If you can find a good defensive coordinator in the NFL, you better try to hang onto them for as long as possible. Steve Spagnuolo just won his 4th Super Bowl ring in that role and his 3rd for the Chiefs, a dynasty that would likely not exist without him. He joins Lou Anarumo of the Bengals as the longest-tenured defensive coordinator in the NFL, both hired by their teams in 2019.
The rest of the league keeps going through heavy turnover at defensive coordinator, as there will be 17 new ones in the 2024 NFL season.
We are actually still waiting for the last hire as the 49ers fired Steve Wilks following their loss in Super Bowl LVIII. Do they hire Kansas City defensive backs coach David Merritt, or go big by coaxing Bill Belichick to take a demotion? We’ll find out soon.
But for now, as we prepare for to place our bets at top betting sites, we are ranking the new NFL defensive coordinator hires for 2024 by grouping them into tiers for what you should expect this season.
Bottom Tier: The Potential Disasters
Our bottom tier includes what we feel are the 3 shakiest defensive coordinator hires this year, the moves that have the potential to backfire.
16. Aden Durde – Seattle Seahawks
- Previous job: Cowboys defensive line (2021-23)
Aden Durde has already made some history as the first British-born defensive coordinator in NFL history. The former linebacker has been around the game for a while now, joining the NFL as an intern in 2014 with Dallas.
But this is the 1st time Durde will not be working under Mike McCarthy or Dan Quinn after following those guys around for the last decade essentially. Two coaches known for blowing leads too, so that’s not the most reassuring thing. Durde followed Quinn from Atlanta to Dallas in 2021 where he coached the defensive line over the last 3 seasons.
In Seattle, it figures to be Mike Macdonald’s show as the new head coach. He is the defensive mind that had a lot of success with the Ravens this past year, so Durde is unlikely to change his philosophy in Seattle. Could just be a “yes man” hire to give Durde some experience as a first-time coordinator.
15. Dennard Wilson – Tennessee Titans
- Previous job: Ravens defensive backs (2023)
This is a big promotion for Dennard Wilson, another first-time coordinator. He has a history of coaching defensive backs with the Rams (Jeff Fisher era), Jets (2017-20), and Eagles (2021-22). He also coached the Baltimore defensive backs last season, a historic defense that led the league in most categories.
But this could be a rough look for Wilson in 2024 when he realizes the Titans lack the defensive talent of the No. 1 seeds he’s been part of the last 2 years. The 2022 Eagles had that great pass rush with 70 sacks and a pair of corners playing great. The Ravens just had an All-Pro safety in Kyle Hamilton.
Good luck figuring things out in Tennessee this year, but everyone has to get their start somewhere.
14. Jeff Hafley – Green Bay Packers
- Previous job: Boston College head coach (2020-23)
I give the Packers credit for realizing Joe Barry’s time was up, and they decided to go outside the box with this hire. But it is a risky one by bringing a coach from the college game to the NFL.
Jeff Hafley was only 22-26 in 4 years as Boston College’s coach, and it’s not like the defense was a strength of that team. In fact, the defense was only good in 1-of-4 seasons for Hafley, and they ranked 86th in points per game in the nation in 2023.
Hafley has already expressed joy in coming back to the NFL after having last coached defensive backs for the 49ers in 2016-18, which were pretty lousy years for those defenses in San Francisco.
Maybe it works out in the long run, but there could be an adjustment period where Hafley’s new scheme has to get the right players in Green Bay to truly work for him. The immediate improvement may not be there, as hoped when moving on from Barry.
The “Yes Men” Tier
Our next tier looks at 6 hires that are in the “Yes Men” category, meaning these are in-house promotions or people with a past work history with a coach on the staff. Basically, don’t expect much to change as they keep up the status quo here.
13. Chris Shula – Los Angeles Rams
- Previous job: Rams linebackers & pass rush coordinator (2023)
We’ll give Sean McVay credit for versatility. Not only does he advance offensive coaches in this league, but here he is trying to move up another defensive coach too.
