There are 5 first-time NFL head
coaches this season and they each face distinct challenges
[July 25, 2025]
By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Glenn has been mapping out exactly
how he wants to lead an NFL team for a few years.
Before he was hired as the New York Jets' head coach in January,
Glenn spent four seasons as the Detroit Lions' defensive coordinator
and was empowered by coach Dan Campbell to make some crucial calls
for the team off the field.
“He allowed me to actually act in the position of being the head
coach,” Glenn said. “To be able to do the calendar for the
offseason, plan training camp out, be able to make decisions that he
was supposed to make.
"But he allowed me to make those decisions to get me ready to be in
this position.”
Glenn, a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback during a 15-year playing
career, is charged with trying to turn around the fortunes of a Jets
franchise that has the NFL's longest playoff drought at 14 seasons.
He opened training camp this week as one of five first-time head
coaches in the league, joining Jacksonville's Liam Coen, Chicago's
Ben Johnson, New Orleans' Kellen Moore and Dallas' Brian
Schottenheimer.
All five are long-time assistants who now each face distinct
challenges and must balance the responsibilities of managing an
entire roster and staff instead of focusing on one particular side
of the football.
Aaron Glenn, Jets
Age: 53
Background: Jets' first-round pick (No. 12 overall) in 1994 out of
Texas A&M. Played eight seasons for New York before three with
Houston, two with Dallas and one each with Jacksonville and New
Orleans. After retiring from playing, Glenn served as the general
manager of the Houston Stallions of the indoor Texas Lone Star
Football League in 2012 before being hired as a personnel scout with
the Jets later that year. He then had stints as an assistant with
Cleveland, New Orleans and Detroit.
Task: He and new GM Darren Mougey focused on making the Jets' roster
younger, parting ways with veterans such as QB Aaron Rodgers, WR
Davante Adams, LB C.J. Mosley, K Greg Zuerlein and P Thomas Morstead.
Glenn, who considers his former coach Bill Parcells a mentor, spoke
often during the offseason about changing the Jets' culture. Ending
their long postseason drought will help and there's key foundational
talent — WR Garrett Wilson, CB Sauce Gardner, RB Breece Hall, DT
Quinnen Williams, edge rusher Jermaine Johnson — but the youth
movement could temper some first-year expectations.
Liam Coen, Jaguars
Age: 39
Background: Played quarterback at UMass. Spent last season as Tampa
Bay's offensive coordinator before being hired by Jacksonville in
January to replace the fired Doug Pederson. Coen had two stints with
the Los Angeles Rams, including serving as Sean McVay's offensive
coordinator in 2022. He also had college stops as an assistant at
Brown, Rhode Island, UMass, Maine and Kentucky.
Task: His awkward Jaguars intro — “Duuuval” — went viral, but Coen
was hired for his offensive prowess after he helped Baker Mayfield
to the best season of his career with the Buccaneers. Trevor
Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, has not yet fully lived up
to expectations and that will be the focus for Coen, who'll call the
plays, and offensive coordinator Grant Udinski. Adding versatile No.
2 pick Travis Hunter to the offense (and defense) should help
Lawrence and a franchise that has just one playoff appearance in the
past seven seasons.
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Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen talks with reporters after
practice at the team's NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July
23, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ben Johnson, Bears
Age: 39
Background: A former backup QB at North Carolina, Johnson was
Detroit's offensive coordinator the past three years and helped
Jared Goff and the Lions lead the league in scoring last season.
Johnson's path to the NFL began as an assistant at Boston College
before seven seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He joined the Lions in
2019 as an offensive quality control coach and was retained by
Campbell when he took over as coach in 2020, serving as the tight
ends coach and then passing game coordinator before becoming the OC
in 2022.
Task: The Bears drafted Caleb Williams with the No.
1 overall pick in last year's draft and Chicago is hoping Johnson
will be able to develop the quarterback into a playmaking star.
Williams showed promise while starting all 17 games, throwing for a
franchise rookie-record 3,541 yard with 20 touchdown passes and six
interceptions, but his 68 sacks led the league. Getting Williams to
get rid of the ball faster and improve on his accuracy should help,
so should GM Ryan Poles' trade acquisitions of guards Joe Thuney and
Jonah Jackson to bolster the offensive line.
Kellen Moore, Saints
Age: 37
Background: A former backup quarterback with Detroit and Dallas over
six NFL seasons, Moore was long considered a head coaching candidate
during his stops as an offensive coordinator with the Cowboys,
Chargers and Eagles. In his only season in Philadelphia, he guided a
high-scoring offense that powered the Eagles to the Super Bowl
behind quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley.
Task: Moore doesn't have the talent-rich roster he had last season.
He also isn't quite sure who his quarterback will be after Derek
Carr unexpectedly retired in May with a shoulder injury. The Saints
drafted Tyler Shough in the second round and also have Spencer
Rattler and Jake Haener, who each started games last season. The
offense has some talent with WR Chris Olave and RB Alvin Kamara, but
the defense needs to improve after allowing the second-most yards
rushing in the NFL.
Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys
Age: 51
Background: The son of the late Marty Schottenheimer was a bit of a
surprise pick by Jerry Jones to replace Mike McCarthy as Dallas'
coach. But the younger Schottenheimer has a lengthy resume in both
the pros and at the college level, with stints as an offensive
coordinator with the Cowboys, Seahawks, Rams and Jets among them.
Task: Schottenheimer will need to build an even better rapport with
quarterback Dak Prescott, who played in only eight games last season
because of a hamstring injury. The coach also made some headlines
during the offseason when he said Prescott is still “in the
developmental phase” of his career and the team is tweaking some
things with him. With Philadelphia still among the NFL's elite teams
and Washington one of the league's most promising squads,
Schottenheimer and the Cowboys will have a tough road to make the
playoffs out of the NFC East. That's despite Jones saying he's
”excited about our team’s ability to compete right now.”
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