Ranking the Head Coaches in Every Division + Overall Results of Rankings

what's up everybody Welcome to move the sticks DJ Buck back with you Buck what's going on man not too much DJ I'm really excited about this episode because so long for uh for so long we as uh evaluators we always talk about players and maybe we don't necessarily give the coaches they're do in terms of how they can impact the squad well today we're going to do that because we're gonna rank the head coaching within the division and I think we will see when we tabulate all of the findings we probably see that coaches have a bigger influence in terms of who wins and who loses on each weekend yeah we're going to have a fun conversation with the coaches in the division and then we are going to tabulate the results from our little project that we did looking at uh uh skill players on offense then we went through defense with the three levels the one thing we did that we left out which we will get to on a uh episode as we get a little bit closer to the season we're going to leave the offensive line alone as their own Conversation Piece yeah um so I have a chance to uh to talk about that a little bit later on in the off season but this is a a fun project that we've been working on here but let's uh let's get going here uh let's start in the AFC we'll start in the AFC East let's get to the head coaches in this division uh one through four we'll knock those out when I think about the AFC East and ranking the coaches look I'm G start with sha McDermot Mike MCD Daniel so let's go Buffalo Miami uh then you have kind of the unknown and jerem then I'm gonna go Salah and then Jer may just because I I don't have enough and so it's um a situation where sha mcder to me is experienced they've dominated division he's a really really good coach in terms of putting his the pieces of the puzzle together even though he has moved around when it comes to the coordinators the Buffalo Bills continue and consistently are a team that is always there at the end so to me give me the former wrestler sha mcar all right Buck I'm with you uh one two three four I don't know how you would go any other way I think we might see this as we go through this exercise on the coaches it feels like there's a little it's a little more direct and distinct but you got to go Shawn McDermot for all that he's accomplished all the division titles he's racked up there in Buffalo he's always going to have a tough discipline team he's won Mike McDaniel who is uh proven obviously uh to be one of the most dynamic offensive Minds in football for quite some time and uh and that's manifested itself what we've seen from this dolphin team at two uh mayo and Salah again look Salah the wins have not been there but uh I do think he has control of the locker room I do think he's well respected there I have him at three and Mayo is TBD we don't know yet um EXC about him I know uh he's somebody that's really bright and it's really tough and that has uh has earned a reputation inside that building which I think will make the transition easy for him but he comes in at number four yeah look it it it's tough but DJ this division that's coming up next to AFC North how fun were this one at the top this this was look man this was probably the hardest one to evaluate when it came to the coaches and so um look I put it in I put Pittsburgh Baltimore Cleveland and Cincinnati and look I feel horrible about this because I'm sitting here like how can I put Zack Taylor at the bottom of the list when Zack Taylor's been to a Super Bowl how can I put Kevin stefansky kind of at the bottom when he's won Coach of the Year twice and he's done it like against improbable odds and multiple situations when he loses all of his quarterbacks but still finds a way to get the team to the winner circle and Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh you have two Super Bowl coaches two coaches who have a really been able to kind of make the most of the least and win this is just a division where I mean you just talk about like the the the X's and O's and the motivational and the motivational part of and the culture building these guys hit it they understand their team they understand how to get their team going and they don't make excuses when their team is short or has a deficiency to me those are the qualities and traits that you look for in a head coach and look the AFC North has four terrific coaches sometimes you pick up a little bag of apples at the grocery store buck and you're just you're trying to see if there's a bad one in there right you're going through like this one's a little squishy uh this is there's no bad coach in this Division I mean this is an excellent division uh of coaches I ended up with Harbaugh one uh Tomlin two stefansky three Zack Taylor four and again Zack Taylor's a really good coach who's taken a team to a Super Bowl so I don't think there's a bad one in the bunch I ended up going Harbaugh over Tomlin it's obviously very close both guys with long track records I think they might be the you know I think they might be the two longest tene coaches in the NFL with Andy Reid uh with the Chiefs maybe third in that mix but those are those are long-term guys I think Harbaugh I give him the edge there just because I think that he's he's morphed and maybe been a little quicker to adjust and adapt and morph I think obviously being way ahead of the curve with what they did with Lamar Jackson um I'm gonna go with Harbaugh one but man there's no again no bad options there in the AFC North how about the AFC South AFC South is interesting so I'm gonna go with Houston Jacksonville Indi in that and Tennessee Houston just because of a remarkable job that demo Ryan did in his first year won the division when no one thought this team was going to be remotely competitive uh I just think he has some of the secret sauce