2022 NFL Head Coach Rankings

[FilthyBeast]

This will no doubt spur some interesting discussion.

 

I'm still very critical of McDermott and skeptical of his long term viablity, but you can't argue that he doesn't belong in the top 10 based on his body of work and having him here at #5 says he's among the NFL's elite head coaches:

 

https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/article/goal-line-stand/nfls-best-coaches-2022?utm_tags=Edge1477

 

Quote

5. Sean McDermott
Career Record: 49-32 (.605)  
With The Bills Since: 2017
Last Year’s Ranking: 6

 

Sean McDermott’s coaching career has been one of seemingly unsolvable questions. What do you do with a problem like Bill Belichick? Like Patrick Mahomes? It’s one down, one to go after 2021. Three: That’s how many passes the Patriots attempted in their Week 13 victory in Buffalo. Zero: The number of times the Bills punted in their Week 16 and Wild Card revenge victories. McDermott narrowed his backfield committee and cut Josh Allen loose for the rubber matches, resulting in a pair of beatdowns that won’t soon be forgotten in New England. As he always has throughout his five years in Buffalo, McDermott found the answers. The same appeared true for the Chiefs in Week 5, where the Bills rolled into Arrowhead and won 38-20. It wasn’t as simple in the Divisional Round, where 13 seconds and a coin flip reminded how narrow the margins are against the current colossus of the AFC. But if Belichick was a mountain, that is a mole hill. The Bills have closed the gap on the Chiefs, and McDermott deserves a ton of the credit. He controls his defensive side of the ball and has overseen the proper adjustments on offense. This is a fully modern attack, with a fully modern quarterback in Allen leading the way. McDermott does not stand in the way of progress, football or his own. His reward should soon be a Lombardi.     

 

[hondo in seattle]

17 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

This will no doubt spur some interesting discussion.

 

I'm still very critical of McDermott and skeptical of his long term viablity, but you can't argue that he doesn't belong in the top 10 based on his body of work and having him here at #5 says he's among the NFL's elite head coaches:

 

https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/article/goal-line-stand/nfls-best-coaches-2022?utm_tags=Edge1477

 

 

 

 

I like McDermott a lot and am not very critical of him.   But I don't think I'd put him in the Top 5.  Not yet at least.  

[GunnerBill]

It's the right top 4. I'd probably go Tomlin #5. I get he has his own game management issues and probably should have won more than 1 Lombardi with the talent he had had at his disposal, but no losing seasons and a ring? He is #5. 

 

McDermott and Shanahan #6 and #7. I can see arguments both ways on the order.

[Big Blitz]

20 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

This will no doubt spur some interesting discussion.

 

I'm still very critical of McDermott and skeptical of his long term viablity, but you can't argue that he doesn't belong in the top 10 based on his body of work and having him here at #5 says he's among the NFL's elite head coaches:

 

https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/article/goal-line-stand/nfls-best-coaches-2022?utm_tags=Edge1477

 

 

 

 

Switch Tomlin and Harbough.  

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Big Blitz said:

Switch Tomlin and Harbough.  

 

Personally I'd have Harbaugh #2. 

[chris heff]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

It's the right top 4. I'd probably go Tomlin #5. I get he has his own game management issues and probably should have won more than 1 Lombardi with the talent he had had at his disposal, but no losing seasons and a ring? He is #5. 

 

McDermott and Shanahan #6 and #7. I can see arguments both ways on the order.

Remember that time Tomlin tried to trip Jacoby Jones? Tomlin is a jerk, who without Ben will never win anything again.

[jwhit34]

Tomlin is overrated. He has not kept pace with the way the game is played today. Punting in + territory, not going for it on 4th down, I think he's okay but not top 5-6 anymore. 

 

McDermott at around 4-5 is about right by me.

[MJS]

Top 5 GM and a top 5 head coach. Both have done great things to turn this organization around and into one of the most respected around the league.

 

Pretty amazing. Keep stacking the wins and go get a championship now.

 

[GETTOTHE50]

What a crap list of coaches. 

McDs strengths: willingness to adapt,  building culture + accountability, sustaining motivation + focus, and clapping. 

 

Negatives: Piss poor adjustments after defensive timeouts. Too many times have they called the wrong defense after a TO.

 

I think he’s in a fair spot there, Zac Taylor deserves to be higher up. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

3 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

 

I like McDermott a lot and am not very critical of him.   But I don't think I'd put him in the Top 5.  Not yet at least.  

 

I don't know, looking at the list the only ones you could argue that maybe should be in front of him is Tomlin and Carroll, but more based on lifetime achievement, not on what they've done lately.  Hell Stefanski is ranked #13, putting McD 8 slots ahead looks OK to me.

[K D]

For culture I think he's top 5 for sure. Guys want to play hard for him and he preaches love for one another which makes for a great locker room.

 

For game management he might be bottom 5 unfortunately. I know he tries but some guys just have a mind for that kind of stuff and some don't.

[Sierra Foothills]

From the linked article:

 

1 Belichick

2 Reid

3 McVay

4 Harbaugh

5 McDermott

6 Tomlin

7 Shanahan

8 LaFleur

9 Vrabel

10 Reich

11 Carroll

12 Taylor

13  Stefanski

14 Staley

 

My first thought is that it's awfully hard to split a team's success between the coach and the GM. They're either successful together or unsuccessful together. It's hard to think of an example of where you think "the coach is doing a great job but the GM sucks" or visa versa.

[Augie]

4 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

This will no doubt spur some interesting discussion.

