Head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s maiden season as the Dallas Cowboys‘ HC failed to meet owner Jerry Jones’ pre-season optimism after they narrowly missed the playoffs, ending up with a 7-9-1 record. Regardless of the positive takeaways from the season, NBC’s Patrick Daugherty thinks he is one of the worst coaches in the league, which shows in his latest ranking of the 2026 NFL head coaches.

Excluding the ten newly hired head coaches this season, Patrick assessed the performances of twenty-two others, placing Brian Schottenheimer in second-to-last place.

“Schottenheimer exceeded expectations only because there weren’t any,” wrote the NFL journalist in his brutal assessment. “A team that used to dream of Super Bowls now seems content to break parking and concessions records.”

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The Dallas Cowboys’ head coaching change ahead of the 2025 campaign was a move that a few saw coming, as Jerry Jones made the bold call to replace Mike McCarthy with Brian Schottenheimer.

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Given his lack of experience in that role, there were few expectations from him. Although the franchise didn’t reach the playoffs, the team showed flashes of its potential, especially on offense, which ranked among the best in the league.

While their record was 7-9-1, the lion’s share of the responsibility for the losses was due to a struggling defense in the post-Micah Parsons era that ranked at the bottom in many areas. But Schottenheimer’s leadership quality earned praise, giving a ray of hope for the team next season.

The former offensive coordinator’s tactics, displayed on the gridiron, led to solid performances from Dak Prescott and George Pickens. With 6,663 yards, they were the second-best offensive team in the league, while ranking 7th in scoring points (471).

Even though the Washington Commanders finished the season with a 5-12 record, their HC, Dan Quinn, surprisingly sat a number ahead of Schottenheimer in that ranking. It did not take long for Dan Quinn to experience the boom and the down. The Washington Commanders successfully rode a wave in 2024 that was almost too good to be true, and years of being under owner Daniel Snyder had made everybody in Washington not in the mood to question it.

The 12-win season, which was the best of Quinn’s career, brought relief to the fans that they had not experienced in a long time. It was not hard to believe in the fact that something real had finally formed. His presence, his energy, the manner in which he relates in the locker room, all of that still rings on, even receiving the highest ratings in league-wide feedback.

Additionally, Kevin O’Connell, whose Minnesota Vikings failed to punch the playoff tickets and endured Wild Card Round losses in two of his four seasons in charge (2022 and 2024), was placed nine places ahead of the Cowboys coach at number 12. This was because of a couple of reasons, as per the analyst, the popularity of O’Connell as a quarterback developer is pegged on the fact that he stabilized offenses with Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens and transformed anarchy into functionality. That story has some gravitas; however, it does sometimes have the sense that it is working too hard.

Nevertheless, there is order behind the peculiarities. The offense of O’Connell is invariably answered, and Brian Flores is the man to hold the defense on. Even the short-lived hope regarding Carson Wentz foreshadowed that the system is upheld no matter who intervenes. That is finally what the consistent head coach has: possesses your part of the ball, believes the other, and O’Connell fits both descriptions.

On the other hand, the New York Jets coach, Aaron Glenn, finds himself at the very bottom of this list, just behind the Cowboys HC. After a decent season, Brian Schottenheimer will be aiming to improve his rankings next season. As expected, some top coaches of the league at the moment top this chart, but the Super Bowl-winning coach is not leading it.

Mike Macdonald misses the top spot despite a Super Bowl-winning season

Given that the Super Bowl is the ultimate prize and all NFL teams compete for the honor, winning it should secure the title of the best coach in the league, but clearly not in this ranking heading to the 2026 season.

While Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald had a season to remember in the 2025 campaign, his first season as head coach wasn’t up to the mark in 2024. With a 10-7 record, the Hawks didn’t qualify for the postseason, so the 38-year-old might have more to prove, and that’s why he is ranked fourth by Patrick.

The Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay leads the ranking, climbing up from the second spot the previous year. Given the Rams reached seven playoffs and won a Super Bowl with the 38-year-old at the helm, it explains why he is viewed as the best coach in the league at the moment.

On the other hand, last year’s topper, Andy Reid, slipped to the second spot after missing the playoffs in 2025. But still, the three-time Super Bowl-winning coach remains one of the top coaches. Reid is closely followed by the San Francisco 49ers HC, Kyle Shanahan, who moved up one place to be in the top three.