2026 NFL Preview: The 10 New Coordinators Who Could Shape Upcoming Season

We’ve all gotten caught up in the moves made during free agency and the NFL Draft this offseason, but it’s so easy to forget that the biggest upheaval of the winter and spring was the massive change in the coaching ranks across the league. Ten teams got a new head coach this offseason, which marked the most head coaching hires in an offseason since 2022. But there were nearly four times as many offensive and defensive coordinator hires this offseason, too. A total of 36 coaches were hired for offensive or defensive coordinator roles, with a substantial 21 teams set to have a new offensive coordinator in 2026. As for the 15 new defensive coordinators hired, that number doesn’t include New England Patriots defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr, who has a new title this season but filled in running the Patriots’ defense for most of last season during Terrell Williams’ medical leave. The new coordinators run the gamut from recently fired head coaches to first-time playcallers. In trying to trim the list to the 10 most likely to impact the 2026 NFL season, we put a premium on coordinators on the opposite side of the head coach, though there are teams significant enough that we included coordinators who are essentially running someone else’s scheme. To appreciate the depth of this year’s new coordinators, we’ll offer five honorable-mention names that didn’t make the list but would in many seasons: Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, New York Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Onto our 10 choices … The Buffalo Bills’ offense should be largely the same with Joe Brady elevated from coordinator to head coach after Sean McDermott’s firing. The task of improving the Bills’ defense falls to Jim Leonhard, 43, who returns to where he started his NFL career as a safety. They signed edge rusher Bradley Chubb in free agency and used six of their 10 draft picks on defense, including Clemson defensive tackle T.J. Sanders and Ohio State corner Davison Igbinosun in the second round. Buffalo only had defensive lineman Ed Oliver for three games in 2025, so his healthy return will help them against the run, where it ranked 28th last year. Leonhard had eight years of college experience, but this is only his third season as an NFL coach, so it’s a big leap for an important team as the Bills try to wrest the AFC East back from the Patriots. Declan Doyle is only 30, and was allowed to make a rare lateral move, going from offensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears (where he worked under offensive playcaller and head coach Ben Johnson) to now calling his own plays on Jesse Minter’s new Ravens staff. So Doyle is 10 months older than his new quarterback, Lamar Jackson, and the challenge is to help get Baltimore deeper in the playoffs, with only one conference championship appearance in Jackson’s time there. Can first-round guard Vega Ioane be a difference-maker? Can Derrick Henry stay healthy and ageless at 32? Baltimore set the bar high in moving on from a head coach and offensive coordinator who both immediately became head coaches for other teams, but success with the Ravens could make Doyle a coveted candidate to become a head coach in 2027. Chris O’Leary, 34, might be the coordinator fans know the least. If Minter is old enough to have coaching disciples, O’Leary would be one, playing for him at Indiana State and coaching under him at several stops. He was the Chargers’ safeties coach in 2024, went to Western Michigan to run their defense and now returns to take Minter’s place on Jim Harbaugh’s staff. Can they improve on ranking 29th in red-zone defense last year? Can first-round edge rusher Akheem Mesidor learn from Khalil Mack and upgrade the pass rush? In a division where all the other offenses should be improving, it’s a difficult task, helped by Los Angeles’ offense getting better at the same time. Sean Payton liked Davis Webb, 31, enough to fire offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and elevate him after just three seasons as an NFL assistant. The Denver Broncos had six straight losing seasons before Payton took over in 2023, and his three-year arc has gone from 8 to 10 to 14 wins, losing to the Patriots in last year’s AFC title game. No quarterback threw more passes last year than Bo Nix, but only Cam Ward threw for fewer yards per attempt out of the league’s top 12 passers. Adding wide receiver Jaylen Waddle will help the offense, but this is a status-quo team that might be the least-tweaked roster of any 2025 playoff team, trusting that coaches can get more out of the same, at least in the postseason. The Dallas Cowboys’ defense was bad last year. They were the only team in the league to give up 30 points per game, while ranking 30th against the run and 32nd against the pass. Christian Parker, 34, was poached from the Philadelphia Eagles and has new talent to work with, as Dallas traded for edge rusher Rashan Gary and linebacker Dee Winters and signed safety Jalen Thompson. The rest of the NFC East has all new offensive coordinators, so if Dallas is to get back to being a playoff team, much of that is whether they can just get to an average defense amid improving offenses all over their divisional schedule. Jonathan Gannon, 43, struggled with the Arizona Cardinals, as his defense ranked 31st in scoring in 2023 and 29th last year, but he takes over a Green Bay Packers defense good enough to make Jeff Hafley the Miami Dolphins’ head coach. When does Micah Parsons get back healthy? Can Green Bay improve at forcing takeaways after getting just 14 last season, with only three teams forcing fewer? The Packers’ top draft pick was used to get Parsons and the first three they used went on defense, so there’s an awareness that the division had two top-10 offenses and the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive unit should be better. Nathan Scheelhaase, 35, was perhaps the biggest up-and-comer not hired in the last coaching cycle, landing a promotion to offensive coordinator when Mike LaFleur got the Arizona job. This is only his third year as an NFL assistant, and as high as the expectations are for the Rams, they have a limited window to win with Matthew Stafford, and they’re playing in a division that has arguably three of the league’s top eight teams. This season ends with a Super Bowl in Los Angeles, so the key for the Rams might be securing the division and home games to set up a postseason path that doesn’t go far from home. This is still Sean McVay’s offense, and they were the NFL’s No. 1 offense in points and total yards, but with no significant additions on that side of the ball, Scheelhaase’s challenge is keeping that unit as the league’s best. At 49, Raheem Morris is the old man on this list, back at coordinator after three losing seasons as the Atlanta Falcons head coach. He was the Rams’ defensive coordinator when they won the Super Bowl in 2021, and he’ll inherit a talented San Francisco 49ers defense that was limited by injuries last season. San Francisco’s only losses from November on last year were to the Rams and Seattle Seahawks, giving up 42 in a home loss to Los Angeles and 41 in a playoff loss to Seattle. Fred Warner is healthy, Dre Greenlaw is back and the front added Osa Odighizuwa, so getting back to a top-10 defense could be the difference between the top seed in the NFC and the fifth seed as a wild card. Brian Fleury, 47, had a longer path to coaching in the NFL, spending four years each at Sacred Heart and Towson before getting his first pro coaching job. He spent the last four years as the 49ers’ tight ends coach, but now he’s a first-time play-caller armed with one of the best offenses in the NFL. Can the run game stay solid with Kenneth Walker gone and first-rounder Jadarian Price stepping in? Can Sam Darnold continue to play at a Pro Bowl level when Seattle has a target on their backs every week as defending champs? This was an outside-the-box hire that’s crucial to the Seahawks’ hopes of getting back to another Super Bowl. Mike McDaniel, 43, went 35-33 in four years as the Dolphins’ head coach, and now his task is getting Justin Herbert to his first playoff win in his seventh NFL season. The Chargers were limited by losing both tackles last year, but with Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater healthy and a retooled interior line, this should be a much-improved offense, including second-year back Omarion Hampton. Can under-the-radar signings like Keaton Mitchell and David Njoku help the Chargers catch the Broncos and stay ahead of a bounce-back Chiefs team? McDaniel has speed and talent at his disposal and a chance to set himself up as a top candidate again in 2027. The Rams aren’t the only team with dreams of a home-field Super Bowl.