For the first time since the 2020 offseason, the Houston Texans were not in the market for a new head coach, and based on how DeMeco Ryans’ first season went, they won’t be looking for a new head coach for a long, long time. Ryans lived up to the hype generated from his hire a year ago.
Now, eight other teams did have to find new leaders for their on field product, and there were several very intriguing hiring decisions made by these eight teams, most notably, in a league where an elite offense feels more a necessity than an elite defense, five teams tried defensively oriented head coaches. So, as we do every year once the dust settles, let’s hand out some grades, shall we?
BRIAN CALLAHAN, Titans
LAST JOB: Bengals offensive coordinator
THE SKINNY: Callahan was a middle of the pack candidate at the outset of the process, but reportedly blew the Titans’ brass away in his interview. Callahan did not call plays in Cincinnati, so presumably he will in Tennessee, and if he does that will be new. Bonus for Callahan, it looks like he will be bringing his dad, Bill, in as the offensive line coach, a huge boon in the attempt to rehab the worst offensive line in the league.
GRADE: B-
DAVE CANALES, Panthers
LAST JOB: Buccaneers offensive coordinator
THE SKINNY: Widely viewed as the worst of the eight openings this offseason, mostly because of the dark cloud that is owner David Tepper, the Panthers did about as good as could be expected with the hire of Canales. In Seattle, Canales was the QB coach overseeing the rehabilitation of Geno Smith’s career, and in Tampa he was the OC overseeing the resurgence of Baker Mayfield. Now, it’s Bryce Young’s turn in the Canales car wash.
GRADE: A-
JIM HARBAUGH, Chargers
LAST JOB: University of Michigan head coach
THE SKINNY: Simply put, this was the best hire of the cycle. Harbaugh has had great success everywhere he’s gone, most recently winning a national title in extremely convincing fashion at Michigan. Harbaugh has unfinished business in the NFL, having come within a play of winning a Super Bowl in San Francisco in 2012.
GRADE: A
MIKE MACDONALD, Seahawks
LAST JOB: Ravens defensive coordinator
THE SKINNY: Speaking of Harbaugh, Macdonald has worked for both of them. At Michigan, he was Jim’s defensive coordinator, before moving to Baltimore to work in the same role on the NFL level under John. The Ravens had one of the best defenses in the league in 2023 (as the Texans learned, twice), and the Seahawks could use a jolt on that side of the ball. Macdonald becomes the current titleholder for “youngest head coach in the league” at age 36.
GRADE: B+
JEROD MAYO, Patriots
LAST JOB: Patriots linebackers coach
THE SKINNY: Mayo has been earmarked as a future head coach for a few years now, and last offseason, he signed a new deal with the Patriots that apparently included language that he would be Bill Belichick’s successor when the time arrived. Well, the time is here. This is the most intriguing hire to me, because we have almost zero evidence of Mayo as a tactician, as he never elevated to even a coordinator level. This is a huge gamble based largely on Mayo’s leadership and charisma.
GRADE: C+
RAHEEM MORRIS, Falcons
LAST JOB: Rams defensive coordinator
THE SKINNY: This opening appeared to be the landing spot for Bill Belichick after his parting of the ways with New England. Somewhere along the way, though, something soured, and the Falcons settled on Morris, who actually had a solid interim stint with the Falcons after they fired Dan Quinn (more on Quinn in a minute).
GRADE: B-
ANTONIO PEARCE, Raiders
LAST JOB: Raiders interim head coach
THE SKINNY: Pearce was a breath of fresh air for the Raiders after they fired Josh McDaniels midway through the season. Under Pearce, the Raiders went 5-4 in the final nine games of the season, and the players really took to Pearce’s leadership style. The reason for the mediocre grade is that I always have an inherent skepticism on promoting interim head coaches off of a “sugar high” performance of a few games. They also need to fix the quarterback position, or else it won’t matter who got hired.
GRADE: C
DAN QUINN, Commanders
LAST JOB: Cowboys defensive coordinator
THE SKINNY: This looked all but sealed for Detroit OC Ben Johnson to scoop up after the Lions were eliminated in the NFC title game. Then, Johnson mysteriously decided to go back to the Lions for another season, and it seemed like the Commanders ended up settling for a retread in Quinn. The Washington fan base is largely underwhelmed with getting a former Cowboys DC who was last seen coordinating a defense that gave up 48 points to Green Bay in a playoff game.
GRADE: D
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
