The conclusion of the National Football League (NFL) season brings an uncertain time for many teams. This is because teams who do not have success often make a change in head coach. A head coach is a difference maker to a team, and finding the right one is crucial.
The price of being a head football coach is a lack of job security, as seven of 32 teams found themselves looking for a new head coach this offseason, with the jury still out on a few others. Being a head coach at the highest level comes with pressure: if you don’t win, you could be out of work.
Despite a legendary coaching career, the New England Patriots parted ways with Bill Belichick, their coach for the last 24 years. During his Patriots tenure, Belichick won six Super Bowls, becoming the only head coach to win the big game that many times.
After winning only four games this season, the team turned to Jerod Mayo as their next head coach. Mayo played in the NFL for seven seasons and spent his entire career with the Belichick-coached Patriots. Mayo is the first Black head coach in team history, and the Patriots hope he will return the team to its glory days.
Belichick, on the other hand, must turn elsewhere for a job in 2024. He is currently 71 years old, so he may retire. However, it seems he will likely take a head coaching job somewhere else. Belichick has met with the Atlanta Falcons twice already, making them the rumored leading candidate for one of the best coaches in NFL history.
Former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was also not expected to be out of work, and yet he and the team parted ways after the regular season ended. Carroll was with the team for 14 seasons, and during that time, Seattle made the playoffs 10 times. He also led the franchise to their first and only Super Bowl victory.
Belichick and Carroll will be intriguing candidates for the remaining teams without a head coach and are parts of one of the best candidate pools in recent memory. This being the case, there is speculation that teams who made the playoffs might move on from their current head coach with the hope of hiring from this impressive crop of coaches.
The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles were considered two of the most likely playoff teams to move on from their current coaches. The Cowboys, however, recently announced they are retaining head coach Mike McCarthy. Now, the attention is on the Eagles as they decide what to do with head coach Nick Sirianni. As of now, the Eagles have not spoken about the future of their head coach, and each day with nothing said likely increases Sirianni’s chances of being on the Eagles’ sideline in 2024.
Similar uncertainty exists in the realm of college football. Earth-shattering news came out of Tuscaloosa when Alabama head coach Nick Saban decided to retire after 17 years with the program. During his career, Saban won seven national championships, six of them with Alabama, making him one of the greatest head coaches college football has ever seen.
The Crimson Tide quickly scrambled to find their next head coach. They hired Kalen DeBoer, who spend the last two years with the University of Washington. DeBoer is coming off a season where he took the Huskies to the national championship, making him a fitting candidate to replace Saban.
DeBoer lost the national championship to the University of Michigan and Jim Harbaugh, who recently agreed to become the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. Harbaugh is a Michigan alumnus and has been the coach of the Wolverines since 2015. However, Harbaugh has strong roots in the NFL, where he coached the San Francisco 49ers. In his four years with the Niners, he took them to three conference championships and one Super Bowl. He was unable to win the Super Bowl with San Francisco, but he will once again have that opportunity with LA.
Coaching chances are significant because they create opportunity. Bill Belichick leaving the Patriots allows the team to reset and improve on their disappointing season. At the same time, a different team now has the opportunity to hire a 6-time Super Bowl-winning head coach. Nick Saban leaving Alabama means their dynastic run in college football could be over, allowing Georgia and other schools a better chance to be national champions. Finding the right coach leads to success, while at the same time, finding the wrong one leads to futility. That is what makes this time of year so important.
