Which former head coach will be a head coach next season?
By: Menachem Ickovitz
We have previously mentioned current offensive and defensive coordinators who would be good fits for head coaching vacancies this off-season. In this article, we will take a look at three former NFL head coaches who are currently not coaching who could return to coaching in 2022.
Marvin Lewis
Marvin Lewis is currently a special advisor at Arizona State, working alongside former NFL coach Herm Edwards. Prior to Lewis’ tenure at Arizona State, he was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals from 2003 ”“ 2018.
His career record of 131 ”“ 122 ”“ 3 is good for a .518 winning percentage, but his 0 ”“ 7 playoff record is a big reason why the Bengals let him go after the 2018 season. Lewis’ was the last coach for the Bengals since Bill Johnson in 1978 to leave the team with a winning record.
Lewis is a defensive-minded coach, which some teams might be looking for. There is an ebb and flow to how coaching hires typically go and with the emergence of coaches like Robert Saleh of the New York Jets and Brandon Staley of the Los Angeles Chargers, there is a recent trend towards defensive coaches.
Doug Pederson
Doug Pederson is a Super Bowl-winning head coach. After a career as a backup quarterback, Pederson got into coaching. He worked for Andy Reid with both the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs before getting the opportunity to be a head coach for the Eagles from 2016 ”“ 2020.
A recent trend is for a fired coach to take a season off and “relearn” the NFL. Mike McCarthy did it and is currently the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Jason Garrett did not do that and now, after getting fired as the Offensive Coordinator of the New York Giants, it will take him some time to get back as a head coach.
Of the known/presumed options, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders would both be excellent landing spots for Pederson. In both situations, he could bring his offensive coaching to teams with quality offensive players.
Jim Caldwell
Jim Caldwell is one of the best coaching candidates that doesn’t get talked about enough. He is an offensive-minded coach and has had success in the NFL with both the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions. After going 9 ”“ 7 for the Lions in 2017, he was fired and the Lions have been much worse since he left.
Caldwell started his coaching career in 1977 and besides his NFL head coaching experience, he was head coach at Wake Forest for eight seasons from 1993 ”“ 2000.
Caldwell coached Kerry Collins at Penn State, Peyton Manning with the Colts and Matthew Stafford while with the Lions. With that track record with quarterbacks, a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars or Chicago Bears, who will be going into 2022 with second-year quarterbacks, would be a good fit for Jim Caldwell.
