The coaching carousel is finally over and there are seven new NFL head coaches. Let’s take a look at which coaches are going to have the hardest time building their new team and which have walked into a great situation.
#1 Steve Wilks and the Arizona Cardinals
Steve Wilks better have a handful of sherpas to help him because he has a Mount Everest to climb before he can get the Cardinals in even playoff contention. The Cardinals are not set up to win anytime soon and with some of the holes they have dug themselves in it may take longer than some people want. Wilks comes into a situation where he has no franchise QB and not a lot of cap space to work with. Along with holding the 15th pick, they may struggle to find a QB in Wilks first year as a head coach.
#2 Matt Nagy and the Chicago Bears
The Bears didn’t give Nagy a bad situation, but they don’t really have a great one either. Nagy has one of the harder tasks in front of him in which he is going to have to groom Mitch Trubisky into a franchise QB. They have plenty of cap space and the 8th overall pick which isn’t a bad spot to obtain an immediate talent for next season. The problem lies in the fact that Chicago has ZERO talent skill position wise outside of Jordan Howard. Nagy has a major task in overhauling the offense which is why he has the second highest mountain to climb on this list.
#3 Pat Shurmur and the New York Giants
With the Giants hiring their second coach in three years Shurmur is headed to a franchise that is always in the media spotlight and to a town that only has a win now mentality. Shurmer is coming to a team with a washed up Eli Manning but, the number two overall pick. Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield? Shurmer is probably going to be able to pick his QB of the future at that spot and give himself some time to build that player to fit his system. So it does seem like there is light at the end of this tunnel, but Shurmur is walking into a disgruntled locker room and a washed up/beloved QB to make his life difficult right off the bat.
#4 Matt Patricia and the Detroit Lions (Rumored)
The first of two Patriots coordinators on this list. Patricia walks into what is probably the best QB situation of all the head coach openings this year. Stafford is a proven franchise guy that you can build around. The question here is can Patricia actually assemble a high-quality defense? Or is the reason it has taken this long for him to get a head coaching job because Belichick is still the mastermind behind the Patriots defense? The Lions have roughly 46.5 million in cap space this offseason, an all-pro cornerback in Darius Slay, and a force on the edge in Ziggy Ansah giving Patricia some pieces to work with. This gives Patricia a fighting chance in a division that has been won by different teams over that past few years.
#5 Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders
Jon Gruden is back baby! But lets not over hype ourselves with the narrative that he is going to come back and pick everything back up like he never left. Even when he was coaching he only had a winning percentage of 54%. He does come into a situation that has Derek Carr which is something he’s never really had before. With a team that underperformed this season hopefully, he can help restore a little bit of Raider Nation’s glory. Just don’t overhype yourself. Coaches that have been away from the game for that long attempting a comeback tend not to work out, but hey who’s not excited to see Spider 2 Y Banana?
#6 Josh McDaniels and the Indianapolis Colts (Rumored)
The second Patriots coordinator on our list walks into a little bit better scenario than the first. Now everything here hinges on Andrew Luck being healthy. If he is, and McDaniels did his due diligence, then what a situation to walk into. A QB that has had the most upside since Peyton Manning would draw everyone to Indy. Not to mention they have the number three overall pick and 77 million in cap space. With the possibility of getting a plug and play starter with the number three pick and a few key players in free agency the future looks nothing but bright for the highly sought after signal caller.
#7 Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans
I know what you’re thinking, the Titans give a new head coach the easiest road to success? Yes, they do. Being the only team that made it the playoffs and won a game sets Vabrel up for instant contention which is something no other team can claim. Not to mention he has already put together a solid coaching staff around him. Adding Matt LaFleur as the OC after getting head coaching looks was a big get. Surrounding Mariota with a play caller that will use his skill set properly is something that he hasn’t experienced since college. Not to mention 50 million in cap space to lock his already cornerstone players and add a few more only increases the Titans chances of success.
