Forum The Longship Head Coach candidates if we decide to move on

Head Coach candidates if we decide to move on

MI
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Some names I saw in an article I just read.  I tried to only include Offensive experienced coaches.  
Joe BradyJoe Burrow threw a Division I-FBS-record 60 touchdown passes in 2019, and the Panthers hired the LSU passing-game coordinator -- not the Tigers OC -- to run their offense. Brady has immediately made Carolina an intriguing offense, helping it stay afloat without Christian McCaffrey. The way the NFL has gone in recent years, the 31-year-old assistant will receive looks in 2021 and should be a head coach at some point in the early '20s. 
Ryan Day

Day leaving the 49ers for Columbus in 2017 produced monster stat lines for Buckeyes QBs. After J.T. Barrett returned to dominance in 2017, Dwayne Haskins threw 50 TD passes in his only season as a starter. Transfer Justin Fields then dropped a 41-3 TD-INT ratio in his first starter season in 2019 and is on track to follow Haskins as a high first-round pick. Day worked under Chip Kelly as QBs coach in Philly and San Francisco, and while that may not help him, continued success at Ohio State will undoubtedly garner the 41-year-old Big Ten leader NFL looks soon.
Tony Elliott
Clemson used co-offensive coordinators for most of Deshaun Watson's tenure and part of Trevor Lawrence's. Elliott previously shared the play-calling role with Jeff Scott, the Tigers co-OC from 2015-19, but is running the show solo in 2020. And Lawrence, despite his positive COVID-19 test, is a Heisman frontrunner. Elliott, 41, has been at Clemson since 2011, being onboard for the program's rise. He has not surfaced on NFL radars yet, but the 2020 season and perhaps beyond could provide a springboard for Dabo Swinney's play-caller. 
Pat Fitzgerald
From 1904-2007, Northwestern football amassed two nine-win seasons. Since Fitzgerald began his run as Wildcats head coach in 2008, the program has five such seasons. Fitzgerald, 45, has surfaced on the NFL radar in recent years. The Packers tried to interview him to replace Mike McCarthy, but the Northwestern alum did not bite. Although Fitzgerald has coached at Northwestern since 2001, the Big Ten presents an uphill battle for the academically geared school. This creates an achievement ceiling of sorts, which could push the respected HC to reconsider the pros.
Graham Harrell
After one season as USC's offensive coordinator, Harrell popped up on the NFL radar. The Eagles sought to interview him, but the 35-year-old assistant opted to stay in Los Angeles. A Mike Leach disciple after his time playing and coaching under the Air Raid innovator, Harrell has since been the OC at North Texas and USC. In Year 1 succeeding (technically) Kliff Kingsbury at USC, Harrell oversaw Kedon Slovis go from three-star recruit to a player who threw 30 TDs in just 10 full games as a true freshman. Given Kingsbury's success with Kyler Murray, Harrell will be on NFL radars again in 2021. 
Mike Kafka
One of the best coaching trees in recent NFL history, Andy Reid will almost certainly see his third Chiefs-years offensive coordinator land a head-coaching job. Eric Bieniemy's impending exit opens the door for Kafka, an ex-Eagles backup QB and current Chiefs QBs coach. The Chiefs blocked Kafka from interviewing for the Eagles OC job this year, giving him the "passing-game coordinator" title in 2020. Kafka, 33, has been Kansas City's QBs coach since 2018. Given what has happened in K.C. since that promotion, Kafka will appear on coaching carousels soon. 
Byron Leftwich
Like Charlie Weis, Josh McDaniels and Bill O'Brien, Leftwich might emerge as a head coach after being Tom Brady's offensive coordinator. Not on the radar prior to Brady's arrival, Leftwich was stuck with Josh Rosen and Jameis Winston in his first seasons as a play-caller. But the former first-round QB pick has Brady playing at a much higher level than he did in 2019, and the Bucs have barely had Pro Bowl wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin healthy at the same time this season. How Leftwich incorporates Antonio Brown and manages the historic distractor will help shape how soon he gets HC looks.

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#1 · Dec 25, 9:46 AM
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@"minny65" said:
@"BarrNone55" said:
@"minny65" said: 25. Minnesota Vikings: 6-9 (Last week: 17)
Will Mike Zimmer be back in 2021? Every team has battled COVID-19 and injuries. Minnesota has done it poorly.
Which team spent the year replacing 8 starters from the prior year's D? 
IDK but who is responsible for for the timing of all those contracts coming up at the same time?  We have praised Brez for many years on that and those are GM calls.  Every team had some players opt-out like Pierce did.  Hunter's injury sucked and he may never come back 100% every team has injuries.  Pierce may not even be the answer in the IDL.

