After assessing concept choices immediately, assessing hired coaches before a single off-season training session or meeting with a legal team is the most dangerous assignment of the football media cycle. There is much that we do not know and much that even the people these people know do not know. For example, did we think that of all the new hires from last low season, it would be Kevin Stefanski who would most successfully take a virtual low season and use a series of trivia competitions and group therapy sessions to create a star-studded roster Zoom?
Did we think Joe Judge would emerge as the darling of the class instead of being seen as a consolation prize after failing to bring in Matt Rhule? Did we think Mike McCarthy, a Super Bowl-winning coach, would be the most immediately controversial of all the new hires?
The point is, like the concept, there are many immediate thoughts based on who we are told and who we observe to get ready. But you never are ready to be a head coach in the NFL. The position exposes the depths of your personality and preparation, unlike any position in the sport. With that in mind, let’s give it a try, but let’s also showcase our work in an effort to be transparent.
Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports (Saleh); Christopher Hanewinckel / USA TODAY Sports (Smith); Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports (Culley)
New York Jets: Robert Saleh
I’ve said this before, but I believe Saleh brings all the good energy of the Rex Ryan era without the side effects. Essentially Ryan’s green tea version. That’s the emotional component of it. Yes, Saleh had an excellent defensive roster and an additional offensive in San Francisco, but he also had to fight against giant personalities. You don’t just get someone like Richard Sherman on board without a strong, required knowledge of your plan and where it’s going. His catchphrase “All Gas, No Brakes” served as the motivational underpinnings of the roster of 49ers who made it to the Super Bowl.
The other part of the A number is the fact that he managed to peel Mike LaFleur away from Shanahan, who clung tightly to both of his best attacking assistants. Introducing that system to Sam Darnold, or using it to lure Deshaun Watson out of Houston, is a big part of this equation.
CLASS A.
Los Angeles Chargers: Brandon Staley
I think it’s okay to love a job, but not like the circumstances under which it happened. As my colleague Jenny Vrentas highlighted last week’s edition The Weak-Side podcast, the reason LA was considered a top destination in this off-season was because of the things set up by deposed head coach Anthony Lynn (including Lynn’s own hand in Justin Herbert’s progression).
That said, I wrote in early December that Staley was the next Sean McVay, only on the defensive side of the ball. He is a former offensive player who devoured the most effective defense plan in football and calibrated it to a historic Rams unit that the team wore in 2020. Staley is the kind of buy-low, buy-early proposition that we incite more ownership groups to. Like McVay and the Rams, the Chargers had to choose between grabbing Staley now or getting into a much longer line next year.
CLASS A-
Atlanta Falcons: Arthur Smith
Smith is set to return Atlanta to its most successful offensive system in the Matt Ryan era. The former Titans offensive coordinator has perfected the wide-zone system that Kyle Shanahan has re-popularized throughout the NFL. If Atlanta were to rebuild, Smith probably wouldn’t be the kind of organizational catalyst to trade, say, Ryan and Julio Jones and bring in the available capital. He’s in the perfect position to immediately inject some offensive competence and take the Falcons to a place where they can compete in a division that has (probably) lost Drew Brees.
For the news of a Deshaun Watson trade hits, I’d put Smith on pole for the top coach of the year, given the selection ceiling and how quickly he should be able to reverse the attack.
Grade: B +
Jacksonville Jaguars: Urban Meyer
This appointment evokes a number of complicated feelings. Meyer has flirted with the best NFL jobs for years and finally decided to jump forward when he was assured of a wealth of cap space and the greatest quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck. On the one hand, it makes sense. Meyer’s last team, Ohio State, has been functioning seamlessly (on the field) since leaving. He has the ability to nurture and develop a good staff, but a distinctly blind side when it comes to those staffers’ actions off the field – a major criticism that shouldn’t just be left on the road. I think that programs should lean more collegially anyway. It makes sense to have a team that can develop young players faster and thus become less dependent on complicated long-term veteran contracts.
