At the end of the 2015 NFL regular season, there were seven head coaching vacancies. As of January 18, all have officially been filled.
A variety of former head coaches and coordinators will now look to get their new teams back on the right track. Which teams hired the best coach? We decided to rank each of the seven new hires.
7. Dirk Koetter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
After the surprising firing of Lovie Smith, Tampa Bay decided its offensive coordinator was the right fit for the franchise. Many NFL pundits predicted Koetter was hired out of fear that another team might scoop him up as their new head coach, and because of his success with rookie quarterback Jamies Winston.
Buccaneers Co-Chairman Joel Glazer said that Koetter was the perfect fit as Tampa Bay looks to compete in the NFC South.
“Dirk has established himself as one of the top offensive coaches in our game while enjoying success at every stop during his college and NFL career,” Glazer said, via Buccaneers.com. “His success with our offense last season, along with his familiarity with our players and our organization, makes Dirk the right man to lead our team moving forward.”
This will be the Idaho native’s first NFL head coaching gig, after stints with the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars as offensive coordinator. He was also the head coach of Arizona State and Boise State.
If the main reason for his promotion was due to his success with Winston, than only time will tell if that can translate into wins.
6. Chip Kelly, San Francisco 49ers
Kelly has had an interesting couple of years to say the least. After claiming he was staying at Oregon, he suddenly departed for the NFL.
In his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles, he led the team to a 10-6 record and an NFC East Championship before losing to the New Orleans Saints in the first-round of the playoffs. In his second season with Philly, he led the team to another 10-6 record, but failed to make the playoffs. Then, the 2015 disaster occurred.
Kelly convinced Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie for complete control of the team, taking over as the GM. He traded away running back LeSean McCoy and quarterback Nick Foles, and failed to resign wide reciever Jeremy Maclin. This caused quite the uproar in Philadelphia as Kelly wanted to build his team, his way.
Many blame Lurie for giving Kelly this amount of control, but it was clear after just one season that the Eagles were fed up with the Kelly regime.
San Francisco hired Kelly as a head coach only, and the jury is still out on whether his up tempo offense can win in the NFL. With a mobile quarterback in Colin Kaepernick, Kelly now has a real weapon to lead his offense and prove all the negative pundits wrong.
5. Mike Mularkey, Tennessee Titans
This will be Mularkey’s third stint as an NFL head coach (Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars) where he compiled an 18-39 total record. Luckily for Mularkey he has young Marcus Mariota as his quarterback to build his offensive around. The Titans also have the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, should they not trade it away.
Mularkey will be the third head coach since the organization parted ways with longtime head coach Jeff Fisher in 2010. He took over for Ken Whisenhunt after the Titans went 1-6 to start the 2015 season, and led the team to a league worst 3-13 record.
Similar to Dirk Koetter in Tampa Bay, Mularkey was mainly hired for his ability to mold young quarterbacks and hopes to do so with Mariota. Whether that means the Titans will compete in the AFC South or not is still to be decided.
4. Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles
The first team to fire its 2015 head coach at the end of the season is now the last team to hire its 2016 head coach. Pederson is a familiar face in the Eagles organization as he was a quarterback with the team in 1999 and the quality control coach/quarterbacks coach for four seasons under Andy Reid.
According to ESPN, Pederson and Philadelphia agreed to terms on January 14 but it could not be announced officially until the Kansas City Chiefs’s season came to an end. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie released the following statement about Pederson.
“We are excited to introduce Doug Pederson as our new head coach,” Lurie said, via ESPN. “Doug is a strategic thinker, a compelling leader and communicator and someone who truly knows how to get the best out of his players. All of these factors were what initially attracted us to Doug, and we believe that he is the right man to help us achieve our ultimate goal.”
One of Lurie’s main gripes with former head coach Chip Kelly was his lack of communication with his players and organization. Seeing as Lurie cited Pederson’s excellent communication skills proves this was a serious area of concern that needed to be addressed.
This will be Pederson’s first NFL head coaching job and has been praised over his work with Alex Smith in Kansas City. He will be the 23rd head coach in Philadelphia history and looks to lead the Eagles back to the top of the NFC East.
3. Hue Jackson, Cleveland Browns
Could this be the head coach that finally gets it right in Cleveland?
The Browns have had a rough time since being reinstated in 1999 possessing a 87-185 record. In that time span the team has also gone through 24 different starting quarterbacks and nine new head coaches.
This will be Jackson’s second head coaching stint as he previously led the Oakland Raiders to an 8-8 record in 2011 before being fired by a new GM.
Jackson is known for his tough demeanor and hard-nose style of football, which is exactly what the Browns need. He has already made it known that drama-ridden quarterback Johnny Manziel isn’t in his plans moving forward.
The fact that Jackson will be calling his own plays makes him a great hire in Cleveland. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton had his best statistical year under Jackson in 2015 and the Bengals were seventh in the NFL in points scored.
Look for Jackson to take his no-nonsense work ethic to Cleveland and for the franchise to finally get back to winning records.
2. Ben McAdoo, New York Giants
After two-time Super Bowl winning head coach Tom Coughlin retired, the Giants quickly promoted offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo as the top man in the most predictable head coach hire.
Since McAdoo joined the Giants in 2014, the New York offense has skyrocketed. In 2013, Eli Manning had his worst season with a 57.5 completion percentage and 27 interceptions. In 2014 under McAdoo, Manning’s completion percentage rose to 63.1 percent and he threw for 30 touchdowns.
The real area the Giants will need to address under McAdoo is its defensive play, and it’s still up in the air on whether or not New York will retain defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
If Manning can provide solid continued production for McAdoo and the Giants can tighten up its inconsistent defense, it shouldn’t be long before New York returns to the top of the entire NFC.
1. Adam Gase, Miami Dolphins
Ditching the snowy winters of Chicago for the year-round sun of Miami, Adam Gase will bring his offensive mindset to the Dolphins.
Many praise his performance with Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who had a nice year in 2015 throwing 21 touchdowns and committing only 16 turnovers (compared to 24 turnovers in 2014 without Gase). For Dolphins fans, the hope is Gase can have the same impact on quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Gase will also be the man in charge in terms of calling the offensive plays.
“Yes, I’ll call the offensive plays. I feel like I’ve been doing it for the last three years. I really enjoy it. I really enjoy that aspect of putting the game plan together with the offensive staff. So going into this season, that’s how we are going to start, with me calling them,” Gase said, via The Phinsider.
The Michigan native will be the 12th head coach in Dolphins history and Miami is his fifth stop in his long NFL career. If Gase can get Tannehill to perform to his optimum performance, and institute a legitimate running game, look for the Dolphins to regain its winning tradition for many years to come.