There has never been a worse time to be a quarterback selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.
Stable coaching situations are crucial for a young quarterback’s development at the pro level, but none of the last four quarterbacks selected with a No. 1 overall pick have had that luxury.
Most recently, the Tennessee Titans announced they fired head coach Brian Callahan on Monday, Oct. 13, six weeks into the rookie season of No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. With that news, Callahan becomes the fourth consecutive head coach to lose his job during the rookie year of a quarterback drafted with the No. 1 overall pick.
This is not a completely new trend, though it is one that started recently.
In the last 10 NFL seasons – since 2016 – only two quarterbacks have been selected with the No. 1 overall pick and finished out their rookie season with the same head coach that began the season.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, is the only top pick in that span to still be with the head coach in the team that drafted him. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, drafted first overall the year before Burrow, got four full seasons with head coach Kliff Kingsbury before the Cardinals fired Kingsbury.
Since 2016, six total quarterbacks – all former No. 1 overall picks – did not make it through their rookie season with the same head coach the whole way through.
USA TODAY Sports has compiled a full list of quarterbacks selected No. 1 overall to lose their head coach before finishing their rookie seasons.
Head coaches fired midseason with No. 1 overall pick rookie QB
Since the very first NFL draft in 1936, no head coach had ever been fired in the middle of the same season that his team drafted a quarterback with the first overall pick until 2016.
In the 10 years since, it has happened six times, including four of the last five years.
2016: Los Angeles Rams
Head coach: Jeff Fisher
Team’s No. 1 overall pick: Jared Goff
Record before firing: 4-9
2018: Cleveland Browns
Head coach: Hue Jackson
Team’s No. 1 overall pick: Baker Mayfield
Record before firing: 2-5-1
2021: Jacksonville Jaguars
Head coach: Urban Meyer
Team’s No. 1 overall pick: Trevor Lawrence
Record before firing: 2-11
2023: Carolina Panthers
Head coach: Frank Reich
Team’s No. 1 overall pick: Bryce Young
Record before firing: 1-10
2024: Chicago Bears
Head coach: Matt Eberflus
Team’s No. 1 overall pick: Caleb Williams
Record before firing: 4-8
2025: Tennessee Titans
Head coach: Brian Callahan
Team’s No. 1 overall pick: Cam Ward
Record before firing: 1-5
