2021 NFL: Coaching Openings and Potential Candidates

luckiestman

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Jul 15, 2005
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Help me out with this and I’ll update the top post. This is not an exhaustive list. I was starting to compile ideas for myself to monitor Jets stuff and thought I could steal the information in your minds by starting a thread (my version of outsourcing).

Teams with known openings:

Falcons
Texans
Lions

Teams with expected openings:

Jets
Jags
Chargers

Maybes:

Denver
Dallas (McCarthy has been a shitshow)
Vikings
Bengals
Bears
Eagles

GM Openings:

Jags
Falcons
Texans

Candidates:

OCs:


Bienemy/Chiefs
Roman/Ravens (was a hot name but not a great year)
Smith/Titans
Daboll/Buff
Brady/Panthers (might be too young but people like him from what I’ve read)
McDaniels/Pats

DCs:
Allen/Saints
Eberflus/Colts
Saleh/9ers
Bowles/Bucs

College:
Matt Campbell
Fitzgerald
Dabo
Harbaugh
Riley

Other:
Cowher
 
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Phil Plantier

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I still think Anthony Lynn has a chance to save his job. If the Chargers go 8-8 or even 7-9 I think he gets another year.

Other "maybe" candidates:
Vikings
Bengals
Bears
Eagles
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
53,850
I still think Anthony Lynn has a chance to save his job. If the Chargers go 8-8 or even 7-9 I think he gets another year.
That might come down to how much Herbert likes him, because he looks like the real deal at QB.
 

luckiestman

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Jul 15, 2005
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I still think Anthony Lynn has a chance to save his job. If the Chargers go 8-8 or even 7-9 I think he gets another year.

Other "maybe" candidates:
Vikings
Bengals
Bears
Eagles
added the maybes. Thinking about adding a safe space for people who almost certainly won’t get fired.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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A couple more prospects off the top of my head:

Robert Saleh, 49ers DC
Josh McDaniels, Patriots OC (oh yeah, him...)
 

Cellar-Door

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I would bet Todd Bowles gets another look. He's a really good coordinator, and given the roster/GM/general mess that was the Jets he should probably get another shot.... I men, they asked him to win with Hackenberg.
 

Cellar-Door

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Which of the openings - from the "definites" or "maybes" category - do you think are the most attractive to potential coaching candidates?
Texans should be the best, followed by Chargers.

Only concerns with Texans is that Easterby appears to be a bumbling incompetent, but you have a top 7 QB easily.
 

luckiestman

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Jul 15, 2005
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Which of the openings - from the "definites" or "maybes" category - do you think are the most attractive to potential coaching candidates?
Chargers (fan situation is weird) but QB is set

Jets have a stink on them and the candidate would have to get past that. If the candidate can get past that, they have the most cap room and a lot of picks. The number 1 pick might make them the most attractive.

I don’t know cap situation of Houston; I know their draft situation isn’t great.

Falcons; how many years does Ryan have left? Will they keep current guy?
 

luckiestman

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Only concerns with Texans is that Easterby appears to be a bumbling incompetent.
How so? I heard Lombardi talk about him and read a story after a media person was let go. Neither story I read made me think he was incompetent, he actually seems either a great conman or extremely competent to go from Chaplain to running an NFL team.
 

luckiestman

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I would bet Todd Bowles gets another look. He's a really good coordinator, and given the roster/GM/general mess that was the Jets he should probably get another shot.... I men, they asked him to win with Hackenberg.
Added, not exactly right on Hack (iirc, Bowles signed on before Geno washed out, then Fitz, then Uncle Josh. Hack was a whiff and 3rd string. GM was a disaster).

I liked Bowles.
 

Cellar-Door

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How so? I heard Lombardi talk about him and read a story after a media person was let go. Neither story I read made me think he was incompetent, he actually seems either a great conman or extremely competent to go from Chaplain to running an NFL team.
He seems like a con, you have stuff like Bellichick saying he wasn't a personnel guy. He signed off on all of B.O.B's terrible moves, and I have deep concerns about his "culture" fit nonsense ie firing their very well liked and respected PR head (also one of the few women working at a high level in the NFL), which got a public comment from their 2nd most important player (and which was rumored to be because she was a vocal Democrat on her private twitter).
Given that their owner is even by NFL owner standards a notorious racist piece of shit, and Easterbrook is a guy with no qualifications for his job (to the extent Bellichick was asked about him and gave a comment that made clear he thought the guy had no business in that job) I would be deeply worried about the management structure there.
 

