Kliff Kingsbury was known for some rigid tendencies with the Arizona Cardinals but has shown more flexibility during his first season as the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator. He has shown the ability to produce a strong offense while enabling a young dual-threat quarterback. From 2019-22, Kyler Murray ranked second among quarterbacks in rushing yards off designed runs (1,185), behind only Lamar Jackson. Murray averaged 6.0 yards per carry on these runs. In 2024, Jayden Daniels ranked third among QBs in rushing yards off designed runs behind Jackson and Anthony Richardson. Kingsbury may need to wait at least one more year to wash away the stink from the end of his Cardinals’ head-coaching tenure, but he has undoubtedly done an outstanding job in his first season as the Commanders’ offensive coordinator.
DC Anthony Weaver has put together an impressive resume in his first season with the Dolphins. This season, Miami's defense allowed touchdowns at the third-lowest rate, thanks in large part to the second-most efficient red zone unit in the sport. The NFL is a league of turning scoring chances into seven points and the ability to hold strong in those spots is becoming increasingly valuable, thus highlighting Weaver’s ability to thrive when counted on the most. He has Miami ranked seventh in our all-inclusive Defense+ metric, up from 13th a season ago. Weaver spent some time in an assistant coaching role while with the Baltimore Ravens (2022-23), which helps his resume too, as it gives him some experience in a position of power that not all coordinators have.
Todd Monken was a collegiate quarterback, and much was expected of him when he elected to return to the professional game after spending three seasons in Georgia as their offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. He not only lived up to the hype, he’s overachieved. During his two seasons with the Ravens, Baltimore leads the AFC in scoring, with Lamar Jackson playing like an MVP for almost every moment. This season has proven that Monken is more than happy to adjust to the strengths of his specific roster. In 2023, the Ravens ranked 11th in pass rate over expectation, opting to let Jackson decide games rather than banking on a running back without a proven bellcow. He is one of the best offensive minds in the sport and due to the direction of the NFL, a coach like this is currently valued as high as ever.
During Pete Caroll's peak time in Seattle (2012-20), the Seahawks (68.4%) trailed only the dynastic New England Patriots in win percentage, had four divisional titles, and, of course, went to the Super Bowl in consecutive years (winning it all in 2013). That’s not a bad run for a coach who took over a franchise that won a total of nine games in the two seasons prior to his hire (in his 14 seasons: 9.8 wins per season). Apart from his offensive success with Russell Wilson and defensive success with the Legion of Boom, Carroll has also cut his teeth at the collegiate level on the defensive side of the ball and there is where he made his first impact on the NFL, so it stands to reason that a team could sell itself on his ability to build up that side of the ball.
Aaron Glenn has been involved on the defensive side of the ball in a coaching capacity in the NFL for over a decade now, this coming after a 15-year career as a defensive back that saw him earn three trips to the Pro Bowl. He may not have youth on his side the way the coordinator on the other side of the ball does (Ben Johnson is 38 years old while Glenn is 52), but that’s unlikely to lower his stock much in the eyes of NFL franchises. He’s not “old,” and we did just see Dan Quinn (54 years old) guide the Commanders to the playoffs after spending the previous three years as a defensive coordinator. You could argue that he was less appealing than Glenn, considering that he had already been fired as a head coach (Falcons, 2020).
This season was Liam Coen’s first in Tampa Bay, and he immediately led one of the best offenses in the NFL. The Buccaneers are third in PFN’s Offense+ metric, a huge leap from last year’s 22nd-place ranking. Under Coen’s coaching, Baker Mayfield has posted one of the best seasons in Buccaneers history and ranks eighth in EPA per play after ranking 14th in 2023. Mayfield and the Bucs offense have produced at elite levels despite missing Chris Godwin for the final 10 games of the regular season and Mike Evans missing three.
It’s hard to do much better than Jesse Minter’s last three seasons as defensive coordinator for the Chargers (2024) and Michigan (2022-23). The Chargers have the top-ranked scoring defense in Minter’s first season, while the Wolverines ranked first in the FBS in 2023 and seventh in 2022. The turnaround in Los Angeles has been particularly impressive. Minter was also an assistant under John Harbaugh with the Ravens from 2017-20. In those seasons, Baltimore finished with a top-10 scoring defense every season.
Flores is a schematic problem solver. Tasked with revamping a Vikings defense that was light on talent in 2023, the former Miami Dolphins head coach made it work.
He sent blitzes (49.3%) and dropped eight into coverage (20.8%) at league-high rates, per TruMedia, while guiding a defense that somehow finished 11th in DVOA. Flores has maintained his diabolical sense of scheming this season, playing a large part in Minnesota’s standout season. During uring Flores’ tenure, the Dolphins committed the seventh-fewest penalties, leading to the third-best penalty yardage differential (651 fewer penalty yards than their opponents). In addition, Miami had a roughly neutral turnover differential under Flores, but much of that was due to the putrid 2019 team. From 2020-21, the Dolphins had the ninth-best turnover differential and forced the fourth-most turnovers in the league on defense.
Mike Vrabel has expressed interest in the Patriots’ job. Vrabel is a hot commodity that is highly sought after by several teams. He’s already interviewed with the Patriots’ division rivals, the New York Jets. Kraft would probably love to bring home the prodigal son as Vrabel played on three Super Bowl-winning teams with the Patriots during his career. In three of Vrabel’s six seasons, the Titans significantly exceeded expectations, measured by their performance against the spread. The Titans won on the margins, particularly when it came to penalties and turnovers. During Vrabel’s tenure, Tennessee had the third-best penalty margin, committing 88 fewer penalties than their opponents from 2018-23.
Ben Johnson can become an NFL head coach the moment he decides he wants to. Multiple clubs have reportedly wanted to hire Detroit’s OC over the past few offseasons. Instead, Johnson has turned down opportunities, preferring to stick and build with the Lions. His contribution in Lions' offense is quite visible. Since Johnson took over the OC role, the rate of offensive TDs have sored up from 19.7% to 37.4% in three years. We live in an offensive-driven league, and Johnson’s resume speaks for itself – at a young age, he’s proven capable of elevating the pieces around him in a significant way, something every team in the NFL finds appealing.
