The NFL offseason is dragging along — we’ve made it to mini camps, people! — and while you may be bored, this is an important time of the year for NFL coaches. This is when they get to install new elements of their scheme and have more time to spend on coaching up the younger players. With that in mind, let’s rank all 32 head coaches, starting with the last coach you’d want helming your team…
32. Mike Mularkey, Titans
Yes, I’m dropping Mularkey below the first-year coaches. Mularkey may have a track record as an NFL head coach, but it’s not very good. His teams have won four of the last 25 games he’s coached. In his four seasons running a team, he’s never produced an offense ranking higher than 25th — not very good for an offensive-minded coach. At least the four newbies have hope.
31. Dirk Koetter, Buccaneers
30. Doug Pederson, Eagles
29. Ben McAdoo, Giants
28. Adam Gase, Dolphins
We’re lumping all of the first-year coaches together, because no one really knows how they’ll fare as head coaches. Gase goes to the front of the line because of his successful runs in both Denver and Chicago. Ben McAdoo gets credit for turning the Giants into a West Coast outfit, which has revived Eli Manning’s career. Pederson did a fine job running Andy Reid’s offense in Kansas City, but he has yet to establish his own productive offense away from his mentor. Koetter did an excellent job with Jameis Winston last year, but his stints in Jacksonville and Atlanta did not go so well.
27. Gus Bradley, Jaguars
Bradley’s been on the job for three years and the team hasn’t really shown any progress on the defensive side. Granted, that should change in 2016 after the front office brought in a number of defensive upgrades. Still, Bradley’s scheme hasn’t evolved since coming over from Seattle, which is concerning.
26. Dan Quinn, Falcons
Quinn is in the same boat as Bradley until he proves he can build a good defense with the group of All-pros he had at his disposal in Seattle. He also drops on this list for some poor game management moments during his first season with the Falcons, specifically his blunder in San Francisco.
25. Jim Caldwell, Lions
Caldwell has a Super Bowl appearance on his resume, but really, that was Tony Dungy’s and Peyton Manning’s team. He lasted just one season in Indianapolis after Manning’s neck injury, and hasn’t done much in Detroit to prove he’s a good head coach. The offense — and he’s a former offensive coordinator — wasn’t very good when the Lions made the playoffs in his first season. It did improve in the second-half of 2015 when Jim Bob Cooter took over the play-calling duties. Cooter (stop giggling) and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, who could be in line for a head job in the near future, are the real stars of this show.
Your reaction, Jim?
Thought so.
24. Jack Del Rio, Raiders
Del Rio has proven he can build a good defense. He did so in both Jacksonville and Denver. The question is whether he can he build a great one. Del Rio’s defenses tend to play conservatively, with few blitzes and a game plan that doesn’t change much week-to-week. You’re not going to take down top quarterbacks — which you have to do to win in the playoffs — with vanilla defenses.
23. Mike McCoy, Chargers
You can’t coach health, so it’s hard to put the Chargers’ recent struggles all on McCoy. He’s produced consistently productive offenses during his three-year tenure in San Diego. And his offense, which is built around quick timing throws, suits Philip Rivers perfectly. The 2016 season — assuming the Chargers finally stay healthy — should give us a better idea of just how good McCoy really is.
22. Jeff Fisher, Rams
How does this guy still have a job? People complain about Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, but at least he gets his teams to the playoffs. Fisher hasn’t produced a winning record in seven years. The offense has been dreadful during his run and the defense, which has been loaded with talent, has underachieved.
21. Jason Garrett, Cowboys
We all agree Tony Romo is a very good quarterback, right? Maybe not top-five but definitely in the top-10. So why have the Cowboys made the playoffs only once under Garrett? The teams that consistently make the playoffs usually have two things: A good quarterback and a good coach. Dallas has the first part of that combo down. So what does that say about Garrett?
20. Chuck Pagano, Colts
Judging by the players’ reaction to owner Jim Irsay announcing Pagano’s surprising contract extension, the team clearly likes playing for him. His defenses, though, have been underwhelming, ranking outside the top-20 every season except for 2014. It’s fair to wonder how much of Pagano’s impressive win-loss record (41-23) is based on the brilliance of Andrew Luck.
19. Marvin Lewis, Bengals
One thing you can say about Lewis is he knows how to pick his coordinators. In the last two years, he’s seen three of his play-callers leave for head jobs. And despite all of that coaching talent under him, and all the talent he has on the roster, he has yet to lead the Bengals to a playoff victory.
18. Hue Jackson, Browns
A year from now, Jackson could crack the top-10 on this list. His quarterback-friendly offense should get Robert Griffin III’s career back on track — maybe not 2012 levels, but close. I’ve learned not to doubt Jackson after he turned Andy Dalton into an MVP candidate. Don’t be surprised if the Bengals offense falls off with Jackson leaving for Cleveland.
17. Jay Gruden, Redskins
Say what you want about Gruden’s handling of the RG3 situation, the man knows how coach up an offense. He makes things easy for Kirk Cousins, setting up simple either/or reads that put the ball in his playmakers’ hands in space. Washington led the league in yards after catch in 2015, according to SportingCharts.com.
16. Rex Ryan, Bills
Ryan is known as a brilliant defensive mind, but he’s going to need a bounce back season to retain that title. He hasn’t produced a top-10 unit in three seasons, and he hasn’t led his team to a winning record since 2010.
