3 new AFC coordinators to watch in 2017
Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns and spent 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast."
Professional football is a fluid, ever-changing line of work for both players and coaches. Stability within an organization and coaching staff is something few teams can boast from year to year, but all that change also opens the door for new people to move up and step up.
Below are coordinators in the AFC that we're really excited to see in their new homes. It turns out that in this conference, the most notable new coordinators are familiar names. Look for the NFC later in the week.
Cleveland Browns DC Gregg Williams
Remember "Bounty Gate"? Yup, that happened during Williams' time with New Orleans, resulting in him being suspended for the entire 2012 season. Since then, he has served as Jeff Fisher’s defensive coordinator with the Rams, and became available after that organization moved on from its longtime head coach.
That could work in Cleveland's favor, as Williams will surely bring an attitude with him that this defense has missed for some time. He has been coaching at the NFL level for a long time, and actually learned much of his craft under Buddy Ryan, which explains his aggressive approach.
Williams comes after quarterbacks and wants every member of his defense to play with an edge. The Browns were a 3-4 base defense last year under Ray Horton, but Williams is a 4-3 guy. That correlates very well with the drafting of super prospect Myles Garrett as a longtime fixture at defensive end. With the Rams, Williams utilized former safety Mark Barron as a linebacker.
That also correlates well with another Browns first-round draft pick, Jabrill Peppers. Cleveland showcased one of the league’s worst defenses in 2016, but Williams now has more talent to work with than Horton did, and his addition alone could really make this young unit fun to watch. This Browns defense will be noticeably better than last year's version.
Denver Broncos OC Mike McCoy
McCoy, the Chargers' head coach from 2013-2016, is another familiar name. His team lost a stunning number of close games in every way imaginable, and also suffered several injuries during his tenure.
The wide receivers and offensive line were hit especially hard with injuries, and both positions were areas of concern last year. But McCoy is an excellent offensive mind. While with San Diego, he changed the way quarterback Philip Rivers played the game, and the scheme overall.
Instead of having Rivers take deep drops and wait for long developing routes to unfold, McCoy took advantage of his quarterback's excellent pre-snap skills and mind for the game. Because of his thin supporting cast, Rivers still took a beating, but the philosophy was sound.
The Broncos have no one at the most important position that even resembles Rivers, but McCoy has shown he's very much able to change his philosophy around his QB.
In fact, McCoy was the Broncos' offensive coordinator for three seasons with the likes of Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow, and Peyton Manning as his quarterbacks. First-time head coach Vance Joseph would be wise to just hand the offensive side of the ball over to McCoy. It will be in good hands.
Los Angeles Chargers DC Gus Bradley
Bradley went from being the Seahawks' defensive coordinator, where he was wildly successful, to the head coach at Jacksonville, where he was wildly unsuccessful, winning less than 23 percent of his games.
There's no denying Jacksonville was a terrible football team under Bradley, but the defense started to take shape at the end of his tenure. As was the case in Jacksonville, he's transforming the Chargers' defense in the mirror image of his successful squad in Seattle. In some ways, that's an odd fit, especially at cornerback.
Los Angeles has excellent cornerbacks that excel in man-to-man coverage in Jason Verrett and Casey Hayward. But while Bradley will employ a fair amount of man coverage, his scheme is rather zone-based, with Cover 3 principles at its foundation.
Now, that isn't to say Hayward and Verrett won't excel in this new scheme, or that Bradley won't adjust to fit their great strengths, but, physically, these two certainly don't fit the Richard Sherman mold in terms of size that Seattle covets at the position.
In the defensive front, Los Angeles should transition well. Joey Bosa is ideal for the Michael Bennett role and Melvin Ingram should excel being asked to do much of what was asked of Cliff Avril in Seattle.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)