NFL reporter Tom Pelissero has released his list of young coaching candidates who are drawing attention during the 2025 season. These are mostly assistants in their 30s whose names are most likely to come up in January when old head coaches get fired and new ones come along.
In case Indianapolis Colts’ fans want something else to worry about in the final months of the season, offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter made this year’s list.
This, of course, means nothing right now. Pelissero named 24 coaches, and the list does not include older, established guys. For instance, former Packer and Cowboy head coach Mike McCarthy is likely to draw a lot of attention in the upcoming cycle, but the 62-year-old McCarthy is not going to be included in an article entitled “young coaches to know.”
Jim Bob Cooter could ride Colts’ success in 2025 into a head coaching position in 2026
The oldest coaches on the list are 44. The youngest is 29. Most are in their 30s, which places the 41-year-old Cooter in the upper age range. But he does come from the most popular subset – offensive coordinators.
Half of the candidates – an even dozen – are current offensive coordinators for an NFL team. A 13th – Mike Kafka – was an OC until the Giants promoted him to interim head coach after firing Brian Daboll. Three others are passing game coordinators.
Clearly, NFL teams are interested in young offensive minds. But will they be interested in Jim Bob Cooter?
Not surprisingly, most of the names on the list come from successful teams. Last year, Detroit sent both of its coordinators into head coaching gigs. Steichen arrived in Indianapolis a year after helping the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. That same year, the Eagles' defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, also snagged a head coaching job in Arizona.
For much of 2025, the Colts have led the entire NFL in total offense, points scored, and yards per play. They are doing it all with a quarterback who had been written off by most NFL observers and a revamped offensive line. Clearly, if you are a GM in search of a dynamic young offensive mind, Cooter has to be on your list.
However, there are things on his resume that may work against the Colts’ OC. First and foremost, he does not call plays. That is often the most publicly-accessible part of a coordinator’s job, and with Indy, Shane Steichen handles it.
But play calling may actually be one of the least important things a coordinator does. The bulk of his job comes during the week when he designs an offensive strategy that can produce against a specific opponent’s defense. As Pelissero points out, Cooter has a stellar reputation for working the details. He figures out how to attack a defense’s weaknesses.
The other potential strike against Cooter’s candidacy is his failure to develop Anthony Richardson. In fairness, that was a franchise-wide failure that falls on Steichen and Chris Ballard as much as on Cooter. But they are not looking for jobs this Winter.
Many teams that are looking for a new coach will also be looking for a new quarterback. If they don’t trust Cooter’s ability to develop someone right out of college – based on the Richardson experience – they might be drawn to the way he unlocked a couple of young vets who were struggling.
The work he has done with Jones this season echoes the success he had a decade ago when he was quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator in Detroit. Matthew Stafford had been in Detroit for five years but had never made the Pro Bowl until Cooter’s first year as QB coach. Stafford continued a good run throughout Cooter’s tenure with the Lions.
If the Dolphins decide to move on from Mike McDaniel, Cooter might be just the coach to work his magic with a veteran like Tua Tagovailoa. Any other QB-needy team that is not in position to draft one in 2026 might be intrigued by Cooter’s track record with older players.
Cooter will need to impress in the interview process. His reputation for detail work is great for a coordinator, but teams often want more of a visionary in the top spot. If he can describe his vision, he could be a very strong candidate.
I think there is less chance of the Colts’ coach taking an alternate route and accepting a parallel move to OC with a team that will allow him to call plays. But if he remains with Indy in 2026, perhaps Steichen will consider ceding play calling to Cooter, in the same way Houston’s DeMeco Ryans gave up calling defensive plays to Matt Burke earlier this season.
If the past has taught us anything, it is that Cooter needs to strike while he has the chance. There is no guarantee Indy will be in this position next season. Just ask Bobby Slowik. As Texans' offensive coordinator in 2023, he was one of those hot young offensive minds that was on everyone’s short list.
Houston’s offense struggled in 2024, and Slowik didn’t merely find himself without head coaching opportunities – he was out of a job in Houston, too. He had to move on to Miami, where he is now the pass game coordinator.
If Cooter were to depart, Steichen might have his heir apparent in the current pass game coordinator, Alex Tanney. Tanney served as quarterbacks coach in Philly before accompanying Steichen to the Colts. That is a typical route for coordinators to follow, and the head coach clearly has a good comfort level with Tanney.
But Cooter isn’t gone yet. Right now, he’s just a name on a list. There just happens to be a pretty good chance that a few of those names are going to be head coaches next year.