Which NFL Team Had the Best Head Coach Hire?
After the Cardinals hired the Carolina Panthers Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks to become their Head Coach today, all NFL head coaching vacancies are filled. Which teams hire was the best of them all?
1.) New York Giants: Pat Shurmur, Minnesota Vikings OC.
-This is my top NFL Head Coaching hire for a few reasons. For strarters, Shurmur is an offensive mind and the Giants need offensive help badly. Shurmur watched the Vikings revamp their offensive line during the 2017 offseason, and can use that to his advantage. In Eli Manning he has a veteran quarterback whose play-style is similar to that of Case Keenum's, who Shurmur was the coordinator for all season. With a good defense already in place, Shurmur can focus on revamping a Giants offense that needs help. Shurmur may be able to turn the Giants into a playoff contender going into the 2018 season.
2.) Detroit Lions: Matt Patricia, New England Patriots DC.
-The Lions defense was in the bottom half of the league in every single major category. While the Patriots were in the bottom half of the league for everything but points allowed per game (they were 5th), which doesn't sound like the Lions are getting anything to promising. Well, it may sound cliché but all you need in order to win is to hold your opponents to less points than you score. With Detroit's top 10 scoring offense, Patricia's bend but don't break defense should work just fine.
3.) Chicago Bears: Matt Nagy, Kansas City Chiefs OC.
-Man I bet we all forgot about this hire by now. I think people could be sleeping on Matt Nagy, Kansas City's offensive was top 10 in every major offensive category this season and Alex Smith looked incredible under Nagy. I think Trubisky and Smith play pretty similar, minus Trubisky's arm being stronger. Nagy is now the seventh NFL Head Coach that has been a part of Andy Reid's coaching staff at some point in their career. How did the other six fair? Three of them made it as a head coach, the Giants new Head Coach Pat Shurmur made it as the Vikings offensive coordinator, and one of them is coaching in the Super Bowl in two weeks. Yeah, I think Andy Reid does a decent job at setting up his former coaching staff members for success.
4.) Indianapolis Colts: Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots OC.
-This would be further up my list if McDaniels wasn't walking into a dumpster fire. The highest they were in any major category offense or defense, was their mediocre 103.8 rushing yards per game. That's good for about the 22nd best in the league. The Colts stunk it up on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball last year. McDaniels will need to revamp the Colts offensive line, upgrade the Colts linebackers and cornerbacks, find out Andrew Luck's status and keep him on the right track. McDaniels may be the coordinator of arguably the best offense in the league in New England, but these Colts are a far cry from that of the Patriots.
5.) Arizona Cardinals: Steve Wilks, Carolina Panthers DC.
-The Panthers defense this year under Wilks was top half of the league in every category besides passing yards allowed per game, which is more than impressive when you have to play Drew Brees and Matt Ryan four times in a season. Now, Wilks inherits a Cardinals defense that was top half in the league in everything besides points allowed per game. However, the Cardinals offense needs some work. A Larry Fitzgerald return and a healthy David Johnson would be a nice start!
6.) Oakland Raiders: Jon Gruden.
-It's not that this was a bad hire, it just wasn't a good hire. Gruden has been out of coaching for 9 years, and the game has changed plenty since then. Gruden is seen as a quarterback guru which is great for Derek Carr, but what about the Raiders troubled defense? I am yet to see how Gruden's higher will help the defense. Oakland isn't gifting Gruden with Derrick Brooks, Simeon Rice, Rhonde Barber, and John Lynch like the Buccaneers had for him when they won the Super Bowl in 2002. The Raiders need plenty of defensive help but yet their front office spent way too much money on their new coaching staff, and now may lose/lose out on critical players in free agency.
7.) Tennessee Titans: Mike Vrabel, Houston Texans DC.
-Vrabel has only spent 4 seasons in any sort of NFL coaching position, with his highest rank being that of the Houston Texans defensive coordinator last season. That defense was last in the league in points allowed, and bottom half of the league in everything but rushing yards allowed per game. Granted JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus missed a majority of the season, but there's no way the Texans defense should have been that bad this season. When your best reasoning as to why he could be a good coach is that he knows the "Patriot way," that's not a very good start.