Excuses are endless for every team but I am ready to start anew like the Packers did 2 years ago with replacing McCarthy and Ted Thompson.  I see one of the most balanced and well coached Packer teams I have seen in a long time with Rodgers.  

I call out situation the last few years as a whack-a-mole strategy.  Just when we figured out our offense (numerous OC's) our Defense falls apart for all the reasons above.  Now it is our Defense and ST's.  I have been done with Zimmer since the Eagles debacle after needing a miracle to even get there.  Our team under Zimmer is so inconsistent from game to game.  I want change and a new direction.  I would follow what the Pack did...promote the director of player personnel who then hires his coach.  I am ready for Paton at GM and a HC like Saleh from the 49'ers with a new vision and focus on drafting a QB in a very deep QB draft.



the problem with coordinators is the lack of game management experience (see Zimmer and lots of other awesome coordinators that struggle as HCs)  why not target college HCs with the understanding that they bring in pro DC and OC candidates from successful programs,   who is Salehs asst DC?  bring him in to run our D,  find an asst on a succesful O to run that side,  but let the HC run the games.

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#22 · Dec 28, 3:01 PM
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Hopefully one day they can get someone like that guy in Cleveland.

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#23 · Dec 28, 7:52 PM
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@"BarrNone55" said:
@"minny65" said: 25. Minnesota Vikings: 6-9 (Last week: 17)
Will Mike Zimmer be back in 2021? Every team has battled COVID-19 and injuries. Minnesota has done it poorly.
Which team spent the year replacing 8 starters from the prior year's D? 
1. The same team that exhibited false confidence letting four of the starter on defense walk or cut. 2. The same team that knew their priced acquisition on defense Pierce was opting out and placed their confidence on of their own they had groomed 3. The same team that knew their best player on defense had a serious injury, lied about it and never bothered to get adequate replacement, signed a player that was not a good fit just to trade him a few games later (losing a prized draft pick in the process) because again, they were confident in their own guy. At my count that makes SIX players that they were aware would not be part of the 2020 season (or start of the season in the case of Hunter).  So you should ask that team what they were thinking when they made those moves and what was their plan to field a competitive team knowing they lost six players (at the time). I remember what the head coach said...."he had never had a bad defense also said in all confidence and even being somewhat bullish that they will be fine". So reading that tells me that team was ready for the 2020 season.

So again the team made the decisions and it did not pan out. They should own the outcome. That is what they are paid to do - field a competitive team of their choosing so you cant say the players are subpar. The coaches and GM brought those players in, they coached them, they were boastful about how good they were. Were all starting level players? Probably not but I thought you coach players to get better so you reduce the gap between starters and back ups. So if the gap is as wide as you now claim, then don't blame the player. Blame the guy who misjudged him and thought the "bad" players had a high ceiling.
Let's not even bring covid into it. All teams had that problem

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#24 · Dec 28, 9:25 PM
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On another note, a team with:
1.  A defensive guru as head coach
2. The head coach calling plays on defense
3. A former head coach and long time serving defensive mind serving as defensive assistant 
4. Two co-defensive coordinators 
Cant field a competitive defense all year and instead blame the players for being subpar. Maybe, just maybe we may wanna look at the coaching side of the equation

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#25 · Dec 28, 9:47 PM
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#26 · Dec 30, 7:30 AM
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@"minny65" said:

Report: P.J. Fleck drawing NFL head coaching interest (msn.com)


I might stop being a Vikes fan if they hire PJ Fleck

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#27 · Dec 30, 8:56 AM
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I didn't see Bills OC Brian Daboll mentioned.

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#28 · Dec 30, 10:46 AM
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@"Vikergirl" said: I didn't see Bills OC Brian Daboll mentioned.


And Daboll may be the most interesting of those mentioned.....

