, he will continue the tradition of excellence on defense. He needs to determine whether rookie quarterback Drake Maye can be his franchise guy.
While it may be a rough first season, this team could be competitive in 2-3 years and hopefully compete in the playoffs again. But first, it will be a slow process.
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6. Dave Canales- Carolina Panthers
Dave Canales could inject some “Big Dave Energy” into the Panthers organization. That’s if owner David Tepper would just leave the Panthers alone.
Tepper always seems to find a way to stick his nose into places where it doesn’t belong. If he can just trust Canales to do his job, then the Panthers may just be fine.
Canales isn’t bad as a coach, and he excelled last year as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator, guiding Baker Mayfield to a divisional title.
Who knows, he just might be able to get a good year out of second-year quarterback Bryce Young.
This is going to be a huge project for Canales and his staff.
7. Brian Callahan- Tennessee Titans
Yes, if that last name “Callahan” is familiar to you in the NFL, it certainly is.
Brian Callahan, the son of former Raiders head coach Bill Callahan, is now earning his first head coaching gig with the Tennessee Titans.
But, Brian wants to be more than just the son of a former head coach.
He wants to install a high-powered offense that he ran in Cincinnati as Joe Burrow’s offensive coordinator.
Coach Cal must mold second-year quarterback Will Levis into a capable starter and incorporate running backs Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears into the offensive scheme.
The Titans have a quality mixture of young talent and veterans this year, and it will be up to Coach Cal to put it all together in year one.
8. Mike Macdonald- Seattle Seahawks
It’s out with the old and in with the new. After Pete Carroll ended his career as the Seahawks’ Head Coach, Mike Macdonald began his head coaching career with the Seahawks.
At age 37, Macdonald is the youngest head coach in the league, with a ton of experience on the defensive side of the ball.
The former Ravens defensive coordinator will bring in his scheme along with a new swagger to help the Seahawks continue their tradition of success playing great defense.
The key will be the offense, as new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has no NFL experience calling plays.
But a young buck like Grubb will look to live up to his last name and help his running backs eat by feeding them the ball.
Also, look for a lot of pre-snap motion in this offense to try to confuse the defense, as well as quick passes and the play-action game.
Macdonald has the most potential out of all these coaches of having the best odds to win.
He comes from the Sean McVay school of coaching, which, hopefully, will lead to new wins for the Seahawks.
Of the declaring eight new head coaches in the NFL, Raheem Morris has the best odds to win.
