2022 NFL Head Coach Rankings

[SoCal Deek]

It’s an interesting list for sure. I’m not sure I’d slot everyone right where they have them but it doesn’t look all that far fetched. Putting Belichick at the very top seems out of place to me. Is he really the best coach, right now? The other one that jumped out at me was Vrabel. It feels to me like it wasn’t long ago when he was on the hot seat and yet there he is in the Top 10? 

[Coach Tuesday]

1 hour 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. 

While I agree with that point, I also found it unseemly to hear McD waxing about “fairness” when asked about the proposed (now approved) new OT rules.  Come on, brah, handle your business.  Tomlin’s answer was much better.  A defensive coach like McD shouldn’t need to (1) invest so many resources (high picks and cap dollars) into his side of the ball, and (2) appeal to “fairness” after he couldn’t execute a JV defensive strategy to seal what would’ve been the most important win for the franchise in 30 years.

[HomeskillitMoorman]

11 hours ago, KDIGGZ said:

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.

 

I think this is pretty accurate. He was a good coach for where we were when he came on board in terms of helping to build the culture. I do. think he's a liability for us now though in terms of game management and I'm terrified of having anything come down to his call/strategy in a big game. 

 

It's just an opinion because we'll never know for sure...but I'll probably always believe he cost us a Super Bowl this season. Not even just the 13 seconds, but I thought we really got conservative in the 1st half of that game

 

But sometimes with a great player like #17 leading the way, you can overcome those liabilities and still win it all, and I'm just hoping we can do that. 

[Captain Hindsight]

1 hour ago, SoCal Deek said:

It’s an interesting list for sure. I’m not sure I’d slot everyone right where they have them but it doesn’t look all that far fetched. Putting Belichick at the very top seems out of place to me. Is he really the best coach, right now? The other one that jumped out at me was Vrabel. It feels to me like it wasn’t long ago when he was on the hot seat and yet there he is in the Top 10? 

I don't think hes the best. I'd actually put McVay there, but he is still in the top 3. Winning 7 games without a passing game 2 years ago was pretty impressive

 

My list would be:

 

McVay

Reid

Belicheck

Harbaugh

McDermott

Tomlin

Lefluer

Shannahan

Reich

Vrabel

 

To your point about Vrabel, There are simply not many great coaches right now. He had a team, missing their best player for most of the season winning the number one seed in a very good AFC. He's a good coach. I think his biggest mistake this year was trying to run Henry so much in the playoff game. He was clearly rusty, go with what got you there

[ProcessAccepted]

13 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

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.

I'm pretty sure Jauron would still suck no matter who was GM 😂

 

 

[ProcessAccepted]

Personally I'm a huge fan of McD. He's not perfect but he has the ability to identify issues & then learn from his mistakes. A trait required for sustained elite level leadership.

 

He's level headed, consistent, never too high and never too low. He has changed this team into a group that expects to win and embraces adversity. Look at the way the team played when we lost Tre.

 

The culture that has been forged since McD arrived should not be undervalued. I remember year one he called the offense out for not celebrating big plays like the defense does. It's an all in type of effort. Last 5 years has 4 playoff appearances & 3 playoff wins. Cast your mind back to the 17 straight years of meh before this man arrived. We're the Vegas favorite to win it all this season. Again the Buffalo Bills are the favorites to win it all. That does not happen without a elite level coach. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by ProcessAccepted

[LABILLBACKER]

Sean in my book will always get an A+ for being a players coach and administrator of all things process & culture. But as an in-game tactician he gets a solid C.  Crap like that 13 seconds can never happen again. 

[ganesh]

15 hours ago, MJS said:

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.

 

More importantly......the #1 QB in the league !!!!  Go Bills

[FilthyBeast]

19 hours ago, Augie said:

 

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. 

 

 

 

.

 

My point is that regardless of personal opinion, McDermott deserves to be in the top 10 conversation because of his body of work alone:

 

- 2 straight division titles

- 1 AFCCG appearance

- playoffs in 4 of 5 seasons including 3 in a row.

- top 10 regular season defenses nearly every year.

 

However where I stop short of believing he's truly a top 5 HC in this league is several things:

 

- Winless on the road in playoffs (0-4)

- Questionable situation football awareness (i.e. hail murray/13 seconds in chiefs PO game)

- Still a very poor overall record against teams that are .500 or better

- I would still put any coach with a SB title over him in these rankings, including guys like Tomlin and Carroll.

 

McDermott has a lot to overcome this season given the lingering stench of the Chiefs debacle and fact that history is not on his side in terms of getting to/winning a SB after 5 years with the same team. But if he accomplishes this it says a lot about who he really is and critics will be silenced for good.