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The Cleveland Browns have already opened one head coaching job in the NFL, and many more are expected. NFL sources expect as many as nine jobs to open up this offseason, which begs the question of if there are enough quality head coaching candidates to fill those openings.

The NFL has become isolated when it comes to hiring new head coaches. The best way to get a job is to be an offensive coordinator, ideally under 50 years old, on a winning team. That paved the way for Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy in the last several years of openings. In a copycat league, who will be next?

The NFL may have to be creative. That means going after college coaches to find innovative leaders, looking into retired coaches anxious to get back into the game, and checking out the fired coaches to see if they can jump-start a new franchise after growing stale in their current job.

With the hiring cycle quickly approaching, these are the top coaching candidates as recommended by NFL owners, general managers and scouts. The coaches are listed alphabetically.