Sportsnaut
Who is the worst coach in the NFL? The National Football League’s coaching carousel typically cycles through more than half a dozen coaches every year. For those who survive the coaching hot seat, they head into the next season with their jobs on the line and worsening reputations. As we look around the league, several prominent names have seen their reputations take a hit in just the last two years.
Let’s dive into our rankings of the 10 worst NFL coaches right now. For this exercise, we’re excluding first-year head coaches who haven’t had a chance to prove themselves yet.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel rose to relative stardom quickly. Replacing Brian Flores ahead of the 2022 season, McDaniel helped revitalize quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s career. In 2022, Miami’s offense ranked sixth in total yards per game (364.5), and the Dolphins ended a five-year playoff drought. The following season, Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards and earned his first Pro Bowl selection. Miami ranked second in scoring (29.2 points per game), and the franchise won 11 games for the first time since 2008.
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Last season took a bit of a toll on McDaniel’s reputation. When Tagovailoa was sidelined from Weeks 3 to 7, the Dolphins’ offense ranked dead last in EPA per play (-0.250), with a massive gap to the second-worst team. In that four-game span, Miami averaged just 10 points per game and had a 22 percent third-down conversion rate. Offensive-minded NFL coaches like Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Andy Reid, Matt LaFleur, and Kyle Shanahan adapted when their starting quarterbacks got hurt; McDaniel’s offense imploded. It’s also worth noting the 7-12 record the Dolphins have in the McDaniel era in games played after November. There were also the offseason rumors about him losing some support in the locker room. He’s still only 42 years old, so there is plenty of time for growth, but there are at least some signs that the early hype on McDaniel was off-base.
The Seattle Seahawks should feel good about their hiring of Mike Macdonald, as he enters his second season. He won 10 games as a rookie head coach, delivering a one-game improvement and a 45-point gain in point differential. Unsurprisingly, the real improvements came on defense.
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In 2023, Seattle’s defense allowed the third-highest conversion rate on third downs (46.3 percent), and it ranked 30th in Defensive EPA per Play (0.066). In the final nine regular-season games last year, Seattle allowed just a 35.1 percent third-down conversion rate and ranked fifth in Defensive EPA per Play (-0.054). Macdonald’s defensive mind is phenomenal, and he’s proving himself as a great leader who can keep his team composed in big moments. Now, he just needs to prove he can find a good offensive play-caller after his first hire (Ryan Grubb) was fired after just...
