There has been a lot of news coming out of the NFC East this offseason, and rightfully so. The division, which saw one of the worst years in recent memory, experienced significant turnover in the past month, with three of the four teams hiring a new head coach to take over operations. The Philadelphia Eagles are the only team to maintain stability in recent weeks, with Doug Pederson remaining at the helm.
As we enter the 2020 season with a fresh outlook for the NFC East, let’s take a look at the men who are in charge and rank them from who got the best guy, to who got the worst.
No. 4 — Joe Judge, New York Giants
This is not a knock on Judge’s ability as a coach so much as it is a holdout until we know more about the guy. How many of you were even aware of who Judge was before he was hired by the Giants? I can’t say I was. As the former special teams coordinator in New England, Judge knows what it means to be part of a successful team, as he’s won five Super Bowls or NCAA Championships in his coaching career — he was a member of the coaching staff in Alabama that won both the 2009 and 2011 BCS Championships.
Regardless of past success, however, we still have very little to base future success on. Sure, Judge was successful when working with Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, but what can he do on his own? Now in New York, he will be in charge of orchestrating QB Daniel Jones and RB Saquon Barkley all while dealing with the tough NY media market. He has little margin for error, so hopefully, he figures it out before it’s too late.
No. 3 — Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys
McCarthy is a well-respected coach in the NFL, and he does have a Super Bowl ring to his name. However, that championship was won all the way back in 2011, and it was done so with Aaron Rodgers at QB — one of the greatest passers to ever play the game. It will be interesting to see what McCarthy is able to do now that he is out of Green Bay and working with a loaded roster in Dallas. It’s also important to note that McCarthy is going from a publicly owned team in the Packers, to a team with perhaps the most public owner in Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.
McCarthy has made a lot about his delve into the analytics of the sport during his brief time away from coaching, and it will be intriguing to see how he implements that with the team in Dallas. Should the coaching be up to par, that talented Cowboys roster absolutely has what it takes to compete at the highest level. We’ll just have to see if McCarthy is the right guy to take them there.
No. 2 — Ron Rivera, Washington Redskins
Rivera is in a strange position here, where you could make arguments that he belongs at No. 3 or No. 1 on this list. We decided to split the gap and place him at No. 2 to play it safe. While he doesn’t yet have a Super Bowl ring, he still has been highly successful in the NFL and is widely respected among coaches in the league. As a bright defensive mind, Rivera was able to lead the Carolina Panthers to the playoffs several times in his tenure there, and he fell short in the Super Bowl in 2015 with Cam Newton at QB.
Rivera arguably has the hardest challenge ahead of him in Washington, as it is now his job to take over the dumpster fire that was left to him and get it back into a successful franchise that was once one of the backbones of the NFL. We’ve seen him bring over a bunch of former colleagues from Carolina, and he seems to be preaching consistency and accountability in the locker room in Washington. Should he be able to get the Redskins back to their winning ways, Rivera will cement his place as one of the best coaches not only in the NFC East but also in the NFL.
No. 1 — Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles
As the most recent Super Bowl-winning coach in the NFC East, it’s hard to argue against Pederson as the best coach in the division. The fact that Pederson was able to lead a team that was without their starting QB — who was playing at an MVP level — through the playoffs, into the Super Bowl, and over the New England Patriots is absolutely remarkable. A lot can be credited to the players on the Eagles for stepping up when it mattered and getting the job done, but Pederson’s coolness at the head of it all has to be recognized.
The Eagles have a solid foundation, but they need help in several key areas of the roster, including the wide receiving corps and the defensive secondary. While Pederson may be dealing with the best QB in the division, he may start to feel some nipping at his heels for the best coach award as the other three teams try to keep pace with the Eagles.
