NFL Draft Prospects Pick Their Dream Coach—And Mike Vrabel Runs Away With It
Mike Vrabel was voted the preferred head coach among NFL draft prospects, while recent coaching changes influenced the choices of other participants.
INDIANAPOLIS — NFL draft picks have no say in their first professional destination or coach. But if they could choose? We asked 42 combine participants exactly that.
The question sounds simple. In practice, it's fraught with complications. Some prospects fear jinxing their draft chances. Others worry about offending teams that might select them. One prospect was blunt about the obstacle: "I don't really know the names of the head coaches."
Ten prospects dodged the question entirely. With 10 head coaches fired in the past two months, some familiar names are no longer in the mix. Last year's survey showed Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin dominating the results.
The Winners
Mike Vrabel, the New England Patriots' head coach, decisively won this year's poll with 8 votes. Vrabel claimed the 2025 Coach of the Year award for the second time—recency bias undoubtedly helped after his team's Super Bowl appearance.
Mike Macdonald of the Seattle Seahawks finished second with 5 votes. One prospect mistakenly cited "Seattle's Mike McDaniel" (the former Miami Dolphins coach), but others were clear about their reasoning. "It's hard not to say the Seahawks," one prospect said. "He led them to the Super Bowl."
The Rest of the Field
- Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs: 3 votes — Reid's three Super Bowl rings are the most among active head coaches.
- Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions: 2 votes
- Jeff Hafley, Miami Dolphins: 2 votes
- John Harbaugh, New York Giants: 2 votes — Harbaugh lost his job with Baltimore in January but earned votes for his new Giants post.
- DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans: 2 votes
Dark Horses
Coaches earning one vote each: Ben Johnson (Bears); Jesse Minter (Ravens); Sean Payton (Broncos); Brian Schottenheimer (Cowboys); Kevin Stefanski (Falcons); Kyle Shanahan (49ers)
The presence of Baltimore's Jesse Minter and Miami's Jeff Hafley among the vote-getters likely reflects their recent college coaching ties. Minter served as Michigan's defensive coordinator through 2023, while Hafley left Boston College's head coaching job after 2023 before becoming the Packers' defensive coordinator in 2024.
