For years, the NFL has been dominated by offensive head coaches. As offenses have taken over, everyone wants a piece of the hot offensive mind. Think of Sean McVay, Sean Payton, Andy Reid, Nick Sirianni, and pretty much any other coach that’s been competitive in the last decade. Chances are, they come from an offensive background.

That seems to be changing a bit right now, though. After the success that Mike Macdonald and Mike Vrabel, two very defense-centric guys, had this season, defensive coaches are making a resurgence. So far, seven head coaches have been hired this offseason. Three of them are defensive-minded, three are offensive-minded, and one (John Harbaugh) comes from a special teams background.

Just look at last year, for example. There were five head coaches hired, and three of them came from offensive backgrounds. Only Aaron Glenn and Mike Vrabel were hired without an offensive background.

Now, let’s look at the track record of offensive and defensive coaches. Over the last 10 Super Bowls, 12 different head coaches have coached the big game. Only three of them – Ron Rivera, Dan Quinn, and Bill Belichick – were defensive-minded. The other eight – Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Nick Sirianni, Kyle Shanahan, Zac Taylor, Bruce Arians, Doug Pederson, and Gary Kubiak – were offensive-minded. And over the last five years, no defensive-minded head coach has made it to the Super Bowl.

But this year, we’re getting something we haven’t seen since Super Bowl 51: a matchup between two defensive head coaches. Let’s take a look at their successes this season and see if this will become a trend.

Mike Macdonald’s Success With Seattle

In year one with Seattle, Mike Macdonald led the Seahawks to a 10-7 record, but missed out on the playoffs because of a loaded NFC. In year two, he made some key additions to both sides of the ball and led Seattle to a 14-3 record and the 1-seed in the NFC. But how did he have so much success? Well, it starts on defense.

Seattle finished the 2025 regular season as the No. 1 scoring defense while giving up the fewest yards per rush attempt and pass attempt. While everyone was busy gawking over Houston, and rightfully so because they were amazing, Seattle was suffocating offenses every week.

This all starts with the additions they made this offseason. The most important of which was Nick Emmanwori. In Baltimore, Macdonald had Kyle Hamilton. After some trial and error in 2024, he said, ‘Let me go get another one,’ and drafted Emmanwori, who has been phenomenal as a rookie. The Seahawks also brought in Demarcus Lawrence, who has elevated their pass rush in the back half of the season.

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All it took was two additions at key positions to help make the Seahawks the best defense in the league. That, and arguably the best defensive play caller in the NFL in Macdonald.

Mike Vrabel’s Success With New England

Mike Vrabel has orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in NFL history in his first season as head coach, and like with Seattle, it all starts on defense. The New England Patriots finished 2024 as the No. 21 defense in the NFL, giving up 24.5 points per game. That number has dropped to 17.3 in 2025, which is second in the league only to Seattle.

While Seattle only had to make subtle changes to their defense, New England went all in with their cap space. They spent big on guys like Jaylinn Hawkins, Robert Spillane, K’Lavon Chaisson, Harold Landry, Khyiris Tonga, Milton Williams, and Carlton Davis, and every single one of them is making an impact down the stretch.

The mark of a good defense is how well they play when its offense isn’t at full force. In three games this postseason, the Patriots’ offense is averaging just 18 points per game, down almost 10 points from the regular season. What has their defense done? Allowed a tad over eight points per game.

Vrabel’s unit is playing its best football of the entire season down the stretch, and it’s because all of these new faces are really settling into their roles.

Will Other Defensive Head Coaches Find the Same Success?

There are a lot of defensive head coaches to be excited about right now. Obviously, Vrabel and Macdonald lead the charge, but guys like Jesse Minter, DeMeco Ryans, Jeff Hafley, and Robert Saleh bring a lot of optimism to the table. And who knows, maybe Aaron Glenn can turn things around in New York.

With offenses getting the ball closer to field goal range than ever before with the new kickoff rules, having a stout defense that can force a three-and-out and get off the field consistently is even more important than ever. We saw an abundance of teams with great offenses, but poor defenses (Dallas, Detroit, Cincinnati), miss the playoffs. And even those that made the playoffs with a great offense and a slightly above-average or worse defense (Chicago, Buffalo, Jacksonville, San Francisco) were early exits.

In today’s league, you need an elite defense to win it all. That doesn’t mean you need a defensive-minded head coach, but you have to have an elite defensive coordinator if you go with an offensive head coach.