Coaching Vacancies

Minnesota Vikings playoff fun has kept me from thinking too much about the annual the NFL's head coach firings and hirings.  With only five vacancies, the 2020 coaching churn feels light. The Washington Redskins and Carolina Panthers fired their head coach during the 2019 season. The New York Giants and Cleveland Browns fired their head coach immediately following the season. The Dallas Cowboys danced to their own weird tune. They left Jason Garrett in some sort of employment purgatory for about a week. The annual hiring/firing cycle started with five openings. Only one remains.

Washington Redskins
Out: Jay Gruden
In: Ron Rivera

Carolina Panthers
Out: Ron Rivera
In: Matt Ruhle

New York Giants
Out: Pat Shurmur
In: Joe Judge

Dallas Cowboys
Out: Jason Garrett
In: Mike McCarthy

Cleveland Browns
Out: Freddie Kitchens
In: ?

Of the four coaching hires, Matt Ruhle to the Panthers and Joe Judge to the Giants intrigue me the most. Ron Rivera and Mike McCarthy are known head coaches. They've been fine coaches. They'll probably be fine coaches for their new teams. Ruhle and Judge are unknowns. Ruhle is more known simply because he's been a very successful head coach at the college level. He looks and sounds like he'll be a successful head coach at any level. Panthers fans should be excited about the possibilities. Judge probably isn't even known by New England Patriots fans even though he's coached for the team since 2012. He's been a special teams coach so few know anything about him. I find special teams coaches interesting. They're the only coaches that coach both offensive and defensive players. They're the only coaches that have to deal with all the other coaches on the staff. In short, their day-to-day job is the most like that of a head coach. Coordinating and delegating in addition to coaching is their job. Neither Ruhle nor Judge has scheduled an NFL offseason or head coached an NFL game but their addition to the NFL head coach fraternity is far more interesting that Rivera continuing to be a part of it and McCarthy returning to it.

The Browns. Nearly every "hot" head coach candidate is in the mix. With the other four vacancies filled, they can move at their own pace. Can the Browns finally get the decision right? Can they finally give the coach that they do hire more than a year or two to coach the team? The Browns are getting so tiresome.

The big problem with the annual head coach searches and hires is the lack of minorities. The Rooney Rule isn't the answer to this problem. It might even might make things worse. The owners simply have to throw out a bigger net. They shouldn't be forced to interview one minority coach to simply satisfy a rule. They should interview more qualified candidates. The objective should be to hire the best coach for their team. They should be more interested in hiring that coach than the "big name" that's been fired a time or two or the "hot" assistant that did something splashy for a minute. If the owners throw out a bigger net they are sure to bring in more than a single token minority.