There’ll be no shortage of new blood in the AFC North in 2026, with three of the division’s four teams seeing a head coach change following the 2025 season.Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor is the only coach in the division who will remain at the helm of his squad in both 2025 and 2026. After Buffalo’s firing of Sean McDermott earlier this month, Taylor is the second-longest tenured head coach in the AFC, behind only Kansas City’s Andy Reid.As division rivals, the Bengals play the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers twice each season, giving Cincinnati fans plenty of time to get to learn the division’s new faces.Here’s who is now at the helm across the rest of the AFC North.Baltimore Ravens: Jesse MinterAfter nearly two decades, John Harbaugh will not be on the sideline in Baltimore. To usher in a new era, the Ravens turned to Jesse Minter who despite comes to the job after spending two years as a defensive coordinator in Los Angeles, is familiar with what makes AFC North football tick.A native of Yorktown, Indiana (right outside of Muncie), Minter has spent much of his 20-year coaching career in and around the division’s footprint, with his stint with the Chargers, as well as stints as a defensive coordinator with Georgia State (2013-2016) and Vanderbilt (2021) as the major exceptions.Minter also spent four seasons on Harbaugh’s staff with the Ravens, in three different roles: Defensive assistant (2017-18), assistant defensive backs coach (2019) and defensive backs coach (2020).After his first go-around in Baltimore, he went to be a defensive coordinator for Vanderbilt and Michigan (2002-23) before joining Jim Harbaugh in LA.Prior to his time with the Ravens, Minter was on staffs at Notre Dame (2006), Cincinnati (2007-08) and Indiana State (2009-2012) and Georgia State.In 2025, the Chargers allowed just 285.2 yards per game, the fifth-best mark in the NFL, and allowed just 20.0 points per game, good for ninth in the league. Baltimore ranked 24th (354.5) and 18th (23.4), respectively.Cleveland Browns: Todd MonkenMonken has the most AFC North experience of any of the three newcomers to the division, having previously been the offensive coordinator both the Browns (2019) and the Ravens (2023-25).Despite struggles on offense, mostly due to injuries to quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Ravens still ranked middle of the pack (16th) in yards per game, at 332.2, and were 11th in the NFL in points scored per game (24.9).In Monken’s first two years in Baltimore, the Ravens won the division and even made an appearance in the AFC Championship Game, where they played host to the Kansas City Chiefs.Baltimore won no fewer than 12 games in Monken’s first two years with the Ravens, but finished 8-9 in 2025, one game out of a playoff spot.Monken has had multiple stints in both college and the pros, working on staffs of the Jacksonville Jaguars (2007-10) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-17) in the NFL.Most recently at the college ranks, Monken oversaw back-to-back national championships at the University of Georgia, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Kirby Smart from 2020-2022.In those title years, 2021 and 2022, UGA boasted a top 10 and top five scoring offense, respectively, and lost just one game in those two seasons.His quarterback, Stetson Bennett, was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth round of the 2023 draft.While never a head coach in the NFL, Monken did spend three years as head coach of the University of Southern Mississippi, from 2013-2015. Taking over a team that went 0-12 the year prior to his arrival, Monken steadily improved his win total each year, going from one to three to, in his final year, nine, taking the Golden Eagles to their first bowl game in four years.Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy The only hire made in the division with prior NFL head coaching experience, the Steelers tabbed Pittsburgh native Mike McCarthy for succeed Mike Tomlin’s nearly two-decade tenure in Western PA.Winning the Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 2010, McCarthy has gone 174-112-2 in 288 NFL games over his 18 year career.That Super Bowl win came against…the Pittsburgh Steelers.Only four times has he finished a season under .500 and only seven times has he failed to win 10 or more games.After his tenure in Green Bay ended in Week 13 of the 2018 campaign, McCarthy was hired to oversee operations with the Dallas Cowboys, where he went 84-48. He went 12-5 three-straight years, from 2021-2023, and winning the division twice.He was fired after a 7-9-1 season in 2024.McCarthy quickly rose to the NFL from his college coaching days, where he spent time at Fort Hays State (Kansas) and Pitt before he earned his first NFL job in 1993, as offensive quality control with the Kansas City Chiefs.After one year as Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach in 1999, McCarthy was an offensive coordinator with New Orleans (2000-2004) and San Francisco (2005) before he was hired as the Packers’ head coach prior to the 2006 season.