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#29 · Dec 30, 10:52 AM
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@"mblack" said:
@"BarrNone55" said:
@"minny65" said: 25. Minnesota Vikings: 6-9 (Last week: 17)
Will Mike Zimmer be back in 2021? Every team has battled COVID-19 and injuries. Minnesota has done it poorly.
Which team spent the year replacing 8 starters from the prior year's D? 
1. The same team that exhibited false confidence letting four of the starter on defense walk or cut. 2. The same team that knew their priced acquisition on defense Pierce was opting out and placed their confidence on of their own they had groomed 3. The same team that knew their best player on defense had a serious injury, lied about it and never bothered to get adequate replacement, signed a player that was not a good fit just to trade him a few games later (losing a prized draft pick in the process) because again, they were confident in their own guy. At my count that makes SIX players that they were aware would not be part of the 2020 season (or start of the season in the case of Hunter).  So you should ask that team what they were thinking when they made those moves and what was their plan to field a competitive team knowing they lost six players (at the time). I remember what the head coach said...."he had never had a bad defense also said in all confidence and even being somewhat bullish that they will be fine". So reading that tells me that team was ready for the 2020 season.

So again the team made the decisions and it did not pan out. They should own the outcome. That is what they are paid to do - field a competitive team of their choosing so you cant say the players are subpar. The coaches and GM brought those players in, they coached them, they were boastful about how good they were. Were all starting level players? Probably not but I thought you coach players to get better so you reduce the gap between starters and back ups. So if the gap is as wide as you now claim, then don't blame the player. Blame the guy who misjudged him and thought the "bad" players had a high ceiling.
Let's not even bring covid into it. All teams had that problem



Exactly - much of what Spielman/Zimmer claim is bad luck is due to their own bad decisions. And I would add:
#1 - I actually would say they let 5 starters leave: Griffin, Joseph, Rhodes, Waynes, and Alexander - I count nickelback as a starting position. 
#4 - The team that paid a high 2nd to acquire a defensive player on a lame-duck contract without agreeing to an extension beforehand and then had to make a bad trade to lose him after 5 games.

We could add that they counted on guys like Holton Hill (not reliable), Ofeadi Odenigbo (ineffective when playing full time), Pat Elflein (probably was not ever as good as they claimed he was in 2017), and a slew of players they chose in the mid rounds and had previous seasons to develop (Jaleel Johnson, Jalyn Holmes, Ben Gedeon, Armon Watts) but still did not realize they were not up to NFL standards.

And if you do bring Covid into it, how do the Patriots have 8 players opt our, including 3 starters, but have the same record as Zimmer who had 1?

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#30 · Dec 30, 12:30 PM
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@"kmillard" said: Hopefully one day they can get someone like that guy in Cleveland.
Last year, I was not a big fan of Stefanski - I thought being mentored by a string of Vikings coaches back to Childress was not necessarily the type of change we needed.

But - I was wrong about him. I had a very little bit of info about him, though; the people who own this team knew him vastly better, so them being wrong is a bigger mistake. Or maybe they knew but did not have the courage to dump Zimmer just because he pulled off a surprising but ultimately meaningless playoff win in New Orleans. If so, shame on them.

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#31 · Dec 30, 12:47 PM
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@"Jor-El" said:
@"kmillard" said: Hopefully one day they can get someone like that guy in Cleveland.
Last year, I was not a big fan of Stefanski - I thought being mentored by a string of Vikings coaches back to Childress was not necessarily the type of change we needed.

But - I was wrong about him. I had a very little bit of info about him, though; the people who own this team knew him vastly better, so them being wrong is a bigger mistake. Or maybe they knew but did not have the courage to dump Zimmer just because he pulled off a surprising but ultimately meaningless playoff win in New Orleans. If so, shame on them.



they are not football people, they are business people,  they do the right thing and hire football people for decisions like that and that person is Spielman,  shame on Spielman if you think Stefanski was the right choice,  now if they continue to let Spielman make those decisions and he keeps screwing the pooch then shame on the Wilfs.

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#32 · Dec 30, 1:08 PM
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This fan base would love Stefanski. The Browns run more than we do.

I'm starting to think folks want change for the sake of change. Or they don't think whatsoever.

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#33 · Dec 30, 1:13 PM
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@"BarrNone55" said: This fan base would love Stefanski. The Browns run more than we do.

I'm starting to think folks want change for the sake of change. Or they don't think whatsoever.

What exactly has status quo gotten us? I loved the Zimmer hire, but a 2-3 playoff record across 7 years isn't great. It's not even that good. If our goal is to not be the Lions then yay, we're champs! But I'm greedy and impatient and want more than that. Plus, like I said earlier in the thread and which no one has refuted-- Zim's clock mgmt is flat-out bad.
He seems like a great guy and a fine coach but he's been given a fair shake. I won't cry if (when) he's brought back, but if the Vikings decided to move on I'd be very okay with that too.

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#34 · Dec 31, 3:11 PM
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@"pattersaur" said:
@"BarrNone55" said: This fan base would love Stefanski. The Browns run more than we do.

