Questions about 10 new NFL coordinators entering 2026 season

There are 64 offensive and defensive coordinator positions in the NFL. More than half of them have turned over this season.

The total count is 35: 21 new offensive coordinators and 14 new defensive coordinators (technically 15 if you count Zak Kuhr getting the title in New England. But that’s an exceptional case). The turnover in the league has never been greater, as expectations rise higher and faster than ever before. Produce quickly or make room for the next guy.

It’s not hard, as such, to find 10 new coordinators with big questions approaching the 2026 season. Sean Mannion has the fate of quarterback Jalen Hurts in his hands in Philadelphia. Eric Bieniemy needs to bring something — anything! — new to the Chiefs’ stale offense. Jonathan Gannon has to solve a Packers defense without star edge rusher Micah Parsons long enough to stay in the playoff hunt.

None of them made my list. But the 10 who did have Super Bowl aspirations hanging in the balance of their efforts (OK, maybe not the Browns and the Commanders). Still, the stakes are high for these newcomers, a couple of whom will become the Klint Kubiak or Anthony Campanile of this upcoming season.

Jump to a team:
BAL | BUF | CLE | DAL | DEN
DET | LAC | SEA | WSH

Jim Leonhard, Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator

How quickly can the Bills’ defense change?

Playcaller stability is famously rare in the modern NFL. More than half of the league will have a new offensive playcaller this season. The longest-tenured offensive coordinator is the Packers’ Adam Stenavich, who has held the job (without calling plays) since 2022. Matt LaFleur, Green Bay’s head coach and playcaller, is one of only five head coaches who were hired for their current position before 2020, and all five have offensive backgrounds.

Sean McDermott was the lone long-term head coach with a defensive background before Buffalo fired him in January. McDermott had shaped the Bills’ defensive identity since his hire in 2017. He didn’t always call plays, but the defense was unquestionably his: all nickel packages, a heavy reliance on spot-drop zone and traditional four-man rushes. As the seasons wore on and McDermott’s seat warmed, Buffalo experimented with various schematic curveballs, but the defense remained built in McDermott’s image.

His seat is now filled by his ex-offensive coordinator Joe Brady, and the defensive side of the ball now belongs to Leonhard. Leonhard has long been considered a rising star. A longtime defensive coordinator at his alma mater Wisconsin, Leonhard was on the cutting edge of the college meta with match coverages and simulated pressures. He has worked with Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph the past two seasons, studying under one of the league’s preeminent blitzers.

Leonhard is cut from a different cloth than McDermott, from the nuances to the basics. McDermott’s defense is based out of the 4-3; Leonhard’s will base out of the 3-4. Players who only rushed the passer under McDermott will need to learn how to drop into coverage. As structure changes, technique follows. Players who primarily had single-gap responsibilities in run defense will suddenly play 1½, or even two, gaps far more often. And with these new demands come new ideal body types. McDermott loved undersized speedster linebackers such as Terrel Bernard and disciplined zone corners like Christian Benford. Leonhard might prefer different prototypes.

These are broad strokes we’re painting with. Benford might be a more ideal fit in a different defense, but he’s a very good player, and Leonhard will adapt his defense around him. As Leonhard said of defensive tackle Ed Oliver’s role earlier this summer: the base defense might be different, but “the subpackage things are a little bit more familiar to what they’ve done here from a front structure.” There will be some crossover.

Still, it’s hard to shift defensive gears on a roster that was so meticulously built to another person’s specializations for so long. Players like Benford and Oliver, on their second contracts, have never played in a non-McDermott defense. This will be their first time learning a new defensive language. With such a wholesale shift inevitably comes growing pains.

But the Bills don’t have time for those pains. McDermott was fired after six consecutive seasons in which Buffalo won a playoff game. They were only the fourth team in NFL history to achieve such consistent success. But the three previous teams won nine collective Super Bowls; the Bills haven’t even been to one. The message is painfully clear — anything less than the Super Bowl is a failure.

Leonhard doesn’t just need to install a good defense — he needs to do it fast, and with players largely selected for a different system. With the stakes and the challenge considered, I’m not sure there’s a defensive coach in the league with a tougher task this summer.

What does a Kliff Kingsbury/Ben Johnson hybrid offense look like?

Exciting alchemy is underway at Washington’s facility in Ashburn, Virginia. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn made quite the splash this offseason by replacing veteran coordinator Kingsbury — a respected schemer with head coaching experience who ran a seemingly ideal offense for mobile QB Jayden Daniels — with Blough, a 30-year-old assistant quarterbacks coach. Blough, who was a practice-squad player as recently as 2023, was an assistant for only two years under Kingsbury before getting this huge promotion.

