Coaches come and go in the NFL. More recently, both at the college level and in the NFL, we have seen the coaches' carousel spin season after season, with contracts getting higher and higher. However, even with calls for some to be fired, there is a reluctance by NFL general managers to dismiss more tenured and experienced coaches. Championships and a winning culture are key factors, and trends are showing that if those two are not visible in a team by a certain time, the coach's opportunity runs out. These charts below show the highest paid coaches in the NFL and the tenure of every coach in the NFL. When looking at them together, it's evident that tenure is a determining factor for larger contracts, but not always. Two of the top ten are first year cocahes, so it seems general managers value potential just as much. The timeline tracks how we have come to this point and how coaching contracts have evolved over the past 25 years.

**As of December 2, 2025, coaches Brian Daboll and Brian Callahan have both been fired and replaced with interim head coaches.**