2011 NFL Coaching Carousel

Seven teams will have a new face leading them into the 2012 season, and for the most part they might not be all that well known to some fans. Well, read on for a little background on each of them.

Indianapolis Colts, Chuck Pagano:

Pagano started coaching as an assistant at USC and the University of Miami. For the most part he was a favorite of Butch Davis and excelled particularly well coaching the secondary and special teams. If you remember Anthony Henry picking off ten passes as a Browns rookie back in 2001, that was under Pagano. He also coached the Raiders top rated pass defense in 2006 before joining John Harbaugh’s staff in Baltimore. There’s a lot to like on Pagano’s resume, but also a lot of lateral moves.

Jacksonville, Mike Mularkey:

Many fans were disappointed with this hire, but allow me to make a case for it. Mularkey is a native Floridian, born in Miami, who played college ball for the Gators. He’s an offensive minded coach, which the Jaguars need, and as much as he’s known for trick plays and special packages his philosophy is actually very power oriented. When he took over as offensive co-ordinator in Pittsburgh they smashed their way to 10 win seasons, and he did it again in Atlanta. The Jags style won’t change that much under Mularkey, but it should get more creative.

Kansas City, Romeo Crennel:

The most important aspect of this hire is how much the Chiefs players wanted it. They respect and play hard for Crennel, and handed the Packers their only loss once he took over. How much of that is relief that Todd Haley has been let go remains to be seen however, and I don’t like that Romeo plans to keep wearing the defensive co-ordinator hat as well. This interim to head coach move feels a bit too much like the extension Crennel got in Cleveland after going 10-6 after two poor seasons- he went 4-12 the following year.

Miami, Joe Philbin:

I guess if you can’t get Kirk Ferentz out of Iowa targeting his former assistants is the next place to look (on a sidenote, if Ferentz stayed put this year with these weak coaching ranks, he’s staying put for good). More recently of course Philbin has been the Packers offensive co-ordinator, and this is pretty much the old blueprint for a coaching hire. Philbin has had Green Bay in the top ten on offense for his entire tenure and now he gets his chance at the top job. He’ll obviously be taking a demotion in terms of talent though.

Oakland, Dennis Allen:

Allen is a coach with experience with all levels of a defense. He coached the Falcons secondary from a 30th place ranking to 16th with 24 interceptions one year, then was charged with improving their defensive line play and led the unit to 48 sacks and a pair of Pro Bowl selections. After that the Saints signed him away from their rivals to coach their line, and when another former division rival took over in Denver he was brought in there too. That pattern of opposing coaches wanting him on their staff is encouraging, but he has mighty big shoes to fill as the first head coach with a defensive pedigree in Oakland since John Madden and not a lot of experience to fill them with.

St. Louis, Jeff Fisher:

I think we’re all familiar with Fisher’s work in the NFL. A player on the ’85 Bears, he had his playing career cut short by injury (doled out by Bill Cowher by the way, if you didn’t know) and went on to join Buddy Ryan’s staff in Philadelphia. Fisher actually coached a year for the Rams once before, when they were in Los Angeles, before joining the staff in Houston a few years before their move to Tennessee. Detractors of Fisher point to his postseason record of 5-6 and the fact he’s never won a championship. This isn’t a strong argument in my opinion- he’s obvioulsly a good coach, and is such a good teacher he’s produced several other head coaches (Gregg Williams, Jim Schwartz, Mike Munchak).

Tampa Bay, Greg Schiano:

A Jersey boy, Schiano actually made his mark at the University of Miami. He turned around the Hurricanes defense, ranking 5th in the nation his final year. During his time there Miami produced pros such as Dan Morgan, Jonathan Vilma, and Ed Reed- all Pro Bowlers in the NFL. His success got him the head coaching spot at his hometown Rutgers program, who also turned their fortunes around under Schiano. The list of NFL players he’s pumped out of that school since is a long one- some of the more notable names to make it big under Schiano are Gary Brackett, Kenny Britt, Devin McCourty, and Ray Rice.

All in all this year’s crop of coaches is a good mix of new and old, as well as of college and pro backgrounds. It will be very interesting to see who does well, as it may signal a shift in what teams look for in a head coach going forward.


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