Blough was quickly snagged by Kingsbury because of the impression he left when Kingsbury coached the Cardinals. During the pandemic-impacted 2020 season, when the Cardinals endured multiple quarterback absences, they signed Blough off the Lions’ practice squad and started him just two weeks later.

“I remember we got him in Arizona for a couple [of] weeks, and he probably knew the offense better than I did after two weeks,” Kingsbury said in 2024. “I think he’s got a chance to move up really quickly in this profession.”

Kingsbury is not the only coach on whom Blough left a lasting impression. Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who saw Blough through the years in Detroit when Johnson was coaching offense and Blough was a player, holds his former reserve quarterback in high esteem.

“Having played quarterback, he’s got that inward feel of how to help elevate that position, and I think he’ll be able to do that in that playcalling role moving forward.” Johnson said this winter after Blough got the promotion. “I think he’ll be one of those guys who gets a head job before you know it.”

These two coaches — Kingsbury and Johnson — provide important schematic influences that will form Blough’s offense in Washington. But they run extremely different systems.

The Kingsbury offense lives out of shotgun — 70% last season, fifth-highest in the league — and tries to get the ball out fast. The Johnson offense goes under center — the Bears’ 49% shotgun rate last season was fifth-lowest in the league — and prefers long-developing dropbacks. The Kingsbury offense spreads the field out pre-snap and doesn’t change the picture much — 24th in motion rate last season. The Johnson offense uses condensed formations to conceal intentions and constantly sends players in motion — 11th in motion rate in 2025. The Kingsbury offense wants to use quick tempo to catch defenses unaware and relies on quick code-word playcalls to line up fast. The Johnson offense is so wordy that the Bears occasionally had trouble getting out of the huddle in time last season.

These are Blough’s two main offensive influences, and it’s clear he’s going to try to marry them somehow for the Commanders. He has spoken openly about getting Daniels under center more to reimagine the running game and build some play-action keepers off that run-action — something that was never a priority for Kingsbury. Blough has also spoken about retaining the stress of Kingsbury’s no-huddle approach — something that Johnson’s long-winded offense never really uses save for two-minute drills.

This effort is as bold as it is difficult. The product we see in Week 1 will not be a finished one, and it’s likely Washington’s offense improves over the fall similarly to how the Bears’ offense improved under Johnson in Year 1. Blough is not an experienced coach, but Quinn has been doing this for a long time and knows how to weather the developmental storm while trusting the process. If Blough can land the plane and blend these two offenses, there’s a chance Washington’s offense is one of the league’s most dangerous down the home stretch.

Even if Blough gets the X’s and O’s right, the Commanders are still lacking clear receiver options behind Terry McLaurin and are once again employing a committee of mid-tier running backs. The task is tall in Washington, and Quinn made a huge bet on Blough to meet that moment. This might be the coolest thing we see all season.

Daronte Jones, Commanders defensive coordinator

Just how Brian Flores are we about to get?

If you have any idea what the Commanders’ defense is going to look like in 2026, DM me and let me in on the secret.

Washington has completely retooled its defensive personnel. In free agency, sizable contracts were given to edge rushers Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson, linebacker Leo Chenal, safety Nick Cross and cornerback Amik Robertson. That’s five potential starters before accounting for the seventh overall pick (linebacker Sonny Styles).

Personnel changes alone would spell a big change from a unit that struggled for team speed and missed tackles under head coach Dan Quinn last season. But Quinn also dramatically changed gears at coordinator, replacing longtime assistant Joe Whitt Jr. with Jones.

Jones is from … everywhere. A longtime college coach, Jones was pulled into the NFL ranks by Joseph when Joseph was the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator in 2016. Jones crossed paths with Lou Anarumo there and joined him in Cincinnati, then spent a year in Minnesota under Mike Zimmer, then returned to college to coordinate LSU’s defense (where another ex-mentor, Dave Aranda, had recently been). Then he went back to Minnesota under Ed Donatell and remained there when Flores got the job.

Because Jones spent the past three seasons as Flores’ passing game coordinator, the most immediate and reasonable expectation is that he’ll bring Flores’ defensive philosophy to the Commanders. Flores’ scheme is, without question, the most unique defensive approach in the league. The Vikings blitzed on 49% of snaps last season by NFL Next Gen Stats’ charting. The next-closest team blitzed on 38% of snaps. The difference between the Vikings and second place was as big as the difference between second and 22nd.

