Head Coach Ranking

Catching Up With Some Curious Coaching Moves Around the NFL

By HCR Staff | Jan. 29, 2019

While the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams prepare for Super Bowl LIII, there’s been plenty of activity around the NFL as the other 30 teams evaluate and make adjustments to their coaching staffs. Amid all the Super Bowl hoopla, here’s a rundown of some recent activity you may have missed:

ATLANTA FALCONS:
While head coach Dan Quinn survived a disappointing season, the Falcons did fire all three of their coordinators – offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel and special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong. It would appear that this coming season will be critical for Quinn. Dirk Koetter is the new OC. Quinn takes over as DC. The new special teams coordinator is Ben Kotwica, formerly with the Washington Redskins.

BUFFALO BILLS:
The Bills fired offensive line coach Juan Castillo, which was surprising because he and head coach Sean McDermott have a long history together; they worked on Andy Reid’s staff in Philadelphia from 2001-10. Castillo took over at defensive coordinator for McDermott when McDermott was fired by Reid after the 2010 season. The Bills o-line wasn’t expected to be good and they weren’t. They had to overcome losing a pair of veterans in center Eric Wood and Pro Bowl guard Richie Incognito.

DENVER BRONCOS:
When the Broncos hired Vic Fangio as head coach, it was widely reported that Gary Kubiak — former Broncos head coach and long-time friend of team president John Elway – would become Fangio’s offensive coordinator. Then a few days after Fangio was hired, there was a change of plan. Kubiak surprisingly left Denver to take the OC job with the Minnesota Vikings. Bizarre.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS:
Speaking of bizarre, this was one of the more unexpected moves of the offseason. The Colts offensive line was arguably the most improved offensive line in football and a big reason why the team made the postseason. Yet soon after they lost to the Chiefs in the divisional playoffs, o-line coach Dave DeGuglielmo was fired. This was a surprise.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS:
Running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley, who was fired earlier this month, had been hired by Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone in 2017. Wheatley previously worked on Marrone’s staffs at Syracuse and with the Buffalo Bills. He might have been the fall guy for running back malcontent Leonard Fournette.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS:
The Vikings chose not to renew the contract of special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, who had been with the team since 2011. He is now the special teams coordinator with the Cleveland Browns.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS:
No coach spends more time with the players than the strength staff, and head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle had been a staple of the team since 2010. He was hired by Pete Carroll at USC in 2009 and followed him to Seattle a year later. This is the second offseason in a row where the Seahawks have made significant changes to core members of the staff that came over from USC. Last year, they fired Kris Richard, who had been the defensive coordinator. This year, Carlisle was let go.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS:
New Bucs head coach Bruce Arians hired Todd McNair to be his running backs coach. McNair, a former NFL player who last coached in 2009 for USC, had been out of coaching since then – perhaps due to his alleged involvement in the Reggie Bush-related scandal at USC. This was a good opportunity for McNair to get back into the game – Arians was McNair’s coach back when he played at Temple.

Atlanta Falcons 34, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 32 – Dec. 30, 2018

At Tampa Bay
1:00 p.m. ET
77 degrees, mostly cloudy

TEAM PLAY
CALLING		 PERSONNEL GAME
PLANNING		 IN-GAME
ADJ		 CLOCK
MGMT		 HCR
ATL 8 8 7 8 8 7.8
TB 6 8 8 6 7 7.0

Key Observations:

• Good game clock management by the Falcons on their final drive of the first half, resulting in a touchdown.

• Atlanta overcame a 17-point deficit in this game which is a credit to their in-game adjustments.

• Tampa Bay attempted 2-point conversions on consecutive touchdowns starting around 8:00 remaining in the fourth quarter. The first try brought the game to within three points and the second try aimed to extend the lead to three. Both were unsuccessful. Tampa Bay eventually lost on a last-second, game-winning field goal by the Falcons. Had Tampa Bay just stayed the course and kicked the extra points, they would have had a 3-point lead and gone to overtime. This was an excellent example of why 2-point conversions can have unforeseen consequences when attempted too early in the game. These decisions resulted in a lowering of the score to Tampa Bay’s play calling category, which otherwise was quite good on the day.

Atlanta Falcons 24, Carolina Panthers 10 – Dec. 23, 2018

At Carolina
1:00 p.m. ET
52 degrees

TEAM PLAY
CALLING		 PERSONNEL GAME
PLANNING		 IN-GAME
ADJ		 CLOCK
MGMT		 HCR
ATL 8 7 7 8 8 7.6
CAR 7 8 7 6 7 7.0

Key Coaching Decision #1: (CAR ball, trailing 24-10 / fourth-and-1, ATL 6 / 8:36 Q4)
• Down by 14 points, Atlanta decided to go for it. Taylor Heinicke dropped back and his pass intended for Curtis Samuel fell incomplete and the Falcons took over.

