Foxsports ranks all 32 coaching staffs

[Gcver2ver3]

We rank third....


http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5896698


Coaches rankings: Redskins stockpiling talent
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Michael David Smith / FootballOutsiders.com
Posted: 7 hours ago



We here at Football Outsiders have finished our rankings of each unit in the National Football League, but we're not done yet. We'll now examine the coaching staffs, analyzing which head coaches do the best jobs running their teams, and which assistants do the best with their individual units.

Note: Some of the statistics referenced in this article come from the Football Outsiders game charting project, coordinated by Bill Moore. If you are looking to find out how often all 32 teams ran with a fullback, lined up in a four-wide set or ran on first down, all that information can be found in our new book Pro Football Prospectus 2006.




Unit-by-unit rankings


Quarterbacks
Running backs
Receivers/tight ends
Offensive linemen
Linebackers
Defensive linemen
Defensive backs
Special teams
Coaching staffs
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1. Washington
The best staff Dan Snyder's money can buy, with the highest-paid head coach and the two highest-paid assistants. Al Saunders, hired away from the Chiefs this off-season, first worked with Joe Gibbs at Southern Cal in 1970. The two learned a similar offensive philosophy from Don Coryell when both were assistants to Coryell in San Diego. Saunders spent three mediocre seasons as head coach of the Chargers in the '80s, but since he was fired in '88, he has been one of the league's best assistants, especially in Kansas City, where he ran a Chiefs offense that has been one of the best in the league the last five years.

Saunders' title is associate head coach for offense, and the Redskins also have an assistant head coach for offense (Joe Bugel) and an offensive coordinator (Don Breaux). Saunders will have ultimate responsibility over the offense, but the other two are longtime Joe Gibbs assistants who will continue to play an important role in the offense: Bugel is one of the best offensive line coaches in football history, and Breaux is a former pro quarterback who played a major role in the development of Joe Theismann, Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien during Gibbs' first stint in Washington.

Gregg Williams, an old Buddy Ryan disciple, runs an aggressive but detail-oriented scheme that has given the Redskins one of the best defenses in the league the last two years.


2. Pittsburgh
Will Bill Cowher stay, or will he go? Pittsburgh fans are nervous that this could be Cowher's final season, but for right now, they have one of the game's elite head coaches. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau has done a very good job developing the Steelers' 3-4 defense, but it's the offensive coaches who get most of the attention. Coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, who played for Joe Gibbs for two years as a backup tight end in Washington, could be the next head coach if Cowher leaves. He obviously paid close attention; the offense he runs is a Gibbs-like system that can utilize the power running game and the deep pass with equal success.

Whisenhunt called running plays on 66 percent of first downs last year, the highest rate in the league, but that doesn't make him a conservative coach. He is one of the most innovative assistants in the league. Offensive line coach Russ Grimm is also likely to become a head coach soon. Mark Whipple was the head coach at the University of Massachusetts until Bill Cowher hired him as quarterbacks coach in 2004. Whipple and Ben Roethlisberger have been a perfect fit. No one demonstrates the Steelers' love for continuity more than running backs coach Dick Hoak, who has been an assistant in Pittsburgh since 1972 and played 10 years for the Steelers before that.


3. Denver
Mike Shanahan has had complete control of the Denver franchise for more than a decade now, and he does a great job of finding the right mix of young blood and established veterans. Defensive coordinator Larry Coyer is known more for his focus on the fundamentals than on designing creative blitz schemes, so he doesn't get the media attention he deserves.

Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and assistant head coach Mike Heimerdinger play an important role in developing the game plan, but the Denver offense is Shanahan's system. Running backs coach Bobby Turner has coached Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis and Reuben Droughns to 1,000-yard seasons.

[Drek]

What's up with putting a completely unproven staff ahead of us? The Steelers? I don't agree but I expected it, they won the Super Bowl. The Skins staff hasn't proven **** though, just a lot of repuation based co******ing.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

Uninformed article.

[Gcver2ver3]

Originally Posted by Drek

What's up with putting a completely unproven staff ahead of us? The Steelers? I don't agree but I expected it, they won the Super Bowl. The Skins staff hasn't proven **** though, just a lot of repuation based co******ing.

yeah the skins staff ain't showin me much....

just because the have ex head coaches doesn't make them the best...results are what counts...

why else aould they be EX head coaches?

[Gcver2ver3]

Originally Posted by Bob's your Information Minister

Uninformed article.

so you also agree that denver should be #1.....

very good

[Needa Pass Rush]

Originally Posted by Drek

...........co******ing.

I thought they only allowed corksucking on the mane! No wonder Bob is here early!

[loborugger]

Washington NO WAY!!! I can think of a 1/2 dozen coaching staffs I would put there before a rehashed Gibbs and co. Also, I dont see how you can have a top 3 that doesnt have Belichik up in NE.

On the other hand:

KC -28
Oakland - 30

Sounds good to me, unless I am a St Louis (31) or GB (32) fan. At least their coaches werent running bed and breakfasts for the last decade.

[loborugger]

Originally Posted by Bob's your Information Minister

Uninformed article.

Absolutely. To be complete, it needs a quote attributed to the wrong author.

Ok, I will bite. Where, oh where, would Bob put Herm and co

[Bigd7]

Funny how these writers who never played a sport in there lives and where picked on as kids think they know so much.

[MechanicalBull]

I don't know if I would have the Skins number one, but they can arguably be in the top spot or somewhere around there. Saunders and Williams are both very good coordinators. It's debatable but off the top of my head I would say they about both in the top 3-5 as coordinators and don't know if another team has that for both offense and defense.

