It’s championship weekend, and by now most major storylines have been written and the news wheel has started to slow. Apparently that offended the NFL, as the last few days have brought on some major coaching signings to reignite the buzz for fans who are stuck patiently waiting for the offseason.
The signings began with the New York Jets hiring of former Denver Bronco head coach Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator, replacing Mike LaFleur. LaFleur, the younger brother of current Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur, followed head coach Robert Saleh from the 49ers to run the Jets offense in 2021, going 4-13 in his inaugural season.
After beginning 2022 with a record of 7-4, the Jets lost 6 straight games and showed no sign of progress with current quarterback Zach Wilson, costing LaFleur his job. Though he wasn’t on the open market long, as Rams coach Sean McVay came calling and hired him as the club’s new offensive coordinator in Los Angeles.
For his part, Hackett was unable to run an effective offense through a depleted Russel Wilson. And after tying themselves to the former Seahawk for the foreseeable future, the franchise decided to move on from their head coach. Hackett, coincidentally, earned the Broncos job after running the Green Bay offense under Matt LaFleur, and has strong ties to quarterback Aaron Rogers.
The Jets have built a strong defense and have pieces on offense, but are clearly missing that elite level quarterback to take them to the next level. Which is why the rumours immediately began that the Jets will go big name hunting with Rogers as their main target. Hackett was in charge of the offense that led Rogers to his latest MVP seasons after all.
Shortly after the first head coaching vacancy of the offseason was filled, with the Carolina Panthers’ hiring of the franchise’s original starting quarterback Frank Reich, who signed with the Panthers in their expansion year in 1995.
The Panthers had one of the most desirable head coaching positions available with plenty of weapons on offense and a strong defense to work with. Interim head coach Steve Wilks, who impressed finishing out the 2022 season as the leader of the Panthers, and Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore were both reportedly finalists for the job.
Reich, a superbowl winner as offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, was hired to guide the Colts in 2018, but after the surprise retirement of Andrew Luck prior to the 2019 season, was unable to achieve much success while dealing with major quarterback inconsistency. During his tenure, the Colts ran through aging veterans Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan, the turnover prone Carson Wentz and young late round pick Sam Ehlinger.
He was let go after starting this past season 3-5-1, but I’m sure after the Colts 2022 season continued to disappoint, in hindsight owner Jim Irsay would love to have Reich around to build around what will likely be their next franchise quarterback coming out of the 2023 draft. While the Panthers themselves are in need of a viable #1 quarterback, the rest of the roster is sound, and they did well to lock up Reich to lead the club into 2023.
Which brings us to the latest Colts rumours. For some inexplicable reason, Colts owner Jim Irsay’s leading candidate for the head coaching position is the same man he hired off the couch to replace Reich, in former Colts lineman Jeff Saturday.
Jeff Saturday is getting a 2nd-round interview with the Colts (via @AdamSchefter)
He went 1-7 as the interim HC. pic.twitter.com/B9KIPcEieZ
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) January 25, 2023
The move was much maligned when it was made, and despite a petition being circulated by Colts fans to try and bring attention to how ridiculous the long term hiring of Saturday would be, Irsay seems to be staying loyal to his former offensive lineman despite his lack of coaching experience and no evidence from his tenure as interim coach that he is the man to lead this team moving forward.
In no way am I against Saturday being included on the staff to supplement the rest of the coaches, he just shouldn’t be tasked with running an NFL team right now. There’s a reason why you don’t start your career as CEO of a company. There’s a progression that needs to take place in order to put you in a place to suceed.
While there’s plenty of time for Irsay to change his mind, Colts fans are praying that these are just rumours, or they could be wasting several years of their new quarterback of the future’s rookie deal.
With big names still out there for the Arizona Cardinals, the Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos to choose from, the most intriguing connection is the reported mutual interest between the Broncos and current 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.
While the Broncos franchise has a tendency to go for flashy signings (Sean Payton would fit the bill), Ryans has more than proven himself, leading one of the most feared defenses in the league. He’s someone who was always a leader on the field and now has the coaching pedigree to back up the current demand for his services as a head coach. With the strong defensive core the Broncos currently have, Ryans would only have to be paired with an offensive coordinator who can limit turnovers to bring the franchise back to relevancy.
Nevertheless, the Walton-Penner Family continue to do their due diligence on every available option as they travelled to Ann Arbor to visit with Jim Harbaugh late this week. This comes despite his public statement that he would be returning to the University of Michigan for the 2023 season.
Perhaps that didn’t sit too well with Ryans’ camp as the latest out of Houston is that the Niners’ DC is now the favourite to land their vacant head coaching gig after the playoffs.
Never a dull day in the NFL.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: Eric Upchurch. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.