that you look for in the coach the real conversation the tough conversation for me was Jacksonville versus Indianapolis you're talking about Doug Peterson versus Shane styken Shane styken did a terrific job right he loses his quarterback finds a way to win with Garn menu but the deciding fact with me is just the fact that Doug Peterson has the Super Bowl ring on the resume so that tipped in his favor but that conversation between two and three and stuff and then Brian Callahan we just don't have enough we haven't seen him uh who's I know this I know having his dad on staff I arguably the best offensive line coach in football is going to help him close the gap on the competitors and may be one of the reasons why the Tennessee Titans win more games than Min Invision head this season well this is one I I I think I had the exact same order right I had the Mico Ryan one Doug Peterson two uh Shane Sten three Callahan four but I'll be honest I mean are we are we crazy for having demo over Doug when Doug's got a Super Bowl to his name and a longer track record there but what demo did year one was so darn impressive man maybe it's recency bias obviously there's not a lot to go off of there but I look at his track record as a as a coordinator first of all you look at his track record as a player then as a coordinator and then to do what he did in year one I I I I'm with you I thought maybe I'd be alone on that one uh having him w Buck but I I that was impressive what he did last year look it it was super impressive the fact that he was able to kind of get them going and I think we have to have a little recency bias I mean this team is is is loaded this team is a division winner this team won a playoff game and this team has a better roster coming into the year which makes you think that they would do more things uh Doug Peterson is a great coach in his own right but man I I just don't know how you can deny what Deo Ryan's did in his first year right I mean from playing to being a coordinator to them taking over a team that man a franchise that was downtrod and get them up and going speaks volumes about his Acumen all right this one's gonna this might this might be surprising here I'm uh I'm curious to see where you are in the AFC West what you got uh okay so let's go Kansas City Chargers Denver then the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City I think he easy Andy Reid look man he's he's an all-timer uh the Chargers look man was getting to that two and three I have the same two and three I thought I was going to be on an island man I'm drinking all the Jim Harbor Kool-Aid but I think um why wouldn't you like DJ just being on the west coast when I was ARA Scout just watching what he did at USD University of San Diego then going to Stanford then doing it with the Niners then going to Michigan and doing it the dude wins everywhere and he's done it with a variety of different Personnel that he's been given he has not always had the best players but he's found a way to build the best teams and look man I I find myself clicking over chargers.com and looking at the videos and hearing the players and what they're talking about and how they're getting after it DJ to me it just seems like a recipe that the charge is gonna win because this is what Jim Harbaugh does so let me just let me give you a question and see how you answer this and maybe because I know people are going to be going you guys are crazy Shawn pyton has been to the playoffs a million times Shawn Payton's won a Super Bowl but let me ask you what's the greater accomplishment to win one Super Bowl with Drew Brees over all those years or to go to a Super Bowl with Colin Kaepernick what what what was the more impressive feat well look I think it's the more impressive people because before you even get to Colin Kaepernick does anyone remember the conversation about Alex Smith prior to Jim harbard getting there Jim completely turned around Alex Smith had Alex Smith playing at a Pro Bowl level makes a bold move when Alex Smith gets hurt puts Colin Kaepernick in and says you know what we're going to ride the young fella the rest of the way go to I mean DJ this close to winning a Super Bowl close and so to me is the adaptability that he's displayed and when I talk about being able to do it with a bunch of different types because remember he won with Andrew luck at Stanford who is as classic as they come to then deal with Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick and to find a way to continue win uh the way that he won in Michigan or whatever to me he just understands I can be whatever I need to be to get my team to win with what I have uh to me that's just a sign of superior coaching yep and uh look again what he did at Michigan was no joke either in a everywhere he's gone it's been stacked against him if you look at it you go to Stanford when SC is is rolling uh Oregon is is rolling and he he blows right through the conference he goes and now it took him a while it took him a while there uh at at Michigan but when he went there Ohio State's on top of the mountain and everybody thought this he'll never be able to climb that hurdle I mean they had been manhandled by them and it took a little bit but now that has been a lopsided uh rivalry in Michigan's favor he's you know he went to the ners when the ners were down he's he's done this everywhere he's ever gone so I even look at this and go like Andy Reid is he is Andy Reid might be on the Mount Rushmore of NFL coaches like he is not he is headed there he's in the conversation um all time so it looks insurmountable when you have Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid there that looks like this it's been a it's been a run there they have dominated this division I'm not putting it past Jim Harbaugh he's done it everywhere he's ever been man I just think the response from the