After striking out on Ben Johnson, the Las Vegas Raiders have officially hired Pete Carroll to be the team's next head coach. Carroll's arrival in Las Vegas reignites an old rivalry with LA Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh and cements the AFC West as the best coaching division in the sport.
Carroll, Harbaugh, Andy Reid and Sean Payton will all be battling for divisional supremacy and a chance to win the Super Bowl next season. All four coaches have legitimate cases for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and represent some of the best active coaches in the sport.
As successful as each coach is, there certainly is a hierarchy throughout the division. The gap is smaller in the AFC West than in other divisions but there is still a gap between the best coach in the division and the worst. Let's dive in.
4. Pete Carroll, Las Vegas Raiders
The newest head coach in the division is the worst. That is not to say Carroll is a bad head coach, but he does have to prove he can still keep up with the best coaches in the league after spending a year away from the NFL in 2024.
Carroll has as much experience as anyone else in the league and has certainly been successful but you could also argue his best days are far behind him. The last time the Seahawks won 10 or more games under Carroll was 2020 while the last time they won a playoff game was 2019. Seattle had just one playoff win in Carroll's last seven seasons as head coach.
There is a reason the Seahawks moved on and while they missed out on the playoffs, the team did win 10 games under a Mike Macdonald in 2024. With no quarterback and a roster that needs help, the Raiders will truly test Carroll and his ability to be a winning head coach at 73 years old.
3. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
The gap between Payton and the next head coach on the list might be the smallest of any gap on this list. That being said, even though Payton was a Coach of the Year finalist over Jim Harbaugh, he deserves to check in at the No. 3 spot on this list.
If this was a list of accomplishments then Payton would rank ahead of Harbaugh without a question. This list factors in current coaching ability and as it stands right now, Harbaugh has a slight edge over Payton.
That is not to say Payton hasn't done great things for the Broncos. Denver returned to the playoffs in 2024 with a rookie quarterback not many people believed in under center. Granted, the Broncos had one of the easiest schedules in the league and couldn't beat a winning team, but so did the Chargers.
2. Jim Harbaugh, LA Chargers
Harbaugh gets the edge over Payton because his success with the Chargers was instant. Payton turned in a losing record in his first year as Broncos head coach and while every Broncos fan would blame Russell Wilson, it is worth noting Mike Tomlin had a winning record in his first season with Wilson in 2024.
Harbaugh is a culture changer and that was on full display in 2024. The Chargers went from a five-win team with an awful culture to an 11-win team with a distinct identity.
What many people outside of Los Angeles don't realize is just how flawed the Chargers roster was in 2024. The Bolts punched far above their weight class because of the team's top-tier coaching. With more resources to add help this offseason, the sky is truly the limit for the Bolts with Harbaugh leading the way.
Of course, as great as Harbaugh is, there is still a sizeable gap between him and the best head coach in the AFC West.
1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
Andy Reid isn't just the best head coach in the AFC West, he is the best head coach in the NFL. Reid and the Chiefs are currently attempting to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls, which would take his career total up to four.
Sure, it helps to have the best quarterback on the planet and a defense that can carry the load when it needs to but anyone taking credit away from Reid is missing the bigger picture. This is a coach who has always elevated his teams and as he has proven the last half-decade, with the right pieces, he is almost unstoppable.
Harbaugh and the other head coaches in the AFC West have a long way to go before catching up to Reid. In fact, the only way Reid won't be No. 1 on this list in the future is if he retires.