Coaching can be the difference between winning a Superbowl, and being at the bottom of the barrel. Some coaches are offensive geniuses, some have stunning clock management skills, some just bring out the best in a player. Football is one of the rare professional sports where a coach really makes the difference. There are a few familiar faces headed to new cities, along with some new faces that will be trying to make a name for themselves in the NFL.
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Matt Rhule
The Former Baylor Bears head coach will be coming in to start his first year in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. Rhule is bringing a few guys from the CFB scene with him in Joe Brady as his OC, who has some experience under Sean Payton in NO, and Phil Snow, who was the DC for Rhule at Baylor. Some of the things we can expect from the new hire for the Panthers is more of a player-centric mindset. He believes that in order for a team to succeed, you should use players for their strengths and put them in a position to play their game. Don’t take that the wrong way, he demands excellence. He runs a Pro style offense, where he implemented RPOs into the system for more diversity. Will be interesting for sure to see if he brings the same system to Carolina. As far as Joe Brady, he is somewhat of an unknown. Brady has experience in very high powered offenses from being an offensive assistant in New Orleans, and then worked as a WR coach at LSU last year (an offense that threw for 60 TDs in 15 games). Phil Snow is a lifelong Coordinator who thinks the key to defense is to sack the QB and create turnovers. All coaches say that, but he preaches it to all of his players. He was quoted saying “The system won’t be why we win. It will be because of how fast and physical we play”. My opinion is that there are a lot of unknown factors for this coaching staff because of lack of experience at this level. All coaches can talk the talk, but the NFL is about walking the walk. Will CMC continue to reign dominance at the RB position in this new offense or will he see less targets in the passing game? Will we see another step forward with DJ Moore? Will Curtis Samuel finally break out? Only time will tell.
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Joe Judge
Joe Judge was a shocker for most of the NFL world when the Giants decided he would be the next leader of their organization. I say shocker because he has zero experience running anything besides Special Teams, given that experience came from the Patriots. There isn’t much to go on since he has not run an offense or a defense. While they bring in some much needed experience in Jason Garret as OC, we have seen how his offenses perform. One positive note that we know for sure, Garret will look to feed Saquon the ball more often than he has been in the past. The Giants are in a rebuild situation, so some new faces could be exactly what the team needs. They went out and got a coaching staff that knows a thing or two about winning football games (which is kind of the reason you play, according to Herm Edwards). I also believe that Daniel Jones can take a step up with Jason Garret, who has developed two franchise QBs in his time in Dallas. My expectations of this team are low in year one but I wouldn’t be shocked if they contend for the division. They had an excellent draft by giving Daniel Jones some much needed help in the OL in Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart, and took Xavier McKinney to help in the secondary which was atrocious last year. I will be keeping my eyes on this team and I fully believe that this team will get better than they have been in the past.
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Kevin Stefanski
The Browns are back at it again, with another head coaching change by signing the former Vikings OC, Kevin Stefanski. The Browns bring in a no-nonsense guy who prides himself on pounding the rock as much as possible, which will be important to open up the passing game. In his short tenure as the Vikings OC, they were 4th in rushing attempts, 6th in both rushing yards and TDs. On the other hand, they were 30th in passing attempts, but were efficient when they did throw the ball ranking 14th in TDs, and threw the 5th least interceptions. He will want to run the ball with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt as much as possible, which are solid options to hand the ball off to. This roster is too talented for yet another year of mediocrity. I do believe that Odell and Landry will produce about the same, but Baker will be more conservative with the football and will not make as many poor throws. I do see more upside in Austin Hooper, especially in the red zone where he caught the 3rd most passes for a TE, and scored 6 times. I will remain skeptical until I see this team on the field producing before I give Stefanski any credit. They also brought in Joe Woods who was the DB coach for the 49ers in order to help out a hopeful young secondary. In my personal opinion, The Browns will do Browns things because bad organizations do bad things.
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Ron Rivera
This hiring was somewhat of a shocker to me. The Redskins gave Ron Rivera a chance to turn this discombobulated team around. They have been horrid on both sides of the ball, can’t sell tickets, haven’t been able to keep anyone healthy, and just poorly managed by the Front Office. One thing that Rivera does bring to the table is his experience in getting to the Super Bowl, while winning two Coach of the Year awards. I think it is a dangerous thing for any team to bring in a whole new coaching staff with a young QB who struggled the previous year. I expect nothing from this team as far as improvement goes, because personally I do not believe that Ron Rivera is a good coach. He brought in Jack Del Rio to be his DC in Washington, who will implement a 4-3 defense that will try to get after the QB. It does help that the Redskins drafted Chase Young with their 2nd overall pick to bring some pressure to opposing offensive lines. What will be the value of young superstar Terry McLaurin under the new regime? What will Derrius Guice’s production be like? Too many unknown questions on this roster to feel good about this hiring in my opinion.
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Mike McCarthy
I really thought that this guy would never get another opportunity after wasting Aaron Rodgers career. The Cowboys and Jerry Jones saw something in him that apparently nobody else did. He comes in as a coach that has been known to be stubborn, has control issues, and wants things done his way. From what he has said, Kellen Moore will keep calling plays on offense, for now at least. Kellen Moore helped bolster the offense to be top in the NFL in total yards, 5th in rushing yards, and 2nd in passing yards. It’s safe to say that the Cowboys did not have problems moving the ball. Their problem was consistency and the ability to close out games. On the bright side of things, McCarthy comes to Dallas with the knowledge on how to make a Super Bowl, which is probably why he got the job in the first place. Something that worries me is the productivity of Zeke going forward. In 13 seasons as HC in Green Bay, his starting RBs have only surpassed 200 carries four times. Now, none of those running backs were Zeke, nor were they anywhere near his skill level. It will be interesting to see the way he is used in the game plan going forward. Overall, I don’t hate the signing, but I have grown to never trust Mike McCarthy and neither should the Cowboys.
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