Cellar-Door

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Added, not exactly right on Hack (iirc, Bowles signed on before Geno washed out, then Fitz, then Uncle Josh. Hack was a whiff and 3rd string. GM was a disaster).

I liked Bowles.
Yeah you're right.

Year 1: Fitz got all 16 starts
Year 2: Fitz 11, Bryce Petty 4, Geno 1
Year 3: Josh McCown (age 38) 13, Petty 3
Year 4: Darnold 13, McCown 3
 

luckiestman

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He seems like a con, you have stuff like Bellichick saying he wasn't a personnel guy. He signed off on all of B.O.B's terrible moves, and I have deep concerns about his "culture" fit nonsense ie firing their very well liked and respected PR head (also one of the few women working at a high level in the NFL), which got a public comment from their 2nd most important player (and which was rumored to be because she was a vocal Democrat on her private twitter).
Given that their owner is even by NFL owner standards a notorious racist piece of shit, and Easterbrook is a guy with no qualifications for his job (to the extent Bellichick was asked about him and gave a comment that made clear he thought the guy had no business in that job) I would be deeply worried about the management structure there.
I’m going to wait. My bias is similar to yours, the guy has a huckster vibe, but I’m going to wait. A lot of evangelical Christians can ball so maybe Houston becomes a pro version of Clemson. The politics doesn’t matter when it comes to winning football games. BB writes love letters to Trump and RK is a big Trump guy and they had the best org for 20 years.
 

Cellar-Door

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I’m going to wait. My bias is similar to yours, the guy has a huckster vibe, but I’m going to wait. A lot of evangelical Christians can ball so maybe he becomes a pro version of Clemson. The politics doesn’t matter when it comes to winning football games. BB writes love letters to Trump and RK is a big Trump guy and they had the best org for 20 years.
I don't care about the guy's politics, I care about the idea that you fire someone considered one of the best in the league at a job and well liked by your key players, indeed one of the only people who has shown competence in the whole organization because your culture cares about what her politics are instead of doing her job. It's the opposite of the Patriots, where the whole thing is "do your job well". Bill and Kraft may be Trump guys, but they wouldn't say.... fire Caserio if he tweeted on a personal twitter about Biden.

That's the issue. When being bad at your job (ie BOB) isn't a bad culture fit, but being good at your job but having the wrong politics is..... that's a shit culture that is set up to fail.

Edit- to make it more clear... the Patriots have always done well because you come to work on time, do your job then you go home and Bill doesn't care if you go on a Gronk party cruise in the offseason, or if you do a cameo in a movie, or you go to a Black Lives Matter protest or anything else. He cares what happens when you're in the building or on the field. Easterby seems to care a great deal more about who you are and if you fit his "culture" than what you do when you're in the building.
 
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SoxinSeattle

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Easterby as GM is off the charts insane even if its temporary. It's also insulting to those that have worked their entire lives for a sniff at a GM position. I dont care what the Texans do because fuck them but man that guy seems like a very successful holier than thou con artist. </end rant>
 

SMU_Sox

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I still think Anthony Lynn has a chance to save his job. If the Chargers go 8-8 or even 7-9 I think he gets another year.

Other "maybe" candidates:
Vikings
Bengals
Bears
Eagles
Lynn has consistently lost close games. What he said earlier about Herbert was asinine too. It was probably true but he didn’t need to say it. I don’t have confidence in Lynn.

Imagine Eric Bieniemy in LA... the things he would do with Hunter Henry, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Ekeler. RBs who are dual-threats eat in Reid style offenses. I’d LOVE to see that as a football fan.

I would bet Todd Bowles gets another look. He's a really good coordinator, and given the roster/GM/general mess that was the Jets he should probably get another shot.... I men, they asked him to win with Hackenberg.
I respected Bowles as a head coach. I would have kept Bowles over Gase. Always thought Bowles teams didn’t have talent but they played hard. Bowles is a great coordinator too, completely agree there. I’d love to see Bowles get a shot with a team like Detroit or Atlanta that has the offensive pieces in place but needs someone to clean up the defense.

Greg Roman has a reputation for not being able to adjust his offense. Both with Kaep and Lamar he is failing to counter what defenses are doing to limit what they did well. To be fair he and the offense need another year to work on adjustments like being able to win outside the numbers when that is what the defense is giving you. Lamar, and whoever they add to the skill position room deserve an appropriate amount of time (this off-season to counter to the adjustments).

