photo credit: The New York Times
Here are my suggestions:
Jacksonville Jaguars: Jim Caldwell (Former Head Coach of the Colts and Lions)
Urban Meyer was perhaps the least successful NFL head coach of my lifetime. Not only was his team anemic on the field. Every week, it seemed like there was a new headline about his off-field actions. From literally kicking a player to berating his coaches, it was clear he was a cancer to the Jaguars team, so I am so happy that Jacksonville cut ties with him when they did. They were given a gift by the name of Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence is one of the most talented quarterbacks to ever come out of college, and the Jaguars got him. It would be a tragedy if they ruined his development with terrible coaching. So this head-coaching hire is essential for Trevor Lawrence’s future and the franchise as a whole.
Usually, I would just pick the most brilliant offensive coordinator for this job, as they would put Trevor Lawrence in a position to succeed on the field through innovative play calling and play design. However, this is an extraordinary situation. The Jaguars are one of the most chaotic organizations at the moment. Urban Meyer shook the soda bottle; now, the next coach will have to open it. An offensive genius isn’t enough; Jacksonville needs someone to reset the culture, to change the atmosphere in the clubhouse. Jim Caldwell is that guy. He is a leader and thus the opposite of Urban Meyer. Caldwell fights for his players, Meyer fights his players. Caldwell is a steady, confident hand that can lead Jacksonville out of these turbulent times.
But not only will he help the Jaguars off the field, but on the field as well. While he is not the next Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan, he is a great football mind in his own right. He specializes in working with quarterbacks, as his first NFL job was to be the Buccaneers quarterbacks coach. He was in Peyton Manning’s ear during his prime in Indianapolis. And, he was the quarterbacks’ coach in Baltimore when they won the Super Bowl and got great play out of Joe Flacco. Trevor Lawrence will learn so much from Caldwell about how to develop as a passer. Sure, he isn’t the “flashiest hire,” and he does not have the highest ceiling. But you know exactly what you are getting, which is exactly what Jacksonville needs.
New York Giants: Brian Daboll (Offensive Coordinator for the Buffalo Bills)
The Giants had a truly dismal year. They went from being a below-average team to a total joke of a team. They played so poorly that they decided to clean house and fired both their head coach and general manager. Now that they have hired a new GM, Joe Schoen, the former assistant general manager of the Bills, they turn their attention to finding a new coach. There appear to be two leading candidates, Brian Daboll (who has experience working with Schoen in Buffalo) and Brian Flores, the former Dolphins head coach. One advantage to Daboll is that he is more of an offensive-minded head coach. And it appears that the future of the league is offensive-minded head coaches. Six of the eight teams that played in the divisional round had former offensive coordinators as head coaches, including all teams that won their matchup this weekend. Flores is a former defensive coordinator, while Daboll is an offensive coordinator to one of the most explosive offenses in the league. In addition, since the head coach of the Bills, Sean McDermont, mainly focuses on the defense, it is clear that all of the offense’s game plan comes solely from the brilliant mind of Daboll.
Senior Billy Hort provides more insight into whom to choose between the two very qualified candidates: “One of the most important traits in finding a head coach is their ability to communicate with the other people in the organization. Although I believe Brian Flores would be a great fit for the Giants, I ultimately believe they should hire Daboll because of the connection [Daboll and Schoen] have already built up in Buffalo. I also have some hope that Daboll could work the same magic he did on Josh Allen with Daniel Jones. It is possible however that I am being too optimistic.”
If Daboll can recreate his Buffalo magic in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the other teams in the NFC East would certainly have a problem on their hands.
Las Vegas Raiders: Jim Harbaugh (Head Coach of Michigan Wolverines) or Rich Bisaccia (Interim Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders)
The Raiders, arguably, had the most chaotic year that any NFL team has ever had. In the span of one season, their head coach, Jon Gruden, left the team after racist, misogynistic, and homophobic emails from his past surfaced, their star receiver, Henry Ruggs, drove while intoxicated and killed a woman and her dog, and their former first-round pick, Damon Arnette, was released after posting a video on Instagram where he was making death threats while holding a gun. But still, Rich Bisaccia, who took over from Gruden in the middle of the year, brought them to the playoffs. He was basically unknown before taking over Gruden’s duties. But yet, outside of maybe Mike Vrabel, he was the most impressive coach of the season. He is a leader of men and brought his team to more success than anyone outside of the organization thought they could achieve. Then, when I saw that he was hand-writing cards to each member of his team to thank them for their work, I got a better sense of what kind of guy he is. He is a man who truly cares for his team, a feeling his players reciprocate. If he is hired, the staff will stay the same, which would provide stability to a team that is in great need of some.
