Alex Pitman
It's such a great time of the year. Everyone has a blank page and can't wait to make 2019 their best year yet. This is especially true for the 8 NFL franchises who fired their head coach either during the season or on dreaded Black Monday. The pain of an unsuccessful season can be erased when a new coach takes the podium for his initial press conference. A successful hire will take the franchise to the next level, but a dud will send the team back to the pit of misery (Dilly! Dilly!). The following list isn't my predictions for what will happen in the next few days, but rather who each team should hire. (For the purpose of this article, a coach is only allowed to be allocated to one team).
New York Jets
Best Fit: Matt Rhule
This is my wildcard pick right here. He's the head coach of the Baylor Bears at the moment. He's not the most known commodity in your normal head coaching candidate blog, but that's why you come to SportSense, isn't it? He turned around the Bears program to a 7-6 season this year after going 1-11 in his first year after he was hired to mop up after Art Briles era. He did the same thing after a stint at Temple as he completely turned the program around. This just shows me that Rhule doesn't shy away from a challenge. He not only faces them, so far, he's conquered them. A lot of sources around the NFL say that Rhule has the allure that Bill O'Brien did after helping Penn State move on from their scandals. He has a little NFL experience as he was the assistant offensive line under Tom Coughlin with the Giants. He's not an offensive guru or a fruit off of a Belichick or Andy Reid coaching tree, but he's proven that he can rally a locker room and win ball games. That holds weight with NFL executives. The Jets have shown interest in Matt Rhule for a couple of years now, and now they have a chance to get him. I think he'd pair well with a team that has some young talent like Sam Darnold, Leonard Williams, and Jamaal Adams. He can develop a team that has been severely lacking in professional development. I think he would strive in the New York media as well which is something you have to account for. It's time to go big in the Big Apple.
Denver Broncos
Best Fit: Zac Taylor
The Broncos have long been one of the most successful franchises in the NFL, but things are looking low in the Mile High City. They are coming off their second consecutive losing season, which is a first for the franchise since the early the 70s, Elway still hasn't found a reliable QB since The Sheriff, and the division rival Chiefs and Chargers seem to be some of the best teams in the league. Despite the negativity, there are still some good things about this team. Until the last four weeks of the season, the Broncos were in the playoff hunt and seemed like a dangerous team. Injuries to Emmanuel Sanders and Chris Harris Jr. were detrimental to the locker room and it didn't help that that the vanilla play calling of the Bill Musgrave could only muster about 20 points per game. Time will prove to be the solution for the former of their problems, but Zac Taylor will be answer for the latter of their issues. Every team is looking for the next young hot-shot offensive genius and Zac Taylor is this years Sean McVay. It's easy to make this comparison because Taylor currently works for McVay as his quarterbacks coach. Now we've seen before that proximity to greatness does not correlate to success, but it can't hurt. He's seen for a few years firsthand what it takes to be an innovative play-caller from his boss and his contributions to developing Jared Goff cannot be undermined. Taylor would come in and give that bland offense life. I would love to see what he could do with Philip Lindsey, Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton. Von Miller and Bradley Chubb will control that defense, it's time to let Zac Taylor take the reigns.
Cleveland Browns
Best Fit: Mike McCarthy
Who would've thought the Browns job would be one of the most coveted positions out there? It's 2019 though and here we are. They have one of the brightest young QB's leading the franchise, loads of young talent, and still tons of cap space and draft capital. What's not to love? If it weren't for Hue Jackson lingering around for a few more weeks than he should have then this team probably would've made the playoffs. There's a lot of people clamoring that Gregg Williams should keep his job, and I wouldn't blame the Browns brass for keeping him, but this is a chance to take your team to the next level. Now, I know the NFL has a horrible recycling problem where they keep giving guys chances when they haven't done anything special in over 10 years. McCarthy is a different case in my opinion. McCarthy is a great offensive mind and has loads of winning experience. Something the Browns need desperately. I think Mike McCarthy would do great in a change of scenery where he isn't hamstrung by a diva QB (as talented as he is) and management that neglected the rest of the roster. I'd love to see the Mayfield and McCarthy show in Cleveland.