players tells you everything like I saw Eon stick talk about just the little things in terms of like how he coaches the backup quarterbacks and how he has Eon stick in different Peri like hey I want you to go aggressively and go for it I want you to try and fit these tight window throws and then he go to another per and say no we're going to dial the back we can play a little more conservative uh we need to make sure that we are stacking completions and playing and DJ like when I hear that without even knowing I'm like he is teaching him how to play situational football based on what we are and so much of being a great coach is in your ability to really get people to pay attention to the details to me that's what Jim harbot does and he may be quirky and all that I just know I've seen the product too many times to bet against him yeah and and going back to you know the comparison of Drew Brees and Colin Kaepernick I'm not taking a shot at Colin Kaepernick I'm just saying Drew Brees was viewed as a top three quarterback for over a decade like literally one of the three best quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick during his run was never considered one of the top you know three five seven quarterbacks in the NFL and he what I'm getting is he got the best out of everybody that he had um and he's done that everywhere he's been and that's not a shot on Shawn pton they had a lot of success there and they got hos in the playoffs against the Rams everybody knows you know the story there as well but um I you know I I think that's a uh you know it's a good conversation it's a good debate to have uh between Shawn pton and Jim Harbaugh it's a fun one uh all right let's take a break let's come back and we'll knock out the NFC all right Buck NFC East one two three four how you want to roll uh This is Gonna shock people but I'm gonna go with the Dallas Cowboys the Philadelphia Eagles the Washington commanders and then the New York Giants and to me it's Mike McCarthy and I know people love to talk about the Dallas Cowboys shortcomings they haven't been able to go to a Super Bowl they haven't done this and that but I know he's put up three straight Seasons where they had 12 wins he has a Super Bowl on his resume did a lot of great things in Green Bay and whether you want to credit Aaron roders or whatever he deserves credit for getting that team to play up to a look a championship Level under his watch Mike McCarthy to me is underrated and even though it's gonna be chaotic this year and people are going to like take him and Dak Prescott to task I just think they find a way to win because he is really good at what he does and even though they haven't had the the big success that Cowboys fans want I think it's hard to dispute 36 plus wins in three years since he's been at the top 12 a year man 12 a year um and you go back to the a nice long run that he had in Green Bay um he's got a Super Bowl so I I've got McCarthy serani Dan Quinn Brian dbal um and D ball if you would have had this conversation the year before what he got out of the Giants that year with the healthy Daniel Jones um you know we're talking about them a little differently so we'll see what they look like it is a maker break year for him and the Giants this year uh Dan Quinn um look he's another one he's a you know he's been to a Super Bowl he's he's been on the defensive side of the ball and been around defense that have been really really good uh good football coach so I have that one two three four as well uh NFC North tough man and some of this is gonna be recency biased but I'm GNA give uh the order uh Detroit Green Bay Minnesota Chicago and the job that Dan Campbell has done no matter how un unorth his coaching tactics may appear uh he's very raw in in terms of what he says but you can't knock the results it's a much tougher team it's a far more physical team than we ever expected the Detroit Lions to be and having been on the sideline for a Detroit Lions game when I was with the Jacksonville Jaguars and watching them absolutely beat the Jaguars to sleep to me he has a way of connecting with his team and players to embody what he said this team is going to be they talked about grit and toughness and that introductory press conference he talking about B biting kneecaps and ankles and all that other stuff DJ they're a scrappy Squad but more importantly you did go be beyond that like the toughness X and O wise on offense man they get after you they have a bunch of different ways where they put you in a bond and a blender Ben Johnson is terrific uh defensively the way they've been able to match some of their deficiencies through tactics not Talent good coach man he's just a good coach he finds a way to get it done so I'm going to get give Miss Flowers all right this is a weird way of saying this I have Dan Campbell leflour Kevin oconnell Matty eberl so Campbell won lefl 2 Kevin oconnell 3 and ebra flu 4 which I think same same order you just did same order but but if this sounds a weird way to do it but if you took their resumés right and we put their resumés to the side and I told you Talent is equal we have the exact same collection of players that's a different conversation kind of I think I would take K like if you told me I got to go win a game everything else is equal I just love what Kevin does offensively I love the demeanor I love like there's a confidence there that doesn't it doesn't cross the line but I'm just saying it's a different way of looking at it right because each of these coaches have different players each of them have a different history based off the players they've had I'm saying that you level the playing field and you can pick one of these coaches I might take Kevin come on man like and and look KOC someone I go back to we were doing Nike camps back in 2011 2012 so to watch him go from doing stuff where he's on the