If the name Shula strikes you, it’s because he is in fact the grandson of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula. He is also the son of failed Cincinnati coach Dave Shula, so let’s hope the talent genes skipped a generation.
But Shula has been on McVay’s staff since 2017, coaching linebackers before moving on to defensive backs in 2022, and then he was the pass rush coordinator and linebackers coach last year. Basically, a jack-of-all-trades on defense for this team. Now he has to replace Raheem Morris, who took the Atlanta job.
McVay is an offensive coach and needs a good defensive coordinator to support him. We’ll see what Shula does this year in the biggest role of his career.
12. DeMarcus Covington – New England Patriots
- Previous job: Patriots defensive line (2020-23)
Let’s just say the Patriots have not gone far to replenish their coaching staff following the end of Bill Belichick’s tenure. They promoted Jerod Mayo to head coach, and they promoted DeMarcus Covington from defensive line to defensive coordinator after he’s been coaching since 2017 as an assistant on this staff.
First-year defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington on his philosophy: Scheme will look similar. pic.twitter.com/4gxjtM1c9r
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) February 21, 2024
Is keeping the status quo on defense necessarily a bad thing in New England? It was the offensive side of the ball that doomed the team more than anything last year. But we’ll also have to see if the defense can stay adequate without Belichick’s guidance no longer there.
Expectations for Covington (and Mayo) should be low this year.
11. Bobby Babich – Buffalo Bills
- Previous job: Bills linebackers coach (2022-23)
The Bills also did not go far in hiring their new coordinators. They already upgraded Joe Brady to offensive coordinator last season after they fired Ken Dorsey during the season.
With Bobby Babich, he has been on coach Sean McDermott’s staff since 2017. He has coached the defensive backs and linebackers for McDermott. The linebackers performed well last year despite many injuries to that unit.
But the elephant in the room in Buffalo is that McDermott is the most important voice for coaching the defense, and his units have not delivered in the playoffs, especially at slowing down Patrick Mahomes. Some of it is health and losing too many good players to injuries, but until the Bills start playing better defense in January, I’m not sure anything changes here.
An 8th-year assistant like Babich is certainly not going to be the catalyst for sweeping changes in Buffalo.
10. Zach Orr – Baltimore Ravens
- Previous job: Ravens inside linebackers coach (2022-23)
Zach Orr is all about the Ravens. The former linebacker played for the team in 2014-16, then he was a defensive analyst in 2017-20. After an ill-advised move to Jacksonville during the Urban Meyer year in 2021, he returned to the Ravens in 2022 where he coached the inside linebackers the next 2 seasons.
But this is a big step up to defensive coordinator, especially after the great job Mike Macdonald did last year. The 2023 Ravens became the 1st defense since the 1970 merger to lead the league in points allowed, sacks, and turnovers. Good luck to Orr, who is only 31, following that for an encore.
But the team knows him well, he’s young, and he has the credibility as a former player, so maybe this can work out. But it’s definitely a decline from Macdonald.
9. Jimmy Lake – Atlanta Falcons
- Previous job: Rams assistant head coach (2023)
Jimmy Lake has been around football as a coach since 1999 with stints in college and the NFL. None were really noteworthy until his short-lived time as the head coach of the Washington Huskies in 2020-21 when he was 7-6 and fired after a team brawl incident.
Lake resurfaced with the Rams last year as an assistant, so he worked with Raheem Morris, the defensive coordinator. Lake followed Morris to the Falcons, and he used to coach the defensive backs for Morris when they were together in Tampa Bay in 2010-11.
So, Lake is basically tied to the hip with Morris and will follow what the coach wants on defense.
8. Joe Whitt Jr. – Washington Commanders
- Previous job: Cowboys pass game coordinator/secondary (2021-23)
Starting to get the feel for the prevalent cronyism that goes on among NFL coaching staffs? Like Aden Durde, the Seattle hire, Joe Whitt Jr. has been following Mike McCarthy and Dan Quinn for many years. He was in Green Bay in 2008-18, then he joined Quinn’s Atlanta staff in 2020 before Quinn was fired early in the season.