15. Todd Bowles, Jets
Boasting the most aggressive defensive scheme in the league, Bowles needed only a season to turn the Jets’ declining defense into one of the league’s better groups. And he managed to do so with out any dominant edge-rushers. That’s not much of a surprise after the work he did in Arizona, patching together a banged-up defense and keeping it in the top-half of the league’s statistical rankings.
14. Gary Kubiak, Broncos
He has a Super Bowl ring now, but let’s be serious: Most of the credit belongs to defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and his historically great defense. Kubiak’s offense is usually productive — well, unless the quarterback is a decaying Peyton Manning — but he can get a little too conservative at times.
13. Bill O’Brien, Texans
O’Brien earned his spot on this list after leading the Texans to consecutive winning records despite having Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, Case Keenum, Brian Hoyer, T.J. Yates and Brandon Weeden making starts at quarterback. Brock Osweiler may not be a franchise passer, but he’s better than anyone O’Brien has had to work with since coming to Houston.
12. John Fox, Bears
Yes, he’s conservative, but Fox always gets the most out of his teams. He took both the Panthers and the Broncos to the Super Bowl, and he’s got the Bears on track to make a run at the playoffs in 2016.
11. Chip Kelly, 49ers
We won’t punish Kelly the Coach for Kelly the General Manager’s decisions. He’s still one of the more innovative offensive coaches in the league and somehow managed to churn out yet another top-15 scoring offense despite all the Eagles’ issues. His 26-21 record is pretty impressive considering who he’s had at the quarterback position.
10. Andy Reid, Chiefs
OK, so maybe Reid still hasn’t figured out how to manage the clock, but you can’t deny his track record as a coach. His teams have missed the playoffs only six times over his 17 seasons as a head coach. And Reid’s offenses have landed in the top-10 in points scored in 10 of those seasons.
9. Mike McCarthy, Packers
Everything we just said about Reid applies to McCarthy. He’s not great at managing a game, but he knows how to get his teams to the playoffs. Last season was the first the Packers did not have a top-10 scoring offense.
8. Ron Rivera, Panthers
The Panthers were patient with Rivera as he went through some growing pains over the first few years of his head coaching career, and he’s repaid the organization. His biggest strength is developing young defensive talent. Despite all of the turnover in the secondary over the last few seasons, the defense is still one of the best units in the league. And Rivera deserves a lot of credit for not trying to turn Cam Newton into more of a traditional quarterback.
7. John Harbaugh, Ravens
Harbaugh deserves a pass for last year’s debacle. The Ravens sent an inordinate number of players to IR. It was only the second time the Ravens missed the playoffs in Harbaugh’s eight years in charge.
6. Mike Tomlin, Steelers
Tomlin might not be as hands-on when it comes the X’s and O’s as some other coaches on this list, but his players always play hard for him. And he’s done a good job handling his assistants. When he was given the job, Tomlin was smart enough to leave Dick LeBeau in charge of the defense instead of installing his own scheme. And the unpopular hire of Todd Haley has turned out to be a brilliant move.
5. Sean Payton, Saints
There’s no offensive coach in the NFL better at creating favorable match-ups than Payton. That’s how the Saints offense remains in the top-half of the league without elite talent at the receiver position. While most other quarterbacks see their production fall off when their top targets go down, Drew Brees just keeps putting up 4,000-yard seasons.
4. Mike Zimmer, Vikings
Zimmer is the most creative defensive play-caller in the league. And more importantly, he knows how to develop young talent. Case in point: It took him only two years to turn Anthony Barr, who was seen as a raw prospect who would take some time to develop, into an All-pro caliber player. The Vikings defense is going to be very good for a very long time.
3. Bruce Arians, Cardinals
Is there a more aggressive coach in the league? Arians isn’t jumping on the dink-and-dunk trend most NFL offenses are now favoring. The Cardinals offense is going to attack defenses downfield and do it relentlessly. And that mindset has carried over to the defense. No team captures the personality of its coach more than Arizona. Arians also produces results. His teams have never won fewer than nine games, and that includes his 12-game stint as the Colts interim coach, when Indianapolis went 9-3.
2. Pete Carroll, Seahawks
No team plays harder than the Seahawks. It doesn’t matter what the score is (see: Seattle’s playoff loss in Carolina last season), Carroll’s teams never seem to give up. The players buy into his “Always Compete” philosophy, so you won’t ever see the team get complacent. His overly-enthusiastic approach wasn’t supposed to work in the NFL, but it’s hard to argue with the results. The Seahawks have made the playoffs five times in Carroll’s six years as head coach.
1. Bill Belichick, Patriots
Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history. It’s not even debatable at this point. Other coaches have had bigger impacts on the game thanks to innovative schemes. But that’s what separates Belichick from the rest of the pack: There is no Belichick system. His defenses have employed a number of different schemes throughout his reign. What started out as pure 3-4 defense favoring zone coverage behind well designed blitzes has morphed into a 3-4/4-3 hybrid front with the secondary locked in man coverage. Belichick isn’t tied to any one scheme. Schemes grow old and get replaced by the next big thing. The game is constantly evolving, and, somehow, Belichick always seems to be ahead of the evolutionary curve.
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