It’s not just that Flores blitzes with maniacal abandon. It’s that he does it when you’re not supposed to: namely, on first down. Most defenses blitz on long and late downs, when the offense is almost certain to pass. Flores doesn’t permit his defense to be so predictable, so he blitzes all downs and distances. The Vikings blitzed on 56% of first downs last season; the Buccaneers were second at 38%.

And it’s not just the blitz unpredictability. The Vikings were also notoriously chaotic in the defensive backfield. Before Flores coached with Jones, with the Patriots or as the Dolphins’ head coach, he preferred man coverage across the board behind his all-out pressures. In Minnesota, Flores has become far more accepting of using zones or dropping additional players off the line of scrimmage, More versatile secondary players have brought ever-changing pre-snap pictures. It’s hard, if not impossible at times, to digest exactly what the Vikings are up to in coverage.

Brian Flores (who is a sick and twisted man) shows cover 0 with the safeties on the edges/Metellus in the A-gap, then bails before the motion to get to a two-deep shell, then plays man

Caleb is late to Odunze. Had a chance at the first if he’s on time. But lots to think about! pic.twitter.com/fLQQovfjOq

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) September 9, 2025

There’s no doubt that, to some degree, Jones will bring a new commitment to pressure packages in Washington. Even before his stint with Flores, Jones coached with Joseph, Zimmer, Aranda and Anarumo, all of whom use front alignments and blitz packages of varying styles to dictate to opposing offenses. Jones has been clear about his dappled background this spring and summer, refusing to commit to any individual philosophy for scheming up pressure.

Similarly, he hasn’t committed to a safety shell. The Commanders have been in two-high shells on 40% of snaps in their two seasons under Quinn, well below league average. The Vikings were two-high on 58% of snaps in the same time frame. Is that the big change Jones will bring to Washington?

Quinn went outside of his known coaching tree looking for a schematic shot in the arm. That’s the move of a humble coach who is perhaps a little desperate to quickly turn things around. Jones’ influence will be apparent everywhere: in how the Commanders line up, what they call, when they call it and how they execute it. What remains unclear is just how hard the Commanders will commit to Jones’ defensive vision and what exactly his calling card will be. It’s a mystery box.

Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle

Does he have the Sean Payton/Ben Johnson touch?

It has never been easier to rise through the offensive coaching ranks to a head coaching job. Teams have chased the next Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan since those coaches got their jobs in 2017. Zac Taylor, Kevin O’Connell and Matt LaFleur were offensive coordinators for only two seasons before getting their head coaching gigs.

Doyle might be next on that list. He was the league’s youngest offensive coordinator last season at 28 under the Bears’ Ben Johnson, and this season he’ll call plays for the Ravens in his second OC stint. He gets the unique advantage of calling plays for quarterback Lamar Jackson, a two-time MVP who is almost an offense unto himself given his unique dual-threat ability. If Doyle matches his reputation as a fast-rising coaching star, he’ll have head coaching interviews by the time the 2026 season finishes.

Perhaps the biggest impediment to that meteoric rise is this moment right now: offensive install. It presents a particular challenge for Doyle given the nature of the offense he’s installing.

Doyle initially joined the NFL ranks under Sean Payton in New Orleans as an offensive assistant, then followed him to Denver as his tight ends coach before joining Johnson in Chicago. Johnson and Payton share an interesting overlap. While Johnson never coached under Payton, he came up in Dan Campbell’s Detroit offense, and Campbell is very much a Payton disciple. When Johnson took over the Lions’ offense in 2022, he did so with influence from Campbell and longtime Payton assistant John Morton, then a senior offensive assistant and later Johnson’s successor as offensive coordinator.

The most obvious strand of DNA the two systems share is their depth. Payton’s offense got so wordy that Drew Brees was reciting playcalls for Stephen Colbert on late-night television. Johnson’s system, with all its motions and shifts, has similar traits. But it isn’t just the down-to-down length. Both teams have long chapters of personnel groupings and on-field adjustments. It’s not easy to learn either playbook.

Having seen Payton install his offense for years and having lived the Johnson installation in Chicago last season, Doyle knows the challenge presented by this playbook.

“Growth happens on the other side of stress, so we need to stress them,” Doyle said of offensive installations during minicamp. “We need to figure out what they can handle because you’re trying to figure out how you can be the most difficult to defend. So, we’re trying to give them quite a bit.”