Key Coaching Decision #2: (CAR ball, trailing 24-10 / fourth-and-10, ATL 30 / 6:42 Q4)
• The Panthers again had the ball deep in Atlanta territory and went for it on fourth down. They again came up short as Bruce Irvin sacked Heinicke.

Key Observations:
• Atlanta had a balanced attack as they had 194 yards rushing and 233 yards passing, which kept the Carolina defense off balance. Opening up the second half, Matt Ryan hit Calvin Ridley on a 75-yard touchdown pass that the Panthers couldn’t recover from.

• Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey had another amazing game as he had 178 yards of total offense. He was the only reliable option for an injury-riddled Panthers offense. McCaffrey broke the NFL record for receptions by a running back in the third quarter and now has 106 catches on the season.

• The Panthers ran 36 more plays than Atlanta and had the ball for 15 more minutes in the game, but couldn’t overcome four turnovers and multiple missed opportunities in Atlanta territory.

• Carolina lost its seventh consecutive game and third consecutive game at home.

Atlanta Falcons 40, Arizona Cardinals 14 – Dec. 16, 2018

At Atlanta
1:00 p.m. ET
Dome

TEAM PLAY
CALLING		 PERSONNEL GAME
PLANNING		 IN-GAME
ADJ		 CLOCK
MGMT		 HCR
ARI 5 6 5 5 6 5.4
ATL 8 7 7 7 8 7.4

Key Observations:
• We feel for Cardinals rookie quarterback Josh Rosen. It will be hard to develop him under the current circumstances, as he’s dealing with a rookie head coach, a rookie offensive coordinator, and a far-below-average offensive line. Rosen has talent but, in our view, it is unfair to properly assess his play and make a judgment given the circumstances.

• This was the kind of game the Falcons had to win, and had to win impressively. They did so, and played with a lot of enthusiasm. This was a testament to Falcons head coach Dan Quinn’s team-building skills. At this point in the year, it is sometimes difficult to get players to perform when the playoffs are lost. The Falcons were flying around Sunday, and played well.

Green Bay Packers 34, Atlanta Falcons 20 – Dec. 9, 2018

At Green Bay
1:00 p.m. ET
25 degrees

TEAM PLAY
CALLING		 PERSONNEL GAME
PLANNING		 IN-GAME
ADJ		 CLOCK
MGMT		 HCR
ATL 7 6 6 6 7 6.4
GB 7 7 8 7 6 7.0

Key Coaching Decision #1: (ATL ball, tied 0-0 / second-and-5, ATL 30 / 14:21 Q1)
• Matt Ryan completed a 28-yard pass to Julio Jones to the Green Bay 42-yard line. Green Bay coach Joe Philbin decided to challenge the catch. The call on the field was upheld and the Packers lost a timeout.

Key Coaching Decision #2: (ATL ball, tied 0-0 / first-and-15, GB 47 / 13:56 Q1)
• On the next play (after a penalty), Ryan threw a 19-yard pass to Jones that was complete to the Green Bay 28-yard line. Philbin decided to challenge the play on the field again. The ruling on the field was confirmed and Green Bay lost another timeout and they were out of challenges 83 seconds into the game.

Key Observations:
• The Packers played their first game without former head coach Mike McCarthy, who was fired last week. The Packers won the game, but Aaron Rodgers was still inconsistent and threw for under 200 yards on the day.

• Green Bay running back Aaron Jones did not start the game, but finished with 78 yards on 17 carries and scored a third-quarter touchdown that put the game out of reach. He continues to be a bright spot in an underwhelming season for the Packers.

• A season that started with playoff and Super Bowl aspirations has been an absolute disaster for the Falcons. Atlanta lost their fifth consecutive game on Sunday and had another lackluster effort. Falcons owner Arthur Blank has publicly shown support for head coach Dan Quinn and does not feel Quinn is the reason for the disappointing season. Quinn may be safe, but look for some changes to his coaching staff next season.

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Headcoachranking.com assigns a grade to the in-game performance of NFL head coaches each week.  Our knowledgeable graders analyze each head coach’s performance in 5 key areas of decision making. After determining their “HCR” (Head Coach Ranking), we rank them from best to worst. HCR rankings are posted every Tuesday of the NFL season, and fans will be able to track each coach’s performance throughout the season.

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