Let's say you just bought an NFL franchise. Who would you want to hire as your organization's head coach if you could pick anyone from around the league? In fact, what if you could choose from anyone in the pros or college?

That's the question that the FS1 host of The Herd, Colin Cowherd, contemplated on Wednesday while creating his top-10 list. Although, his choices had to meet the following criteria.


  1. Age does matter
  2. Easy to work with
  3. The less controversy, the better
  4. Innovative thinker
  5. Relates to players

Looking at that list, San Francisco 49ers fans have to immediately think about their favorite team's head coach, Kyle Shanahan, who checks all of Cowherd's boxes. That's why the 49ers coach was No. 1 on his list.

"I know he's had a couple of Super Bowl moments you don't love," Cowherd explained, "but I think San Francisco was right. I think he's intense. I think he's got the lineage from his dad (Mike Shanahan). I think he has a system, but he is nimble enough to manipulate the system and listen to (general manager) John Lynch and others. I think he's obsessively driven, which is probably most of these guys (on my list).

"But if I start my franchise today, I get the (experience from his) dad, I get him, I get playoff experience, and I also think he's got a chip on his shoulder because he thinks he should have won that Super Bowl last year. And he thinks he should have won that Atlanta Super Bowl against New England when he was the [offensive coordinator]."

Cowherd says his criteria eliminates some big names like Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots and Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints.

Below is Cowherd's complete list.


  1. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
  2. Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills
  3. Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles
  4. Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
  5. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
  6. Matt Nagy, Chicago Bears
  7. Brian Flores, Miami Dolphins
  8. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma Sooners
  9. Urban Meyer, retired, Ohio State Buckeyes
  10. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers



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