Offensive coordinators have become a crucial part of an NFL coaching staff. It is one of the best jobs to set yourself up for a head coaching position, and any defensive-minded coach is going to need a quality offensive coordinator to make things work during their tenure.
DeMeco Ryans probably does not have the success he did in Year 1 with the Houston Texans if he did not hire Bobby Slowik, a member of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, to be his offensive coordinator to make things work with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year in that system. You can bet if things go well in Year 2, Slowik will be a top head coaching candidate for 2025.
But while great quarterbacks can get an offensive coordinator hired, a bad quarterback often gets them fired, so they do switch jobs often for different reasons. In fact, 25 of the 32 offensive coordinators in the league right now were hired in 2023 or 2024, including 14 in the AFC alone. We had 15 changes in the NFL this year at this position.
Before you get ready to place your NFL bets during the 2024 season, we ranked the 15 new offensive coordinator hires for 2024 below. We separated the 15 hires into 4 tiers as well to better group them together and set expectations.
Note that we did not include Joe Brady of the Bills, who already took over in Week 11 after the team fired Ken Dorsey.
Bottom Tier: The Potential Disasters
Our bottom tier includes what we feel are the 3 worst offensive coordinator hires this year. These are the moves that could easily backfire on the team as there were better options available.
15 Kliff Kingsbury – Washington Commanders
- Previous Job: USC senior offensive analyst (2023)
After a year away from the NFL, Kliff Kingsbury is back, but is he any better for it? This is a coach who has struggled to win with Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray at quarterback going back to his days with Texas Tech and the Arizona Cardinals.
Kliff Kingsbury really had the most talented QB of all time at his disposal for 3 years and achieved nothing. https://t.co/dFtVSFit5S
— Jaylen (@Comxthzine) February 24, 2024
The good news is he only has to coordinate the offense in Washington, but the bad news is who is the quarterback going to be? If it’s Sam Howell again, they have to cut down on the sacks he took in 2023. The problem with Kingsbury is his answer will likely be more quick, horizontal throws that are good for bringing that sack rate down, but they haven’t been productive for his offenses that routinely struggled on early downs for this reason in Arizona.
Kingsbury also did little to help Murray progress in 4 seasons with the Cardinals. The Commanders have been struggling on offense for a long time now, and it is hard to see this hire being the one that brings them into form.
14 Klint Kubiak – New Orleans Saints
- Previous Job: 49ers passing game coordinator (2023)
Is every offensive coordinator just some guy named Kliff or Klint? We still have Ken and Kellen to get to later. But Klint Kubiak is indeed the son of former NFL quarterback and head coach Gary Kubiak.
The Kubiaks and the Shanahans go back decades, so it was not surprising that Klint had a job coordinating the passing game for Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco this past season. He has also served as offensive coordinator of the 2021 Vikings, a solid offense all around, but they were only 14th in scoring and ranked 26th on 3rd down despite having the fewest turnovers in the league that year.
Kubiak was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the 2022 Broncos, an eyesore on the resume since that was arguably the worst offense in the league that year as Russell Wilson struggled mightily.
Klint Kubiak’s recent offenses pic.twitter.com/yzCcCxRdUb
— ScoutWithoutClout (@manofGod8888) February 24, 2024
Will things go better in New Orleans where the Saints removed longtime coordinator Pete Carmichael? Dennis Allen is a defensive coach, so they are going to be relying heavily on Kubiak to provide a spark to an offense that struggled early with Derek Carr before finishing the season strong.
But nothing in Kubiak’s history suggests this is going to look like a vintage Kubiak-Shanahan offense that dominates with zone-blocking and the quarterback throwing downfield from play-action passes and bootlegs. That would be ideal with the receiving corps in place, but we’ll see if yet another coordinator is the charm for Carr, or if he gets another one fired.
13 Arthur Smith – Pittsburgh Steelers
- Previous Job: Falcons head coach (2021-23)
Players love to play for Mike Tomlin, but where are the assistant coaches lining up to work under him too? You would have thought someone like Eric Bieniemy, who many have felt deserves to be a head coach, would have been a Tomlin hire at offensive coordinator over the years, yet he stuck with the dreadful Matt Canada for too long.