I'm starting to think folks want change for the sake of change. Or they don't think whatsoever.

What exactly has status quo gotten us? I loved the Zimmer hire, but a 2-3 playoff record across 7 years isn't great. It's not even that good. If our goal is to not be the Lions then yay, we're champs! But I'm greedy and impatient and want more than that. Plus, like I said earlier in the thread and which no one has refuted-- Zim's clock mgmt is flat-out bad.
He seems like a great guy and a fine coach but he's been given a fair shake. I won't cry if (when) he's brought back, but if the Vikings decided to move on I'd be very okay with that too.



Most of this fanbase is content with Jason Garrett North.  They think it's the best we can do.

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#35 · Jan 1, 7:50 AM
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If we hire Mike Kafka will our team become Kafka-esque?  

Personally I'd go after Joe Brady.

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#36 · Jan 1, 7:51 AM
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@"Jor-El" said:
@"kmillard" said: Hopefully one day they can get someone like that guy in Cleveland.
Last year, I was not a big fan of Stefanski - I thought being mentored by a string of Vikings coaches back to Childress was not necessarily the type of change we needed.

But - I was wrong about him. I had a very little bit of info about him, though; the people who own this team knew him vastly better, so them being wrong is a bigger mistake. Or maybe they knew but did not have the courage to dump Zimmer just because he pulled off a surprising but ultimately meaningless playoff win in New Orleans. If so, shame on them.



Yes, if only we had fired Zimmer after beating the Saints in New Orleans wrapping his 5th straight winning season as head coach...and hired Stefanki to replace him.

I'm sure Stef could've righted the ship after losing 8 of 11 starters on defense and that Cleveland's success has nothing at all to do with its emerging roster of talent fortified by picking in the top ten, 11 times since 2020 and having the #1 overall pick twice in the last four years....and everything to do with Kevin. 

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#37 · Jan 1, 10:37 AM
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Zimmer is #11 among current HC's in w/l record:

https://www.footballdb.com/coaches/index.html

He's been snake-bit as hell too...

Is that mediocrity or doing a stellar job with the hand dealt? 

I could argue that both ways.

The organization has provided him with a wealth of resources during that time. Infrastructure has improved tremendously. His staff is bigger than many elementary schools teachers on staff. 

He also goes through OC's like I go through toilet paper and his post-season record is mediocre at best. 

OTOH, it's like buying a house. You want to sell because you have something better to move to, not because you're current house sucks. I'm not sure who they'd run off to next and that's my biggest pause right now. 

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#38 · Jan 1, 11:08 AM
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@"BarrNone55" said: This fan base would love Stefanski. The Browns run more than we do.

I'm starting to think folks want change for the sake of change. Or they don't think whatsoever.


Any coach with Chubb/Hunt as RB, a good OL, and a fairly young QB would run the ball more then throw.

I do want change.  Zimmer is finishing up his 8th year and IMO has shown that he is good enough to make us an every other year borderline/playoff team but not much more.  His record within the division is awful.  To me he is average across the board in terms of his overall HC responsibilities and has shown only slight improvement over 8 years.  His handling of the OC position has been a turnstile of mostly veteran coaches that I think (can't prove) he interferes with too much.  His obvious strength in the D side of the ball and I think even that has become stale and antiquated.  It seemed like in most/not all big games when we really needed a good/great defensive performance we were consistently let down.  Eagles debacle comes to mind first (probably because I was there) but the Saints game before when he mixed up our DE and DL was a very good example of his strength. His teams over 8 years are just to inconsistent...stressing the sample of 8 years not one year or another. 

I don't want change for change sake but when I don't see enough growth or improvement then yes I am ready for change for the possible idea of growth/improvement from another.  I am ready for "possibly" becoming more then just an inconsistent borderline playoff team. 

Now we all know it is very easy to sit back and criticize without offering any solutions.  So I do want change and many other posters who don't will say well I don't see anyone who would be better then Zimmer etc....  So many fellow diehards are satisfied with Zimmer and can not foresee anyone possibly being better.  To me that is settling after 8 years of information.  I want change from top-to-bottom not just Zimmer.  I have numerous posts about the kind of change I am hoping for that I won't belabor now.

But I just want to respond to post above:

- Stefanski's current inherited team screams run more then pass from a personnel standpoint.
- My desire for change from Zimmer has nothing to do with run/pass ratio
- I have expressed (I hope) that it is not just for change sake and that I do think  

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#39 · Jan 1, 1:08 PM
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