The stress is particularly sharp in Baltimore this season, as center Tyler Linderbaum left for Las Vegas in free agency. While Jackson has set protections and made changes at the line plenty over his eight seasons in the league, Linderbaum was a substantial contributor to the pre-snap process. The Ravens don’t have a clear replacement for Linderbaum — it’s an open battle between inexperienced players such as Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn and Corey Bullock. A bigger onus will be on Jackson to solve defensive puzzles and adjust plays at the line — and in an offense he hasn’t previously played in before.

Jackson can handle it — he’s a much better pre-snap processor than he’s given credit for. But the rest of the roster must be in lockstep with Doyle and Jackson, and that falls on the young offensive coordinator and his position coaches. Will the Ravens’ receivers be on their P’s and Q’s for route adjustments and landmarks? Will the Ravens’ new guard-center-guard combo of John Simpson, question mark and first-round rookie Olaivavega Ioane have their protection calls dialed in?

The Ravens’ floor on offense is very high given their quarterback. Their ceiling belongs to Doyle, who by reputation is ready to answer the call. But a deep bag on offense is only valuable if the coordinator knows just what to call in just what moment, and can call it with confidence that all 11 players will execute their roles. We won’t know whether Doyle really has the magic touch his two mentors have had until the headset comes on.

Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Davis Webb

Can the Broncos play faster?

Webb pairs nicely with Declan Doyle as another branch off the budding Sean Payton coaching tree. In Payton’s many successful seasons as the Saints’ head coach, he didn’t produce as many offensive offshoots as one might expect. Dan Campbell is his greatest success story, though he isn’t a playcaller. Joe Brady was an offensive assistant (2017-2018) for a minute, and how he’ll perform as the Bills’ head coach is yet to be seen. Joe Lombardi, Pete Carmichael and John Morton have only ever been offensive coordinators, and largely unsuccessful ones outside Payton’s umbrella.

Doyle and Webb are the two new kids on the block, with Webb handpicked not only as Lombardi’s successor this offseason, but also given the rare honor of calling plays for Payton. This was a surprising winter announcement, as the Broncos had produced well in two seasons with quarterback Bo Nix. Why the change?

The best theory is the one shared by ex-quarterback Ben DiNucci, who played in Denver under Payton and Webb.

“I think first and foremost, you’re going to see more of an emphasis on these guys breaking the huddle quick and getting to the line of scrimmage,” DiNucci said. “I think Sean, at times, the plays in his offense are just wordy. So you’ve got to have an emphasis on getting them in as soon as the last play is done. So … as soon as Davis got in there, at least from what I’m hearing inside that building, is a lot of the playcalls, the formations have kind of been tightened up, less wordy.”

A simplified huddle process could help the Broncos avoid plays in which they’re snapping the ball late in the play clock. On snaps occurring with five or fewer seconds on the play clock, the Broncos were 24th in yards per play and 25th in EPA per play. Some of that is selection bias. The Broncos won a ton of games last season, and with big second-half leads come later snaps as they try to drain as much game clock as possible.

On average (excluding no-huddle plays), the Broncos broke the huddle with 19.6 seconds left on the play clock — fifth fastest in the league. They snapped the ball with 8.5 seconds left — 12th in the league. They only had six delay of game penalties all season — the league average is 5.5. This was not a particularly slow-paced offense and, from the outside looking in, it didn’t suffer all that much for its pace

There are other reasons for simplifying the huddle besides avoiding play-clock issues. Faster playcalls and personnel shifts make it easier for the quarterback to make changes at the line, as he has more time to undress the defense. Denver was exactly league average in time remaining on play clock at line set (15.3 seconds), but if the Broncos want to better take advantage of Nix’s pre-snap ability, they could aspire to rank among the league’s leaders in 2026.

Webb took head coaching interviews last year. To entice him to return to Denver, the Broncos gave Webb those playcalling opportunities to accompany his promotion. It’s a clear springboard into a stronger head coaching résumé. But when the chips actually fall, will Webb improve the Broncos’ offense? Or will Payton, who has historically loved to call plays, retake control of the headset if the offense lulls midseason? It’s hard to predict which way this one falls, because Nix has yet to see the practice field with Webb as the coordinator while he recovers from his postseason ankle fracture. One to watch.

Christian Parker, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator

Can this be an average defense by the playoffs?

The quick answer: Yes.

The talent is good enough. While the Cowboys sorely miss Micah Parsons’ elite presence, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams has been a similar disruptor at his best, and the depth behind him — edges Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku and Malachi Lawrence, along with defensive tackle Kenny Clark — is solid. A pass rush can do wonders to protect a poor back seven, and Dallas’ talent clears the bar.

