For the second straight year, the NFLPA is putting together a team report card, but this year, there’s a slight difference. For the 2023 report cards, each player in the league was asked to anonymously rate their offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator or special teams coach.
Although the full report card won’t be released until later this year (You can see last year’s report card here), the NFLPA did reveal the coordinators who ranked in the top-five of the player survey. The NFLPA said it’s only releasing the top-five names because it wants to “highlight and focus on the positive impact coaches can have on players across the league. We also want to ensure that players’ opinions are heard and accounted for by clubs ahead of the next hiring cycle.”
By releasing these names, it sounds like the NFLPA would like to see some of the coordinators on this list be considered for any upcoming head coaching openings.
With that in mind, let’s get to the top-five coordinators:
Top 5 Offensive Coordinators
1. Dolphins: Frank Smith
2. Panthers: Thomas Brown
3. Cowboys: Brian Schottenheimer
4. Bengals: Brian Callahan
5. Chargers: Kellen Moore
One interesting part of this list is that two high-profile offensive coordinators are missing: Eric Bieniemy (Commanders) and Ben Johnson (Lions). It will be interesting to see if this list has any impact on their head coaching candidacies because both guys will almost certainly being interviewing for at least one or more head coaching jobs this offseason. Also, don’t be surprised if Smith becomes a hot head coaching candidate this offseason.
Top 5 Defensive Coordinators
1. Lions: Aaron Glenn
2. 49ers: Steve Wilks
3. Cowboys: Dan Quinn
4. Vikings: Brian Flores
5. Rams: Raheem Morris
This list is filled with some serious experience. Of the five guys listed, four of them have been a head coach before. The only one who hasn’t is Glenn, but it won’t be surprising if he lands a head coaching job or at least a head coaching interview in the near future.
Top 5 Special Teams Coordinators
1. Cowboys: John Fassel
2. Panthers: Chris Tabor
3. Vikings: Matt Daniels
4. Lions: Dave Fipp
5. Saints: Darren Rizzi
On the special teams end, Fassel has been one of the best in the business for nearly two decades and it’s clear that whatever he’s doing is working, because not only is he successful, but he’s well-liked, which is a solid combination in the coaching world.
When it comes to these rankings, the biggest winner was definitely the Cowboys, who ended up being the only team in the NFL to land a coach on the top-five of each list. The Vikings, Lions and Panthers were the only other teams who even landed two coaches in the rankings.
If you’re wondering how the NFLPA compiled these rankings, the The union hired a research firm to survey players between Aug. 28 and Nov. 16, 2023. A total of 864 offensive players rated their offensive coordinator, 774 defensive players rated their defensive coordinator and 1,025 special teams players rated their special teams coordinator.