There’ll be no shortage of new blood in the AFC North in 2026, with three of the division’s four teams seeing a head coach change following the 2025 season.
Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor is the only coach in the division who will remain at the helm of his squad in both 2025 and 2026. After Buffalo’s firing of Sean McDermott earlier this month, Taylor is the second-longest tenured head coach in the AFC, behind only Kansas City’s Andy Reid.
As division rivals, the Bengals play the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers twice each season, giving Cincinnati fans plenty of time to get to learn the division’s new faces.
Here’s who is now at the helm across the rest of the AFC North.
Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter
After nearly two decades, John Harbaugh will not be on the sideline in Baltimore. To usher in a new era, the Ravens turned to Jesse Minter who despite comes to the job after spending two years as a defensive coordinator in Los Angeles, is familiar with what makes AFC North football tick.
A native of Yorktown, Indiana (right outside of Muncie), Minter has spent much of his 20-year coaching career in and around the division’s footprint, with his stint with the Chargers, as well as stints as a defensive coordinator with Georgia State (2013-2016) and Vanderbilt (2021) as the major exceptions.
Minter also spent four seasons on Harbaugh’s staff with the Ravens, in three different roles: Defensive assistant (2017-18), assistant defensive backs coach (2019) and defensive backs coach (2020).
After his first go-around in Baltimore, he went to be a defensive coordinator for Vanderbilt and Michigan (2002-23) before joining Jim Harbaugh in LA.
Prior to his time with the Ravens, Minter was on staffs at Notre Dame (2006), Cincinnati (2007-08) and Indiana State (2009-2012) and Georgia State.
In 2025, the Chargers allowed just 285.2 yards per game, the fifth-best mark in the NFL, and allowed just 20.0 points per game, good for ninth in the league. Baltimore ranked 24th (354.5) and 18th (23.4), respectively.
Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken
Monken has the most AFC North experience of any of the three newcomers to the division, having previously been the offensive coordinator both the Browns (2019) and the Ravens (2023-25).
Despite struggles on offense, mostly due to injuries to quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Ravens still ranked middle of the pack (16th) in yards per game, at 332.2, and were 11th in the NFL in points scored per game (24.9).
In Monken’s first two years in Baltimore, the Ravens won the division and even made an appearance in the AFC Championship Game, where they played host to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Baltimore won no fewer than 12 games in Monken’s first two years with the Ravens, but finished 8-9 in 2025, one game out of a playoff spot.
Monken has had multiple stints in both college and the pros, working on staffs of the Jacksonville Jaguars (2007-10) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-17) in the NFL.
Most recently at the college ranks, Monken oversaw back-to-back national championships at the University of Georgia, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Kirby Smart from 2020-2022.
In those title years, 2021 and 2022, UGA boasted a top 10 and top five scoring offense, respectively, and lost just one game in those two seasons.
His quarterback, Stetson Bennett, was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth round of the 2023 draft.
While never a head coach in the NFL, Monken did spend three years as head coach of the University of Southern Mississippi, from 2013-2015.
Taking over a team that went 0-12 the year prior to his arrival, Monken steadily improved his win total each year, going from one to three to, in his final year, nine, taking the Golden Eagles to their first bowl game in four years.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy
The only hire made in the division with prior NFL head coaching experience, the Steelers tabbed Pittsburgh native Mike McCarthy for succeed Mike Tomlin’s nearly two-decade tenure in Western PA.
Winning the Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 2010, McCarthy has gone 174-112-2 in 288 NFL games over his 18 year career.
That Super Bowl win came against…the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Only four times has he finished a season under .500 and only seven times has he failed to win 10 or more games.
After his tenure in Green Bay ended in Week 13 of the 2018 campaign, McCarthy was hired to oversee operations with the Dallas Cowboys, where he went 84-48. He went 12-5 three-straight years, from 2021-2023, and winning the division twice.
He was fired after a 7-9-1 season in 2024.
McCarthy quickly rose to the NFL from his college coaching days, where he spent time at Fort Hays State (Kansas) and Pitt before he earned his first NFL job in 1993, as offensive quality control with the Kansas City Chiefs.
After one year as Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach in 1999, McCarthy was an offensive coordinator with New Orleans (2000-2004) and San Francisco (2005) before he was hired as the Packers’ head coach prior to the 2006 season.