The Coaching Carousel

At first glance, I looked at this tweet and felt like Austin got it pretty correct, but the more I thought about it, the more I went back and forth on the bottom four.

It’s clear that the Bears’ job is desirable, the Patriots’ is VERY desirable, and that the rest have some serious warts. It feels like it’s a four-way tie for last, considering the challenges that will come with each of the jobs. It will be interesting to see how potential head coaching candidates weight the pros vs cons of Trevor Lawrence and Trent Baalke.

how I’d rank ‘em, and who I’d hire:

1. Patriots

Drake Maye somehow turned out to be one of the better rookie QBs in this class after they were scared to start him for the first part of the season. Having that in place is obviously massice. Plus, you own the 4th overall pick with at least two teams in front of you taking quarterbacks putting you in a nice spot to grab a defender or offensive tackle.

The cap space is projected to be the most in the NFL, which also means you can get after it a bit in free agency. If I were a young offensive mind looking to make my mark as a first time head coach, this is pretty ideal. Vrabel is being mentioned as a front runner, but after promoting from within, I wonder if Robert Kraft would be inclined to hire someone to build a NEW “Patriots Way”?

Who I’d Hire: Ben Johnson, Lions OC

Who I think they’ll Hire: Mike Vrabel

2. Bears

Caleb Williams has some flaws, but we also saw flashes on excellence at times. Going through the changes at coach and coordinator he did, I’m willing to give him a bit of a pass. This will be a team with a top five amount of open cap space despite already making some moves over the past two years. Poles isn’t perfect as a GM, but he seems willing to make deals to help the offense.

The 10th overall pick might only net you the 2nd best player at a position of need, but it’s still a start. If I were running things at Halas Hall, I think I’d be looking at someone to really maximize Caleb Williams over the next few years.

Who I’d Hire: Liam Coen, Bucs OC

Who I think they’ll Hire: Drew Petzing, Cardinals OC

3. Jets

Outside of QB, this roster isn’t that bad! You have the 7th pick and some decent pieces in most areas on both sides of the ball. We’ll see what the hell you do at quarterback heading into 2025, but with the 7th overall pick, it doesn’t seem likely that it’s a rookie.

Maybe not the best owners to work for, but as we’ve seen in the past, sometimes you can’t be picky when you’re offered a job like this. There are only 32 men who get to do this.

Who I’d Hire: Joe Brady, Bills OC

Who I think they’ll Hire: Brian Flores, Vikings DC

4. Raiders

It's another terrible QB situation with no real plan in place and the 6th overall pick, meaning it’s unlikely they’ll end up with the only two QBs who are grading out as 1st rounders. This isn’t a good ownership situation either, but you do have some building blocks like Maxx Crosby and Brock Bowers.

There's tons of cap space here, so it's a bit of a blank slate, but again, you’re really starting from scratch at the most important position unless you find your guy in free agency.

Who I’d Hire: Aaron Glenn or Brian Flores

Who I think they’ll Hire: Liam Coen, Bucs OC

5. Jaguars

Ranking the Jags this low is my version of a hot take I suppose. If you want to be mad at me, feel free to yell at me on Twitter. Honestly, this may be the 2nd or 3rd best job opening if the ownership didn’t decide to keep Trent Baalke

You have a good quarterback in place, but you’ve paid him, so building around him becomes a bit more difficult at this point. The 5th overall pick is nice, but this situation seems messy after seeing the press conference earlier this week.

Who I’d Hire: Josh McCown, Vikings QB Coach*

Who I think they’ll Hire: Ben Johnson, Lions OC

*clearly, they should hire Ben Johnson if he’s willing, but I mocked him to NE

6. Saints

This one I will agree with most on being the worst spot. It’s a roster in decline with an older QB who can’t stay healthy and a horrific cap situation. They’ll draft 9th overall but reside in a division where the other three teams are clearly trending upward while they try to do a multi-year rebuild. Again, it’s still an NFL head coaching job, but if you gave me a pick between them all, I’m not even thinking about the team that’s like 60 million over the cap when the calendar flips over.

Who I’d Hire: Mike Kafka, Giants OC

Who I think they’ll Hire: Aaron Glenn, Lions DC

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