Meyer has the ability to surround himself with innovators and with the broad net his brand name can radiate, he’s more likely to schematically attract top talent that will help Trevor Lawrence thrive.
The downside to this is that Jacksonville is taking the gamble at a turning point in franchise history. That, and the staff he’s putting together now, isn’t one that’s overwhelming. If you are Lawrence and you have the choice between, say, Darrell Bevel and Brian Daboll or Eric Bieniemy, who would you bet on in the direction of your career? There are coordinators and coaches with better and more proven track records of developing NFL talent. The same can be said for general managers and their track record of allocating large amounts of space responsibly. Jacksonville currently puts a lot of faith in the Meyer brand.
DEGREE B
The Weak-Side Podcast now has its own feed! Subscribe to listen to Conor Orr and Jenny every week.
Philadelphia Eagles: Nick Sirianni
The Eagles, like the Steelers, seem to have a pattern for what they want in a head coach. While Pittsburgh likes defensive coordinators in their early to mid-30s, the Eagles seem to love untapped potential, often hiring young coordinators or position coaches before becoming well-known commodities as sole play-callers, like Andy Reid agrees. Sirianni has the added benefit of teaming up with Frank Reich, who was an instrumental piece from the Super Bowl run in Philadelphia and who brings in a playbook on how to work with the controversial Carson Wentz. Sirianni appears to be putting together a solid coaching staff that includes the critical retention of offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland and the picking of Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson to coach quarterbacks.
My lingering question here is whether Sirianni can adequately navigate what could become a messy roster run-off. The Eagles will change fundamentally, losing much of the dressing room’s soul in the process. Can he grasp the young core and encourage them to move forward?
DEGREE B-
Detroit Lions: Dan Campbell
It was hard not to get out of Campbell’s introductory press conference a little more excited than we entered. However, the most exciting aspect of his coaching term so far appears to be his willingness to diversify his workforce and provide high-profile jobs to minorities. candidates who were thought to either need “herbs” or were deemed not ready for the role. Having Anthony Lynn as a full-time offensive coordinator is a win, especially as they eventually develop a young starter at QB. Having Aaron Glenn as the defensive coordinator is a win.
I guess the Lions are betting on Campbell’s ability to have a Mike Vrabel-esque presence on the team, with his coordinators doing much of the heavy lifting schematically. And while Vrabel is great, we’ll see what the Titans look like now that Smith will be coaching in Atlanta. Will that be a lasting fad?
Campbell may have put off some fans with his Wild West routine at his opening press conference, but if he’s able to invest in the kind of players who buy that kind of hokum, the Lions can quickly divide themselves into something of an annoying division. roadblock for NFC North’s blues. That’s much more than we can say about the lions under Matt Patricia.
GRADE: C +
Houston Texans: David Culley
I think it’s important to temporarily separate the rent from the situation, even though it’s hard to underestimate how much of a broken mess the Texans are now. They work like a driver’s car that not only has a second set of brakes, but also a pair of extra steering wheels and throttle pedals. The owner may run a franchise that players don’t want to play for, but that doesn’t mean the coach they hired was bad. Culley, who is 65, has been in the NFL since 1994. He mainly coached wide receivers, but has stints as a quarterback coach and as Baltimore’s passing game coordinator. Houston, after exhausting all of his initial options, seemed to cater to older coaches with a lot of experience compared to a first-time head coach. If you’re general manager Nick Caserio, you need to decide which voice resonates most with a distinctly depressed locker room. He bet on a soft, old Andy Reid lieutenant to make it happen.
I think Culley is a good coach. My problem here is that the Texans will likely stock up on a wealth of draft harvest when they trade Watson. Will they get input from Culley on how to spend that capital? Or are they just forcing him to take the brunt of the criticism while building the team they actually want to build behind the scenes, dealing with Watson and possibly JJ Watt in the process?
Should the reported coaching structure converge with Lovie Smith involved in defense and Josh McCown as an ascending, coach-on-hold type on offense, the rent is easier to digest in the long run, even if those kinds of discussions aren’t necessary fair to Culley.
GRADE: D +