Welcome to our 2023 future head coaches list, an annual exercise in which we give you an exhaustive list of future candidates. Last year, we had our largest roster ever at a time when there weren’t a ton of job openings. Just five teams—the Broncos, Colts, Cardinals, Texans, and Panthers—changed coaches last year.

Two of those jobs, in Carolina and Denver, went to second-chance candidates with whom we were already intimately familiar.

This was something of a prediction come true by those with knowledge of the coaching carousel’s inner workings: Teams were craving experience after the high-profile ouster of Urban Meyer in Jacksonville and the far less divisive (but still disappointing) end to the Matt Rhule tenure in Carolina. Since then, Doug Pederson’s steady hand in Jacksonville, I would imagine, has not dissuaded owners from looking heavily at a pool of second-chance head coaches. Our list this year features more than a handful.

The theme for this year, as it pertains to those whose job it is to prepare for hirings and firings is: Watch out. Typically, following a year of low turnover, we see high turnover. One industry insider easily made the case for 10 coaching changes (albeit many depended on teams’ realizing their worst-possible scenarios). Another source referred to it as “coachpocalypse.”

There are a handful of coaches without contract extensions heading into a decisive third year (teams usually extend or cut ties with a coach before the final year of their deals).

There are coaches operating under the weight of immense pressure.

And there are coaches working for an exceedingly older population of owners who may not tolerate good enough. We have said this about Jerry Jones in Dallas for years, even though Jones has been something of a model for patience. But there are other septuagenarians and octogenarians looking for Super Bowl glory.

I mention this because I know what you’re thinking: 36 soon-to-be head coach candidates, 96 future head coach candidates? Why not just list every assistant coach in the NFL? My answer: Let’s say the coachpocalypse premonition comes true. Imagine a world with 10 openings, which would mean 10 new head coaches, potentially 10 new defensive coordinators, 10 new offensive coordinators, plus near-miss candidates who will be plugged into pass game/run game coordinator jobs on both sides of the ball or assistant head coach titles. That’s a lot of names! Last year’s list included, for example, Nick Rallis, who at the time was a 29-year-old linebackers coach in Philadelphia. We didn’t expect him to interview for any of the head coach openings last offseason, but fast-forward one year and now he’s a defensive coordinator in Arizona. This list similarly features fast-rising assistants who may be a factor in future hiring waves. I’m also being intentionally broad because we’ve seen some massive curveballs over the previous few years. Jeff Saturday became an interim coach. It’s better to be prepared.

Our goal each year is to try to understand who might be next as an NFL head coach, and who might be coming behind them as a rising coordinator or position coach; the kind of names you’ll be hearing about in a few years. While the process is fluid, we don’t want to mystify it. Who are the power players recommending? Whom do other coaches like and would, thus, be likely to recommend as well?

We’ll break these coaches down into a few categories, though there is no formal ranking outside of two “lock” candidates we’ll discuss first. Right now, in September, being the 23rd name on this list is just as valuable as the fifth.