AFC North head coaches ranked from worst to best in 2023
- Who is better: Tomlin or Harbaugh?
- Who is the worst in the division?
The last time a new head coach entered the AFC North was in 2020 when the Cleveland Browns hired Kevin Stefanski to run the team. The Browns were the only team making changes at head coach for over a decade, as Marvin Lewis ran the Cincinnati Bengals from 2004 to 2018.
Zac Taylor joined the AFC North in 2019 when the Bengals finally parted ways with Lewis. John Harbaugh was hired by the Baltimore Ravens in 2008 and Mike Tomlin joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007.
As mentioned, aside from the Browns, the division has had pretty good consistency at the head coaching spot. Let's rank every head coach in the division from worst to best.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference
4. Kevin Stefanski
In any other division, Stefanski probably isn't in the four-spot but in the AFC North, he is. I'll give the guy a lot of credit -- In just one year at the helm, he turned the Browns around from a joke to a playoff team. Cleveland went 11-5 in Stefanski's first year in 2020 and while he wasn't the coach in the game due to COVID protocols, they won a playoff game that season as well.
Since then, things haven't gone as swimmingly for Cleveland. They went 8-9 in 2021 and finished 7-10 this past year. They're better than they were for years but haven't gotten back to the playoffs since Stefanski's first year.
The Browns head coach came out of the gates strong during his rookie season, winning Coach of the Year for his efforts. Normally, that'd be enough to get you out of the cellar of the head coach basement but not in this division. One playoff win won't be enough for that.