My two favorite coordinators who I think deserve a shot as a head coach are Eric Bieniemy and Brian Daboll. Buffalo has done a great job developing their team. Josh McDaniels deserves another shot too but selfishly I hope he stays.
 

j-man

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Dec 19, 2012
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Arkansas
vic shouild get a 3rd year he is makeing denver defense top 10 was 13 in the nfl before today 10 starters shouild be back on offense they play the nfc east next season most likely picking between 10-14 in the draft means prime pos for a OT or a CB like shawn wade
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
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Jul 15, 2005
32,620
Looking at all the active coaches, I think this might be the best coaching the NFL has had in my memory in total. Not the best top 5, I figure that was 88

Gibbs
Parcells
Walsh
Shula
Levy

Would have liked to get BB in here, but Walsh is out when BB gets a HC job and I can’t put together a better top 5 from what I looked at.

Current top 5 (top 3 are set, pick 2 from next 5).
BB
Reid
Payton
Carroll
McVay
Shanny
McDermott
Tomlin
 

BaseballJones

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Oct 1, 2015
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Not to pick too many nits, but how is Payton a cinch top-3 current coach, but not Tomlin? I know we don't like Pittsburgh around here, but the guy is 143-74-1 (.658), with 8 playoff appearances, 2 AFC titles, and a SB title to his credit. And zero losing seasons.

Payton, meanwhile, is 139-79 (.638), with 8 playoff appearances, 1 NFC title, and a SB title. But also 4 losing seasons.

So what, exactly, does Payton have over Tomlin?
 

luckiestman

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Not to pick too many nits, but how is Payton a cinch top-3 current coach, but not Tomlin? I know we don't like Pittsburgh around here, but the guy is 143-74-1 (.658), with 8 playoff appearances, 2 AFC titles, and a SB title to his credit. And zero losing seasons.

Payton, meanwhile, is 139-79 (.638), with 8 playoff appearances, 1 NFC title, and a SB title. But also 4 losing seasons.

So what, exactly, does Payton have over Tomlin?
I’m picking based on who I think is the best, you can feel free to disagree with it. I watch a lot of games, I’d take Payton over Tomlin (honestly I’d take either as a Jets fan). I don’t get to see non-game day stuff beyond press avails so maybe Tomlin is better. Tomlin plays the Bengals and Browns every year, so straight up win % doesn’t blow me away as a stat.

i think the most under the radar guy is McDermott. Bills have been playing solid for a while, he inherited a mess. He doesn’t have that offensive guru thing that makes the press love guys like McVay, Shanny, and even Kingsbury
 

SoxinSeattle

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Not to pick too many nits, but how is Payton a cinch top-3 current coach, but not Tomlin? I know we don't like Pittsburgh around here, but the guy is 143-74-1 (.658), with 8 playoff appearances, 2 AFC titles, and a SB title to his credit. And zero losing seasons.

Payton, meanwhile, is 139-79 (.638), with 8 playoff appearances, 1 NFC title, and a SB title. But also 4 losing seasons.

So what, exactly, does Payton have over Tomlin?
I'm not sure Payton is better than Carroll either.
 

Cellar-Door

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Payton is a great play designer. It's not at all clear he's a great or even above average coach in any other respect. His teams don't perform particularly well when it counts, and he is way too prone to doing things to show how clever he is instead of just doing what gives him the best chance to win (Hill is the most recent example, but far from the first).
 

luckiestman

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Payton is a great play designer. It's not at all clear he's a great or even above average coach in any other respect. His teams don't perform particularly well when it counts, and he is way too prone to doing things to show how clever he is instead of just doing what gives him the best chance to win (Hill is the most recent example, but far from the first).

I guess, miracle in MN and Rams PI play were unlucky but he was lucky to be on the receiving end of a Manning choke job.
 

Cellar-Door

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I guess, miracle in MN and Rams PI play were unlucky but he was lucky to be on the receiving end of a Manning choke job.
He's not a bad coach, and his play calling/design is really good, but.... that's been arguably the most talented team in the NFC for the last decade and put up this:
Lost WC
Lost Div
Missed playoffs
Lost Div
Missed
Missed
Missed
Lost NFC champ
Lost Div

With more losses to teams with worse regular season record than better. They have been chronic underperformers.
 