However, there are plenty of reasons to hire Harbaugh if they have the chance. There are plenty of times that the interim head coach has enough success to keep the job, but when the next season starts, it turns out they don’t have what it takes to get the full-time job. Freddie Kitchens is a great example of that. He was a great interim head coach in Cleveland, but the following year, when the interim title was stripped from his job, his team came out completely unprepared. In addition, it looks like the Raiders would be able to court Jim Harbaugh to return to the NFL. Harbaugh is a proven, fantastic coach. His resume speaks to itself. He is one of very few coaches to have ample success both in college and in the NFL. He was a terrific head coach at Stanford, then brought the 49ers to the Super Bowl, and now he leads Michigan to consistent winning seasons. He is an elite leader and coach. And, he is apparently interested in the Raiders’ job. Opportunities to get a coach of Harbaugh’s caliber do not come along often, so it would make complete sense for the Raiders to hire him and return Bisaccia to special teams coordinator.
Broncos: Nathaniel Hackett (Offensive Coordinator for the Green Bay Packers)
The Broncos have such a fantastic roster. They have a talented secondary, a capable offensive line, and one of the best sets of offensive weapons in the league. However, they have one substantial hole at the position that you absolutely can not be weak at, which is quarterback. They are going to need a quarterback in the very near future. Unfortunately, the NFL draft does not seem to have any sure-fire top-tier quarterbacks. But there is still hope for Denver; there are a number of game-changing quarterbacks who might be available via trade. This list includes Aaron Rodgers.
Aaron Rodgers just finished his second-straight year as the best quarterback in football, and the Broncos have a chance to get him. As I said, they have an incredible roster to surround any quarterback with, and Rodgers looks like he will be available. In the 2020 NFL draft, the Packers drafted Jordan Love, a quarterback, to prepare for life after Rodgers, and the price for Rodgers will never be higher. The Packers cap situation is a disaster, and getting rid of Rodgers’s contract would undoubtedly help with that. However, if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t like any given trade, he can always retire if he doesn’t want to play for whatever team the Packers decide to trade him to. So, the Broncos want to make their team as enticing for Rodgers as possible, and hiring Hackett would help facilitate that. When Denver first interviewed Hackett for their vacant head coaching job, Rodgers said, “He’s a great coach. I love spending time with him. He’s a fantastic teacher. He’s incredible in front of the room.” He would bring that brilliant Shanahan offensive scheme to Denver, which would give them an offense to match their defense.
Texans: Brian Flores (Former Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins)
The Texans are in the middle of a war to improve their abysmal team. And David Culley was a casualty in that battle. Culley is a very talented coach and did a very admirable job considering the dearth of any kind of talent on that roster. But this was always the plan for him. I feel for him. I really do. He deserved a real chance to be the long-term coach for the Texans. But alas, he is out after one year. As I said, there is a lot of work to be done on this team. But I trust Brian Flores to lead Houston through this very trying time as a franchise.
Flores is a spectacular leader of men. When the Dolphins had one of the worst rosters in NFL history and incompetence at quarterback, Flores brought them to five wins even though they had no right to win any games at all. But, under the stewardship of Flores, that Miami team went from laughable to a serious contender. And, all of the success he had was, for a large part, despite some truly terrible drafts by their GM, Chris Grier. Of course, there was the infamous Tua Tagovailoa pick instead of Justin Herbert, but it goes beyond that. They had three first-round picks in that draft. The other they used on tackle Austin Jackson, who has been miserable in the league, and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, who hasn’t even managed to get on the field. Yet, they have been in the playoff mix for the past two years.
If there is anyone who can turn the tide for the youngest NFL team, it is Brian Flores. Flores is a top coach in the league, and if he can coach the Texans like he did the Dolphins (hopefully with some competent drafting by the Texans GM, Nick Caserio), everybody in Houston will be ecstatic.
