Offensive coaches to keep an eye on (LONG)

RightAway · Feb 12, 2023

We're not turning this thread into some sort of Bobo/Monken debate, Lord knows there's a War and Peace thread on that already. But this thread did spring out of the question that many have asked: "Who would you hire?"

I'm not saying I'd necessarily hire any of these coaches, but they all have interesting resumes and would at least be worth a look.

Shea Tierney - New York Giants QB coach - 36 years old

NC State (2011–2012) Graduate asst
Philadelphia Eagles (2013–2015) Football analyst & coaching intern
Alabama (2016–2017) Offensive analyst
Buffalo Bills (2018–2019) Offensive asst
Buffalo Bills (2020–2021) Asst. QB coach
New York Giants (2022–present) QB coach

Intriguing thing about Tierney is his relationship with Saban. Spent two years at Alabama before being hired by Daboll to go to Buffalo. Helped coach Josh Allen and Daniel Jones. Interesting thing that he didn't come to Alabama with Daboll, but Daboll thought enough of him to bring him to Buffalo and then New York. Jones had his best completion percentage, rating, QBR, etc. this season.

Brian Johnson - Philadelphia Eagles QB coach - 35 years old

Utah (2010–2011) QB coach
Utah (2012–2013) OC/QB coach
Mississippi State (2014–2016) QB coach
Houston (2017) OC/QB coach
Florida (2018–2019) QB coach
Florida (2020) OC/QB coach
Philadelphia Eagles (2021–present) QB coach

Johnson has a really strong resume. Hired by Kyle Whittingham at Utah then Dan Mullen at Mississippi State where he coached Dak Prescott. Hired again by Mullen at Florida where he coached Kyle Trask. Spent the last two seasons in Philadelphia coaching Jalen Hurts. Has just about all the boxes checked - SEC footprint, hired by good coaches/offensive minds, coached elite players, and has Jalen Hurts in the Super Bowl.

Shane Day - unemployed - 48 years old

Michigan (2006) Offensive QC
San Francisco 49ers (2007–2009) Offensive QC
Chicago Bears (2010–2011) QB coach
Connecticut (2012–2013) QB coach
Washington Redskins (2014–2015) Asst OL coach
Miami Dolphins (2016–2018) TE coach
San Francisco 49ers (2019–2020) QB coach
Los Angeles Chargers (2021–2022) PGC/QB coach

Day has experience in both college and the NFL and is currently looking for a job. He spent two years in San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan before spending the last two with Brandon Staley and Justin Herbert in Los Angeles. Also spent two seasons in Chicago under Mike Martz, so he's certainly coached for some well-regarded offensive minds.

David Corley Jr - Pittsburgh Steelers Asst. QB coach - 42 years old

William & Mary (2008–2009) RB coach
Pittsburgh Steelers (2010) Intern
William & Mary (2010–2012) QB coach
Carolina Panthers (2013) Intern
William & Mary (2013) WR coach
Connecticut (2014) RB coach
Connecticut (2015) WR/ST coach
Connecticut (2016) OC/ST coach
Army (2017) WR coach
Penn State (2018) WR coach
Houston Texans (2019) Intern
South Carolina State (2020) WR coach
Richmond (2021) RB coach
Carolina Panthers (2021) Intern
Pittsburgh Steelers (2022–present) Asst QB coach

Long history both in college and the NFL. Main reason I included him was his wide-resume. Has seemingly done every job at every level. P5 on-field coach, G5 OC, NFL assistant, etc. Don't know much about him otherwise, but he could be an intriguing option.

Chris Beatty - Los Angeles Chargers WR coach - 49 years old

Hampton (2006) OC/QB coach
Northern Illinois (2007) RB coach
West Virginia (2008–2010) RB coach
Vanderbilt (2011) WR coach/recruiting
Illinois (2012) Co-OC/QB coach
Wisconsin (2013) WR coach
Wisconsin (2014) WR coach/recruiting
Virginia (2015) AHC/RB coach
Maryland (2016) WR coach
Maryland (2017) AHC/WR coach
Maryland (2018) ACH/Co-OC/WR coach
Pittsburgh (2019–2020) WR coach
Los Angeles Chargers (2021–present) WR coach

Journeyman resume, but Beatty has spent more time in college than most NFL assistants currently. 13 seasons as a Power 5 position coach/coordinator with the last two for the Chargers with Staley and Herbert. In an age where college coaches are getting burned out at a faster rate, Beatty checks the "he'd answer the phone" box, no doubt.

Andrew Breiner - Jacksonville Jaguars asst QB coach - 38 years old

Allegheny (2007) WR coach
Allegheny (2008) QB coach
Connecticut (2009–2011) GA
Fordham (2012–2015) OC/QB coach
Fordham (2016–2017) Head coach
Mississippi State (2018–2019) PGC/QB coach
Philadelphia Eagles (2020) Pass game analyst
FIU (2021) OC/WR coach
Jacksonville Jaguars (2022–present) Asst QB coach

Joe Moorhead disciple who coached under him at Fordham and Mississippi State, before coaching under Doug Pederson in Philadelphia and Jacksonville. Another NFL guy with a lot of college experience, albeit not at premier programs, and a couple of very good offensive coaches that have hired him multiple times.