In 2021, Quinn joined the Cowboys as the defensive coordinator, and Whitt Jr. jumped ship to reunite with McCarthy and Quinn in Dallas. He was the passing game coordinator and secondary coach the last 3 seasons.
Whitt Jr. did help Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland produce prolific interception numbers, so defensive backs have been his specialty. This could be a good hire since the Commanders badly need better defensive back play after all the big plays they allowed in 2023.
With Quinn’s experience of working with Whitt Jr., this move should be good for both parties.
The Redemption Tier
Our next tier looks at 3 coordinators who are getting another shot after things did not work out the last time they held this position.
7. Eric Washington – Chicago Bears
- Previous job: Bills assistant head coach/defensive line (2023)
Eric Washington is back in Chicago after a long time away. He was a defensive assistant under Lovie Smith in 2008-09, then he coached the defensive line in 2010, the last season the Bears won a playoff game with a great defense.
Washington got his first shot at defensive coordinator under Ron Rivera in Carolina in 2018-19, but that went poorly with Carolina ranked 31st in points allowed in 2019.
Washington has spent the last 4 seasons in Buffalo under Sean McDermott where he coached the line. In returning to Chicago under coach Matt Eberflus, he’ll have to step it up for a defense that was next to last with 30 sacks and one of the lowest pressure rates in the league.
6. Shane Bowen – New York Giants
- Previous job: Titans defensive coordinator (2021-23)
The Giants are making a big change here after dumping blitz-happy Wink Martindale for a far more passive coordinator in Shane Bowen, who was Mike Vrabel’s defensive coordinator in Tennessee the last 3 seasons.
Bowen initially had very good success in 2021, but results were middling at best these last 2 years. One thing for sure that is a difference between the 2 is that Bowen blitzes at one of the lowest rates in the league while Martindale was one of the highest. This will be a change for Brian Daboll’s team, which was still near the bottom of the league in sack production despite all the extra pass rushers last year.
But Bowen will have to show he can adapt to a new group of players after spending the last 6 years in Tennessee. His style change will be noticeable to Giants fans expecting blitzing. This could work out with a solid draft to get players that fit his style better.
Giants fans should expect a TON of zone blitz with Shane Bowen hired as the new Defensive Coordinator.
— awthentik (@awthentik) February 6, 2024
5. Anthony Weaver – Miami Dolphins
- Previous job: Ravens associate head coach & defensive line (2021-23)
The Baltimore defensive coaching staff sure has been raided this offseason. Anthony Weaver is another member on the move to Miami. A 2nd-round pick by the Ravens in 2002, Weaver has been coaching since 2010.
He moved up to defensive coordinator of the 2020 Texans, but that went poorly as the team finished 4-12 and he was not retained. He rejoined the Ravens in 2021 as a defensive line coach and run game coordinator. He was an assistant head coach the last 2 years while still coaching the line, though defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was the crucial change to that staff those years.
Hoping some of that Baltimore knowledge rubbed off on Weaver is fine, but he’s also not bringing as much talent with him to Miami in replacing Vic Fangio. We’ll see how it goes for him as this is a crucial job if the Dolphins are going to end Buffalo’s reign as AFC East champs.
Top Tier: The Best Hires
Our final tier has our 4 favorite hires, including a couple of familiar names, a retread to be positive about, and another reason to like the Chargers this year.
4. Ryan Nielsen – Jacksonville Jaguars
- Previous job: Falcons defensive coordinator & defensive line (2023)
Ryan Nielsen only spent 1 season as Atlanta’s defensive coordinator, but it was not a bad experience for him. He helped the defense double its sacks from 21 to 42, and he did this with a rag-tag group of veterans that were really just thrown together by the Falcons in free agency. A 37-year-old Calais Campbell led the team with 6.5 sacks and 17 quarterback hits.
By going to Jacksonville, Nielsen takes over a young defense that has largely been built through the draft and has a stud like Josh Allen, who notched 17.5 sacks last year. Travon Walker, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, had 10 sacks last year and is still looking to improve too.
