NFL offensive coordinators, be afraid.
Be very, very afraid.
The NFL is a no-patience league when it comes to coaches. But this season, it is offensive coordinators, not head coaches, who are being made to pay for teams' struggles. There is yet to be a head coaching change league-wide this season. But when Minnesota's offensive coordinator, Norv Turner, resigned last week, the Vikings became the fourth NFL team to make a switch at that position, following the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Bills' Greg Roman, the Ravens' Marc Trestman and the Jaguars' Greg Olson all were fired. So Turner at least exited on his own terms. But the moves, taken together, are a clear indication of where the focus is in today's NFL.
Even after the Denver Broncos were carried by their powerful defense last season to a Super Bowl title, it remains an offense-first league. And when things go wrong, it is the person in charge of the offense who is made to answer for it.
"It buys you a little time if you're feeling the heat as a [head] coach," a front office executive with one NFL team said earlier this season. "You know you're probably next."
Indeed, two of the head coaches to have dismissed their offensive coordinators this season, the Bills' Rex Ryan and the Jaguars' Gus Bradley, have been engulfed by speculation about the uncertainty of their own job security.
But Turner's case was different. The Vikings were one of the league's best success stories in the season's early stages. They started 5-0 even after losing quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, tailback Adrian Peterson and left tackle Matt Kalil to injuries. They made things work with Sam Bradford at quarterback even after trading for him only eight days before the regular season.
Things unraveled, however, with losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears. Coach Mike Zimmer was critical of his offensive line following the defeat in Philadelphia, calling its play "soft." But things didn't improve noticeably against the Bears. That led to Turner's surprising departure. The Vikings replaced Turner with tight ends coach Pat Shurmur, formerly Bradford's offensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams and the Eagles.
There had been talk that Turner might retire after the season. But the timing of the move had even Turner associates stunned.
"I had not heard a word about it," one of Turner's former players said the day of the move. "I do think he'd been going back and forth about coaching this season. I think one reason he stayed was to help get his son [Scott, the Vikings' quarterbacks coach] more established. But to happen like this, during the season, that's coming out of nowhere for me."
Not everyone was baffled. Former NFL executive Joe Banner wondered on Twitter why there was so much confusion over the move, writing that the Vikings' offense "wasn't great" and that Zimmer and Turner "had different views on how to fix it. Norv decided it was best to go [their] separate ways[.]"
Offensive coordinators are one step from being NFL head coaches.
Of the league's seven new head coaches this season, two were offensive coordinators promoted by their teams (the New York Giants' Ben McAdoo and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Dirk Koetter). Three were offensive coordinators hired from other teams (the Cleveland Browns with Hue Jackson, the Miami Dolphins with Adam Gase and the Eagles with Doug Pederson). One was an offensive coordinator turned interim coach being given the job on a more permanent basis (the Tennessee Titans' Mike Mularkey). Another was an offensive-minded former NFL head coach (the San Francisco 49ers with Chip Kelly).
This season, at least, it is offensive coordinators who are replacing head coaches as a main target in the sport's blame game.
Sports on 11/06/2016