Joe Brady - Buffalo Bills QB coach - 33 years old

William & Mary (2013–2014) LB coach
Penn State (2015–2016) GA
New Orleans Saints (2017–2018) Offensive asst
LSU (2019) PGC/WR coach
Carolina Panthers (2020–2021) OC
Buffalo Bills (2022–present) QB coach

Can't have an offensive coaches list without mentioning Brady. He's coached in the SEC, for multiple NFL teams, and you can't ignore that 2019 LSU team. I'm not as high on Brady as others because of the insane amount of talent he had in 2019, but the longer his resume gets, the more I like him. He spent two years with Matt Rhule in Carolina before being hired by Sean McDermott in Buffalo to coach Josh Allen.

JaMarcus Shephard - Washington AHC/Pass game coordinator/WR coach - 39 years old

2011–2012 Western Kentucky (DA)
2013 Western Kentucky (OQC)
2014 Western Kentucky (WR)
2015 Western Kentucky (ST/WR)
2016 Washington State (IWR)
2017 Purdue (PGC/WR)
2018–2021 Purdue (co-OC/WR)
2022–present Washington (AHC/PGC/WR)

Shephard is from the Jeff Brohm coaching tree, coaching for him at Western Kentucky and Purdue. He spent last season on Kalen DeBoer's staff at Washington that was one of the more explosive offenses in the country. He'll be a P5 OC in the next few years.

Ryan Grubb - Washington OC

2005 South Dakota State (RB)
2006 South Dakota State (WR)
2007–2009 Sioux Falls (OL/RGC)
2010–2013 Sioux Falls (OC/QB)
2014–2016 Eastern Michigan (OL)
2017–2018 Fresno State (OL/RGC)
2019 Fresno State (AHC/OC/OL)
2020–2021 Fresno State (AHC/OC/QB)
2022–present Washington (OC/QB)

Another Washington Huskies coach, this time from the Kalen DeBoer coaching tree. Alabama tried to hire him this offseason but he opted to stay at UW. Long shot? Yes, as he'll likely be a head coach soon, but until then he'll be mentioned with all the top OC jobs.

Warren Ruggiero - Wake Forest OC - 56 years old

1999 William & Mary (TE)
2000–2001 Hofstra (QB/RC)
2002–2005 Hofstra (OC/QB)
2006–2007 Elon (OC/QB)
2008 Kansas State (QB)
2009–2013 Bowling Green (OC/QB)
2014–present Wake Forest (OC/QB)

Ruggiero has been at Wake Forest for going on a decade and has coached some high-level offenses. Points per game rank the last six seasons (most recent first): 17th, 3rd, 35th, 45th, 34th, 20th. Sam Hartman broke records at Wake and the Demon Deacons seemingly outpace their talent on a consistent basis. Tons of experience calling plays and has been described by former players as a "mad scientist" who is known for his offensive schemes.

Jason Candle - Toledo head coach - 43 years old

2003–2006 Mount Union (WR)
2007–2008 Mount Union (OC)
2009 Toledo (SR/TE)
2010–2011 Toledo (WR)
2012–2013 Toledo (OC/WR)
2014–2015 Toledo (AHC/OC/QB)
2016–present Toledo

Candle is an interesting name - he's been at Toledo in some capacity since 2009, but he's only 43 and has a ton of coaching time ahead of him if he wants it. If he's eyeing a major HC job, being OC for a juggernaut like Georgia would certainly help. He's been OC the last 11 years and has finished an average of 33rd in points per game in that span. Including four top 20 finishes and 6 top 30 finishes. I have no clue if he'd be willing to walk away from a head coaching job, but he's only making $1.1 million this year so there's a lot of room for salary improvement.

Will Hall - Southern Miss HC - 42 years old

2006 Southwest Baptist (OC)
2007 Arkansas–Monticello (OC)
2008–2010 West Alabama (OC)
2011–2013 West Alabama
2014–2016 West Georgia
2017 Louisiana (OC)
2018 Memphis (Assoc. HC/TE)
2019–2020 Tulane (OC)
2021–present Southern Miss

Another HC, Will Hall has strong ties all over the SEC footprint. He's coached in Arkansas, South Carolina, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Got his first major college job in 2017 as Louisiana OC under Mark Hudspeth. After Hudspeth got the axe, Mark Norvell hired Hall at Memphis, before Willie Fritz hired him at Tulane. Took over the Southern Miss job in 2021, leading them to their first bowl win this year since 2016. His offensive numbers at Southern Miss aren't anything to write home about, but he did post the 32nd and 22nd ranked scoring offenses in his two years at Tulane. Making $800,000 right now.

RightAway · Feb 12, 2023