[Atlas]

I think in a couple years the Texans will be looked at as a great staff. If Sherman doesn't move on to a head coaching job somewhere.

[Atlas]

This is great!!! Herm moves from Jets to KC. So the Jets scramble and get a young coach and they put together a better staff than the Chefs!!! Classic.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

Fun fact: Herm coached more playoff games in New York than any other Jets head coach.

Mangina never played a down of pro football in his life.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

OMG. A Schottenheimer coaching offense?

We had a Schottenheimer coaching DEFENSE and he sucked.

[Haroldthebarrel]

Interesting to say the least that they rank Tennessee in the middle of the pack.
Interesting since they dont mention Jim Washburn who might just be the best position coach in the whole league. No offense to Turner of course.

[Barry Ramey]

Figures Marty gets overrated again. Sure, he's gotten quite a few wins during the regular season over the year, but how many big games, especially in the playoffs, have his teams won over the years? He's lost far more than he's won and still can't get a team to the Super Bowl. His record really reads he has the most wins in meaningless games than any coach going today.

[Drek]

Originally Posted by Bob's your Information Minister

Fun fact: Herm coached more playoff games in New York than any other Jets head coach.

Mangina never played a down of pro football in his life.

Fun fact: Mangina has rings that he earned coaching.

Herm? Well, lets just say those playoff appearances didn't end real well.

[GonzoLays]

Originally Posted by Bob's your Information Minister

Fun fact: Herm coached more playoff games in New York than any other Jets head coach.

Mangina never played a down of pro football in his life.

The Bob smilie:

What in the hell is that thing?

[shaun514]

This is the most useless article ever. A lot of coaching staffs have young guys that are very good that nobody knows anything about. And, these guys don't either. I know much of Parcells staff is unknown, but Parcell's assistants have a pretty good record in the NFL and college, and these guys will too.

[Florida_Bronco]

Originally Posted by GonzoLays

The Bob smilie:

What in the hell is that thing?

Almost looks like "keep polishing that turd" smiley.

[Steve Sewell]

28. Kansas City

New head coach Herm Edwards is coming off a 4-12 season, and it's baffling that the Chiefs were willing to give up a fourth-round draft pick to acquire him. Losing coordinator Al Saunders hurts the Chiefs, but Edwards plans to run the same style of offense, keeping the longtime Chiefs assistant Mike Solari around and promoting him to offensive coordinator.

Offensive line coach John Matsko's job got a lot more difficult when Willie Roaf retired. Quarterbacks coach Terry Shea, who spent a year as an assistant in the Canadian Football League, loves the wide-open passing game. Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham, the one-time Chiefs head coach, likes his linebackers to rush the passer and his defensive backs to play close to the line of scrimmage; but the Chiefs don't appear to have the talent to pull off that kind of scheme without giving up a lot of big plays.

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by Atlas

I think in a couple years the Texans will be looked at as a great staff. If Sherman doesn't move on to a head coaching job somewhere.

I agree.

[Mediator12]

You know what. This article is written by FO's who seem to love writing article's on opinion as much as they like Innovative Football analysis metrics. There is no Quantatative system to evaluate coaching staffs. So, this is flat out opinion of the writer.

They conveniently leave out a lot in the Brief Denver article. Denver has been an undertalented team since the SB years that has been well coached into a .600 winning percentage by Shanahan and co. since then.

I am surprised they even mentioned Larry Coyer. A guy who consistently puts a defense on the field better than a lot of the big name guys who are overtalented on Defense. He finally got some peices this last year and was 3rd in the league in scoring and set the Broncos single season points against record. This was with the worst pass rushing DL and two rookies playing in the secondary in 68% of the snaps.

And, since they talked about Coyer's lack of creative blitzing style, I have seen no less than 6 teams this preseason use variations of his jailbreak blitz scheme with the CB's off the WR's. I watched WAS, PHI, BAL, and SD use it last night alone. All teams that saw firsthand how successful it could be when used situationally last year.

Another former Defensive Coordinator, Bob Slowik, was not even mentioned and he was really instrumental in getting the Young Secondary to perform admirably for their first year. Tim Brewster's work with the TE's did not get mentioned either.

[Atlas]

Originally Posted by Mediator12

You know what. This article is written by FO's who seem to love writing article's on opinion as much as they like Innovative Football analysis metrics. There is no Quantatative system to evaluate coaching staffs. So, this is flat out opinion of the writer.

They conveniently leave out a lot in the Brief Denver article. Denver has been an undertalented team since the SB years that has been well coached into a .600 winning percentage by Shanahan and co. since then.

I am surprised they even mentioned Larry Coyer. A guy who consistently puts a defense on the field better than a lot of the big name guys who are overtalented on Defense. He finally got some peices this last year and was 3rd in the league in scoring and set the Broncos single season points against record. This was with the worst pass rushing DL and two rookies playing in the secondary in 68% of the snaps.

And, since they talked about Coyer's lack of creative blitzing style, I have seen no less than 6 teams this preseason use variations of his jailbreak blitz scheme with the CB's off the WR's. I watched WAS, PHI, BAL, and SD use it last night alone. All teams that saw firsthand how successful it could be when used situationally last year.

Another former Defensive Coordinator, Bob Slowik, was not even mentioned and he was really instrumental in getting the Young Secondary to perform admirably for their first year. Tim Brewster's work with the TE's did not get mentioned either.

You do realize that they had Denver's staff rated 3rd

[Mediator12]

Originally Posted by Atlas

You do realize that they had Denver's staff rated 3rd

Yes, I did Atlas

However, it is an opinion only and they gave DEN the shortest review and missed several points.