Now the Steelers have gone out of the house to hire Arthur Smith, who failed in 3 years as head coach of the Falcons. A big criticism of his time was not using his offensive talent properly, including not enough targets to his tight end (Kyle Pitts), and too many shenanigans with the running back rotation instead of using his best talents. He also never had a chemistry with Marcus Mariota at quarterback, and Desmond Ridder just didn’t seem to develop under him.
These are all reasons why the fit in Pittsburgh just seems dreadful for Smith, who had his most success as coordinator of the Titans in 2019-20 when Derrick Henry was in his prime, and he could dial up play-action passes for Ryan Tannehill to throw downfield to the great A.J. Brown.
The Steelers have some special skill player talent like George Pickens and Diontae Johnson, but they have not shown they can consistently run the ball well with Najee Harris like you would Henry in his prime. The Steelers will lead the NFL in runs up the middle that don’t gain more than 2 yards on early downs if Smith has his way. You can also probably forget tight end Pat Freiermuth ever truly breaking out in this offense.
Then there’s the issue with Kenny Pickett. He’s at his best when he can make quick decisions with the ball. He almost needs a 2002 Pittsburgh-style offense with Tommy Maddox where he can get in shotgun and throw a lot of quick, short passes. Pickett is not great at extending plays or utilizing play-action.
The Steelers have plenty of issues, but Smith does not look like the right hire to fix any of them. Canada is no longer available to be the scapegoat either.
The “Yes Men” Tier
Our next tier looks at 3 hires that should keep up the status quo for the team, but as they are mostly just in-house promotions, don’t expect much noticeable change on the field.
12 Nick Holz – Tennessee Titans
- Previous Job: Jaguars passing game coordinator (2023)
A ho-hum hire, Nick Holz will stay in the AFC South as he goes from coordinating Jacksonville’s passing game to the offensive coordinator in Tennessee. But this is really new coach Brian Callahan’s show as he takes over for Mike Vrabel.
Callahan was Zac Taylor’s offensive coordinator in Cincinnati, so you can expect something along the lines of what the Bengals had offensively. However, the Titans lack the receivers for that, but maybe this is an area where Holz can help as he coached a Jacksonville offense with decent receiving options last year in Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk, and tight end Evan Engram.
But the pressure is really on Callahan here way more than it ever will be on Holz, a first-time coordinator at the NFL level.
11 Brad Idzik – Carolina Panthers
- Previous Job: Buccaneers wide receivers coach (2023)
We called this the “Yes Men” tier as someone like Brad Idzik is following coach Dave Canales from Tampa Bay to Carolina this year. Canales is the new head coach, and Idzik will go from coaching wide receivers to being the offensive coordinator.
Reported new #Panthers OC Brad Idzik and new HC Dave Canales go way back. Before this season, Idzik was asked his confidence in Canales as a first-time NFL playcaller. Interesting stuff:
courtesy: #bucs pic.twitter.com/nJeXY7RF2p— Nick Carboni (@NickCarboniWCNC) January 30, 2024
But this could be a good hire as Idzik is already familiar with working with Canales, and wide receiver is going to be a crucial position for the Panthers to get better at. They really didn’t have the players there outside of Adam Thielen last season. You can expect a talent haul coming this free agency period and the draft, so it will be up to Idzik to coach up that position as Canales does his best to try getting Bryce Young on track in his 2nd season.
10 Dan Pitcher – Cincinnati Bengals
- Previous Job: Bengals quarterbacks coach (2020-23)
This is a very safe hire for replacing Brian Callahan in Cincinnati after he took the Tennessee job. Pitcher has been with the Bengals since 2016, and he has worked closely with the quarterbacks under Zac Taylor since 2019. Pitcher probably got a boost from having Jake Browning ready to play this past year after Joe Burrow was injured.
The Bengals have an offense that fundamentally works, so Pitcher’s knowledge and experience with the system should help keep the consistency the team has already built. It’s a hire where the team, which does not need a homerun at the position, knows exactly what it is getting.
