Mike Tomlin’s matter-of-fact “yes” when asked last week if he would prefer his next offensive coordinator to have
It felt like more than just a preference to have previous NFL experience. It seems more like a requirement, and with the start of Tomlin’s critical search and hiring process, that openness does exclude some interesting applicants.
Up-and-comers like Rams quarterbacks coach/pass have not had prior NFL offensive coordinator experience on their resumes.
game coordinator Zac Robinson, who happens to go way back with Mason Rudolph; Texans pass game coordinator Ben McDaniels; and Chiefs quarterbacks coach David Girardi, a New Kensington native. Pitt legend
Under head coach Kevin Stefanski, Alex Van Pelt—who was recently fired from his position as offensive coordinator for the Browns—was not the primary play-caller.
For better or worse, we can still classify Tomlin’s choices for the Packers into five tiers, even among those who have experienced success in the NFL. The following players have all called their own plays and served as offensive coordinators in the league. Undoubtedly, a distinction exists, particularly in this day and age of offensive head coaches who call plays. First, let’s
Promotion candidates
Currently employed by NFL teams, but in a lesser role than coordinator
— Klint Kubiak, 49ers offensive passing game specialist. This is the closest thing San Francisco has to an offensive coordinator, given that Kyle Shanahan calls those shots. Kubiak, who turns 37 next month, spent 2021 as the Vikings offensive coordinator. They averaged 25 points a game, ranked 12th in total yardage and only had 13 turnovers, but Mike Zimmer was fired after an 8-9 season and Kubiak wasn’t retained by new coach Kevin O’Connell.
— Darrell Bevell, Dolphins quarterbacks coach/pass game coordinator. Got his first coordinator job in 2006 with the Vikings, where there was also a young first-time coordinator on defense named Mike Tomlin. Bevell has bounced around plenty since then, though unfortunately for him, his most notable moment was the Russell Wilson interception in the Super Bowl when he was Seattle’s play-caller. His most recent coordinator job was under Urban Meyer for the Jaguars’ disastrous 2021.
— Greg Olson, Seahawks QB coach. Not to be confused with Greg Olsen the former tight end, he’s a 60-year-old NFL lifer who served two terms as Raiders OC sandwiched around the same role with the Jaguars from 2015-16. He’s worked a lot with Jon Gruden and Sean McVay, two coaching pals of Tomlin. Geno Smith had another strong season in 2023 with Olson as his position coach, though Seattle’s staff is in flux now that Pete Carroll is out and OC Shane Waldron will be hired in that role by the Bears.
— Mike McCoy, Jaguars QB coach. There aren’t many former play-calling coordinators sitting around in lower positions on NFL staffs, but McCoy, 51, is one of them. He’s actually been a head coach before, from 2013-16 with the Chargers, and yet his last two OC stints ended with mid-year firings in Denver (2017) and Arizona (2018). Probably wise to look elsewhere.
— Anthony Lynn, 49ers assistant head coach/running backs. Last we saw of him calling plays, he was demoted just before the Lions visited Pittsburgh in 2021, with head coach Dan Campbell taking over and then running all over the Steelers in that 16-16 tie. Naturally, Lynn was gone as Detroit OC after that season and scooped up by Shanahan. The Commanders interviewed him last year before hiring Eric Bieniemy. Good coach, but his track record as a coordinator and play-caller isn’t great.
No-man’s land
Their head coaches have been fired so their job security is blowing in the wind, or they’re in a weird college spot
— Eric Bieniemy, Commanders OC. He interviewed to replace Ron Rivera in Washington, but if he doesn’t, there’s no guarantee he’ll stick around D.C. After leaving Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, Bieniemy took full ownership of a Commanders offense that led the league in passing attempts with Sam Howell but finished 24th and 25h in points and yards.
— Kellen Moore, Chargers OC. His transition from Dallas to Los Angeles didn’t go especially smoothly, concluding with head coach Brandon Staley being fired before the end of the year. The Chargers interviewed Moore to replace Staley and actually blocked him from interviewing for the Bears’ OC job in this cycle. Depending on who’s hired there, he could become available.
— Tim Kelly, Titans OC. Not much of a nomad, Kelly has spent every season since 2014 with either the Texans or Titans. Mike Vrabel promoted him last year after firing Todd Downing, but now Vrabel won’t be back in Nashville. The 37-year-old Kelly’s best work was with Deshaun Watson in Houston.
— Kliff Kingsbury, USC senior offensive analyst. Weird college spot for Kingsbury on the rebound from his only NFL gig as Cardinals head coach from 2019-22. He’s still a sharp offensive mind, and the Bears talked to him for their OC job last week. This would be a big swing for the Steelers.
— Chip Kelly, UCLA head coach. This would be an even bigger swing, but Kelly reportedly is on the hot seat with the Bruins and is rumored to be interested in a return to the NFL. While his time as Eagles and 49ers head coach was rocky, he’s never been just a coordinator in the pros.
