Tag: NFL Coaches

Ranking the 5 new NFL head coaches: Who made the best hire?

Which new NFL hire will pay the biggest immediate dividends? We rank them.

Compared to 2022, 2023 was an oasis of job security for NFL head coaches. More than a quarter of the league’s sideline generals were replaced last offseason, leading to promising hires that returned immediate dividends (Doug Pederson, Brian Daboll), others on which the jury is still out (Kevin O’Connell, Matt Eberflus) and a couple of one-year flameouts (Nathaniel Hackett, Lovie Smith).

Only five teams fired their head coaches after the start of last fall’s regular season, starting with Matt Rhule’s deserved departure in Carolina. That set the stage for a hiring process filled with the typical mix of retread veterans and rising coordinators as each franchise looks for the guy who can take their team to the next level.

With the Arizona Cardinals settling on Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to replace Kliff Kingsbury, we now know what 2023’s class of new head coaches officially looks like. With some very minimal data about their pasts and the rosters they’ve inherited, which hire looks best? Well, looks like it’s time to get into some way-too-early, almost-certainly-wrong rankings.

NFL: Tracking head coach, coordinator and GM firings for 2023

Here’s a running list of who’s been fired during the season and in its immediate aftermath.

Yesterday was Black Monday in the NFL and it didn’t disappoint as several head coaches were given the boot. A couple coordinators and one GM have also left their positions.

Here’s a running list of who has been fired during the season and in its immediate aftermath.

Twitter reacts to Saints coach Sean Payton retiring

Twitter was replete with reactions upon the news of coach Sean Payton retiring from the New Orleans Saints. Here are some of the best.

The New Orleans Saints took a blow on Tuesday with the retirement of coach Sean Payton.

Payton led the Saints to their lone Super Bowl victory at the end of the 2009 season, and compiled a 152-89 regular season record with a 9-8 mark in postseason play. The Saints also came close to qualifying for two Super Bowls as they came up short in the 2006 and 2018 NFC Championship Games.

The branch off the Bill Parcells coaching tree was just what the Saints needed in 2006 to recover from the devastating 2005 campaign, which was due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Twitter was full of takes after the news. Here are some of the best reactions to Payton’s retirement.

Twitter reacts to the Jaguars firing Urban Meyer as coach

The Jacksonville Jaguars fired Urban Meyer after a 2-11 record. Here is how Twitter reacted to the news.

The Jacksonville Jaguars got a fresh start Thursday morning with the firing of coach Urban Meyer.

The move happened in the middle of the night, and comes after a string of embarrassments that range from his 2-11 record to getting shutout 20-0 at the hands of the Tennessee Titans in Week 14 to a story about how he allegedly kicked kicker Josh Lambo.

Like Jaguars owner Shad Khan when firing a coach, Twitter never sleeps, and the coaching change by Jacksonville was just what football fans needed as one jolt of excitement before bedtime. Here are some of the best reactions from Twitter.

Assistants from every team to consider as next NFL coaches

As the coaching carousel begins to spin, here are assistant coaches from every team NFL teams should consider when filling their vacancies.

The coaching carousel had its first turn in October when Jon Gruden resigned from the Las Vegas Raiders.

As the NFL enters the final four weeks of its regular season, the carousel is expected to take a few more spins as teams fire coaches and move in different directions. Some teams will go with younger minds while others will rely on retreads.

Here is a look at an assistant coach from each NFL team to consider for a coaching vacancy. Keep in mind that it is like a potluck: some are tasked to bring the prime rib and some are tasked to bring the napkins and paper plates.

Ed Reed said he’s spoken to Ravens’ John Harbaugh about coaching

How great would Ed Reed be as a coach? Apparently, he’s thought the same thing, saying he’s talked to Ravens’ John Harbaugh about coaching

Former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed is arguably the best to ever play the position. While Reed was certainly known for creating big plays in the secondary, it was his football intelligence that helped create the Pro Football Hall of Famer’s career what it was. So, it makes sense that Reed would be a perfect fit with the headset on the sideline, right?

That’s exactly what Reed believes and he’s taken a few shots at it since retiring in 2015. Reed was hired by then-Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan as the team’s assistant defensive backs coach. However, it was only a one-year stint as Buffalo ultimately parted ways with Ryan and hiring Sean McDermott, who didn’t retain Reed on his staff. Reed joined his alma mater in 2020, hired as the team’s “Chief of Staff” under coach Manny Diaz.

In an interview with Baltimore Beatdown’s Kyle Barber, Reed said he’s still interested in coaching and has spoken to coach John Harbaugh. But he isn’t interested in just any role.

“I’ve talked to coach Harbaugh briefly at times, about things,” Reed said about whether he’s had conversations about joining the Ravens’ staff. “I’m not a position coach, man. I can coach position but no.”