The Redemption Tier
Our next tier looks at 4 coordinators who are getting another shot after they were fired or left their previous team. Maybe things will go better in a new city.
9 Luke Getsy – Las Vegas Raiders
- Previous Job: Bears offensive coordinator (2022-23)
I may be a little biased since I went to high school with him, but Luke Getsy has a shot at redeeming himself with the Raiders. Finding a quarterback will be crucial as Aidan O’Connell does not look like the long-term answer there, but free agency and the draft should provide the team with options.
The thing with Getsy is that he was stuck with a difficult quarterback to coach in Justin Fields, who turns the ball over at some of the worst times, repeatedly failed in clutch situations and he takes sacks at an absurd rate.
When Tyson Bagent started as an undrafted rookie for the Bears in 4 games this past year, the offense looked more creative and efficient under him. Bagent’s sack rate was just 3.4% and his passing success rate was 52.0%. Those are actually elite numbers if he maintained them for a season. Fields’ sack rate was 10.6% and his passing success rate was 38.4%, which are terrible numbers.
Luke Getsy is gonna have us a well balanced offense man, with his run schemes that are effective, that’ll open up the passing game. With his use of the TE’s, that’ll open up for the WR’s and RB’s.
if the Raiders can land Jayden Daniels, i’m telling you, we’ll have a top 12…— Middy Garoppolo (@DylannJabroo) February 19, 2024
We’ll see what Getsy can do in an offense that should still have Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers at wide receiver, Josh Jacobs at running back, and Michael Mayer is going into Year 2 at tight end. The Bears did better this past year by incorporating D.J. Moore at wide receiver, so if Adams stays in town, that gives Getsy a WR1 to work with again.
8 Shane Waldron – Chicago Bears
- Previous Job: Seahawks offensive coordinator (2021-23)
Shane Waldron joins the Bears at an exciting time as the team is expected to take quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick. That could make his job harder this year with a rookie but better in the long term compared to Justin Fields, a difficult quarterback to work with given his shortcomings.
But Waldron followed Sean McVay from Washington to the Rams in 2016-20, and he was there when the team vastly improved in McVay’s first year, which saw Jared Goff go from a horrific rookie performance to making the playoffs.
Waldron had success in Seattle with Geno Smith turning in a Pro Bowl season in 2022 that no one saw coming. The offense took a few steps back this past year, but Waldron has weapons to work with in D.J. Moore and tight end Cole Kmet. He comes from that McVay coaching tree, so you can expect him to utilize play-action passing at a high level to help his quarterback out.
Running the ball is also something Waldron will emphasize. The Seattle running backs were rarely healthy the last few years, so that didn’t help the numbers, but he will not ignore the run, a Chicago tradition.
A lot of this move’s outcome will be dependent on how Williams works out if they do in fact draft him, but Waldron is a solid hire for the job of breaking the rookie into the NFL.
7 Alex Van Pelt – New England Patriots
- Previous Job: Browns offensive coordinator (2020-23)
Former NFL quarterback Alex Van Pelt has been putting in the work for a long time to get his most notable coaching role yet as the new offensive coordinator in New England. The Patriots need a ton of work on that side of the ball as Jerod Mayo takes over for Bill Belichick as another defensive-minded hire. But the Patriots were a mess offensively, and it again starts at the quarterback position.
Funny enough, Van Pelt helped a Cleveland offense make the playoffs last year with 4 quarterbacks starting multiple games, and the one who was supposed to be the best (Deshaun Watson) didn’t even play the best. The Browns looked better with Joe Flacco after he joined the team late in the year.
Van Pelt had done a respectable job before with Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland. He was there in 2020 when Baker Mayfield had his best year for the Browns and they made the playoffs, winning a playoff game in Pittsburgh.
#Patriots OC Alex Van Pelt on the most important QB traits:
“Smart, tough, and a leader… obviously there’s accuracy in the pass game, mobility, and decision making… such an important role… the great players are often the best leaders and the most competitive.” pic.twitter.com/0fmRX30kxO— Carlos (@LosTalksPats) February 21, 2024
If the Patriots can show Van Pelt some patience until they get the right pieces on offense again, he could do a respectable job. Certainly better than having Joe Judge and Matt Patricia share duties like in 2022, or when they tried to run it back with Bill O’Brien this past year.
