The season is a quarter of the way done so it’s time for teams with bad head coaches to start figuring out if they should move on. Maybe they throw out some feelers. They could ask an agent if a coach would be interested in leaving his current position. Everyone loves a good backchannel It’s time for the teams and fans who have already seen their season go by the wayside to start dreaming.
Lincoln Riley
The crown jewel of potential coaching hires. It’s going to be tough to get Riley out of Norman. The Oklahoma job is actually better than some NFL jobs. There’s no reason for Lincoln to leave college to coach in Jacksonville or Atlanta. The D.C. job comes with a marquee franchise but a bad front office and one of the most difficult owners in the league. It wouldn’t be surprising if Riley simply didn’t leave because there wasn’t a good situation available.
If he does leave, it’s going to take a whole lot of money and whatever freedom Riley wants with his personnel. Riley already makes enough money at Oklahoma and he can wait out the perfect job. Maybe a situation with Baker Mayfield becomes available in the next few years if the Browns disappoint.
Jim Harbaugh
If Harbaugh loses another game to a ranked opponent other than Ohio State — or maybe if he just loses to Ohio State — there could be a shakeup at Michigan. Harbaugh’s persona plays when he’s winning football games. It grates on people when he isn’t. People were calling for his head after the Wolverines got their doors blown off against Wisconsin.
There’s an easy way out for Harbaugh. All he has to do is say he got an amazing opportunity in the NFL and he thinks it’s best to move on. It would be a failure since he didn’t live up to expectations at Michigan, but an NFL head coaching gig is a pretty good golden parachute. Harbaugh to Washington is almost too obvious.
Kellen Moore
Notwithstanding the last game against the Saints, Moore has done some wonders with the Cowboys offense. He also fits exactly what owners want in a new head coach. He’s young. He has experience coaching quarterbacks. He’s running an explosive offense — the Cowboys will rebound — and he won’t be available for long if Jerry Jones can extend him to an absurd contract for an O.C. or he replaces Jason Garrett with Moore.
Sometimes owners have to take a chance to find the next Sean McVay. Moore will continue to garner buzz all season.
Don Martindale
Martindale is the token defensive coordinator who hasn’t been a head coach but has loads of experience. He’s this year’s Vic Fangio.
The Baltimore defense hasn’t been their typical selves just yet, but Martindale should help the team round into form. He’s served his time as a coordinator and deserves to at least get an interview.
Mike Leach
This is an absolutely off the wall suggestion. Leach comes with his own baggage. He’s not buttoned up with the media. He has a lawsuit against a former employer — Texas Tech — and he’s a bit eccentric.
He also scores points wherever he goes. His influence can be seen with a bunch of NFL coaches as well as quarterbacks who played under an air raid system in college. No one is questioning Leach’s ability to coach up a football team. He’s been doing it for decades. It would be a risk for whatever owner decides that scoring points and winning games is the most important thing when it comes to the business of football.
Kris Richard
Back to the Cowboys. All Richard has done since he took over the Dallas defense is make it into one of the best units in the NFL. He helped coach and develop the Legion of Boom in Seattle. He’s still young at 39 years old.
In fact, it’s a bit shocking that Richard hasn’t gotten his chance as of now. We’ve seen a few other defensive-minded head coaches who don’t have his resume get a shot at running their own team. Richard and Moore could both ended up somewhere else after this year.
Eric Bieniemy
Does Bieniemy call plays for the Chiefs? Nope. That hasn’t exactly hindered Matt Nagy or Doug Pederson. Bieniemy’s name was thrown around last year, and another year with the Chiefs explosive offense can only help his resume.
Kevin Stefanski
Stefanski was actually a finalist for the Browns job, but Cleveland decided Freddie Kitchens was a better choice. Stefanski fits the typical mold. He’s young. He has experience with quarterbacks. He was a finalist for a job so some other team must have liked him.
The Vikings offense will be just fine by the end of the year. In fact, the Stefanski and company are doing a great job hiding Kirk Cousins. Dalvin Cook is going to run for something close to a million yards — which might be a record — and Stefanski will continue to get notoriety.