Miami Dolphins: Mike McDaniel (Offensive Coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers)
Brian Flores absolutely should not have been fired. It is borderline incompetence by the owner Stephen Ross to fire someone of Flores’s caliber. I already talked about Flores, but long story short, he is a very talented coach and will be missed by the Dolphins. However, it appears that he got fired because he didn’t work well with the Dolphins GM, Chris Grier. But, on the bright side, this allows them to hire an offensive-minded head coach.
I know I have already talked about the value of having a brilliant offensive coordinator as a head coach. But, the NFL is transitioning to an offense-driven league, with points scored at all-time highs because of rules that are put in place to protect the players on offense and tremendous talent on that side of the ball. I think Mike McDaniel is a perfect fit in Miami. There are some similarities between 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and Tua Tagovailoa. They are both generally pretty accurate but sometimes make truly terrible decisions with the ball. And neither of them has the strongest arm. However, if everything goes right around them, they can play well. McDaniel has had more success with Garoppolo than he probably should.
Granted, the question can be asked how much of the 49ers’ success is due to him instead of San Francisco’s head coach Kyle Shanahan. But, he does know the system that can yield good results with a player with Garoppolo’s archetype at quarterback. And, the Shanahan scheme has led to good results wherever it goes; why couldn’t it have that same success in Miami? I think hiring McDaniel is Miami’s only hope to save Tagovailoa’s career. I will also add one more thing: draft Jaylen Waddle in fantasy football if the Dolphins do hire McDaniel next year. He would thrive in a Shanahan-style offense.
Vikings: Kevin O’Connell (Offensive Coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams)
I will keep this one brief because this would be almost an identical hire to the Dolphins hiring Mike McDaniel. Both Miami and Minnesota would both be hiring coordinators of Shanahan-styled offenses of teams playing in the NFC Championship to elevate their average quarterback and stagnant offense.
The Vikings have been stuck in mediocrity for seemingly the entire Zimmer tenure in Minnesota. O’Connell can hopefully bring some of the Rams magic to an offense group that, outside of Justin Jefferson, has been one of the most boring units in the league. We have seen, time and time again, that assistants to Sean McVay become fantastic head coaches in their own right. Such examples include Zac Taylor, whose Bengals are playing in the AFC Championship next weekend, and Matt LeFleur, who has the record for most wins in the first three years as head coach. Brandon Staley might even have a great deal of success for the Chargers. O’Connell can hopefully become the next link in the chain.
Chicago Bears: Eric Bieneimy (Offensive Coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs)
Finally, the Bears have fired Matt Nagy. Nagy was so bad during his latter years in Chicago that I am starting to wonder if Mitchell Trubisky wasn’t the problem. His offensive play calling was abysmal, and his offense was embarrassing for a coach who was supposed to be an offensive guru. He didn’t do anything well, and ownership finally acknowledged that. Sure, it would have been better if they realized that Nagy wasn’t the right coach and cut ties with him a year earlier, but they came around eventually. So, better late than never, I guess.
In my opinion, throughout this coaching search, they need to have two words repeated in their head: Justin Fields. All they should care about is making an excellent environment for Justin Fields. Honestly, if I had to place a bet on whom they hire, I would probably say Matt Eberflus at the moment. But, this article is not my predictions on whom these teams will employ, but my suggestions, and there is no way that I am going to hire a defensive coordinator for this job. Fields has a lot of development to do as a quarterback, and he needs someone who is there for the long haul; he needs a companion to grow with during these very critical upcoming years. Whenever we see successful offensive coordinators, they will get jobs very quickly. The only way to make sure that the voice in Fields’s ear doesn’t get a head coaching job elsewhere is if he is a head coach in Chicago. Obviously, Daboll would be a great fit here too, but I have him here going to New York, where he already has a relationship with the GM. I think this is where Bieneimy should go.
Bieniemy has been a brilliant offensive coordinator for the Chiefs since 2018. Kansas City consistently has one of the most explosive offenses in football under the stewardship of Bieniemy. He can help Justin Fields reach his incredibly high potential and help the Bears take the NFC North crown from the Packers, especially if Rodgers leaves.
