The Evolving Importance of Offensive Coordinators in the NFL

In a league increasingly dominated by quarterback play, a surprising trend emerges: offensive coordinators are choosing to stay put, valuing continuity and success over the traditional head coach path

The path to becoming a NFL head coach is relatively well understood by most fans. Coaches on a staff typically start as assistant position coaches, and then start to climb the career path ladder. From there they would move on to be a position coach to coordinator to eventually being named as a head coach. At the end of every season, multiple franchises in the NFL move on from their head coaches in search of a new vision for the future. During this time, team owners interview the next innovative offensive and defensive coordinators in hope of saving their franchise from mediocrity.

Usually these coordinators take a job when it is presented to them, to make their mark on the world of football coaching. In this year’s coaching cycle, however, we have seen multiple offensive coordinators that were considered in line for jobs opting to stay with their teams as coordinators instead. The Buffalo Bills Joe Brady, Houston Texans Bobby Slowik, and Detroit Lions Ben Johnson have all returned to their jobs after garnering various levels of interest around the league. This development sheds light on the importance of strong…