side working with quarterbacks um God man I think he was working with Ricky town the great Ricky Town who was the big time like working from Ricky town to now he is like finding a way to make it happen in Minnesota and I will say this DJ having been up to Minneapolis having watched him in training camp having watched him work they operate at what I call a high IQ rate when it comes to their practice planning and the way they get it done and so you may be right and maybe that is the exercise when ranking quarterbacks he when ranking head coaches in terms of who can do the most with the least I certainly believe he has a way of kind of squeezing out every drop I couldn't put him up there with because Dan Campbell has taken a team that look they were in the sell dwelling he kind of built them up title Contender but KC deserves props for what he's been able to do for the Min look the Minnesota Vikings because this is a smart team a well-run a very efficient team look at look it's a testament to what he does as in terms of as a coach uh NFC South Buck NFC South um man it's funny because there been so much turnover but yeah I got I got I got Tampa Bay then I have Atlanta New Orleans and Carolina uh Ty BS last year man I'm be honest with you man I I I didn't know if he was going to be able to get out of it because I worried about it they take Baker Mayfield they get Baker Mayfield to play at a good level he always has the defense humming he will Blitz his way out of jams and they've been able to do that so I'm going give him uh props for being the best in the division and then the surprise is probably Raheem Morris over Dennis Allen Raheem hasn't been a head coach since his time at Tampa but there's just my sense there's a belief that his ability to answer problems when he was with the LA Rams and before that when he was in the Atlanta Falcons first as a look a defensive coach then an offensive coach then back to a defensive coach I just think that well around the background is going to make him a much better Coach the second time around um I just flipped two and three so I had Bulls one Canalis four and I think look I'm excited about Canalis how he does there I like what I've heard but we just haven't seen it yet as a head coach but I went Dennis Allen just maybe more resume based over Raheem uh they're at two and three but yeah that's again it's just funny when you look at some of these divisions and you look at some of them who um like you look at the AFC North who we were talking about earlier and you just look at the resumés and the track records and the accomplishments of all those coaches and you look at this one you're like man you could like shake this one up and we'll see how it all how it all turns out here with these guys it's it's all a lot of unproven uh there in that division last one NFC West uh DJ I would say I can't wait to see one and two here I'm looking forward to I I would say this conversation was as difficult as the AFC North but I'mma go Rams Niners Seahawks and then Arizona Cardinals and the conversation is sha McVey versus Kyle Shanahan like which one like which one but I I will I give the nod to sha McVey because I feel like Shawn McVey has been able to rework and rebuild the organization on the Fly the job that he did last year with the Rams is really amazing it was amazing because we talked about this team being in a rebuild and they found a way to win in a rebuild yes you had Matthew Stafford you had a franchise quarterback a Super Bowl winning quarterback but you had a bunch of youngsters around the quarterback and being able to do it I think he has a very clear sense of what he wants in a player and what they want to be as a team and I'll say this to be able to shift gears offensively because this is not the offense that he ran a few years ago when he was running wide Zone and they were doing all the compliments from condensed formations theyve morphed into being a gap team a more physical team and he's done it different to me good coaches find a way to adapt and adjust and kind of build around the Personnel that they have or they build a team to meet the needs of the trends in the league sham M's done that and that's me saying I love what C Shanahan is done we talked about the system but to me sha McVey is just a notch of head of C Shanahan as a head coach so I think this is um look you can just point to it and say oh you know mcvey's got the Super Bowl so that um you know that seals the deal I ended up with McVey one Shanahan two I had Ganon three McDonald four so we just switched three and four but to me really that came down down to uh style preference uh personality uh more so than any X's and O's accomplishment managing a game things like that I think Kyle Shanahan is incredibly smart and I think his teams have an edge to him which I love and that's why he's you know one of the five best coaches in the NFL I think McVey does things super smart but with a just a different energy I'm I'm buying in more on the energy the positivity all those things I think that's conducive to all different types of teams whether you got a young team you got a veteran team um you go through hard times if you have to I think he's somebody that can pull you out of that um so to me more personality driven more so than uh than anything else but I mean it's it's six and one half dozen of the other they're both fantastic coaches look they're great coaches and they're able to do it within their own style and I created MC Bay and some of the others from being able to take things from from K Shanahan but then add to it uh they they do it they're not clones of like their Mentor but they they find a way to do it and in Shanahan the things that DJ you mentioned in terms of building a team that is edgy I think you need to have an opportunity to watch them practice to really understand how this team is a little