Grading the NFL’s Worst Head Coaching Hires of 2026

Nearly a third of the teams in the NFL faced head-coaching vacancies this offseason, a rat race that concluded Sunday when the Arizona Cardinals tapped Mike LaFleur for the job.

The last hire of this coaching cycle wasn’t necessarily the best, though.

As with every class, someone’s got to bring down the curve. Read on to see which organizations rated an “F” for their coaching hires at first blush.

MIKE LAFLEUR, ARIZONA CARDINALS

Spurned by another burgeoning offensive mind from within their division, the Cardinals pivoted to LaFleur, the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator, after Seattle Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak elected to lead the Las Vegas Raiders instead.

But plucking from the staff of an NFC Championship Game entrant barely makes a dent in Arizona’s bid to return to respectability. Significant questions remain on a roster that managed just 19 wins over the past four seasons and has finished above third in the NFC West once in the last nine years.

One of those uncertainties happens to play the game’s most important position. Quarterback Kyler Murray, limited to only five starts in 2025, still has two years and a team option remaining on a monster contract.

LaFleur, the younger brother of Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, helped guide the Rams to the most yards (394.6) and points (30.5) per game in 2025. Apart from his family-tree pedigree, he also looms as the latest successful offshoot of the Sean McVay line.

Still, superior schemes won’t be enough at the start for an organization that needs rehauling beyond its Xs and Os.

JEFF HAFLEY, MIAMI DOLPHINS

Hafley only had been a head coach at Boston College before becoming Miami’s fourth HC hire since 2016.

Perhaps channeling that collegiate experience was a prescient move for an organization that’s been beset by infighting and still employs a mercurial quarterback whose best days came on campus.

Hafley has since proven to be a leader of NFL men, doing solid work in shaping the Green Bay defense as its coordinator the past two seasons. However, the unit’s slide after star pass rusher Micah Parsons’ late-season injury in 2025 isn’t an endorsement for his ability to overcome on-the-spot adversity.

Pairing with fellow Packers alum Jon-Eric Sullivan, Miami’s new general manager, could be a formula for Hafley to improve this grade. Until then, the unknown — and its ability to engulf first-time NFL head coaches — abounds.

TODD MONKEN, CLEVELAND BROWNS

Monken returns to his former stomping grounds with redemption on the brain. He served as Cleveland’s offensive coordinator during the one-year Freddie Kitchens Era in 2019, overseeing an attack that finished 22nd in the NFL in yards and points.

Kitchens’ dismissal opened the door for the since-dismissed Kevin Stefanski, while Monken got his groove back as OC at Georgia and with the Baltimore Ravens.

Monken, 59, brings established credibility and creativity to an offense lacking both. But he also knows from opposing the Browns twice a year about Cleveland’s question marks at QB and thinness at wide receiver and up front.

Plus, the ongoing Jim Schwartz saga reinforces Cleveland’s longtime organizational instability. Will Schwartz be back as Cleveland’s DC, or won’t he? If it’s the former, will fans think he’s only out to undermine a franchise that overlooked him for the top job after he built the defense into one of the league’s best?

Also, shouldn’t Monken have learned something when fellow candidates Mike McDaniel, Jesse Minter and Grant Udinski removed themselves from consideration for this post? Is he merely destined for second-guessing?