Lateral movers
Current NFL OCs but on an interim basis, or their head coaches call the plays, so they could want to get back in that seat or have more control of an offense (much like when Bieniemy went from Kansas City to Washington last offseason)
— Joe Brady, Bills interim OC/QB coach. Now that Buffalo’s season is over, Brady might just get bumped up permanently, and he’s even interviewed to be Atlanta’s head coach. If the Bills just try to keep him as a position coach and go outside for a coordinator, Brady would be one of the best options on the market, despite his 2021 firing by the Panthers. Best known for his LSU work as pass game coordinator with Joe Burrow, he’s only 34 with degrees from William & Mary and Penn State.
— Mike LaFleur, Rams OC. Sean McVay is the man in LA, but he didn’t take long to hire the younger brother of the Packers head coach when LaFleur was not retained by the Jets last year. He took a lot of heat over his two seasons calling plays for the Jets while trying to develop Zach Wilson. LaFleur, 36, might be better for that experience now. The Rams offense seemed to benefit from his addition.
— Joe Lombardi, Broncos OC. A longtime Sean Payton assistant who struck out on his own from 2020-21 with the Chargers. He took the fall there one year before Staley went down. Did he help or hinder Justin Herbert? That’s the main question with Lombardi, 52, whose only other play-calling came from 2014-15 with the Lions until Jim Caldwell fired him midseason.
— Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys OC. Last called plays for the Seahawks from 2018-20, and Mike McCarthy made him his titular coordinator this past season after one year as a consultant. He seemed to lose a power struggle with Russell Wilson in Seattle, where all three of his offenses were top-10 in scoring. Schottenheimer, 50, was Jets OC from 2006-11 and Rams OC from 2012-14.
— Jim Bob Cooter, Colts OC. Shane Steichen is very complimentary of the 39-year-old who held the same post for the Lions from 2016-18. His career arc has been about as strange as his name, but Cooter was highly regarded by Matthew Stafford at one time as a play-caller in Detroit.
Hey, we’re available now
They were fired as head coaches or coordinators during or after the 2023 season
— Arthur Smith. The Falcons let him finish the season as their head coach but wasted no time moving on the following Monday, so now he’s on the market after a successful two-year stint as Titans play-caller and not-so-successful three-year tenure running a team. His play-action concepts helped rejuvenate Ryan Tannehill’s career and played into the beastly exploits of Derrick Henry in Tennessee. Investing in quarterback Desmond Ridder in the 2022 draft may have been his downfall.
— Luke Getsy. Munhall’s own, he learned at the foot of Mike McCarthy, Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay until getting his own chance to run the show in Chicago. That chance lasted two years as Justin Fields struggled with inconsistency and the Bears fired him Jan. 10. Only 39, he might need to work his way back up to a coordinator role again.
— Pete Carmichael Jr. Had to go after all the offensive issues the Saints had this season after head coach Dennis Allen retained him when Sean Payton resigned. Carmichael, 52, was Payton’s right-hand man for all those years in New Orleans and took on play-calling duties these past two seasons. It didn’t go well with Andy Dalton, Jameis Winston and Derek Carr as his quarterbacks.
— Ken Dorsey. The Bills offense improved dramatically when he was replaced by Brady midseason, but he does appear to have interest around the league still. Cleveland recently interviewed him to replace Alex Van Pelt. Dorsey, 42, was highly regarded until the collapse in Buffalo.
— Josh McDaniels. Like Smith, he flamed out as a head coach. Unlike Smith, this was his second failure on that front. But sometimes a good coordinator can be a bad fit for the big chair. McDaniels, 47, kept getting opportunities because of his productive offenses with the Patriots, so perhaps he can still do that job well.
Hey, we’ve been available
They were out of the league this past season, and theoretically passed up by the Steelers this time last year in favor of retaining Matt Canada.
— Greg Roman. Most recently the Ravens OC, John Harbaugh went in a different direction for Lamar Jackson and Roman, 51, took a gap year, if you will. Since then, he interviewed with the Bears but didn’t get it. Still, he knows the AFC North inside and out, and his schemes in the run game were always challenging for the Steelers.
— Pep Hamilton. Also took a year off to do some media work after one season as Texans OC. Houston took off without him, but he didn’t have C.J. Stroud. Most notable is that Tomlin interviewed him (and Hue Jackson) in 2021 before promoting Canada, so there’s a history there. He’s bounced around a lot, with his longest NFL tenure from 2013-15 as Colts OC.
— Byron Leftwich. Former Steeler, played for Tomlin, beloved by Bruce Arians … but how much of his rise was because he coached Tom Brady? It will be interesting to see if Leftwich gets back into the league on this go-around. He could even bring on Ben Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch as QB coaches.
— Jay Gruden. Unless he’s too busy relitigating old beefs with Robert Griffin III on social media, Gruden was out
of the league and in the analytical world this year after spending 2022 as a Rams consultant for Sean McVay. He collaborated with Tomlin in Tampa, but judging from his prior postings, this would not be a particularly inspiring gig.
Jim Caldwell. This is strange because, in theory, he works for the Panthers as a special advisor after Frank Reich was sacked in the middle of the season. Caldwell, however, has previously been connected to Tomlin; in 2012, he even went on an interview for the Steelers open position, which ultimately went to Todd Haley. At the age of 69, Caldwell hasn’t worked as a coordinator in Baltimore since 2013, and it looks like he may be retiring from play-calling.