different than other teams I mean they physically beat up opponents and when you watch them in practice I mean look I mean without getting them in trouble saying it's violation I don't know if I've seen a more physical team when it comes pring without pads they just operate at a different level and I think what's telling is I went to Minnesota and in training camp in Minnesota they were still talking about their joint practices with the San Francisco 49ers and how it was eye opening in terms of the level that they needed to get to to be the team that they want to be yep uh no doubt it's uh again those are there's no wrong answer between those two um all right we have the tabulations we're going to go through them here by division we'll start here uh at the AFC we'll start in the AFC East again this is combining offense defense head coaches so uh again offensive line will be its own thing so you know keep keep that in mind as we go through these but I'm goingon to give you the AFC the AFC uh winners here buck and then maybe give me uh one division out of the AFC that may be surprised you based off this exercise so AFC East IND we have it based off the way we see it Dolphins Jets bills Patriots interesting with the bills having dominated this division uh the AFC North it's a tie with the Ravens and the Steelers followed by the Browns and then the Bengals AFC South Texans Jags Colts Titans and then AFC West Chiefs Chargers Raiders Broncos what surprised you the most when you look at that tally uh I would say that the AFC East is the most surprising because you talk about the Buffalo Bills the bills being at the top the bills consistently squishing the fish as they used to say when I was up there uh they've done it but yet and still the way that riew the Miami Dolphins from a coaching standpoint from the explosiv that they have on offense with skill players and all of that uh look it's a team that has the talent to be mentioned with those those contenders but there's something that is lacking because they haven't been able to get it done when they needed to but talent wise I think all of the hype around them being a title Contender is warranted um that's a big one I would say the next one and I can see the point totals here the biggest gap between one and two shouldn't be a surprise is the AF FC West with the Chiefs uh over the Chargers there from 15 points to 32 points so that's a pretty sizable Gap the second biggest Gap when we look at these now keep in mind we had the Ravens and the Steelers tied we had the Dolphins and the Jets within one point of each other uh the second biggest spread from one to two was the Texans 15 and the Jags 29 so obviously low Point wins here tabulating here but interesting to see that you know just based off of talent it looks like the Texans have a pretty sizable Advantage well they've upgraded it team DJ they won they won with the team that was not expected to win and then they've been able to build upon that Nick casario and demo ryes have teamed up and made sure that the talent matches division uh they should have um look they have better Personnel that said it's gonna be tougher for them because they won't sneak up on anybody but that is a very sizable Gap in terms of the perception of the Texans versus the Jaguars uh it's very positive and trending in the Texans favor um let's get to the NFC NFC East we have it Eagles Cowboys commanders GI uh the north we have the Lions the Packers the Bears the Vikings uh the South we have the Bucks the Falcons the Saints the Panthers and then in the west we have the Niners followed by the Rams the Seahawks and the Cardinals what surprises you you know what DJ there there weren't many surprises um I would say the NFC East continues to be a little bit of a surprise you know when it comes to how you rank and Shake th those teams out but uh not really surprised I think a lot of it is kind of standard Chalk in terms of just like the journal conversation that you would have I don't think there any surprises really in the NFC how about the the fact of the closeness in the division so we had the the Eagles were five points ahead of the Cowboys the the one that's the closest the Lions and the Packers within two points of each other in the NFC North so those roster wise very similar um with the Bears uh they are 10 points behind the Lions they're at the top not that far off so that one is very close and then um if you're looking for the gaps to spread the biggest spread would be uh it is the ners over the Rams so that is the one that we feel like they're the ners have the clear Talent advantage in their division over any other team in their division in the NFC yeah clear Talent Division and then it it goes back to maybe what we've talked about we pointed out sha McVey and coaching coaching has allowed them to close the gaps where their talent was insufficient um but over time what normally happens in this league the more talented team wins y so the teams that have the most talented teams that are kind of the division winners based on our study probably be the teams that we talk about when it comes down to the tournament at the end of the year No Doubt um all right I I'm going to be out next week Buck do a little family trip but uh I know you've got a little something coming everybody's way and then we will uh we will reunite here shortly as we get towards the season I think our buddy Marcus Grant's going to uh going to fill in for me here so uh looking forward to listening to those episodes while I'm on a little family trip and uh hope you guys have a wonderful wonderful weekend as we March towards July 4th we'll see you next time right here on move the sticks

Channel: NFL

Views: 12,929

Keywords: NFL, Football, American Football, sport, sports

Id: DUZjjEFhck0

Length: 27min 8sec (1628 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 27 2024