6 Ken Dorsey – Cleveland Browns
- Previous Job: Bills offensive coordinator (2022-23)
Replacing Alex Van Pelt in Cleveland will be Ken Dorsey, the former Buffalo offensive coordinator who was made the scapegoat for the team’s loss to Denver last season. The Bills fired him after that game, a loss in which his running back fumbled in the open field, and his receiver tipped a pass for an interception. Not to mention the Bills lost after running 12 players on the field for a game-winning field goal that Denver missed.
Dorsey was really not the issue in Buffalo. His offense was effective and efficient, and yes, sometimes the turnovers were a big deal, but sometimes the players need to be held accountable for making bad decisions too. Josh Allen can be reckless with the ball as we know well now.
But Dorsey has shown he can competently run an elite offense, and he should have a chance to do well under Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland with a good line and the return of Nick Chubb at running back.
The only concern here is still turnovers. The Browns led the NFL with 37 giveaways, and we saw Flacco throw a pair of interceptions for touchdowns in the wild-card loss in Houston. If Dorsey fell on the sword in Buffalo for turnovers, that problem might not go away in Cleveland. But at least some regression to the mean should help cut down on that number of 37 giveaways for the Browns this year.
The Top Five Tier (Best Hires)
Our final tier is our 5 favorite hires, including some experiments from the college game, the expansion of the Sean McVay coaching tree, and a couple of proven veterans top our list.
5 Ryan Grubb – Seattle Seahawks
- Previous Job: Washington offensive coordinator/quarterbacks (2022-23)
Despite the disaster that was Urban Meyer in Jacksonville, I support bringing more college coaches into the NFL fold and seeing new ideas come to light. Maybe Ryan Grubb won’t set the league on fire, but he’s not just a hire of someone who knows Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan or Andy Reid.
Grubb is 47 years old and this is his first NFL job after spending many years in different college programs, including South Dakota State, Sioux Falls, Eastern Michigan and Fresno State.
Most recently, Grubb helped Washington turn into an elite offense with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and wide receiver Rome Odunze, who hope to be premium draft picks in the 2024 draft.
As far as traditional run concepts go, Washington ran a ton of inside zone. Great displacement to the left here by o-line, allowing Dillon Johnson to cut back behind right side blocks washing defenders down the line.
Expect to see quite a bit of this in Ryan Grubb’s run game. pic.twitter.com/HoJUtvudRK— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) February 24, 2024
While Pete Carroll always loved the running game as coach of the Seahawks, Grubb should bring a pass-heavy approach to Seattle. He has a talented thrower in Geno Smith, and he should love having DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as his wide receiver trio. Throw in Kenneth Walker in the backfield, and this could be a prominent offense again if everyone stays healthy.
Very intrigued by the potential of this hire as it’s finally someone who runs in different circles with the college game instead of the usual NFL nepotism and cronyism hire.
4 Liam Coen – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Previous Job: Kentucky offensive coordinator (2023)
Not to sound like a broken record, but Liam Coen is another hire from the Sean McVay coaching tree. Coen was coaching McVay’s wide receivers in 2018-19, he was the assistant quarterback coach in 2020, and he returned as offensive coordinator of the Rams in 2022.
That 2022 season did not go well at all for Coen, but Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp were also injured, and the team lost some great talent to injury or retirement before the season even started, including Odell Beckham Jr. (ACL) and tackle Andrew Whitworth (retired).
Coen has bounced around between the Rams and the Kentucky Wildcats in college the last few years. The Wildcats didn’t set the college football world on fire with Coen coordinating the offense, but it was 36th in the nation in scoring in 2021 with a young Will Levis at quarterback.
With Coen on the Rams in 2022, Kentucky fell to 112th in scoring despite Levis still the quarterback. With Coen back in Kentucky, the team improved to 58th in scoring in 2023 with a new quarterback.
