Why the upcoming NFL hiring cycle could mark the return of the defensive-minded head coach

The NFL head-coaching cycle will soon be revving up. Already there are permanent job vacancies in Las Vegas and Carolina, and league sources anticipate anywhere from four to six more jobs coming open once we get to 2024.

Team owners have been inclined to fill those jobs with offensive-minded head coaches in recent years. Since Feb. 3, 2020, 22 head coaches have been hired and 14 have offensive backgrounds.

But a constant churn at the offensive coordinator position in recent years has left the league with an issue — one that could rear its head in a few weeks as NFL owners look to fill their top jobs with offensive-minded head coaches.

“There aren’t enough offensive guys to fill the spots,” one well-known coaching agent told CBS Sports.

“People are reaching on the offensive side,” one personnel executive said. “There’s not enough out there.”

The NFL may be about to experience a reap-what-you-sow situation at offensive coordinator. NFL teams have made 106 changes at the offensive coordinator position in the eight years leading up to this season. (That’s compared to 85 changes at defensive coordinator in the same time period.)

“This extremely high turnover rate … is not ideal from a player development or career trajectory and sustainability perspective,” reads the most recent diversity and inclusion report the league produces each year.

Going into the 2023 regular season, the average length of time for an NFL offensive coordinator is only 1.2 seasons in the current position.

Sixteen offensive coordinators entered this season in the first year in the post. Another nine were going into their second season. So the league has 25 offensive coordinators with no more than two seasons of experience in their current gigs.

Only three offensive coordinators have held their current positions for more than three seasons: Pete Carmichael (Saints), Brian Callahan (Bengals) and Alex Van Pelt…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/why-the-upcoming-nfl-hiring-cycle-could-mark-the-return-of-the-defensive-minded-head-coach/

Author : Jonathan Jones

Publish date : 2023-12-09 18:33:24

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