SMU_Sox

queer eye for the next pats guy
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Username checks out. They’re all good. Point remains the NFL is stacked with good coaches right now.
Totally agree that the NFL has a lot of good coaches. Don’t get the Sean Payton hate.

This is a list of anyone I would consider a good coach by division but not in order of best to worst.

AFC East: Belichick, McDermott, and Flores is off to a terrific start.
AFC North: Tomlin, Harbaugh, and I like what Stefanski is doing but it’s too early to tell.
AFC West: Reid, I am on the fence with Gruden.
AFC South: Vrabel, and I am on the fence with Reich.
7 good ones, 2 I’m on the fence with, and 2 on a good start.

NFC East: On the fence with Doug Pederson and Ron Rivera.
NFC North: Matt LaFleur is off to a good start but on the fence with him still. On the fence with Zimmer - he’s did the bare minimum for me to consider him as good but I think his time is ending with the Vikings. He’s also (counting this year) only made the playoffs 3/7 years and gone as far as the championship game once. Only won the division 2/7 times.
NFC South: Sean Payton, Bruce Arians leadership is what I take issue with not his offensive brain - he’s not a good coach.
NFC West: Carroll, Shanahan, McVay, and Kingsbury is on his way there but not there yet.
4 total 2 off to a good start and 2 on the fence with.

Good to me is someone who can get a team to the playoffs and implement his/her system. All coaches have an expiration date but a good coach can lead a team for a 5-10 years and be competitive for a conference championship game every few years. Also and regularly be competitive to either win their division or make the playoffs.

Totals:
11 I consider good, 4 I am on the fence with, and 4 off to a good start.
 

luckiestman

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vic shouild get a 3rd year he is makeing denver defense top 10 was 13 in the nfl before today 10 starters shouild be back on offense they play the nfc east next season most likely picking between 10-14 in the draft means prime pos for a OT or a CB like shawn wade
I can't tell too much about him. They play competently but lose a lot of games (kind of reminds me of Bowles tbh). I put him as a maybe because I figure Elway is getting sick of what he is seeing.
 

Ale Xander

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COY this year is probably between Stefanski and Flores. Maybe Payton if Taysom continues to win.
 

luckiestman

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Totally agree that the NFL has a lot of good coaches. Don’t get the Sean Payton hate.

This is a list of anyone I would consider a good coach by division but not in order of best to worst.

AFC East: Belichick, McDermott, and Flores is off to a terrific start.
AFC North: Tomlin, Harbaugh, and I like what Stefanski is doing but it’s too early to tell.
AFC West: Reid, I am on the fence with Gruden.
AFC South: Vrabel, and I am on the fence with Reich.
7 good ones, 2 I’m on the fence with, and 2 on a good start.

NFC East: On the fence with Doug Pederson and Ron Rivera.
NFC North: Matt LaFleur is off to a good start but on the fence with him still. On the fence with Zimmer - he’s did the bare minimum for me to consider him as good but I think his time is ending with the Vikings. He’s also (counting this year) only made the playoffs 3/7 years and gone as far as the championship game once. Only won the division 2/7 times.
NFC South: Sean Payton, Bruce Arians leadership is what I take issue with not his offensive brain - he’s not a good coach.
NFC West: Carroll, Shanahan, McVay, and Kingsbury is on his way there but not there yet.
4 total 2 off to a good start and 2 on the fence with.

Good to me is someone who can get a team to the playoffs and implement his/her system. All coaches have an expiration date but a good coach can lead a team for a 5-10 years and be competitive for a conference championship game every few years. Also and regularly be competitive to either win their division or make the playoffs.

Totals:
11 I consider good, 4 I am on the fence with, and 4 off to a good start.

Pretty good list. I probably like Gruden, Stefanski, Reich, Zimmer, and Rivera more than you and Pederson less. I don't think you left off anyone I could consider good. My opinion on Arians is way down. Probably still decent but I'm underwhelmed by his playcalling with Brady.

Not mentioned: The Cincy guy I cannot even evaluate the talent is so bad on the oline. You didn't mention Judge, I like him so far but way too early. I like Rhule. Wanted the Jets to hire him so I'm biased.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
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I forgot about Tomlin. He also has a good shot at it. Just think CLE and MIA overperformed more thus far.
 

luckiestman

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Jul 15, 2005
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I forgot about Tomlin. He also has a good shot at it. Just think CLE and MIA overperformed more thus far.
My top 4 right now for the award, Tomlin, McDermott, Shanny, Stefanski

I think the best coaching job is being done by Shanny. Tough as hell division and injuries galore and the 9ers are showing up to play. Man, I like watching that NFC West this year.