 

I'm still very critical of McDermott and skeptical of his long term viablity, but you can't argue that he doesn't belong in the top 10 based on his body of work and having him here at #5 says he's among the NFL's elite head coaches:

 

https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/article/goal-line-stand/nfls-best-coaches-2022?utm_tags=Edge1477

 

 

 

I’m having a hard time reconciling the bold. I’m glad you’re not my parent! 

 

He’s very near the top of the league, and he gets some bonus points in my mind for culture stuff that goes beyond game days. 

 

 

 

.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Augie

[Sierra Foothills]

Regarding McDermott, as the stakes are raised, the scrutiny increases. As the scrutiny increases it's inevitable that flaws become more apparent.

 

That said, I feel McDermott is definitely a Top 5 coach and I'm glad he's our coach.

 

Unfortunately the worst moment of his Bills' tenure was after the debacle in Kansas City. I thought he handled it poorly with the vague comments about "execution." It came off as blame shifting.

 

McDermott should have simply said this:

 

"I want to make it clear that I bear complete and total responsibility for the communication breakdowns at the end of regulation and in overtime. It doesn't matter exactly what happened and I'm not gonna get into exactly what happened. What I will say is that what happened is entirely my fault and I will take the steps necessary to ensure these mistakes never happen again."

[RangerDave]

9 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

It's hard to think of an example of where you think "the coach is doing a great job but the GM sucks" or visa versa.

I can think of one:  Belichick the coach and Belichick the GM

[GunnerBill]

8 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

Regarding McDermott, as the stakes are raised, the scrutiny increases. As the scrutiny increases it's inevitable that flaws become more apparent.

 

That said, I feel McDermott is definitely a Top 5 coach and I'm glad he's our coach.

 

Unfortunately the worst moment of his Bills' tenure was after the debacle in Kansas City. I thought he handled it poorly with the vague comments about "execution." It came off as blame shifting.

 

McDermott should have simply said this:

 

"I want to make it clear that I bear complete and total responsibility for the communication breakdowns at the end of regulation and in overtime. It doesn't matter exactly what happened and I'm not gonna get into exactly what happened. What I will say is that what happened is entirely my fault and I will take the steps necessary to ensure these mistakes never happen again."

 

I honestly think that people should look again at what he did say. Because he said "I don't want to get into specifics, but we can execute better and that starts with me." 

 

I don't get this obsessive need for some sort of self flagellation in order to satisfy a lust for what I call the social media version of accountability. 

[GunnerBill]

9 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

From the linked article:

 

1 Belichick

2 Reid

3 McVay

4 Harbaugh

5 McDermott

6 Tomlin

7 Shanahan

8 LaFleur

9 Vrabel

10 Reich

11 Carroll

12 Taylor

13  Stefanski

14 Staley

 

My first thought is that it's awfully hard to split a team's success between the coach and the GM. They're either successful together or unsuccessful together. It's hard to think of an example of where you think "the coach is doing a great job but the GM sucks" or visa versa.

 

This is fair, althought I will say this... the two AFC South teams are GM success more than HC success IMO. Jon Robinson in Tennessee is one of the most underheralded GMs in football. The reason they have the second longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons across two coaching regimes is because he constantly stacks that roster with good football players. I think Vrabel is a good motivator but he has good talent. Not sold he is a good Xs and Os guy. And in Indy the guy to blame for the QB pickle they are in is Frank Reich. He pounded the table for Rivers and even more bizarrely Carson Wentz. Chris Ballard has done a nice job in the draft for the most part but they keep spending assets chasing has beens at QB. 

[Sierra Foothills]

9 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

McDermott should have simply said this:

 

"I want to make it clear that I bear complete and total responsibility for the communication breakdowns at the end of regulation and in overtime. It doesn't matter exactly what happened and I'm not gonna get into exactly what happened. What I will say is that what happened is entirely my fault and I will take the steps necessary to ensure these mistakes never happen again."

 

24 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I honestly think that people should look again at what he did say. Because he said "I don't want to get into specifics, but we can execute better and that starts with me." 

 

I don't get this obsessive need for some sort of self flagellation in order to satisfy a lust for what I call the social media version of accountability. 

 

I disagree Bill.

 

iMO McDermott was not emphatic enough and he was not unequivocal enough.

 

That was more noticeable from the video... if you read the words they had a different effect than actually hearing them spoken.

 

His mea culpa (thanks K-9!) was unsatisfying, like an insincere apology and that's why many fans and media felt it was insufficient.

 

And more importantly what did the players and coaches feel about his comments? The leadership aspect is the most concerning thing about his post mortem (thanks K-9!).

 

Part of it is McDermott's limitations as a speaker... he could have said more in fewer words and in less time. And the team would likely respond better to a more effective message than the passive finger pointing that was implied.

[Greg S]

13 seconds soured me on McDermott and Frazier. I would put him in the 6-10 category on the list. He's a good coach and he played a huge part in changing the culture of the organization. But if he wants to be in the top 5 then go win a Lombardi. I realize the Bills will lose games next season like everyone else but stupid s*** like 13 seconds can't ever happen again. 

[machine gun kelly]

14 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

This will no doubt spur some interesting discussion.

 

I'm still very critical of McDermott and skeptical of his long term viablity, but you can't argue that he doesn't belong in the top 10 based on his body of work and having him here at #5 says he's among the NFL's elite head coaches:

 

https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/article/goal-line-stand/nfls-best-coaches-2022?utm_tags=Edge1477

 

 

Thank you FB.  I think it’s you who puts this article out each year, and it’s a fun read.

 

I think McD is exactly where he deserves to be at 5.  No one is going to outdo in these rankings BB and Andy Reid at 1 and 2.  McVeigh has done a great deal with his bought talent, and is unconventional how he has built a team.  Harbaugh in my view is underrated and deserves to be ahead of McD.