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Grading and ranking NFL first-year head coaches in new places after Week 6

With the NFL’s 2026 season now one-third complete, the focus has turned to the league’s 10 new head coaches—six of whom are first-timers—after six weeks of play. The group includes both experienced hires like Mike McCarthy and John Harbaugh and rookies like Jeff Hafley, who has faced an unprecedented challenge in Miami.

The Dolphins, led by Hafley, have struggled mightily, posting a 0-5 record and ranking last in scoring offense (14.0 points per game) while dealing with the league’s heaviest dead-cap hits and the least experienced roster in modern history. Their roster’s lack of star power—just one career Pro Bowler, De’Von Achane, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 3—has left Hafley’s coaching ability nearly impossible to evaluate in his debut season.

Meanwhile, the other nine new coaches enter Week 6 with varying degrees of success, as the NFL’s highest turnover rate for head-coaching changes in a single offseason continues to unfold.

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