Head Coaching Candidates: Just In Case
Now first and foremost I am not saying that Joe Philbin will, or should, be fired after the season (yet). But having read the board's fascination with Jim Harbaugh, and the fact that I think he's a rather unlikely candidate I wanted to compile a list of guys I think that the board should keep their eyes on as potential candidates IF Joe Philbin is fired. I know this isn't a thread a lot of guys like to have especially after a bye when we had a big win before, but it's always an interesting discussion to have. Note: The assistants will not include any coordinators that were former head coaches, and outside of Gary Kubiak I don't know if I'd look at any of them.
Offensive Candidates
1.Darrell Bevell OC, Seattle Seahawks While the board has had discussions about Dan Quinn his offensive counterpart in Seattle has been putting together a solid resume. As a former quarterback under Barry Alvarez, Bevell understands the importance of having a good running game. Bevell's first coordinating job was under Brad Childress with the Vikings. Bevell replaced Jeremy Bates in Seattle following the 2010 season. While Russell Wilson gets and deserves a lot of the credit, I am a huge fan of Bevell's offensive scheme.
2.Harold Goodwin OC, Arizona Cardinals Goodwin is a bit of an unknown, but here's why I put him on the list. 1)He's a Bruce Arians protege. Arians is proving himself to be a great head coach so there's a question as to how much of Arizona's success can be attributed to Goodwin, but Arians speaks very highly of him. 2)He's a young coach that has a history of developing good offensive linemen going all the way back to his college days at Eastern and Central Michigan. 3) He's a Michigan guy, and that's going to attract Mr. Ross. While Goodwin wouldn't be my first choice, I feel that he's developing into a guy worth keeping an eye on.
3.Adam Gase OC, Denver Broncos While he took over a loaded offense in Denver, Gase has added his own wrinkles to it. Much like with Mike McCoy before him, how much of his success can be attributed to him compared to Peyton Manning. Gase has coached under the likes of Nick Saban, Steve Marriucci, and Josh McDaniels before him. Reportedly was a guy the Browns coveted before he pulled himself out of the running.
4.Mike Shula OC, Carolina Panthers While Shula was mediocre as the coach of the Crimson Tide, he has rebuilt his image as an assistant in the NFL. Has become a bit of a QB guru since re-entering the league (David Garrard had his best years with Mike as his coach in Jacksonville, and Cam Newton gives him all the credit for his early success (and has been very candid in trashing Rob Chudzinski). Plus, that last name will help get him instant respect down in South Florida.
5.Frank Reich OC, San Diego Chargers Reich of course is the former Bills QB that led them to a huge comeback win over the Oilers in the playoffs many moons ago. Got his start as a coach under Jim Caldwell in Indianapolis, and then went to Arizona under Wisenhunt. He followed Wis to San Diego and was named his replacement when the former became head coach of the Titans. Under his tutelage Phillip Rivers had a revival in 2013 after high turnover years prior, and now has Rivers on pace for his best season ever. Also a known leader who is a Motivational Speaker outside of football.
Defensive Candidates
1.Teryl Austin DC, Detroit Lions No defense has been more surprising than the Lions this year and Austin deserves credit for that. Austin has always been known as a defensive back guru and has been part of 3 Super Bowl defenses winning won (Seattle,Arizona, and Baltimore). While he only has one year as a coordinator, his track record for developing players and his respect among players puts him in consideration.
2.Dan Quinn DC, Seattle Seahawks You've probably heard his named mentioned on this board a time or two. Quinn replaced Gus Bradley as DC last year when Bradley went to Jacksonville. Before that he was one of Pete Carroll's top assistants before heading to Florida for a short stint as defensive coordinator. Former assistant here under Nick Saban as well. Still a young coach at 44 years of age, but has been a well respected assistant for a decade.
3.Jim O'Neil DC, Cleveland Browns A young coach that seems to be attached at the hip to Mike Pettine following him from the Jets, to the Bills, then to the Browns. Living where I do I see a lot of Cleveland games and I just love the energy O'Neil has with his players. I also had a similar respect for Mike Pettine when we interviewed him back in the day. The jump to head coach may be a little too early for O'Neil right now, but he has the making of a solid candidate.
4.Matt Patricia DC, New England Patriots Patricia has spent pretty much his entire coaching career with the Pats. While I think the defense as let them down at times under his watch, it's hard not to give him respect for doing well with mismatched defenses that have been given to him at times (including having to start guys like Sterling Moore and Nate Ebner at safety). Wasn't officially the DC until 2012, but he had been calling the defense since 2009. Before being a DC, Patricia held a variety of assistant positions with the Pats from safety coach to LB coach, to assistant OL.
5.John Pagano DC, San Diego Chargers Chuck's younger brother has been with the Chargers since 2002. Pagano gained success early as an LB coach in the mid 2000's, and eventually worked his way up to DC in 2012. When Norv Turner was fired, Mike McCoy kept Pagano on as DC. Under Pagano, the Chargers sack numbers have gone up as have their defensive TDs (scoring 7 his first year as DC). His defense is off to another hot start this year.
College Coaches
David Shaw-Stanford Much like last year, David Shaw will be seen as a home run hire. Shaw was a top assistant under Jim Harbaugh and has continued the success at Stanford. Shaw did spend nearly a decade as an assistant in the NFL so he may want to test himself in the pros. Shaw is a Stanford grad though so getting him out of Palo Alto may be tough.
Gus Malzahn- Auburn Malzahn was the Arkansas State head coach two years ago, and now is poised to become a legit candidate for NFL teams. With Chip Kelly's success in the NFL, teams will be more open and willing to give Malzahn a shot. With his career path I don't know if he'll want to coach in the league, but if he's willing to listen it's worth a look.
Kevin Sumlin-Texas A&M Similar to Malzahn, Sumlin is going to get looks thanks to Chip Kelly's success. Everywhere Sumlin has been a coach has had an explosive offense, and A&M has been no exception. A&M can throw as much money as they want on Sumlin to stay, but Ross can probably match.
Dan Mullen-Mississippi State Surprising name? Mullen comes from the Urban Meyer coaching tree, and has built a consistent team down in Starkville which is insanely hard to do. The Bulldogs have gone to 5 straight bowl games under Mullen when they had only done back-to-back twice in their history prior so he's not exactly a one-year wonder. Whether the NFL is in his future I don't know, but I am confident in saying this is probably his last year with the Bulldogs.
Misc Candidates
Dave Fipp- ST Coach Philadelphia Eagles Darren Rizzi's former assistant, ST Coaches don't get a lot of love, but much like with what happened when we interviewed Dave Toub before, Fipp's unit with the Eagles is just too good to ignore.
Jim Harbaugh HC, 49ers Still believe he's a LONG shot and the only reason he may consider us is because of Mr. Ross, but if he's even a little interested, you have to push for him.
John Gruden-ESPN Analyst At this point I don't think Gruden leaves the booth, but again, if he's interested it doesn't hurt to give him a call.
Bill Lazor OC, Miami Dolphins He handles the media well, if he continues to develop the offense, I could see Ross promoting him in an effort to keep continuity.
Now again, this isn't necessarily a list everybody will agree with, and I expect a lot of people to say "None of those names excite me". That is not the point of the list, the list is to give candidates that I personally feel are worth a look if we need to make a coaching change. Some may seem unimpressive in terms of experience, but being a head coach in the NFL is a total game of chance. The names I've compiled are guys that have a good reputation as developers of talent.
I look forward to getting feedback and hopefully hearing more names.
