Every NFL coaching hire in 2022, graded

From the best, to the Texans.

This NFL coaching carousel has been wild. Sure, we have the vacancies everyone expected — but a serious curveball came from the likes of Miami and New Orleans. The former fired Brian Flores under suspicious circumstances, while the Saints are still dealing with Sean Payton deciding to end his coaching career for the foreseeable future.

There are so many incredible coordinators in the NFL right now that the path to the future of modern football has never been brighter. Still, some dinosaurs are stuck in the past and made absolutely horrific decisions when it comes to their new head coach. Grading a coaching hire is always a weird prospect. Rewind a year and everyone panned Dan Campbell, now he’s one of the most promising future coaches in the NFL for how hard he has the Lions playing. What I’m saying is that these are, by nature, knee-jerk reactions and should be received as such.

Chicago Bears: Matt Eberflus

The remarkable thing about the Bears hiring Matt Eberflus was how early it came in the cycle. Chicago was one of the first teams to hire a head coach, and nobody expected the Colts’ defensive coordinator to be a hot commodity.

I tend to think too much is made of a coach’s prior role, but it at least offers insight into their top priorities. For the life of me I cannot understand why Chicago went for a defensive-minded coach when the No. 1 priority should be to develop Justin Fields. It just makes no sense to me.

Eberflus must have interviewed extremely well, because this is a serious head scratcher. He’s not exactly young, or dynamic, or anything you’d expect Chicago to be looking for. It could be good, but the tea leaves are pointing to this being another mediocre coaching hire for the Bears. It’s a damn shame.

Grade: D

Denver Broncos: Nathanial Hackett

Everyone is losing their mind over the potential of this hire because Hackett has been Aaron Rodgers’ offensive coordinator to the last two years. If this ends up being the move that is able to bring Rodgers to Denver for a Peyton Manning-esque Super Bowl run, then this hire gets an A+ without any reservation.

However, there’s a darker side to this, and that’s before Hackett was the braintrust behind the Packers he spent more time as the offensive mind behind the Jaguars, who were atrocious. Prior to that he was offensive coordinator behind the Bills in 2013-14, when they were 6-10 and had one of the sorriest offenses in the NFL.

People grow, I get it, but this feels like a hiring with baggage attached. If the sole plan of this hire is “he can bring Aaron here,” then it’s a hell of a play — but to my mind there were better offensive minds on the market.

Grade: C

Houston Texans: Lovie Smith

Trying to understand what the hell Houston does from year-to-year will make you lose your mind like staring into a Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Firing David Culley, who showed promise in his first season, only to replace him with defensive coordinator Love Smith makes no sense.

I’d award points for Smith’s awesome beard, but this isn’t a beauty contest. I hate this hire, and it’s old, stodgy thinking.

Grade: F

Jacksonville Jaguars: Doug Pederson

I don’t love Doug Pederson in this role, but I get it. The question will always be what could have been, with Byron Leftwich seemingly having the job in the bag until the Jaguars botched it. That said, Pederson is a hell of a consolation prize that will unquestionably make the Jaguars a far better team than the debacle with Urban Meyer.

No, this isn’t an exciting, revolutionary hire that will shape the Jags into the modern NFL team, but it’s also not a major whiff. That’s a win as far as I’m concerned when it comes to this organization. I expect the bare minimum from Jacksonville, and when I get anything more than that I’m pleasantly surprised.

At the minimum Pederson will have time to develop players, and I think he’ll be a positive influence on Trevor Lawrence. All things considered I like this.

Grade: B+

Las Vegas Raiders: Josh McDaniels

The Raiders will never, ever make the smart move over the flashy one — and I’ve come to accept that. Josh McDaniels follows in the mould of big, brash head coaching hires as Las Vegas becomes the second chance for a coordinator perennially mentioned as a head coach hopeful.

I don’t like this. Las Vegas was a playoff team already, and I think McDaniels likes to get cute just for the sake of getting cute. He’s inherited an already established team, and I can’t help but think he’s going to do something to mess with it.

The hope is that he learned from his mistakes the first time around with Denver, but my hopes are rock bottom. I think this team needed a steady hand, not a splash — and in the end they went for more headlines. I don’t see this ending well.

Grade: D+

Miami Dolphins: Mike McDaniel

The question isn’t whether McDaniel is good, as far as I’m concerned, it’s whether he’ll get the time he needs. The former 49ers offensive coordinator is an exceedingly bright NFL mind, but he’ll need time to evaluate and shape the roster to start getting results.

I’m going to work off the assumption he will have a little time, especially considering the scrutiny following Brian Flores’ dismissal. I think McDaniel has an incredibly bright mind in the NFL, and he’s going to be a fan-favorite for his unconventional press conferences.

The truth is: The Dolphins are already a really solid team. He’s walking into a great position, and will have the ability to make some draft moves to shape this team in his image. The future may be inexorably linked to whether he can maximize the talent of Tua Tagovailoa, but this is still my favorite hire of the cycle thus far.

Grade: A

Minnesota Vikings: Kevin O’Connell (unofficial)

The Vikings have been really, really cautious during this coaching search. It takes guts to interview Jim Harbaugh and not just hand him the job immediately, but it shows that ownership and new GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah want to make sure they get this right.

O’Connell’s name has been in the mix for head coaching jobs the last two seasons as the leader of a potent Rams’ offense, and the move marks a stark change in approach by the Vikings. Moving from an old-school defensive coach like Mike Zimmer to O’Connell is an appreciation for the direction modern football is heading.

There will be a year for the new braintrust to evaluate Kirk Cousins before moving on, or at least offering a drastically reduced contract. At the very least this should be a huge boon for Justin Jefferson with a coordinator who helped turn Cooper Kupp into the most dangerous receiver in the NFL.

Grade: A+

New Orleans Saints: Dennis Allen (unofficial)

This is a garbage hire, and Saints fans should be furious. It was always going to be difficult to follow in Sean Payton’s footsteps, but Allen has no business getting the job. This could be a one-year stopgap in the hopes Payton may return, but that’s the only way this remotely makes sense.

Allen has been middling at best as the Saints’ defensive coordinator since 2015, and went 8-28 as a head coach with the Raiders. This is an out-of-touch hiring when much, much better candidates were out there.

Between a lackluster coach and a salary cap nightmare there is no way this works.

Grade: F

New York Giants: Brian Daboll

There’s nothing functionally wrong with Brian Daboll, but nothing amazing either. It wasn’t long ago that the former Bills’ offensive coordinator was one of the hottest coaching commodities in the NFL, but in high-pressure situations his offense has been found wanting.

Everyone hails the QB duel of Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Divisional Round, but go back and watch that playcalling in crunch-time from Buffalo and try to tell me it was good. The truth is that it was piss-poor, and Allen made up for a lot of mistakes in playcalling by improvising.

Look, head coach is a very different gig I know, but it’s kind of difficult to imagine Daboll being the kind of personality to turn the Giants around. This was a team in need of modernization, and Daboll is an old school coach.

Grade: B-