The NFL has seen a youth movement among its coaching ranks in recent seasons, and the 2026 coaching carousel proved no different.
A total of 10 teams replaced their head coaches during the 2026 NFL offseason. Three of those new hires are under 40 years old, making them among the youngest coaches in the league.
That includes Buffalo Bills coach Joe Brady, who will now take the mantle of being the official youngest coach in the NFL. That title previously belonged to Kellen Moore, who was a rookie coach during the 2025 campaign, but Brady is almost a year and a half younger than Moore.
So, who are the youngest coaches for the 2026 NFL season? Below is a look at the eight NFL coaches entering the 2026 campaign at age 40 or younger and what they have
achieved so far in their coaching careers.
Youngest head coaches in the NFL for 2026
All ages as of the start of NFL season on Sept. 9, 2026.
Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills
- Age: 36 (Sept. 23, 1989)
Brady was an internal hire to replace Sean McDermott with the Bills after nine seasons. Brady spent four seasons in Buffalo's organization and two-and-a-half seasons as the team's offensive coordinator before being promoted to head coach.
Before joining the Bills, Brady spent two seasons with the Carolina Panthers. However, his claim to fame came in 2019, when he helped lead LSU and Joe Burrow to a historic offensive season en route to winning a national championship as the team's passing game coordinator.
Brady led the Bills to a 36-31 win over the Houston Texans in his first game as the team's coach and will hope that is a sign of things to come in his first season.
Kellen Moore, New Orleans Saints
- Age: 38 (July 5, 1988)
Moore enjoyed a rapid coaching rise after a six-year career as a backup quarterback. The lefty first joined the Cowboys' coaching staff in 2018 and was promoted to offensive coordinator the following year. He spent the next six seasons operating in that role for the Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles and won a Super Bowl on Nick Sirianni's staff before being hired to take over the Saints.
Moore led the Saints to a 6-11 record in his first season in New Orleans. However, the Saints improved as the season progressed and went 5-4 across Tyler Shough's nine starts, inspiring hope Moore could turn the team into an NFC South contender with more time.
Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks
- Age: 39 (June 26, 1987)
Macdonald's reputation as a defensive wunderkind helped him earn the right to replace long-time coach Pete Carroll in Seattle. The results have been stellar, as the Seahawks posted a 24-10 record across Macdonald's first two seasons in Seattle and won Super Bowl 60 thanks to his elite defensive tutelage.
Macdonald will have designs on helping the Seahawks repeat as Super Bowl champions in 2026 which would only bolster his argument as the clear-cut, most successful branch of John Harbaugh's coaching tree.
Mike LaFleur, Arizona Cardinals
- Age: 39 (March 3, 1987)
LaFleur was hired to be the Cardinals' coach after spending three years under Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams. LaFleur previously was a long-time assistant under Kyle Shanahan across stops with the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers and also had play-calling experience across two seasons with the New York Jets in 2021 and 2022.
The early returns on LaFleur were strong, as he led Arizona to a Week 1 upset of the Los Angeles Chargers. The 39-year-old will be hoping to enjoy similar success to his older brother, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, who led the Packers to a 13-3 record in 2019, his age-40 season.
Klint Kubiak, Las Vegas Raiders
- Age: 39 (Feb. 17, 1987)
The Raiders hired Kubiak after he helped the Seahawks turn in a strong offensive season on their way to a Super Bowl 60 win. Before that, Kubiak helped coax the most out of Derek Carr and the Saints offense in 2024 after spending a season working under Shanahan in San Francisco.
Las Vegas will be hoping Kubiak can help Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, blossom into a high-quality quarterback.
Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears
- Age: 40 (May 11, 1986)
Johnson led the Detroit Lions to three consecutive seasons as a top-five offense before taking on the Bears' coaching job. His first season in Chicago saw the team post an 11-6 record and earn their first playoff victory since the 2010 postseason.
Johnson's skills as a play-designer are unmatched, and his strong work with Chicago's offense is already shining through in 2026. The Bears scored a whopping 59 points in Week 1 while starting quarterback Caleb Williams looked like a dominant, dual-threat weapon in the blowout win.
Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
- Age: 40 (Jan. 24, 1986)
Incredibly, the 2026 NFL season will be McVay's 10th as a head coach. Despite that, the offensive guru remains the seventh-youngest coach league-wide after being the youngest individual ever hired to be an NFL coach back in 2017.
McVay entered the campaign with a 92-57 regular-season record and a 10-6 mark in the postseason. He led the Rams to a Super Bowl 56 win over the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2021 NFL playoffs and also got his team into the Big Game following the 2018 season.
McVay will be hoping to get the Rams back to the Super Bowl in 2026 after they lost to the Seahawks in the NFC championship game last season.
Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Age: 40 (Nov. 8, 1985)
Coen posted a 13-4 record during his first season with the Jaguars in 2025. That made his .765 winning percentage the highest among active NFL coaches entering the 2026 season.
Before joining the Jaguars, Coen spent time in McVay's system with the Rams and also enjoyed a successful one-year stint as the Buccaneers' offensive coordinator. And long before his coaching career began, Coen was a record-setting quarterback at UMass and roomed with former New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Youngest coaches in the NFL as Joe Brady takes command of Bills in 2026
