Just when you thought the playoffs would keep you occupied, we now have coaching vacancies being filled. Let’s dabble in coaching hires and searches, shall we? Grades included!
Filled Jobs
Arizona Cardinals
Kliff Kingsbury B
There’s a lot of excitement for Kingsbury because of his offensive acumen, and rightfully so. A lot of people liked KK as a potential offensive coordinator at USC, but his offensive chops are elite. The thing that is worrisome is Kingsbury’s collegiate coaching record. For every college coach that has become a good NFL head coach (Jimmy Johnson, Pete Carroll), they were elite college coaches, too. Maybe an NFL with open offenses will give KK a head start, but there’s a lot to be shown in the next season. The Cardinals don’t have a lot of talent, but what they do have in a QB prospect in Josh Rosen that a lot of people like. We’ll see if he can shape him into an upper echelon quarterback.
Green Bay Packers
Matt LaFluer A
For all the fuss over coaches who could get the most out of a quarterback, LaFleur spent the last year making the Titans into a running powerhouse. Getting the most out of Derrick Henry was impressive considering Marcus Mariotta was injured and the lack of assets on the outside. Even with all that LaFleur helped the Titans stay in the playoff hunt until the last week of the season. Coming from the Sean McVay coaching tree will certainly help with coaching Aaron Rodgers. If LaFleur can bring balance to the offense, the Packers will be back in contention next season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bruce Arians A+
There is too much talent in Tampa to be this bad. The one thing that was missing from this team was camaraderie, and Arians gets his players to buy in better than anyone else. He will get players to buy in to each other and the team. If they stay healthy, there is decent talent on both sides of the ball to be competitive next year, even in this tough division. If they can fill some holes (like getting a real RB), they could actually be a tough out next year. This won’t be a one year turnaround, but Bruce Arians can bring a much needed culture change back to the Buccaneers.
Open Jobs
Cincinnati Bengals
This is probably the least attractive job out there. When you have a tight pocketed ownership, a losing culture, and a team pointing downward, you can only imagine this will be a temporary job for whoever takes it. The top candidate seems to be Eric Bieniemy, the Chiefs offensive coordinator. Since Hue Jackson left a few years ago, the offense has struggled, even with AJ Green, Joe Mixon, Tyler Eiffert, and Andy Dalton. This team was decimated by injuries last year, so a progression towards the mean in that area could be a big help.
Cleveland Browns
If the Bengals was the worst job, the Browns may have the most attractive opening. You have a QB of the future in Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb in the backfield, and Jarvis Landry, Antonio Callaway, and David Njoku as receiving options. The defense is above average, and Gregg Williams did a great job with that unit. Add a few more pieces, and they’ll contend for the AFC North for the next 8–10 years. Freddie Kitchens seems like the top candidate right now. He was the man who took over as offensive coordinator and helped mold Mayfield after Hue left town. If he’s the pick, it should inspire confidence in Cleveland. Having John Dorsey making this pick lends gravitas to the situation. The big question is what happens to Gregg Williams if he doesn’t get the HC job? Does he leave and leave a hole? Does he stay? That would be a huge help.
Denver Broncos
John Elway is looking for “greatness” in his next head coach, and the top choice right now is Mike Munchak. This guy is one of the top O-line coaches in the game, so that rings the bell. He’ll give the Broncos a smash mouth feel that Broncos fans will appreciate. The issue at hand is the quarterback. Case Keenum isn’t the long term option, even though he threw for almost 4,000 yards last season. He only had 18 TD’s combined with 15 INT’s. That won’t do with thee Chargers and Chiefs in the division. Chad Kelly may be the second coming of Tony Romo as an undrafted free agent who made it big, but if he isn’t (he isn’t), someone is going to have address that option. Since Peyton Manning left, the Broncos have been a revolving door, leaving the Broncos out to dry in the meantime. If Munchak brings a tough as nails approach to hide his team’s lack of QB talent, it could work. He’s shown enough in his career to at least give him a shot. If it doesn’t work, it may be game over for Elway.
Miami Dolphins
Good news, Dolphins fans! Mike Tannenbaum is out! That guy might as well be the plague when it comes to picking talent. A note to future teams: DON’T HIRE HIM! There seem to be two main candidates for this job. Kris Richard, defensive backs coach from the Cowboys and Brian Flores, linebackers coach from New England. I’m a little leery of hiring any New England coach whose name doesn’t rhyme with Shmill Shmelichik. Flores has a lot of experience all over the organization which could be helpful as a head coach. Richard is a fiery coach who is already loved in Dallas. The committee (of one) does not want Richard to leave the Cowboys, but that’s only because he’s a legitimate coach. Flores is apparently the leader at the pole, but anything can happen. This team was still 7-9 this year while only being a few close games away from making it. If Tannehill comes back with a good offensive coordinator, this team can surprise a lot of people next year.
New York Jets
If you’re looking for a team with a TON of cap space, good picks, and a QB of the future in place already, the Jets are your choice. Sam Darnold can make a lot of amazing plays, and with some discipline, he can blossom. Mike McCarthy is currently in talks to become the next coach, and that will help all around. McCarthy brings coaching chops to New York that will keep the media at bay for a while. Even though things went south with Rodgers in Green Bay, McCarthy can grow Darnold into the QB he can be. There are good pieces on this team but they need offensive skill players. With a coach like this, they might be able to actually spend their money on willing free agents. The end of the Patriot dynasty is nigh (give it 2 years), so this is the right choice to begin their ascent to divisional prominence.
Updated grades to come weekly!
Divine Interception 