Dan Quinn will be the top candidate if Cowboys ownership decides to move on from MM after this season. However, the league is now all about the hot, modern, innovative play callers. Here are some names to watch throughout the season:
Shane Waldron, offensive coordinator, Seahawks
A big whiff from this list last year, Waldron, who left the Sean McVay enclave in Los Angeles, is coming into his own as a play-caller following the trade of Russell Wilson. “Dark horse” was how one industry insider labeled Waldron, a coach who oversaw Geno Smith’s Comeback Player of the Year campaign. The 44-year-old has coached at all levels, for Bill Belichick in New England, McVay in Los Angeles and now Pete Carroll in Seattle.
Frank Smith, offensive coordinator, Dolphins
Smith is a trusted offensive mind in Miami, a place where a lot of the most innovative football thinking and planning is taking place and
coaches put up 70 points. There are coaches and people inside the coaching business who love the 42-year-old, who worked with Sean Payton and Jon Gruden in different stops before connecting with Mike McDaniel in Miami.
Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator, Lions
“Anything nice anyone tells you about Ben is [probably] true,” says one of Johnson’s former coworkers. This sums up the kind of uniform praise Johnson has received from industry types and fellow coaches alike. What separates him from the pack? “He doesn’t think he knows anything,” the coach says. Another rival coach praised Johnson’s ingenuity with Jared Goff and his openness to new ideas. Johnson’s communication skills are also noteworthy, as are his smarts. One of his former math teachers tells us Johnson, in an advanced geometry class, would challenge his high school teachers for alternate ways to solve complex proofs. The teacher says it was one of the first times he had to confront a moment when a student was smarter.
Brian Callahan, offensive coordinator, Bengals
“Knows ball,” says one smart offensive coach who knows Callahan well. The Bengals’ offensive coordinator is not going to be a camera-hogging, demonstrative presence on the sideline, but Bengals players I’ve spoken with in the past appreciate his attention to detail and desire to make meetings enjoyable. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor tells me: “Brian has such a deep knowledge of offensive scheme, and he’s able to draw on experiences and lessons he’s learned from some of the best head coaches and Hall of Fame players. Our guys see that and feel that when he talks to them, and he does a great job of painting a picture that’s easy for everyone to understand what our objective is, and they all believe we can get it done because of his ability to present a vision.”
Eric Bieniemy, assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, Commanders
Despite the brief chatter about
Bieniemy’s tough coaching style emerging this summer as a quiet-period talking point, Bieniemy remains a head coaching candidate. As
I wrote when Bieniemy took the assistant head coach position and offensive coordinator job with Ron Rivera in Washington, it’s unfair to base his entire candidacy on his successes or failures in Washington, and it shouldn’t diminish his contributions to the Chiefs. All that said, Bieniemy, outside of the Chiefs’ hive, has a chance to put together a body of work that even his most ardent skeptics cannot knock. Again, I would urge us to put what he is working with in Washington into its proper context.