If Parker runs Vic Fangio’s defense to the letter, he won’t blitz much — no defense blitzed less than Fangio’s Eagles over the past two seasons — so that defensive line will need to carry its weight. Fangio’s secondary plays with big cushions on the outside and two-high safeties, which allows both light boxes in the running game and easy-access underneath routes in the passing game. On longer-developing dropbacks, Dallas needs to get after the passer.

Here’s the bad news for opponents: The Cowboys did that last season. Their pressure rate of 35% was right around league average, per Next Gen Stats. Outgoing defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was also reticent to blitz and a proponent of soft shell coverage, but the tackling at cornerback and lack of speed at linebacker were death knells to that approach.

Only the Titans allowed more yards per dropback. Only the Jets allowed a worse EPA per dropback. Only the Dolphins allowed a worse success rate on dropbacks. Only the Raiders allowed more average separation on targets. The Cowboys’ pass defense was, quite simply, the worst in the league in 2025.

Parker might play with cushion and split-field safeties like Eberflus did, but the Fangio defensive system gets attached to routes a lot faster than Eberflus’ zone-heavy Cover 2. Parker also has more in the toolbox. Free agent cornerback Cobie Durant is a great quarters corner who plays well from big cushions. Free agent safety Jalen Thompson is a handy do-it-all defensive back. And 11th overall pick Caleb Downs was one of the best pound-for-pound prospects in the class and fell a bit given positional-value concerns.

The most important reinforcements are not additions, but returners. Third-round pick Shavon Revel Jr. barely played as a rookie while recovering from a college ACL tear. Starting linebacker DeMarvion Overshown also missed the first 10 weeks recovering from ACL, MCL and PCL tears suffered in 2024. Ideally both are starters in 2026, but more importantly, they’re among the most athletic players the Cowboys have. No matter what skill Parker has as a playcaller, the Cowboys’ defense will continue to suffer if it remains so slow in the back seven.

With a first-year playcaller and positional battles across the board, the Cowboys’ defense isn’t guaranteed to be strong. But the Cowboys’ offense is already there. In the first season under head coach Brian Schottenheimer and offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, the Cowboys were eighth in DVOA, sixth in success rate, fifth in EPA per play and fifth in points per drive. With the addition of wide receiver George Pickens, Dallas’ passing game seemed uncoverable at times. Adams’ creative running game constantly churned explosive plays with (finally healthy) running back Javonte Williams.

Dallas lost nobody from last season’s offense. The coaching staff is intact. Everyone on the line returns. The skill positions are stable. Quarterback Dak Prescott is healthy. Ideally the tackle play improves, and better insurance at backup running back would be nice. But in terms of general offensive health, the Cowboys seemed primed to be a top-five unit.

While the Seahawks currently hold the Lombardi Trophy thanks to a stifling defense, the most common model for NFL success the past decade is “elite offense paired with workable defense.” Dallas simultaneously needs Parker to revolutionize its defense — modernizing the scheme and quickly getting multiple young or new players up to speed — but doesn’t need him to do that much. Dallas had the worst starting field position on average last season — imagine if it’s average this season. Only two teams had fewer takeaways. Imagine if the Cowboys’ defense in 2026 does what the Bears’ did in 2025? The offense can power a deep playoff run, so long as the defense carries its own weight.

It might not happen right away — but it doesn’t need to. The Cowboys can win 10 games on the back of their offense, which might be enough to win the NFC East. Even with a wild-card berth, Dallas will be live in the NFC playoffs so long as the defense rounds into form across November and December.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing

Can he coach around the line?

By all accounts, the Lions’ offense took a step back last season. Ben Johnson finally left for a head coaching gig, and his replacement, John Morton, was fired following a 2025 season in which he lost playcalling responsibilities midway through.

Of course, they stepped back into … a top-10 offense. The Lions ended the season seventh in offensive DVOA — in three seasons under Johnson, they were third, fifth and seventh. By most metrics, the Lions’ offense last season was just a hair less productive than the standard they’d set under Johnson.

The offense’s retained health writ large is a credit to Dan Campbell, who has a much larger hand in the day-to-day scheming than he presents from the outside. But Campbell alone could not heal the Lions’ offensive line woes last season. They lost two veteran starters in center Frank Ragnow and guard Kevin Zeitler after 2024, then released another two veterans in left tackle Taylor Decker and interior lineman Graham Glasgow after age caught up to them in 2025. The Lions’ 2026 offensive line will feature only one player from their 2024 group — and that lone returner, Penei Sewell, is presumably kicking from right tackle to left tackle with Decker’s release.

