Ranking & Grading Each Head Coaching Hire of '23

 The coaching carousel for 2023 is officially complete! Head coaching I mean, as tons of coordinator jobs are still up for grabs, but the 5 HC vacancies have officially been filled with the Arizona Cardinals hiring their man yesterday! Today I will rank the 5 hires and grade them all as well, because while I may love say #4, I can't do him justice without a grade if that makes sense. 5 will be worst, 1 will be best! 

5. Jonathan Gannon → Arizona Cardinals

Grade: D+

Yeah, I hated this one. There is not much at all I like about it. First of all, if you are going to hire a defensive head coach, Gannon was not even remotely close to the best name available. The Cardinals were reportedly down to Gannon and Bengals DC Lou Anarumo for the job, and ultimately wound up picking Gannon. Yuck! Anarumo is a much more veteran and proven coordinator, with multiple seasons of extremely impressive work in Cinncy behind him, while Gannon has basically just 1 season of good defensive coaching, but I really suspect a lot of that was due to the elite talent Philly had along their defense rather than a testament to Gannon's coaching. Secondly, the Cardinals should have hired an OFFENSIVE HC. Sure it didn't work out with Kliff Kingsbury, but that doesn't mean you have to dismiss all offensive minded HCs either. Kingsbury was considered a very questionable hire at the time, so him not succeeding can't be that surprising. With Kyler Murray currently injured and disgruntled, getting an unproven, defensive minded HC was not the move in my opinion.

Gannon's most recent showing was also horrendous. The Chiefs torched the Philly D for 38 points in the Super Bowl and didn't record a SINGLE sack in the game. Gannon is a major reason to blame for the Super Bowl loss, as the Eagle offense was amazing in that game. For a team probably about to enter a rebuild, I would have really liked to see them hire an offensive minded coach to at least build with Kyler Murray so when they are contending again, they will surely have that combination in place. Gannon is a mid-tier DC at best, and now you just chose him to be your Head Coach. Classic Cardinals move. Eric Bieniemy was out there!

4. Frank Reich → Carolina Panthers

Grade: B+

The gap between #4 and #5 on my list is pretty astronomical. This also shows how highly I think of this HC hiring cycle, as a guy with a B+ rating is the 4th out 5 in my opinion. I wasn't sure if Frank Reich was going to get another Head Coaching opportunity this fast after being fired from the same position in Indy at the mid-season. I was hoping he would, because I think he deserves it and is a great coach, but I just wasn't sure. Reich is known as one of the best QB whisperers in the sport. He worked wonders on Carson Wentz and Nick Foles in Philly, and he started out quite nicely in Indy too, winning multiple playoff games there. However, some QBs just simply aren't even coachable, and that was what he sort of ran into near the end of his time in Indy and was the scapegoat. Now, he gets a fresh start in the weakest division in the NFL.

The Panthers are set to acquire a good player to come play QB for them. They have the funds to go out and sign a guy like Derek Carr, who would work amazingly well with Reich, or they are in position to draft one as they hold the 9th overall pick in the draft and could potentially move up there as well. Reich is an elite offensive mind, and so when he gets HIS Quarterback in place, the Panthers will be in amazing position to succeed and contend instantly. Reich has also put together one of the best staffs in the NFL already, poaching elite DC Ejiro Evero from Denver for the same position, securing longtime stud NFL QB Josh McCown as QB coach, and also bringing in legendary NFL names like Dom Capers, Jim Caldwell, and Duce Staley for other roles. Carolina has been poorly coached for years, but with Reich's offensive prowess and the elite staff he brought in with him, they could be the team to beat in the NFC South right away in 2023!

3. Shane Steichen → Indianapolis Colts

Grade: A-

The man to replace Frank Reich in Indy? Shane Steichen. Another former Philly offensive coach like Reich, Steichen was arguably even MORE impressive in his time with the Eagles. He has been their OC since last season and the results since then were box office for the birds. Steichen was one of the biggest factors in the rapid elite development of MVP runner up Jalen Hurts. Steichen tailored the offense around him and we saw just how good he has become, scoring 4 TDs in the Super Bowl and throwing for over 300 yards. Philly's offense was the best in the NFL this season, and it wasn't all Hurts. Steichen's play-calling was unique and made the talented offense that much better. That little QB sneak with the O-lineman push is a Steichen staple. He is that creative. Steichen has also worked closely with NFL elites like Phillip Rivers and Justin Herbert in his young career, and now he will head to Indy to try and usher in a new era of Colts football.

Just like the Panthers, the Colts are on the brink of bringing in a new signal caller. Holding the 4th pick in the NFL draft (and with owner Jim Irsay publicly saying they will look to trade up), the Colts are in position to get one of the elite QB prospects in this class. Steichen will be right there and ready to coach him up and tailor an already talented Colts offense around that said player. The recent elite HC hires have been young, offensive minded coaches. See Brian Daboll, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, Nick Sirianni the list is winding. Steichen fits that mold and is an exciting front man for the Colts' future. I love this hire and think it puts the Colts on a fast track to contending really soon in a wide open AFC South!

2. Sean Payton → Denver Broncos

Grade: A-

This would be an A or an A+, if not for how much Denver had to give up to acquire him. 99 out of every 100 HC hires are just straight up, but the Saints still owned Payton's rights from his brief retirement, so they were able to facilitate a trade with the Broncos to get assets back. It was steep, a first and more heading to New Orleans for a coach, but I do think it will be every bit worth it for the Broncos. Payton is a Super Bowl winning HC who had the Saints as a contender almost every season he was in New Orleans. He is one of the most genius offensive minds in the game, and the Broncos needed it desperately. The problem in Denver was never the defense, which was elite in 2022, it was the offense. If there is any man able to fix Russell Wilson, it will be Payton.

That being said, the price was very steep to bring him in. I also didn't like Payton's quick decision to let DC Ejiro Evero walk to Carolina, as Evero was an elite DC for Denver in 2022. The Broncos will need to ace the hire for that position and Payton will need to pray he can bring Wilson back to form in 2023, otherwise this move will be a flop. For now though, I like it a lot, and give it an A- for Denver.

1. DeMeco Ryans → Houston Texans

Grade: A

Slightly above Payton and Steichen is DeMeco Ryans going to the Texans. I just love this hire so much for Houston. They have been searching and searching for years to find their 'franchise coach', and I think they just found him. Ryans is coming off an ELITE season with the 49ers, in which he coached their defense to being the no. 1 ranked unit in all of football. While he is not the offensive minded HC that most teams covet, he is such an elite defensive guy and motivator of men, that I'm not worried at all. The Texans have been such a dumpster fire of an organization of late, that I didn't know if a quality HC candidate would EVER come to their rescue, but they lucked out given the fact that Ryans was drafted by them in the early 2000s and won DROY in Houston. Those ties were enough to make him want to return to the team, but this time as an HC.

I love this fit so much. The Texans have more assets than pretty much anyone in the league (maybe outside of Chicago). They have many firsts over the next couple of seasons (given the Watson trade), and also tons of cap space to work with. Ryans is a determined, relentless coach with a vision, and he will be able to build out that vision to however he likes given all the assets in place in Houston. The Texans are basically a blob of clay right now and he will get to mold it to look like however he wants. Starting with the no. 2 pick in the upcoming draft, Ryans will get to pick whoever he wants to be his QB of the future, and go from there. A rare Texans W with this hire!