It would seem like a position role would be perfect for Reed. He’s widely acknowledged as one of the best defensive backs to play football and would surely have a lot to teach young players. But Reed believes young players wouldn’t listen to him as a position coach, so he’s looking for a job a little higher up the ladder.

“[Young players] haven’t played the game and just won’t even hear my voice putting me at a position coach, Reed continued. “My voice won’t even be heard. So that’s why I tweeted about being a [defensive coordinator] or head coach. I know what I’m capable of, I know what I aspire for. You gotta know your worth.”

While Reed has certainly set his worth pretty high, it seems unlikely a team is going to hire him as either a defensive coordinator or head coach without more experience. We’ve seen plenty of great players who become terrible analysts and others that try to get into coaching only to struggle. If he’s already concerned about players not listening to him, that would probably be a pretty big red flag to any owner even remotely interested in handing the reins over to Reed.

It would be amazing to see Reed on the sideline in a purple polo with a headset on teaching the likes of Chuck Clark, DeShon Elliott, Marlon Humphrey, and Marcus Peters. But unless Reed becomes a little more realistic about his path to a coordinator or head coaching job, it’s probably not going to happen very soon.

[listicle id=60168]

Falcons add two more names to front office and coaching staff

The Falcons continue to round out their new coaching staff and front office, hiring a new strength and conditioning coach and director of coaching operations on Wednesday.

The Falcons continue to round out their coaching staff and front office, hiring a new strength and conditioning coach and director of coaching operations on Wednesday.

Thomas Stallworth was named Atlanta’s strength and conditioning coach after spending three years in the same role for the New York Giants. Brian Griffin, a former football director at IMG Academy, will serve as the team’s director of coaching operations.

Stallworth has coached at Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Fresno State. The Falcons’ new strength and conditioning coach also won a National Championship in college as a linebacker at the University of Tennessee in 1998.

As for Griffin, he’s held multiple roles at the IMG Performance Academy, including president of the training division, according to the Falcons team website:

“Griffin also spent three years (2011-13) as the Vice President of Performance and President of Training Division at IMG Performance in Bradenton, Fla. He also spent four years (2007-10) as the Senior Director of Performance, Combines, Camps & Clinics for Under Armour.”

Since hiring Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot, the team has brought in over 20 new coaches and front office assistants.

[lawrence-related id=65591,65585,65582,65562,65551]

[vertical-gallery id=65432]

The best possible fit for every open NFL head coaching job right now

It’s not easy finding the right head coach. We gave it a try anyway.

Over the next few weeks, we in the media are going to spend a lot of time talking about and analyzing NFL head coaching hires. Here’s a dirty little secret: None of us know what the hell we’re talking about.

And that’s not a dig at the media — I’m in the media! — but it’s more of a comment on how hard it is to judge a candidate before they’re actually asked to do the job of a head coach. Experience as a play-caller often seems to be a prerequisite for teams, but success as an offensive or defensive coordinator hasn’t always carried over to the big job.

I mean, just two years ago, Freddie Kitchens was seen as a slam-dunk hire after he helped turn around Baker Mayfield’s rookie season. Meanwhile, the Packers were laughed at for hiring Matt LaFleur after he lead a mediocre offense in Tennessee and he was seen as a “Friend of McVay” hire. Green Bay has won 26 games over the last two years. Cleveland fired Kitchens after one season.

Again, this is all very hard. So with that out of the way, let’s try to do the impossible: Sort out all of the head coaching candidates and pick the “perfect” one for each job opening. I’m not trying to predict which candidate will land with which team; but rather, which candidate I think would be the best fit for each team.

Chargers’ Gus Bradley not thinking about future as job status looms

Gus Bradley’s job could also be on the line.

We will know what the future holds for head coach Anthony Lynn in the coming days. But others on the staff could be on the chopping block if Lynn is on his way out, including defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.

Asked about his future at Thursday’s media availability, Bradley was noncommittal, saying that he tries not to think about whether he’s back with the team next year.

However, Bradly said he’s excited to see what a healthy Chargers team can do: “I think the future is very bright for this defense.”

Los Angeles has played this entire season without key defenders like safety Derwin James and linebacker Drue Tranquill. Along the way, injuries hindered others edge defenders Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram and cornerbacks Chris Harris Jr. and Casey Hayward.

Hired back in 2017, the same year that Lynn was brought on, Bradley was coveted for his revelation of the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom,” a defense that wreaked havoc in the league.

Under Bradley, Los Angeles has ranked among the best defenses in the league, statistically. However, opposing offenses have figured out how to exploit his notorious Cover 3 scheme, especially in crucial moments of games.

L.A. has struggled to generate consistent pressure on the quarterback as well as create turnovers the past two years.