Poor line play stymied the Lions’ ground game in 2025. Their rushing success rate of 40.1% was 26th in the NFL; their explosive rush rate of 7.2% was 21st. This was the one area in which the post-Johnson offense was clearly worse than what Johnson established. While coordinating wasn’t the key culprit, the Lions could use an offensive coach accustomed to dealing with suboptimal groups up front.

Enter Petzing. His Cardinals offense was almost the polar opposite of the Lions’ group last season. Detroit was productive overall but lacked a dynamic running game. The Cardinals’ offense never really coalesced in Petzing’s three seasons at the helm, but the running game sure wasn’t the problem! From 2023 to 2025, the Cardinals were 14th in success rate on designed rushes and fifth in EPA per rush — their 10.2% explosive rush rate was second only to the Ravens.

Petzing was employing 13 personnel in Arizona before Sean McVay made it cool. The Cardinals led the league in 2023 with 11.5% of their snaps in 13 personnel, then again in 2024 with 15.6% in 13 personnel. While McVay used that package to get under center and run downhill, Petzing would create huge running surfaces for down blocks and pullers behind. This allowed RB James Conner to pick up speed behind the line of scrimmage before steamrollering into contact. It also allowed quarterback Kyler Murray to play from the gun, as the Cardinals’ running game hit outside the numbers over and over again.

pic.twitter.com/nxMP2t2vTu

— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) November 12, 2024

Such an approach isn’t a perfect fit for Detroit, where the tight end room is thin behind Sam LaPorta even with the free agent signing of Tyler Conklin. But it serves as evidence that Petzing will push creative buttons to conjure an effective running game, and he can do it without an elite offensive line. Hjalte Froholdt, Paris Johnson Jr. and Evan Brown are all fine players but not Pro Bowlers.

Petzing’s coaching DNA stems largely from Kevin Stefanski, under whom he coached in both Minnesota and Cleveland. While at Minnesota, Petzing also coached with current Lions offensive line coach/running game coordinator Hank Fraley. Stefanski was another multi-TE guy who liked to use pullers to get to the boundary. But Fraley has cut his teeth in Detroit, where their running game is more multiple and their personnel more receiver-heavy. Now, the two coaches reconvene with deeper backgrounds and face a similar problem: How do we reinvigorate the Detroit running game behind a recovering offensive line?

I like Petzing as a problem solver for that particular issue, while Campbell retains his overarching influence on the offensive philosophy and style. This pairing is a quietly excellent one.

What can he sustain? And what can he adapt?

One of the hottest names among new coordinators is Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. But I have no questions for him — I’m as certain in McDaniel’s ability to scheme up a good offense as any coach in the league. The “how” is kind of interesting, but I’m confident in the result.

What happens on defense is far more interesting, as Jesse Minter has been replaced by O’Leary: a 34-year-old ex-Western Michigan defensive coordinator who was a graduate assistant at Georgia State 10 years ago. Rich backgrounds don’t make strong coaches, of course. But O’Leary is perhaps the biggest unknown coordinator in the NFL right now — and the success of his predecessor was well known.

Over the previous two seasons, Minter’s defense allowed minus-0.08 EPA per dropback (seventh best) and an opposing passer rating of 81.4 (third best). The Chargers have done this without spectacular talent. Derwin James Jr. remains one of the league’s preeminent safeties, of course, but he is the Chargers’ only defensive All-Pro of the past two seasons.

Los Angeles carried large dead cap hits in 2024 (J.C. Jackson) and 2025 (Joey Bosa) but backfilled those veterans on high-priced contracts with solid young players in cornerbacks Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still and edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu. At defensive tackle, veterans on cheap deals such as Poona Ford and Teair Tart have hit paydays for their play as space-eaters in Minter’s scheme. Older veterans such as linebacker Denzel Perryman and safety Tony Jefferson have filled key starting roles. And James is the only Chargers defensive player making top-20 money at his position by average per year.

Of course, it’s to Minter and GM Joe Hortiz’s credit that their defensive roster has been well drafted and shrewdly signed. But while most elite defenses have a star schemer and a deep well of elite talent, the Chargers were heavily relying on the former. Now Minter is the head coach of the Ravens, so O’Leary steps into massive shoes.

The single best thing that Minter did in coaching around the Chargers’ roster was in zone coverage. The Chargers were 80% zone over the past two seasons — only the Panthers were higher. A deep rotation of cornerbacks over that time (Still, Hart, Kristian Fulton, Donte Jackson, Benjamin St-Juste) allowed Minter to carefully pick his matchups, but the Chargers generally lack the corner talent necessary to play man across the board.

