3 new NFC 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 NFC 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. You can find the AFC list here.
Atlanta Falcons OC Steve Sarkisian
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What Kyle Shanahan did with Atlanta's offense last year was truly remarkable. Now, Sarkisian has the unenviable task of trying to keep the league's best offense of 2016 as strong as it was a year ago.
Shanahan is a master game planner and play-caller with a great ability to adjust during the course of a game. Meanwhile, Sarkisian doesn't have much NFL experience and has never been a play-caller at this level. As you would expect, Sarkisian isn't expected to change much in Atlanta; we should still see a heavy dosage of outside zone scheme as the foundation of the offense.
There will be designed quarterback movement, no huddle, play action, multiple tight end and running backs sets as we have seen. But to expect Sarkisian to be as good at coordinating as Shanahan was last year is unrealistic. Also, the chance of Atlanta's entire offensive line staying healthy for all 16 games is highly unlikely to repeat again.
While this is a very talented offense led by Matt Ryan, the depth at wide receiver and up front is not ideal. This offense is bound for some regression.
Los Angeles Rams OC Matt LaFleur
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LaFleur is the offensive coordinator, but the reality is that he is head coach Sean McVay's right-hand man on this side of the ball. Los Angeles has been aggressive this offseason in building around last year's first overall pick, Jared Goff. That includes the hiring of McVay, who comes over from Washington.
Jay Gruden had a huge amount of influence over the Redskins' offense, but this is an ideal hire for Goff. Adding Andrew Whitworth, Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins, and others also shouldn't hurt. McVay helped do wonders with Kirk Cousins. Goff has more natural ability than Cousins, and Todd Gurley is a far more talented ball carrier than anyone McVay had in Washington.
We'll see a lot of play-action passing and plenty of deep shots from multiple tight-end sets. This is also an offense that utilizes pre-snap motion very well to help the quarterback read the defense and isolate the best weapons in 1-on-1 situations.
As for LaFleur, he has been the Falcons' quarterback coach the last two years and worked in the same capacity with McVay in Washington for three years before that. His time with Shanahan should prove fruitful for the Rams as well. Expect the Rams' offense to be noticeably improved in 2017.
Los Angeles Rams DC Wade Phillips
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Everyone knows Phillips' reputation as one of the top defensive coordinators in the history of the game.
He comes over from Denver, where he was in charge of the 2015 Super Bowl championship team that arrived at that honor on the back of its amazing defense. With McVay concentrating on the offensive side of the ball, the Rams' defense will belong to Phillips, who had already been coaching for 10 years when McVay was born!
As outstanding as Phillips' resume is, some were concerned that a coordinator that favors a 3-4 would be messing with a good thing. The Rams were a 4-3 defense under Jeff Fisher - and a very good one at that. However, in Phillips' scheme, the difference is minimal.
This is an attacking penetrating unit that will best use the great talents of Aaron Donald. Also, don't be surprised if Robert Quinn, often coming from a two-point stance, gets back to being one of the elite edge-rushers in the NFL under Phillips.
While Los Angeles doesn't have the Broncos' great cornerbacks to play Phillips' preferred man coverage at Denver's level, this is a coach that has instantly improved the defense in every stop he's made over his long and illustrious career.