We used past performance, in-game decision-making and more to rank NFL coaching staffs from best to worst heading into the season.
Ben Solak joined ESPN in 2024 as a national NFL analyst. He previously covered the NFL at The Ringer, Bleeding Green Nation and The Draft Network.coaching staffs is an impossible exercise. At least when we rank players, we have exact metrics by which to grade them. With coaches, we have win-loss record, and that's not even a good barometer for coaching talent.
But we also know Quinn's defense has struggled with key NFC offenses in recent history. He is one of the league's longest tenured and most successful active defensive coaches, but I'm not going to ignore the current state of the NFL and his place in it. Zimmer hasn't coached an NFL defense since 2021, but his scheme matches the current wave in the NFL -- custom blitz packages, simulated pressures, two-deep zone coverages -- a bit better than Quinn's. That gives Zimmer a bump.
Similarly, I don't know enough about each linebacker coach and run game coordinator to include them in the exercise. There are a few non-coordinators tied to the success of the team: Take Jeff Stoutland in Philadelphia or Bill Callahan in Tennessee, the two best offensive line coaches in the league. Both have clearly buoyed the offenses on the teams they've coached, and it's reasonable to expect they'll continue to do so.
But some team has to be 32 out of 32, even if there's reason for optimism, and that unfortunate title falls on the Raiders. I'm always suspicious of interim-to-head coach. The best success story for an interim promotion in the past 20 years is former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Do you really want to be angling for a Jason Garrett arc?
I love the vibes in the room -- Quinn, Kliff and Whitt all get along well with the fellas. But schematically, this is as stale of a room as I can remember. Here's hoping they prove me wrong.Mayo has held three jobs in this league: Patriots linebacker from 2008 to 2015, Patriots linebacker coach from 2019 to 2023, and now Patriots coach.
I really love Macdonald's coordinator decisions. He did not just hire guys he knows, but rather grabbed Aden Durde from Dallas, the schematic polar opposite to Macdonald's defense in Baltimore. What can Durde -- a Middlesex, England, native who was an NFL quality control coach as recently as 2019 -- bring from Dan Quinn's defense and integrate into Macdonald's scheme? I don't know, but the cross-pollination should be interesting.
Daboll and Kafka are more willing than most offensive staffs to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. They have a wide variety of designer plays for key third or fourth downs . I like the analytical lean of this offensive coaching staff, but I can only put so much value in getting the best out of a bad roster.
Morris is clearly a great leader and personality and is defensively trilingual, so I'm confident he'll be good for the Falcons. Robinson is a much bigger unknown, though these guys who spend years in the Shanahan/McVay incubator tend to turn out pretty good . The fact Robinson gets to coach, the absolute poster child for the Sean McVay offense, should actually help him grow as a coach in Year 1, as Cousins teaches the kid Robinson a few things.
Taylor, who has long been connected to Pederson, has been the subject of offensive frustration. He took over playcalling in 2023 and it looks like he'lleven though the offense declined in success rate, points per drive and expected points added per play once he manned the headset. Of note was a huge decline on late downs, where Pederson's offenses have typically been excellent: In 2022, the Jaguars ranked ninth in third-down conversion rate and 15th in fourth-down conversion rate.
Now, I'm not at all willing to retire the McCarthy memes, as an end-of-half running clock still mystifies the man. But since he became the coach of the Cowboys in 2020, they are a top-five offense in success rate, expected points added per play and points per drive. There has been no huge free agent addition to galvanize the offense either, just a lot of homegrown talent inDallas would have been lower if not for the Zimmer hire.
It is crucial that the Bills get more dynamic on defense, as their rather cautious zone defense of the last few seasons was perennially carved by the elite processors in the AFC playoff picture . It is also crucial that they get more creative on offense, as the departures of wide receivershave created a huge vacuum in the passing game.
I don't know if the league will give it to him, but Flores deserves another crack at a head coaching gig. For as long as he doesn't get it, the Vikings will be huge beneficiaries.from a"We can kinda get a decent offense on the field with this guy" to"We are setting records with this guy" overnight.
How much credit can you dole out to the head coach for enduring this nightmare when he is, in part, at fault for authoring it? Tomlin, who has a defensive background, has struggled to find a good offensive coordinator. His past few attempts: Matt Canada, Randy Fichtner, Todd Haley. No wonder they haven't developed a quarterback yet.
Now, if there's a head coach I trust to shepherd his team through the change, it's Harbaugh. The Ravens flipped their offense from Greg Roman's system to Monken's last offseason. Those two are about as different as it gets, and the personnel wasn't even right for Monken's preferred approach -- they didn't have the talent at wide receiver.
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