The 2024 NFL hiring cycle is in full swing. Seven teams are searching for new head coaches, while the New England Patriots have already promoted Jerod Mayo to replace Bill Belichick. Every club with a vacancy hopes it can select the correct candidate among the league’s vast pool of qualified coordinators.
With interviews taking place all over the league, we’re doing something a bit different: What if we could design a staff comprised of entirely NFL head coaches?
Let’s put potential power struggles aside and consider which head coaches might make the best position coaches. Here’s our All-Star staff for 2024, beginning with a coach who made waves this weekend.
Building the Perfect NFL Coaching Staff
Head Coach | Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
While Mike Tomlin didn’t want to discuss his contract after the Steelers’ Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, subsequent reports have suggested that he will return to Pittsburgh. NFL Network reported Tuesday that Tomlin has told the Steelers players that he intends to coach the club in 2024.
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Tomlin came up through the defensive ranks, but we’re installing him in our head coaching seat. He’s famously never posted a losing season, while his handling of Antonio Brown’s mercurial personality deserves some sort of award.
Offensive Coordinator | Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
As the best play designer in the NFL, Kyle Shanahan was the obvious choice for offensive coordinator. An OC at four different stops before taking the 49ers’ head coaching job in 2017, Shanahan coaxed outstanding seasons out of Matt Ryan, Robert Griffin III, and even Brian Hoyer before heading to San Francisco.
The 49ers have fielded the league’s third-most-efficient offense since Shanahan took the reins, including multiple seasons where San Francisco played with backup quarterbacks. Since 2020, no offense — not even the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs — has posted more expected points per snap than the 49ers’.
QB Coach | Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
Andy Reid is arguably the NFL’s best head coach at the moment, so deploying him as a quarterbacks coach may feel like a bit of a waste. He may be overqualified, but there’s no one we’d rather have guiding a crop of signal-callers than the Chiefs’ head coach.
Remember, Mahomes wasn’t the first overall pick — or even the first QB — selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. Reid identified, drafted, and developed the former Texas Tech passer, helping turn Mahomes into one of the best quarterbacks in league history. And let’s not forget Reid’s previous work with Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb, and Michael Vick.
RB Coach | Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins
If there was an overused phrase used to describe Mike McDaniel before he was hired as the Dolphins’ head coach in 2022, it was “run-game savant.” McDaniel worked under Shanahan in San Francisco, where he helped design one of the league’s most effective rushing attacks, and he has continued that success in Miami.
McDaniel committed to the run this past season after the Dolphins finished 31st in rushing attempts (390) during his debut campaign. Miami ranked 15th in attempts (456) in 2023 and improved from 11th to third in rushing DVOA, while Raheem Mostert tied for the NFL lead with 21 rushing touchdowns.
WR Coach | Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
Like Reid and McDaniel, Sean McVay could lay claim to our offensive coordinator role. McVay, who’s still the NFL’s second-youngest head coach seven years after his hiring in Los Angeles, flirted with retirement in years past but has already committed to sticking with the Rams through 2024.
Look at the production McVay has gotten out of unheralded receivers. Cooper Kupp was a third-round pick who instantly contributed and eventually posted a near-2,000-yard campaign. Puka Nacua broke every NFL rookie receiving record in 2023 after being selected in the fifth round. Even Robert Woods, a second-round pick in 2013, didn’t ascend until joining McVay and the Rams in 2017.
TE Coach | Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions
Three years after talking about biting kneecaps off in his introductory press conference, Dan Campbell guided the Lions to their first playoff victory in over three decades. Detroit’s turnaround has been miraculous yet methodical, and Campbell’s been the face of the organization’s rebirth.
Campbell spent 10 seasons as an NFL tight end before eventually working as a TEs coach for the Dolphins and New Orleans Saints.
OL Coach | Matt LaFleur, Green Bay Packers
Few coaches did as impressive a job as Matt LaFleur in 2023. After trading franchise icon Aaron Rodgers, LaFleur’s steady hand helped Jordan Love become a top-10 quarterback in his first season as the Packers’ starter. Even with an inexperienced QB throwing to a skill-position group comprised entirely of first- or second-year players, Green Bay ranked eighth in yards per play, claimed a Wild Card slot, and won a playoff game.
LaFleur has spent the majority of his career working with quarterbacks, but the Packers have developed a bevy of mid- and late-round offensive linemen under LaFleur’s guidance and deployed two Day 3 picks (Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom) at tackle in 2023.
Defensive Coordinator | Bill Belichick, Free Agent
Belichick isn’t technically an NFL head coach right now — but that could change very quickly. Belichick interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons this week and might be the favorite to land that vacant job, so he may rejoin the coaching ranks soon.
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There’s really no other choice for defensive coordinator than Belichick, who won multiple Super Bowls as the New York Giants DC before putting together a string of dominant defenses with the Patriots. EPA data goes back to 2012 — no team generated was more efficient on defense during that stretch than Belichick’s Pats.
Belichick’s Super Bowl game plans against the Rams in Super Bowls XXXVI and LIII remain the stuff of legend. Even this past season, New England’s defense stood firm (fourth in yards per play allowed) while the club’s offense and special teams crumbled.
DL Coach | Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Todd Bowles is LaFleur’s defensive equivalent. While Bowles spent his positional coach career working with defensive backfields, we want him designing blitz packages on our staff.
Bowles blitzed at the third-highest rate in the NFL in 2023 (40.1%), trailing only the Minnesota Vikings’ Brian Flores and the New York Giants’ Wink Martindale. He was also above league average in using sim pressure and stunts, per Cody Alexander.
LB Coach | DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans
The only first-year head coach on our staff, DeMeco Ryans will be in the running for Coach of the Year after coming home to Houston and leading the Texans to the AFC South title. Ryans’ playoff run may not be complete, as the Texans will face the Baltimore Ravens in this weekend’s Divisional Round.
Ryans spent 10 years as an NFL linebacker before becoming a top-flight defensive coordinator for the 49ers. He’s already proven himself in one season in charge, and Ryans can add a jolt of energy to our veteran-laden coaching staff.
Secondary Coach | Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks
We cheated a bit by including Belichick, and we’ll do the same with Pete Carroll, who was forced out as the Seahawks’ head coach after 14 seasons. Carroll is supposed to stick in Seattle as an advisor, but there’s still a chance he insert himself into the 2024 hiring cycle.
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Carroll spent his early coaching career as a defensive backs coach before becoming a coordinator and, ultimately, HC. In Seattle, he popularized Cover 3 and began searching for longer, stronger cornerbacks to fit his system — a system that helped the Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII.
Special Teams Coordinator | John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
Special teams coordinators never get enough respect. John Harbaugh was regularly listed as a head coaching candidate during his nine-year run as the Philadelphia Eagles’ ST coordinator but didn’t land a job until he spent a season as the Birds’ defensive backs coach.
Seventeen years later, Harbaugh is one of the best head coaches in the NFL and is fresh off guiding the Ravens to a league-best 13-4 record. Meanwhile, Baltimore’s special teams have ranked top three in DVOA in each of the past four seasons.
Game Management | Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
While Nick Sirianni is facing scrutiny after the Eagles’ first-round playoff exit, he’s still taken Philadelphia to the postseason in all three seasons he’s been in charge and nearly won last year’s Super Bowl.
Sirianni has work to do this offseason, but he’s an excellent game manager. Sure, maybe it’s easy to try to convert fourth downs when you employ Jalen Hurts and the Tush Push, but Sirianni is a consistent operational boss who knows when to use timeouts and go for two, and he gives the Eagles a reliable edge.
Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!