It’s solely been a few weeks for the reason that finish of the NFL common season, however the hiring cycle is in full swing. With each eradicated playoff group comes new alternatives for assistant coaches to be employed, however we’ve already seen interviews piling up.
Up to now solely the New England Patriots have made a transfer, hiring Patriots legend and former Titans coach Mike Vrabel. For the remainder of the groups and not using a coach they’re ready for extra candidates to return out there, notably the 2 heavy-hitters of the cycle in Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn of the Lions.
Forward of the remainder of the hirings we determined to take a stab at who we expect will in the end get the remaining positions, and why.
Dallas Cowboys: Kellen Moore
It’s a lot enjoyable to think about Deion Sanders teaching the Cowboys (and the drama that might carry), however regardless of the large discuss there’s just one choice right here that basically makes numerous sense, and that’s Kellen Moore.
Moore threads the needle of each being a training candidate who deserves a head teaching job, and has the crucial Dallas ties that Jerry Jones craves. It’s not possible to disregard the work Moore did with the Eagles this season, and whereas numerous that’s attributable to Saquon Barkley, he did make all of it click on.
Moore was all the time touted because the inheritor obvious in Dallas. It could have taken a circuitous path to get again to the group, however this simply makes an excessive amount of sense to disregard.
New York Jets: Rex Ryan
What number of out there coaches really need the Jets’ teaching job? The venn diagram is a circle, and Rex Ryan is on the heart of that.
The group are in a nightmare of their very own making by ceding a lot affect to Aaron Rodgers and handing him the keys to the dominion. The roster is a large number, impartial of whether or not or not Rodgers returns in 2025 — and the firing of Robert Saleh despatched a message to the teaching world that doing an excellent job for the Jets isn’t sufficient, and that compounds points.
There are occasions for organizations to take huge swings, and occasions to punt. That is a kind of moments the place you might want to ship out particular groups for the subsequent 12 months or two, signal a veteran QB, and construct the muse for a dynamic rent.
Jets followers want to arrange themselves that they aren’t getting a Ben Johnson or Aaron Glenn this cycle. They’re not going to get a younger, promising expertise coveted by numerous groups. Rex Ryan can be a steadying power (as wild as that sounds), and not less than transfer the group in the suitable route a little bit.
Las Vegas Raiders: Ben Johnson
This may be a shocker to lots of people, but it surely shouldn’t be. Johnson is essentially the most highly-coveted coach of the cycle, so why would he decide the Raiders of all place? Finally it comes down to 2 key causes:
- The Raiders are basically a clean canvas
- The idea is that Johnson would have vital enter on his GM
These are two actually highly effective motivators for a younger coach. As an alternative of needing to cope with Trent Baalke in Jacksonville or Ryan Poles in Chicago (two areas floated as touchdown sports activities for Johnson), the Lions’ offensive coordinator would get to make sure whoever within the entrance workplace is in lockstep with him in imaginative and prescient, and would have his again.
Roster clever the Raiders have loads to love too. Sure, quarterback is an absolute nightmare and would should be addressed — however with a projected $85M in cap house in 2025 there’s numerous latitude to make strikes. Couple that with a famous person tight finish in Brock Bowers, elite DE Maxx Crosby, and Tyree Wilson (who’s primed for a breakout) — it makes for a fairly good package deal.
The place would additionally enable Johnson to cement himself as the primary profitable NFL coach in Las Vegas. Whereas he doesn’t appear to be somebody who craves glory, it’s a pleasant perk.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Liam Coen
A relative sleeper this teaching cycle, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen matches the invoice for what the Jaguars want. Slicing his enamel on Sean McVay’s teaching tree, Coen spent one 12 months at Kentucky earlier than being employed to Todd Bowles’ employees this previous season.
The precedence for Jacksonville needs to be getting Trevor Lawrence again on observe. Hamstrung by a boring, lifeless passing sport, we’ve but to see Lawrence ever get an opportunity with somebody who understands the fashionable passing sport or tips on how to use his skills successfully. Enter Coen, who simply completed teaching Baker Mayfield to a 4,000+ yard season.
Most significantly, it’s time for somebody to determine an id for the Jags. Doug Pederson was a boring, secure decide that yielded boring, poor outcomes. A hungry younger thoughts like Coen would are available in and shake issues up positively. It’s not totally dissimilar to what Carolina did with former Bucs’ OC Dave Canales a 12 months in the past. Now the group is trending upwards and followers are literally excited. This may be the one time it’s okay to observe within the Panthers footsteps.
Chicago Bears: Mike McCarthy
All of the indicators level to Mike McCarthy discovering his solution to Chicago as the subsequent head coach of the Bears.
Earlier than his contract even expired with the Dallas Cowboys, the Bears inquired relating to an interview with McCarthy. Whereas that request was denied, as quickly as McCarthy’s tenure with the Cowboys got here to an in depth, Chicago got here calling once more.
Now the group is about to roll out the pink carpet for the previous Cowboys head coach, making him the second in-person interview the group has held this cycle, Ron Rivera being the primary. Sure, a few of Chicago’s candidates are nonetheless teaching within the playoffs, so extra interviews could also be within the works because the playoffs proceed and groups are eradicated, however Chicago’s critical curiosity in McCarthy, and his background in quarterback growth, make him a critical candidate for this job.
New Orleans Saints: Aaron Glenn
Here’s a enjoyable query in your subsequent soccer debate — or maybe the subsequent installment of the award-winning Soccer Court docket.
Is Ben Johnson the higher head teaching candidate of the 2 Detroit coordinators, or is that title higher reserved for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn?
Johnson has definitely grow to be the new identify within the head teaching carousel, given how he has reworked the Lions offense and gotten the perfect out of Jared Goff, however Glenn’s resume definitely stands out on this area of candidates. After his enjoying days ended Glenn began his teaching journey because the Common Supervisor of the Houston Stallions of the Texas Lone Star Soccer League. For these — like me — questioning what the TLSFL is, it’s an indoor soccer league in Texas.
Glenn then returned to the New York Jets as a scout, earlier than turning into an assistant defensive backs coach with the Cleveland Browns. Different stops included a stint in New Orleans because the secondary coach earlier than he joined the Lions as their defensive coordinator in 2021 beneath Dan Campbell.
Glenn has expertise as a participant, a scout, a coach, and at the same time as a basic supervisor. That makes him able to tackle the duty of being an NFL head coach. He has expertise in New Orleans each as a participant and a coach.
He’s the right candidate for the Saints.