The Jaguars are going to need all the defense they can get in the AFC to deal with those elite quarterbacks, so this could be a good landing spot for Nielsen to build something with a young unit and stick around for several years this time.
3. Mike Zimmer – Dallas Cowboys
- Previous job: Colorado analyst/consultant (2023)
Look who is back in the NFL and in Dallas. After a couple years of consulting in the college game, Mike Zimmer returns to the NFL after his last job coaching the Vikings in 2014-21.
This is a safe hire for Jerry Jones as Zimmer, who will be 68 this season, was on the Dallas staff in 1994-2006, including a decent job as the defensive coordinator in 2000-06.
With Mike McCarthy running the offense, Zimmer can just focus on the defense in Dallas. He also gets to coach one of the most talented groups in the league with Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, and DaRon Bland. The Cowboys feasted on takeaways under Dan Quinn, but they were roasted by Jordan Love and the Packers in the playoffs. In fact, the Cowboys looked shaky a few times when they had to play a quality offense last year.
When Zimmer was in Minnesota, he gave Aaron Rodgers some good battles with the Packers. He’ll have to do the same against the likes of Love and Brock Purdy in San Francisco if the Cowboys are ever going to get over the hump in the playoffs.
It may be a lateral move from what the Cowboys had cooking with Quinn, but there is potential here for this to work out assuming the game has not passed Zimmer by.
2. Jesse Minter – Los Angeles Chargers
- Previous job: Michigan defensive coordinator (2022-23)
Some may call this another “Yes Men” tier hire, but I see it as Jim Harbaugh doing what he can to bring familiarity and success with him to Los Angeles. The Greg Roman hiring was a very good one for the offense, and bringing Jesse Minter, his Michigan defensive coordinator, with him is another smart move.
Minter was successful as the team’s interim coach when Harbaugh was suspended at Michigan last year, and the Wolverines were No. 1 in the nation in points allowed on their way to a perfect season and national championship.
Different beast in the NFL, but Minter has experience coaching on Jim brother’s John’s staff in Baltimore, coaching the defensive backs during the 2020 COVID year in his last NFL job.
Figuring out how to slow down Patrick Mahomes is going to be paramount for Harbaugh and Minter to have success in Los Angeles, so this will be fun to watch. Maybe Justin Herbert will finally have the 1st good defense of his career.
1. Vic Fangio – Philadelphia Eagles
- Previous job: Dolphins defensive coordinator (2023)
We underestimated just how much the Eagles would miss their coordinators in 2023. Head coach Nick Sirianni was not up to the task of correcting mistakes, and the team did a full collapse after a 10-1 start that was built on a ton of close wins.
The Eagles have already beefed up the offensive side by hiring Kellen Moore as the new coordinator, and they made another great hire by bringing veteran Vic Fangio to fix a defense that totally fell off from the Super Bowl season.
The thing with Fangio is he has almost as many bottom 12 defenses as he has top 10 defenses in his career. He’s hit or miss, and last year in Miami, he was not the hit the team hoped for. Some of that was a very rough start to the year, then once he was turning the corner, the Dolphins had a lot of big injuries. That happens sometimes.
But the Eagles still have some talent, Jalen Carter will be looking to develop into a star in his 2nd season, and the corner play can’t get any worse than it did in 2023 after a stellar 2022.
Fangio has a lot of work ahead of him, but he was the smartest hire out there. At the very least, you won’t get ridiculous stories from the Eagles in 2024 about how the players want to have player-only meetings and take over the game planning from the coaches. They also won’t have Matt Patricia out of his element.
It’s time for the Inside Scoop with @JayGlazer:
🏈 A.J. Brown led a players-only meeting for the Eagles
🏈 John Harbaugh will be at the CFP National Championship pic.twitter.com/9XtAjp19si— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 7, 2024
Fangio will help them improve. Just don’t pencil him in as an automatic Super Bowl ticket for the Eagles, because he’s never been that kind of difference maker in his many stops.
