Five Best 2022 NFL Coaching Candidates

The 2021 NFL Playoffs are still going on, but for some, the rebuilding and retooling processes began when the regular season ended.

In addition to the all-important free agent and drafting periods, one of the biggest decisions that a franchise can make is choosing who will lead its team into battle next season. With a slew of candidates whose names are being tossed around, competition for open seats will be fierce.

Here are the five best options to fill the vacant coaching positions heading into next season.

Brian Flores

Flores’ recent tenure with the Miami Dolphins saw him create elite defenses in each of his three seasons with the team, and he recently closed out his campaign by winning eight of his nine final games. Flores also won four of his six matchups with the rival New England Patriots, showing that he can hold his own against other elite tacticians. At 40 years old, his future is extremely bright, and he is likely to end up with a new home sooner than later.

Eric Bieniemy

The Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator sometimes flies under the radar with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid garnering most of the credit for KC’s elite offense, but Bieniemy has been an integral part of the process. Whereas many thought that he would have been a head coach a couple of years ago after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, Bieniemy still remains an option for teams looking to build with an offensive focus, and it is impossible to argue with his recent production.

Jim Harbaugh

Jim Harbaugh has had success everywhere that he has been as a player and a coach, most recently getting his Michigan Wolverines into the college football playoff as the number-two seed. Because the Big Ten is always going to be dominated by Ohio State on the recruiting front, it would be easy to understand why Harbaugh would want a move back to the professional level, assuming reports of his interest are legitimate. UM’s Head Coach also reached the Super Bowl in his penultimate season in the NFL, showing that he is not just a college coach.

Kellen Moore

The Dallas Cowboys’ Offensive Coordinator has been a popular name circling NFL circles for a couple of years, and now that the Cowboys had their best season in a few years, his stock will be as high as ever. Moore is an innovative play-caller that can balance run and pass and has helped Dallas top the charts in different offensive statistics such as yards per game and points per game. The downside to Moore’s resume is that he is still fairly inexperienced and has not been a head coach before, but he fits the mold of a young, offensive talent that has swept the league recently.

Todd Bowles

Todd Bowles’ stock was somewhat tainted after unimpressive times with the New York Jets, but he has remedied many of these concerns during his time as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defensive Coordinator. His defense drove the Bucs to last year’s Super Bowl and wreaked havoc on Patrick Mahomes throughout the championship game, and, although they struggled during the recent regular season, looked up to their old ways in an opening-round demolition of the Philadelphia Eagles.