Miami Dolphins
Best Fit: Kris Richard
The Dolphins record did not indicate just how bad of a year they had. They were 31st in total offense and 29th in total defense. It's honestly impressive that they finished the year 7-9 with those statistics. Nonetheless, Adam Gase has been fired and the Dolphins number one priority for this offseason is to find an identity. Insert Kris Richard. Richard is the DB's coach for the Dallas Cowboys. Now most people would be wary of a position coach getting jumping all the way to a head coaching job, but it should put some GM's at ease to know that he's been the one calling the shots for that revitalized defense. He was also the DB's coach for Pete Carroll and the Legion of Boom in their prime. The former player would resonate extremely well with a locker room that needs some motivating. He would also give them an instant identity on defense. The easiest way to get out of monotony in the NFL is to get yourself a fast, hard-hitting defense and that's exactly what Richard would do for the Dolphins. The offense has tons of question marks, so much so that even an offensive guru like Adam Gase couldn't figure it out. That's why they need to go with a defensive mind like Richard.
Arizona Cardinals
Best Fit: Kliff Kingsbury
As of the publishing of this article, USC is not letting the former Texas Tech head coach take any interviews from the NFL since they hired him as their OC last month. USC is doing the NFL and the rest of us a disservice. A few years ago, I would've laughed at anyone who said Kliff Kingsbury could be an NFL coach, but the NFL has never been so wide open and QB friendly. Kingsbury's offense would be the apex of the modern NFL offense. I'd love to see his offense in the NFL with Josh Rosen, David Johnson, Christian Kirk, and hopefully Larry Fitzgerald. This team fired Steve Wilks after he failed to have any success on either side of the ball. Kingsbury could get the most out of the remaining talent on offense and would hopefully score enough points to not worry about their defensive woes. In all seriousness, he could be instrumental in developing Josh Rosen which should be the Cardinals number one priority. It's a match that we probably won't be able to see, but one I'd love to see and so would the Cardinals.
Green Bay Packers
Best Fit: Brian Flores
Most people have Josh McDaniels penciled into this spot and he may very well be the choice (surely he wouldn't leave Aaron Rodgers at the altar like he did Andrew Luck last year), but this article is about best fit. I just don't think a stubborn, egotistical head coach would mesh very well with a stubborn, egotistical quarterback. I might be over thinking it, but I believe the Packers need to go with a defensive minded coach. Let Aaron Rodgers take over the offense, which is what he wants anyways, and get someone who can take over that defense. That man should be Brian Flores. He's taken over the defense this year after being under Belichick's tutelage since 2004. As I've said earlier, proximity to greatness does not translate into success (i.e. Matt Patricia), but again it can't hurt. Flores is also highly respected by his players and peers. Lots of people around the league believe he will be a great head coach. I'd love to see what he could do with a young budding secondary and management that seems to going in the right direction. Just let Rodgers do his thing on offense and let Flores take over everything else.
Cincinnati Bengals
Best Fit: Eric Bieniemy
The Bengals finally let go of Marvin Lewis. They were just 5 seasons late. The important thing is that they finally cut the cord and now they can move on. This is a team that has some pieces on both sides of the ball, but unfortunately I believe monotony caused by Lewis plagued the locker room which caused the team to regress in the last few seasons. They need new life and new blood. New life in the form of Kansas City OC Eric Bieniemy could bring this team back to relevance. What I like about Bieniemy is that he isn't a QB guru. He was a former All-American running back and joined the Andy Reid coaching tree as a RB coach. This just goes to show that he's made his mark as an excellent play-caller and developer and not just some one-dimensional position coach. The reason I like him in Cincinnati is because I think he'd have a field day with AJ Green, Tyler Boyd, Joe Mixon, and even Andy Dalton (not to mention a possible Tyreke Hill clone in John Ross). He also played a few seasons in Cincinnati during his playing days so there'd be some sentiment there as well. Most coaches that stem from the Andy Reid coaching tree usually do pretty well on their own and I would expect Bieniemy to do the same.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Best Fit: Adam Gase
What a roller coaster ride of a season for the Buccaneers. With not a lot of hope coming into the season after Jameis Winston was suspended for the first three games, Ryan Fitzpatrick took league by storm with his Fitzmagic only to cool off once Winston was eligible to come back. Then Winston did so bad everyone was convinced that his time in Tampa was over with so Fitzmagic had another chance. It just wasn't meant to be, so, Winston took the starting job again and quietly played solid enough to possibly keep his job next year. All in all it was a wild, confusing, but ultimately bad season for the Bucs. They had no run game, not much defense, and inefficient quarterback play. I think Adam Gase could change some things. Despite recently being fired by Miami, Gase has been a hot commodity. With some of the more glamorous positions might get filled by more attractive candidates (who haven't just got fired), the Buccaneers just might be ugly enough for Gase to get an offer. I think he could help balance the offense while helping whoever is under center become more efficient. These two might be the perfect match for each other.
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