We here at Last Word endeavor to keep you up to date with all the Head Coaching changes that occurred, some we missed, some you might have missed. With the off-season almost upon us, let’s look at the new head coaches within the league and what we can expect from them in the future.
The NFL’s Newest Coaches, Who Went Where?
Buffalo Bills
Rex Ryan
The Bills were somewhat of a surprise team in the mix for a new head coach, after Doug Marrone walked out on New Years Eve, luckily for the Bills; Ryan had parted ways from the New York Jets a few days earlier. Ryan signed a 5 year $27.5 contract and brought Dennis Thurman his defensive coordinator (DC) at the jets and offensive coordinator (OC) Greg Roman from the San Francisco 49ers as his coordinators.
While Ryan is known as a defensive guy and inherits one of the strongest teams in the league, issues that dogged him at the Jets will be ever-present in Buffalo. The Bills needed an offensive guy to improve the team’s lackluster passing game and instead traded up on defense. Unless Greg Roman can set this team right at Quarterback this will be the Jets MK.II. The team has gone as far as reportedly wanting Mark Sanchez in the mix come training camp and remember the Bills have no first round pick in the draft.
New York Jets
Todd Bowles
Bowles was the guy who kept Arizona in the playoff hunt through a slew of high profile injuries. The Cardinals limped into the wildcard game having lost both starting QBs throughout the year, season long injury to DT Darnell Dockett and suspension of LB Daryl Washington. All things considered, it is hard to find fault with what was achieved in Arizona, the team was in a very commanding position when QB Carson Palmer went down and there was a large talent gap between him and back-up Drew Stanton.
Bowles brought in former Bills Head Coach Chan Gailey as his OC. Gailey has been out of football for two years, dealing with issues relating to alcoholism. It is unclear how good a move his appointment will be, during Gailey’s time at the Bills they went 16/32 and he only survived one season as the Chiefs OC before being demoted due to an under performing offense. Kacy Rodgers will join Bowles as defensive coordinator having served his time as line coach for both the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. Rodgers is accredited with creating some of the strongest defensive lines in the league since 2005.
Chicago Bears
John Fox
Fox’s time away from coaching was brief, departing Denver somewhat surprisingly after their playoff loss to the Colts. Fox has been a head coach in the NFL since 2002 and has a record of 126-96; he took both the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl but has not lifted the Lombardi trophy. Fox has appointed former 49ers Vic Fangio as his DC and brings along Adam Gase as his OC.
Coming from a defensive background Fox inherits a team that, quite frankly was a mess this year. The contract Jay Cutler signed less than a year ago is a noose around the team’s neck and speculation is that they will attempt to trade Cutler during the off-season. Added to this is one of the oldest teams in the league and regressed heavily under Mark Trestmans short lived tenure.
Oakland Raiders
Jack Del Rio
Del Rio’s appointment to the Raiders has been widely acclaimed and lauded. Formally the DC for Denver, Del Rio had been hotly tipped for a coaching position last year but was unable to finalise a deal. During his tenure at the Jacksonville Jaguars, he led the team to a 68-71 record and two post season appearances. Like many of the coaching changes this off season he is know for his defensive background.
One of the issues many commentators have is the appointment of Bill Musgrave as offensive coordinator. Musgrave’s last stint as OC was with the Minnesota Vikings and many believe that he is responsible for the stunted development of now out of contract QB, Christian Ponder. Known as a run first coach and when you had Adrian Peterson having one of the greatest seasons as a running back ever in 2012, why wouldn’t you but Oakland do not have a very successful run game. Finishing last in the league this year in yards per game and former all pro Maurice Jones Drew suffered a spectacular fall from grace. Raider’s fans will be hoping that Musgrave was not the cause of Ponders regression as they can ill afford the same to happen to Derek Carr.
Denver Broncos
Gary Kubiak
Kubiak is one of the few offensive guys to get promoted to Head Coach this year. Known for turning around the faith of the Houston Texans, taking them from one of the worst in the league offensively to a top 10 unit and two post season appearances under his watch from 2006- 2013.
Kubiak is no stranger to coaching in Denver having served as offensive coordinator and QB Coach for a decade from 1995-2005. He brings with him long term assistant Rick Dennison, who was under Kubiak at Baltimore, Houston and Denver. GM John Elway appears to be bringing the band back together, as both Kubiak and Dennison were former players during his playing career. The big question facing coaching staff is whether Payton Manning has played his last snap under center? If he has, replacing a player of such talent will be difficult considering the dearth of skilled players available at this position.
San Francisco 49ers
Jim Tomsula
No one quite knows what the 49ers are up to, it was evident that Jim Harbaugh had lost the locker room and was going out the door from mid-season but to appoint a defensive line coach over your coordinators and then to clear house completely is quite unusual. This move more commonly associated with a train wreck of a team is made more perplexing by the fact that this team are only two seasons removed from a Super Bowl appearance and played the NFC Championship game in last year.
Tomsula has a total of one game head coaching experience in the NFL when he took over for fired Mike Singletary in 2010 beating the Arizona Cardinals. The jury is still out on what to make of the 49ers; they have still to appoint and offensive coordinator and appointed Eric Mangini as DC. Mangini at one time was the youngest head coach in the league, coaching the Jets unsuccessfully from 2006-2008 and spent a further two unsuccessful seasons with the Browns as head coach. Mangini has been criticized for his coaching style and alienation of players; interestingly he was the Tight end coach for the 49ers from 2013.
Atlanta Falcons
Unoccupied (Dan Quinn)
While the Falcons may not have officially named a candidate for Head Coach it is widely rumoured that Dan Quinn DC at Seattle is to be the next man in charge, so much so Wikipedia has him listed as such but per NFL rules, no team still in the playoffs can have their staff interviewed and signed to new teams until said team are out of the competition. Quinn is responsible for what is considered the best defense in the league and some call ‘the last great defense’ due to rule changes ebbing away at the abilities of a defense to play aggressively.
While Quinn’s appointment may not be set in stone, the Falcons have been busy putting the rest of the pieces in place for his arrival, making Kyle Shanahan the new Offensive coordinator. Shanahan has been an OC in the league since 2008, most recently with the Cleveland Browns where he resigned in protest over front office interference in regard to the playing of QB Johnny Manziel. Joining Shanahan are Raheem Morris as assistant head coach and passing defense planner formally of the Washington Redskins and Richard Smith former linebacker coach with the Broncos as DC and Run defense. This split in rolls is becoming more prominent in recent years with the Dallas using it on offense.
While several teams have one or two positions still to finalise and Seattle will have to find a new defensive coordinator by the looks of things, most have the main pieces in place and are ready to roll into the off-season.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @deansontoast_. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