Most teams that play this much zone coverage surrender a high success rate to opposing offenses, choosing instead to limit explosive plays and hunt turnovers on long drives forced by their cautious style. Not the Chargers. Minter’s defense stands alone over the past two seasons as the heavy zone team that didn’t allow opposing offenses to walk their way downfield.

I don’t know what else to call this but coaching. From the macro level to the micro, the Chargers’ defense was preposterously well coached under Minter. He always had them in the right playcalls for opponent tendencies and his secondary moved with one another like they were connected on a string. Even with near-complete continuity in the back seven and familiarity in the room, it will be tough for O’Leary to reach these heights.

Of course, O’Leary’s job isn’t to do his best Minter impersonation. O’Leary spent one year with Minter in the pros (and another two as his graduate assistant at Georgia State). But between those stints, O’Leary coached under Clark Lea, Marcus Freeman and Al Golden at Notre Dame. Divergent paths create some key differences. In his one season coordinating, O’Leary was far more willing to send additional bodies in the rush than Minter was with the Chargers or at Michigan in the Big Ten. O’Leary called blitzes on 33.5% of plays last season with Western Michigan; Minter maxed out at 22.9%.

It’s likely O’Leary takes a little heat off the pitch in the pros, as NFL quarterbacks aren’t as easily flustered by free rushers. Other coaches from this tree, such as Minter and Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, have done the same. But O’Leary has different tools in his toolbox than Minter does, which will allow him to iterate on the existing system much as Minter wrinkled off Macdonald’s defense. The further we get from the original system, the more potential there is for new, cool discoveries.

If O’Leary tries to replicate Minter’s defense with the Chargers, he’ll almost certainly miss expectations. If he’s willing to run his own stuff — and able to survive the inevitable growing pains that will have fans grumbling — we might see the next branch of the Macdonald coaching tree rise this season in Los Angeles.

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury

What can the Seahawks rely on besides Jaxon Smith-Njigba?

In three years as the head coach of the Seahawks, Mike Macdonald has made three offensive coordinator hires. The first was Ryan Grubb, who ended up being a total miss. Macdonald deserves credit for quickly moving off Grubb to hire Klint Kubiak, who was one of the three best assistant coaches in football last season. Kubiak’s offense was a revelation for wide receiver Smith-Njigba, who produced a stunning 44% of the team’s receiving yards (the highest number for a wideout since Brandon Marshall with the 2012 Bears). It was a perfect system for Sam Darnold, who regularly displayed his arm talent and springy movement skills while hiding his shaky decision-making and play under pressure.

Now Kubiak is deservedly the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, and Fleury has the unenviable job of stepping into his shoes. It’s unreasonably lofty to draw these comparisons … but it’s tough to be the guy who follows the whiz kid.

When Kyle Shanahan left the Falcons in 2016, Steve Sarkisian came up from the college ranks to replace him — he was back in college in two years. Matt Cavanaugh was promoted in Washington to replace the outgoing Sean McVay, but Cavanaugh and head coach Jay Gruden never found offensive success together. John Morton didn’t last a full season behind Ben Johnson in Detroit. When a truly spectacular talent leaves, the next guy almost always fails to reach the same bar.

I believe Kubiak is that level of schemer, and I think that inescapable decline is awaiting Seattle under Fleury. Consider Smith-Njigba’s receiving yardage share. It’s absurdly impressive but also unhealthy. A schemer must be so ridiculously on their game to continue funneling targets to one guy, no matter how talented he is and how many places he can line up.

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Darnold adjusting to 5th OC in as many seasons

Fleury has worked under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco since 2019 and has seen an offense rotate through a cast of viable leading target getters week over week. One day it’s the George Kittle game. Then it’s Deebo Samuel week. Here comes a 10-target Christian McCaffrey performance. Insert a random Kendrick Bourne spike here. Fleury’s offense will inevitably rely more on Rashid Shaheed, Cooper Kupp and AJ Barner as secondary pass-catching options — and rightfully so.

But the last guy got Smith-Njigba to post 1,793 receiving yards. And that’s the measuring stick which Fleury stands against.

Fleury might have a big edge on Kubiak, who never really got Seattle’s running game going. Of course, Kubiak had Kenneth Walker III to play with. But the Super Bowl MVP now has a big contract in Kansas City, and Fleury is forced to cobble together a running game with rookie Jadarian Price and third-down back George Holani while he waits for Zach Charbonnet to recover from his postseason ACL tear. But Shanahan’s running games were long prone to running back rotations before McCaffrey came to town, and Fleury saw first hand how a simple blocking system with tons of window dressing could autoprint effective rushing numbers.