Payton if the Saints keep winning will jump up in the rankings.

edit: If Colts would have won today, I think I would have to had put Reich in the top 4.
 
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TomBrunansky23

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If Anthony Lynn doesn't get fired by the Chargers then I don't know what a coach has to do to get the boot anymore. That game in Buffalo yesterday was a masterclass in wasted timeouts, incompetent time management, and foolish decision-making. His guys played their asses off, especially the defense, and at every juncture he just sabotaged them.
 

johnmd20

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If Anthony Lynn doesn't get fired by the Chargers then I don't know what a coach has to do to get the boot anymore. That game in Buffalo yesterday was a masterclass in wasted timeouts, incompetent time management, and foolish decision-making. His guys played their asses off, especially the defense, and at every juncture he just sabotaged them.
He made multiple insane and incompetent decisions. That run at the end of the game was a play that should result in the immediate firing of the coach. Like, you pull him off the sidelines during the postgame and evict him from the stadium.

I wanted Lynn to be good. He was great on hard knocks. And he would probably be an excellent coordinator. But he can't be a coach, there are too many mistakes being made by both the coach and the team at the most critical points.
 

TomBrunansky23

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He made multiple insane and incompetent decisions. That run at the end of the game was a play that should result in the immediate firing of the coach. Like, you pull him off the sidelines during the postgame and evict him from the stadium.

I wanted Lynn to be good. He was great on hard knocks. And he would probably be an excellent coordinator. But he can't be a coach, there are too many mistakes being made by both the coach and the team at the most critical points.
Rex Ryan school of clock management. I shudder to think how close Lynn came to getting the Bills job instead of McDermott.

Running your young QB into the line with 6 seconds left in search of a garbage time TD for a 3-7 team should be an instantly fireable offense.
 

Cellar-Door

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COY this year is probably between Stefanski and Flores. Maybe Payton if Taysom continues to win.
If you want to bet COTY, just pick whoever you think will exceed his team's vegas wins total by the most. I can't find in now but there was a chart that showed it has correctly predicted the COTY every season this decade.
 

Phil Plantier

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His guys played their asses off, especially the defense, and at every juncture he just sabotaged them.
I agree that Lynn is frustrating, and has probably turned at least one win into a loss this year, but doesn't he also get credit for this?

Lynn seems like a HC who is bad at all the public-facing stuff and good at all the behind-the-scenes stuff. Probably not enough to save his job, but not in the same neighborhood as the other fired coaches this year (so far).
 

coremiller

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I agree that Lynn is frustrating, and has probably turned at least one win into a loss this year, but doesn't he also get credit for this?

Lynn seems like a HC who is bad at all the public-facing stuff and good at all the behind-the-scenes stuff. Probably not enough to save his job, but not in the same neighborhood as the other fired coaches this year (so far).
Also if the head coach isn't overly stubborn and hard-headed the in-game management stuff is generally a lot easier for a coach to fix than all the other stuff.
 

j-man

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Dec 19, 2012
3,646
Arkansas
I can't tell too much about him. They play competently but lose a lot of games (kind of reminds me of Bowles tbh). I put him as a maybe because I figure Elway is getting sick of what he is seeing.
denver shouild be a "maybe" but to me he shouild get a 3rd year because we cannot change systems every year and expect to win i figure with a hopefully training camp and preseason we can get a final read on lock and then if denver goes 8-8 or worse in 2021 we can get a new coach in 2022 and go from there if we fire him in January unless we get the kc oc who wouild be better i mean simmons is likey gone miller is 50/50 we wouild need 2 CB without vic and maybe 2 Safety as well while if we keep vic we can foucs on o-line and 1 CB and Saferty
 

j-man

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Dec 19, 2012
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Arkansas
denver shouild be a "maybe" but to me he shouild get a 3rd year because we cannot change systems every year and expect to win i figure with a hopefully training camp and preseason we can get a final read on lock and then if denver goes 8-8 or worse in 2021 we can get a new coach in 2022 and go from there if we fire him in January unless we get the kc oc who wouild be better i mean simmons is likey gone miller is 50/50 we wouild need 2 CB without vic and maybe 2 Safety as well while if we keep vic we can foucs on o-line and 1 CB and Saferty
a new coach and qb in 2022