Tier 6
15. David Shaw
The Chicago Bears have requested an interview with David Shaw. This is one of those out-of-the-box ideas. Shaw isn't even a coach right now. Instead, he is working as a Senior Personnel Director for the Denver Broncos. Shaw hasn't always been on that side of the front office. He was a coach in the NFL from 1997 to 2005. Then he left for the collegiate scene. After one year as an assistant coach for the San Diego Toreros, Shaw went on to coach at Stanford from 2007 to 2019. He became the head coach in 2011 and the team played well throughout most of his tenure -- 8 winning seasons.
I'll leave Shaw at the bottom of this tier for now, but the more I look into him as a coaching candidate the more I like what he has to offer. The more I dig, the more I realize he might even need to jump a tier.
14. Anthony Weaver
It should be noted that any defensive-minded coach is going to be lower in my rankings. I am on record that I would prefer an offensive-minded coach based on the coaches who have been in the last six Super Bowls. Anthony Weaver instantly moves down my list, but he's also the least accomplished of the defensive coordinators. Weaver has been a defensive line coach for most of his career. He was an assistant head coach for two years in Baltimore before becoming the Dolphins' defensive coordinator in 2024.
Weaver is nowhere near ready to be a head coach. This interview may have been a way to meet the Rooney Rule despite multiple candidates on the interview list filling that need.
13. Vance Joseph
Let's stick with the Denver Broncos and quickly talk about Vance Joseph. Joseph is in his second stint with the Broncos. His first stint was as Denver's head coach in 2017 and 2018. The team never achieved more than 6 wins and Joseph was fired. He quickly landed with the Cardinals as the defensive coordinator where he lasted four years before losing his job again. For the last two years, he's been the defensive coordinator for the Broncos and they have been one of the better defenses in the league.
Joseph does not move the needle for me, though. He looks to be one of those coaches best suited to be coordinators rather than head coaches.
12. Mike Kafka
I remember Mike Kafka being a head coaching candidate, on and off for a little while now. I had some interest in him in 2018 when the Bears went with Matt Nagy instead -- both coming out of Kansas City at the time. Looking at it in hindsight, it seems like coaches coming out of Kansas City are all too dependent on the oversight of Andy Reid. That said, I will put Kafka ahead of the defensive coaches for the simple fact that I expect him to be able to help Caleb Williams develop more.
If I had insider information on the list of offensive coordinators who the defensive coordinators would bring in, I might shuffle up this tier a bit. Kafka has been the offensive coordinator under Brian Daboll in New York, but the results have not been appealing. He should not be a realistic candidate.