Two days ago, long-tenured Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was removed from his position as head coach after 14 years. That same day, legendary coach of the University of Alabama, Nick Saban, announced his retirement after 17 years at the school. Yesterday morning, news broke that New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is leaving his role after 24 years; after nearly a quarter-century at the helm. All three of these coaches were national icons, paragons of football, and had been in the profession of football for a collective 148 years.
For all of that experience and history to suddenly disappear in the span of two days? Three of the most tenured coaches in the country, all leaving their positions nearly simultaneously? It’s so hard to believe that you wouldn’t be remiss to think that there was some conspiracy behind it…is there?
Intriguing, but unlikely given each NFL coach’s circumstances. Carroll and Belichick’s exits were less of a personal decision than Saban’s, both suffering from the consequences of disappointing seasons. Regardless, all three are currently out of the profession, and in their place lies a massive, gargantuan, herculean-sized hole that may never be filled.
Unless it can.
In the NFL, a new generation of head coaches have begun to creep into the spotlight. Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers, Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams, and Mike McDaniel of the Miami Dolphins quickly come to mind, their dominance in the regular season speaking for itself. Other young coaches that have shown signs of a bright future are Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, and Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni. None of these coaches have been in their position for longer than seven years, meaning we have a long way to go before we can start definitively claiming any can rival Belichick or Carroll. But, I do think several of these coaches have dazzled and impressed enough over their young careers that comparisons to the greats is not unwarranted. After all, what are the greats there for if it is not constant comparison?
McVay and Shanahan are the most tenured of the new crop of coaches, each with seven years under their belt. Both have already had so much success that a hall-of-fame career almost feels inevitable, and Matt LaFleur is not far behind. Any of these three guys could be your pick for the next Great, but…I feel like there’s someone else…there must be someone else that has gone unmentioned thus far…oh yeah, DeMeco Ryans!
THE CASE FOR DEMECO RYANS
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans is, out of all the coaches previously mentioned, my pick to become the next Great NFL head coach of this generation. In his first year at the helm, he turned the defense around seemingly overnight, quickly assembled a winning culture in Houston, became a popular coach amongst players for his ability to talk to them both as a coach and as a former player, and won the AFC South division under the wings of maybe the greatest rookie quarterback who ever lived, C.J. Stroud. This leads me to my first reason why I believe in Ryans to make it over all the rest: he’s had a franchise quarterback right off the bat.
Think about it: what is the most important element to an NFL roster? What part of the team impacts the final score most often? The quarterback. Like it or not, the quarterback has an outsized impact on the outcome of football games, and Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick can tell you all about how important it is to have a great one for as long as humanly possible. Truly great quarterbacks are incredibly rare, but none can compare to C.J. Stroud. Stroud is the epitome of an anomaly, a player practically tailor made to be a success in the NFL. It’s gonna take awhile before we can declare him to be the next Tom Brady, but I think it’s safe to assume Stroud is pretty darn good.