Whether via better performances from non-Smith-Njigba pass catchers or through a revitalized rushing attack, Fleury needs to find a new and substantial wrinkle in Seattle’s offense. Much of the buzz in minicamp was on the similarity in Fleury’s approach — Fleury himself quipped that his offense will look “very similar to the one that just won the Super Bowl” — but 31 other teams will be watching the Seahawks closely this offseason and devising plans to slow them down. With the ring on your finger comes a target on your back.

Fleury was not in Seattle last season and has never crossed paths with Macdonald, so I’m confident he’ll come with enough new ideas to keep the Seahawks’ offense on the cutting edge. Whatever that edge is, it’s close to Fleury’s vest … for now.

Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg

How quickly can we forget Jim Schwartz?

From 2023 to 2025, the Browns had the best defense in football. First in EPA per drive and EPA per play. First in success rate against both dropbacks and designed runs. First in points per drive and down conversion rate allowed. Schwartz was their defensive coordinator, and they did not hire him to be their head coach when the job opened up.

It’s more defensible than it looks. The skills that make a good head coach are not the same as the ones that make a good defensive coordinator. Schwartz himself should know that, as his lone opportunity to serve as a head man (Detroit Lions, 2009-2013) didn’t bear much fruit. But the passing over was still unjust.

There’s no doubt in my mind that if Schwartz were an offensive guy, in a league that increasingly skews to offensive playcallers with every passing year, that he would have been given the head coaching gig to ensure that no other team snagged him. (Call that the Joe Brady theorem.) Instead, Schwartz lost out on the job and left the Browns, giving new head coach Todd Monken an enormous job to fill. For that role, he tagged Rutenberg, the Falcons’ defensive passing game coordinator.

Unlike most coaching hires, Rutenberg and Monken have no evident personal connection, never crossing coaching paths in either the pros or college. Similarly, Rutenberg never coached under Schwartz and accordingly won’t waltz in with Schwartz’s exact language to retain schematic continuity for the players.

But philosophically, Rutenberg is similar to Schwartz. More than any other defensive coordinator in football, Schwartz wants to live and die by a four-man rush. As the defensive meta shifts toward multiple fronts, bluffing blitzes and manipulating protections, Schwartz religiously commits to leaving four down defensive linemen in four predetermined gaps and doing everything in his power to get them upfield. Why bemuse and befuddle when you have Myles Garrett? Put his hand in the dirt and let him eat.

Rutenberg is cut from the same cloth. He first coached in the league under Gus Bradley in Jacksonville, and under him grew connected to Robert Saleh, who he followed to San Francisco and again to New York. Saleh, more than other branches off that Quinn-Bradley tree, believed in explosive upfield rushers in four-down fronts. Rutenberg coached linebackers for Saleh in New York, where middle-round draft picks such as Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood developed into solid starters by playing fast and hitting hard behind that aggressive front.

While defenses are often built from the front back, it’s Rutenberg’s coverage background that might make him the ideal successor to Schwartz. Rutenberg spent last season with the Falcons as defensive passing game coordinator under Jeff Ulbrich (another Saleh connection). With a great post safety in Jessie Bates III on the roster, the Falcons played a ton of single high: 61% of their snaps, to be exact. Third in the league to only the Saints …and the Browns.

The Browns’ secondary is built to play single high, as Schwartz (often to his detriment) committed to playing with an extra body in the box while the rest of the league permitted light boxes, as is the modern style. The Browns’ secondary of cornerback Denzel Ward and safeties Ronnie Hickman and Grant Delpit was talented enough that Cleveland could just line up and play with great success

But disguise does not need to be the opposite of aggression. Schwartz’s coverage approach has long been predictable, and predictable is exploitable even when Garrett is breathing down your neck. Last season, nobody ran less quarters or fewer zone blitzes in the league. The Falcons were top five in both under Rutenberg in 2025 by Next Gen Stats’ coverage model.

Rutenberg will breathe schematic freshness into Cleveland without sacrificing the identity of what has been a phenomenal unit in the past few years. And with the Garrett trade, that schematic freshness might suddenly become more necessary. The Browns cannot rely on a four-down rush nearly as much as they used to because they don’t have the generation’s best pass rusher on the roster any longer. Schwartz would have had to change even his near-permanent stripes — with Rutenberg, the Browns have a better chance to make that change quickly and effectively.