NFL Head Coach Survey 2025: Fans Name Andy Reid the Happiest, Most Intelligent Sideline Boss

With the NFL postseason finally upon us, each of the league's 32 head coaches will be judged based on how their teams performed during the regular season.

Some coaches will find themselves out of a job (like New England's Jerod Mayo, who was fired shortly after the Patriots' season-ending loss to Buffalo, or Jacksonville Jaguars HC Doug Pederson, who was a Black Monday casualty.) Others will hang around for a while longer, but will find themselves on thinner ice in 2025. Most will be secure heading into next year and beyond, while one will take home NFL Coach of the Year honors (and might even double up with a Super Bowl championship, though that's a rare occurrence).

What do the fans think of the current crop of NFL sideline generals? Sportsbook Review surveyed more than 2,500 respondents on a variety of criteria to determine which head coaches are at the top of the class – and which ones deserve a big ol' F.

On a scale of 0-10, how happy is your team's head coach?

When you helm the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and enter the 2025 playoffs fresh off an incredible 15-2 regular season, smiling probably comes easily. Reid might be a distant sixth in the latest NFL Coach of the Year odds race, but there's little doubt that he has plenty of incentive to be the happiest head coach – and Chiefs fans agree, with Reid scoring an average of 8.8 on the "happy meter" among his own supporters.

Two other coaches in good spots round out the top three. Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions (with an average score of 8.6), who sits second in COY odds, has invigorated The Motor City by leading the Lions to a 15-2 mark and a first-round playoff bye, making them one of the feel-good stories in football. The Houston Texans' DeMeco Ryans (who scored an average of 8.0) fell on some tough times with injuries in 2024, but has still endeared himself to fans of the most recent NFL expansion team.

On the other end of the spectrum, Patriots fans – who must feel a hundred years removed from the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick dynasty days – gave Mayo the lowest happiness grade of any head coach at a paltry 4.2 average score. Mayo and New York Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, hired mid-season in place of the fired Robert Saleh, will be mentioned again later in this survey.

Which head coach is the happiest?

When it comes to judging other teams' head coaches from a happiness perspective, the gap between Reid and the rest of the field is staggering.

Nearly half of all respondents believe that Reid is the most jocular bench boss in football, with runner-up Campbell a full 40 percent behind in second place. Neither of these are all that surprising: it's the rest of this list that actually contains the majority of intrigue.

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is third after leading his team to a 12-5 record and the AFC North title, along with a high seed for the conference playoffs. He's followed closely by Kevin O'Connell, who is the overwhelming favorite for COY after guiding the Vikings to a 14-3 regular-season record.

Which head coach is the most miserable?

Canales's first taste of NFL head coaching following 14 years in various assistant roles did not go well. Combined with the fact that the Panthers have been terrible for a while now, and it's clear why Canales is seen as the most miserable coach in the league according to fans, pulling in 16% of the vote.

Mike McCarthy (drawing 13.4% of all votes) strangely shows up on both the happiest and most miserable lists, though his appearance here makes a lot more sense when you consider that the Cowboys went from fringe Super Bowl contender during the 2024 preseason to finishing below .500 following three straight 12-win seasons.

Defending NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski is third at 11.7% of the fan vote, while Mayo and Ulbrich complete the top 5.

On a scale of 0-10, how temperamental is your team's head coach?

You can't be a head coach in Philadelphia without having a fire in your belly – and Eagles fans recognize that Nick Sirianni has the perfect demeanor for their sports-mad city.

Sirianni claims top spot among hometown voters who were asked to rate their head coaches on temperament. The fourth year bench boss has compiled an incredible 48-20 regular-season record with one Super Bowl appearance, and his average score of 6.2 speaks to how his spicy nature plays into his success at the helm of one of the NFL's most revered franchises.

Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos and Brian Daboll of the New York Giants (both registering an average score of 6.0) are worthy runner-ups on the list; NFL fans have been treated to regular camera shots of both coaches losing their minds over referee decisions.

On the flip side, Miami Dolphins fans believe their head coach is the least temperamental in the league, with Mike McDaniel posting a 3.8 average score. McDaniel rarely loses his temper, at least on television – and as we'll see in the next results, Dolphins supporters aren't the only ones to recognize McDaniel for this.

Which head coach is the most chill?

It's great for Miami football fans to see McDaniel recognized league-wide as a laid-back dude – but like most other categories in this survey, Reid is still the king.

Nearly one in five survey participants say Reid is the most chill head coach in the NFL, and he and McDaniel (who pulled in 14.5% of the responses) are the only two coaches to garner more than 5.5 percent of the vote. Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers finished a distant third in voting, followed by Campbell and LaFleur.

Which head coach is the most uptight?

Being the head coach of America's Team requires a certain level of stoicism – but I'm sure Dallas Cowboys fans would prefer that their guy at the helm be wound a little less tightly.

Mike McCarthy earns the distinction among the general NFL public as the most uptight head coach in the league, with more than one in eight respondents putting him at the top of their list. He finished with a comfortable 5.1% edge over runner-up Mayo, who has been a mainstay in this feature (for all the wrong reasons, which might explain in part why he was let go).

Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos placed third with a 6.6% share; combined with his second-place showing in the "most temperamental head coach" vote, it's clear that the days of fun-loving Payton from his time with New Orleans are over.

On a scale of 0-10, how intelligent is your team's head coach?

It's good to be affiliated with the Chiefs.

Reid continues his dominance in this survey with what might be the most complimentary result yet: Kansas City fans have given him the highest average intelligence score on a scale of 0-10 of any fan base. Reid's average score of 8.9 places him well ahead of runner-up LaFleur, who was feted by Green Bay fans with an average score of 8.4.

Four of the NFL's top tacticians comprise the next tier, with Campbell and the San Francisco 49ers' Kyle Shanahan boasting identical 8.1 intelligence scores and McVay and Tomlin not far behind with average scores of 8.0. They're all well ahead of the average score, which comes in at 7.2.

At the bottom, we find Mayo and New Orleans Saints coach Darren Rizzi, both scoring a dismal 5.8. Rizzi was given the job Nov. 4 after Dennis Allen was fired following a 2-7 start.

Which head coach is the most intelligent?

NFL fans appreciate a dynasty – and they believe Reid's coaching savvy plays a significant role in the Chiefs' sustained run atop the league.

Nearly two in five survey respondents have Reid as the NFL's most intelligent coach, with none of his other colleagues earning more than 6% of the vote. Shanahan, whose 49ers fell to Reid's Kansas City powerhouse at Super Bowl 58 in 2024, is an ever-so-distant second, while Campbell ranks third at 5.1%.

Which head coach is the least intelligent?

Perhaps it's the additional scrutiny of coaching one of the most popular franchises in North America. Or maybe it's the sky-high standard Cowboys fans have for their beloved team, which hasn't won (or even appeared in) a Super Bowl in 30 years.

Whatever the case, McCarthy earns the ignominious honor of being the least intelligent head coach in the NFL based on our pool of respondents. His 11.5% vote share is good enough to edge out runner-up Canales, with Stefanski (who, I'll remind you, is the defending NFL Coach of the Year and has won the award twice with the Browns) placing third