In Tampa Bay, Coen replaces Dave Canales, who got a career year out of Baker Mayfield. The team could end up saying goodbye to longtime wideout Mike Evans, but we’ll see what Coen can cook up here for Todd Bowles.
3 Zac Robinson – Atlanta Falcons
- Previous Job: Rams quarterbacks coach & passing game coordinator (2022-23)
Sean McVay creates so many jobs that maybe he should be running for president this November.
Zac Robinson’s NFL playing career as a quarterback did not pan out, but after analyzing quarterbacks for Pro Football Focus, he was hired by McVay and the Rams in 2019. For the next 5 seasons, he served in a variety of roles, including coaching the quarterbacks and wide receivers. He also became the passing game coordinator in 2022.
With Robinson going to Atlanta, you should expect him to make better use of the talent the team has with Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts. The only thing missing is a quarterback, but when you scheme things right and use play-action passing, you can make it easier on any quarterback you start.
This was a good hire by Atlanta to pair with coach Raheem Morris, who also coached under McVay and has experience on both sides of the ball. Robinson has working experience with him, and they can gel together on how to get this offense going again in Atlanta.
2 Kellen Moore – Philadelphia Eagles
- Previous Job: Chargers offensive coordinator (2023)
Kellen Moore did not get the desired results in Los Angeles with Justin Herbert, but injuries did not help. Brandon Staley was also a Dead Man Walking coach for much of the season, and it’s no surprise the team moved on from Moore with Jim Harbaugh taking over as head coach.
Moore couldn’t seem to find the right run-pass mix with the Chargers, who had inconsistent results under him. But when Moore was the coordinator in Dallas (2019-22), you saw a pass-heavy approach that usually worked very well, including 2 seasons where the Cowboys led the league in yards gained.
The Eagles badly needed this kind of hire as Nick Sirianni and the team looked lost this year after losing both coordinators, including Shane Steichen on offense. Outside of the Tush Push, things never looked right for the Eagles compared to their Super Bowl season in 2022. The offense did not use Dallas Goedert as well as it did in 2022, and there was too much reliance on A.J. Brown.
Moore is taking over a talented roster that is in need of some refocus after a brutal finish to the season. Sirianni needs a strong coordinator presence to get the job done, and Moore should help Hurts become a more prolific passer. He also could use D’Andre Swift in more of a part-time role similar to Tony Pollard in Dallas before 2023.
1 Greg Roman – Los Angeles Chargers
- Previous Job: Ravens offensive coordinator (2019-22)
If Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers is the best new head coach hire of 2024, then we are doubling down and taking Greg Roman as the best new offensive coordinator as well.
This can go incredibly well if Harbaugh, Roman and Justin Herbert buy into each other as it is a departure from what they usually do. Herbert has never played in a true run-heavy offense, and Roman has never had a quarterback you can rely on throwing the ball 45-plus times and winning the game.
There has to be some “help me help you” going on in this pairing, as the Chargers are still built to succeed as a passing offense more than anything. But Roman has helped Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, Tyrod Taylor and Lamar Jackson all reach Pro Bowl-caliber play in this league. His offenses have usually been elite at running and above average in scoring and protecting the ball.
Greg Roman is aiming to support Justin Herbert more in 2024.@danielrpopper spoke to both of the Chargers’ new coordinators for insight on the philosophies they aim to bring to Los Angeles ⤵️https://t.co/awaYXMgEzg pic.twitter.com/fSjX7sToEX
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) February 23, 2024
When you look at some of the complaints about Roman in Baltimore, how valid were they when we just saw the Ravens bomb in another playoff game by scoring just 10 points against the Chiefs at home? They also lost a 17-10 game in Pittsburgh. The “new scheme” didn’t look very new when the Ravens failed this past year.
Herbert is almost certainly going to throw the ball less in Roman’s offense, but he also has a great shot to set career highs across the board in efficient stats such as passer rating, completion percentage, touchdown percentage, yards per attempt, QBR, and more. We’ve been waiting for that Herbert bump in efficiency all these years, and this move might be what brings it out in him.
But it is going to require some trial and error as they get comfortable with each other as Roman’s never had this kind of prolific passer before.
