NFL Head Coaching Carousel – FullTime Fantasy

Daily Dr. Roto—January 10, 2019

Coaching Carousel Report Card

Grade: B-
Analysis: This was a very outside the box hire by the Cardinals, but I am not totally against it. Klingsbury ran some prolific offenses while at Texas Tech and he is a Mike Leach disciple. This should give Josh Rosen and David Johnson a big boost for an offense that struggled all season to move the football. The problem for Klingsbury while at Tech was the lack of defense that his team played. If the Cardinals draft Nick Bosa first overall, and they can continue putting pieces together on defense, this could end up being a solid hire.

Grade: INC
Analysis: The Bengals are smartly moving away from hiring Hue Jackson despite Marvin Lewis’ push for him. I can’t imagine the fan base being happy with Hue. In fact, I could easily see season ticket sales plummeting if Jackson is named Head Coach. As of right now the rumors in Cincy have the team interested in hiring either Rams QB Coach Zac Taylor or Chiefs RB Coach Eric Bieniemy. The problem is that neither coach can be named while their teams are still playing in the playoffs. Bieniemy is a respected coach coming from the Andy Reid coaching tree and the Bengals best offensive player is RB Joe Mixon. This might give Bieniemy a leg up in this battle, but the Bengals usually do things on the cheap, so it might come down to whichever coach asks for a lesser contract.

Grade: B
Analysis: While I worry that Kitchens has zero head coaching experience at any level, I do like the fact that his offense will remain intact which can only help QB Baker Mayfield. The Bucs did something similar years ago when they fired Lovie Smith and kept Dirk Koetter mainly because they didn’t want to make Jameis Winston learn new terminology. The key here is for Kitchens to surround himself with coaches who are experienced, much like what Sean McVay did in Los Angeles.

Grade: B-
Analysis: While I really hated Vance Joseph, I am not sure that hiring Fangio solves the Broncos main problem—a lack of a good QB. Will Fangio improve the defense? Yes. Is he deserving at 60 years old of a chance of being a head coach? Yes. But if he can’t get John Elway to get rid of Case Keenum and bring in a better QB (Nick Foles?) the Broncos will once again hover around 7-9.

Grade: B
Analysis: LaFleur has a reputation as a QB guru which is great because the Packers need someone to help franchise player Aaron Rodgers. There are decent pieces on offense for LaFleur to play with: Aaron Jones is a talented RB and Devante Adams is a star WR. To be successful, though, LaFleur is going to need to inspire the defense to play a little better to help the offense out.

Grade: INC
Analysis: it looks like the Dolphins have targeted Cowboys DB Coach Kris Richard to be their next head coach. If this happens, I LOVE this hire as Richard has been one of the keys to the improved Cowboys defense this season. Moreover, his players love his infectious attitude and passion for the game. Miami doesn’t usually make smart decisions, so I am cautiously optimistic that this will occur, but if it does, the Dolphins might be in the playoffs sooner rather than later.

Grade: F
Analysis: I hate this hire on SO many levels. Firstly, why hire a coach in the same division as you especially when the coach has not been successful? Secondly, Gase was the one who benched Jay Ajayi for weeks before Ajayi finally played and had multiple 200-yard games. He also didn’t play Kenyan Drake for weeks either—and–when Drake finally got into the lineup, he had to share carries with Frank Gore. He benched Devante Parker primarily for his bad attitude even though he was the most talented WR on the team. He also refused to talk to Jarvis Landry when he was with the team and trying to improve the offense. Lastly, Gase ignored Stephen Ross and refused to speak to him after a loss earlier this season. How can any of this be good for the Jets who need a mentor to Sam Darnold?

Grade: A
Analysis: I love this hire for the Bucs. Arians is an offensive genius and if there is anyone who can inspire and bring out the best in QB Jameis Winston, it’s Arians. Moreover, Arians is bringing in Todd Bowles to be his defensive coordinator and Keith Armstrong to be his special team coordinator. These are well known NFL guys who can coach players up nicely. If I have a slight hesitation here, it’s that Arians is not well known for using the tight end, and O.J. Howard is one of the Bucs best offensive weapons. That said, I think Arians is smart enough to know that Howard and Evans are great weapons for Jameis to use and they will be integral to fixing this situation and bringing the team to the playoffs.