It took the entire month of January and the first morning of February, but at long last, every head coach vacancy in the NFL has been filled.

One-fourth of the league will be under new leadership next season. That much turnover will inevitably lead to different outcomes for every team in the long term.

Who should immediately regret their new hire? Which team will hurt the most with a key assistant walking out the door? Who got left out in the cold? Will any of this be accurate in three years' time?

We're here to break all of that down for you.

Biggest losers from 2024 NFL head coach hiring cycle

Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, and Mike Vrabel: These three are grouped together for obvious reasons. Nobody in the football world needs to be educated on what Belichick and Carroll did for the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, respectively, and Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans parting ways became the most surprising of the three dismissals. Vrabel is still just 48 years old and was through just six years with the Tennessee Titans the job compared to Belichick's 24 and Carroll's 14, respectively. 

What stings even more is that five of the eight new hires this year come from the defensive side of the ball, and none of these three defensive-minded and experienced candidates were one of them.

5 of the 8 head coach hires this cycle came from the defensive side https://t.co/FtZmuktnNS

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) February 1, 2024

There was at least ample smoke surrounding the Patriots moving on from Belichick leading up to the end of the season. No one would've believed a month Carrol and Vrabel would now be looking for an opportunity elsewhere, though Carroll at least got a gig as an advisor with the Seahawks.

That none of these three found a new landing spot is simply shocking.

Washington Commanders

The last team to hire a head coach landed arguably the worst candidate. Washington hired former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to replace Ron Rivera and lead what looks like another rebuild. 

Quinn has already flamed out as a head coach before with the Atlanta Falcons. He was fired after an 0-5 start to the 2020 season, which saved his overall record of 43-32 from dropping to .500 or worse. Quinn got that job initially because of his previous work as a defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, and he took the same path with the Dallas Cowboys to earn another head coaching gig.

This retread arc is reason enough to avoid giving Quinn another chance, and it's why he clearly wasn't the Commanders' first choice. The franchise looked set to hire Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson before Johnson opted to stay put with the NFC North champions. Former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was also considered a favorite before he took the Seahawks' gig. Even Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik followed Johnson's lead and opted out of the search. 

Washington is settling with Quinn. It's not a guaranteed sign of failure, but it surely doesn't inspire confidence.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens losing Macdonald was just one of their losses during this hiring cycle. Director of player personnel Joe Hortiz took a promotion to become the new general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers, which was essentially Jim Harbaugh poaching from his brother and Ravens head coach, John Harbaugh. More recently, the Titans hired Macdonald's former defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson as their defensive coordinator.

Three promotions to three separate teams means the league wants what the Ravens have. That's great! But it also means there's now work to be done.

Losing in the AFC title game after clinching the top seed is already a tough spot to be in going forward. The Ravens repeating that level of success with major turnover in the coaching and personnel departments would be very impressive. 

Baltimore's reputation as a pinnacle of consistency and winning will be put to the test in 2024. 

Ranking the new head coach hires around the NFL

All of them in order.