NFL betting: Who's the favorite to fill each coaching vacancy?
The NFL playoffs are here. While this is an exciting time for football fans and especially fans of teams that qualified for the postseason, it also marks the end of the season for 18 teams and fanbases across the league. Those teams now have an eye on the future, and some teams are preparing to enter the future with a new head coach.
Six non-playoff teams are without coaches: the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. Most of these teams have already started the process of requesting interviews with head coaching candidates. Which coaches are expected to fill these vacancies, according to the betting market?
Chicago Bears
The world knew the Bears were going to fire Matt Nagy after this season, and they finally made it official on Monday. A new coach will take over a team with a solid defense and a young quarterback with immense potential in Justin Fields.
Brian Flores is the betting favorite to become the next Bears coach at +160. Flores was surprisingly fired by the Dolphins but he has a positive reputation across the league. There's a lot of speculation Flores wasn't happy with Tua Tagovaliloa. Is he a bigger fan of Justin Fields?
Other interesting options for the Bears include:
Leslie Frazier (Bills defensive coordinator) +500
Brian Daboll (Bills offensive coordinator) +600
Jim Harbaugh (Michigan head coach) +700
Doug Pederson (former Eagles head coach) +800
Denver Broncos
Vic Fangio wasn't exactly dealt the fairest hand as he's relied on the likes of Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater at the quarterback position. Nevertheless, Fangio was fired after missing the playoffs for a third straight season.
The betting market is expecting the Broncos to go with another defensive-minded head coach. Dan Quinn is a +125 favorite to become Denver's next head coach. Quinn served as defensive coordinator for the Super Bowl-winning Seahawks and took the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl as a head coach. Currently, he's the defensive coordinator in Dallas and has revamped the Cowboys' defense.
Other interesting options for the Broncos include:
Nathaniel Hackett (Packers offensive coordinator) +425
Eric Bienemy (Kansas City offensive coordinator) +1000
Minnesota Vikings
Mike Zimmer served as the Vikings' head coach since 2014, but Zimmer was fired Monday after the Vikings had a disappointing and inconsistent season. As a defensive coach, Zimmer's defense was his ultimate undoing.
Minnesota also fired its general manager and has yet to formally request interviews with any head coaching candidates outside of Doug Pederson. Despite that, Eric Bienemy is the betting favorite to become the next Vikings coach with +300 odds.
Other interesting options for Minnesota include:
Brian Daboll (Bills offensive coordinator) +400
Brian Flores (former Dolphins head coach) +800
Andre Patterson (Vikings assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator) +800
Doug Pederson (former Eagles head coach) +900
Kellen Moore (Cowboys offensive coordinator) +900
Miami Dolphins
Miami shocked the football world when it fired Brian Flores on Monday. Flores has had back-to-back winning seasons despite missing the playoffs both times. His team certainly played hard for him. The lack of faith in Tua Tagovailoa from a neutral observer was obvious, and that optic might have done Flores in.
Brian Daboll is the betting favorite to be the next head coach of the Dolphins. Daboll gets a lot of credit for what he's done with Josh Allen in Buffalo, and the Dolphins might be hopeful he can do similar work with Tagovailoa. Daboll is +300 to be the next Dolphins coach.
Which other coaches might the Dolphins be interested in?
Eric Bienemy (Chiefs offensive coordinator) +500
Doug Pederson (former Eagles head coach) +550
Kellen Moore (Cowboys offensive coordinator) +600
Byron Leftwich (Buccaneers offensive coordinator) +800
Todd Bowles (Buccaneers defensive coordinator) +800
Nathaniel Hackett (Packers offensive coordinator) +800
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars tried the Urban Meyer experiment, and it's safe to say it didn't work. Meyer was fired after less than a season and now Jacksonville will be hiring a new coach for the second straight offseason.
Bill O'Brien is the betting favorite to be the next head coach. O'Brien is the former head coach of the Houston Texans. Previously, he served as head coach at Penn State. Currently, he's the offensive coordinator at Alabama. O'Brien is +200 to be Jacksonville's next head coach.
Other interesting options for the Jaguars include:
Byron Leftwich (Buccaneers offensive coordinator) +300
Jim Caldwell (former Lions head coach) +600
Darrell Bevell (current Jaguars interim coach) +600
Doug Pederson (former Eagles head coach) +700
New York Giants
We just watched a man disintegrate in real time in front of the New York media. It might have been entertaining to watch, but the swiftness in which it happened was startling. Joe Judge was fired by the Giants on Tuesday after two subpar seasons in New York.
Dave Gettleman retired on Monday, which means the Giants are currently without a general manager as well. It seems like the organization is focused on filling that void first, so it hasn't requested an interview with any head coaching candidates just yet. Below are some names that the betting market has linked with the Giants.
Brian Daboll (Bills offensive coordinator) +350
Doug Pederson (former Eagles head coach) +400
Brian Flores (former Dolphins head coach) +500
Eric Bienemy (Chiefs offensive coordinator) +600
Jim Harbaugh (Michigan head coach) +700
Byron Leftwich (Buccaneers offensive coordinator) +700
Josh McDaniels (Patriots offensive coordinator) +800
Patrick Graham (Giants defensive coordinator) +900