Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay have seen a great deal of success in their young head coaching careers.
Sean McVay has been to two Super Bowls and won one of them. Zac Taylor made it to a Super Bowl just two years after being hired as the head coach of the Bengals. Taylor returned to the AFC Championship Game the very next year.
When Sean McVay was originally hired at 30-years-old, he was the youngest hire in NFL history. He had no head coaching experience in the NFL at the time of his hiring. Zac Taylor was a quarterbacks coach under Sean McVay when he was hired in his mid-30s.
NFL teams don’t want to spend big money on proven head coaches when young, cheap coaches like Zac Taylor and Sean McVay have had so much success
During this year’s coaching carousel, former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll both found themselves without a job. Belichick is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NFL with six Super Bowl wins.
Pete Carroll brought a Super Bowl to Seattle and rarely saw losing seasons during his time with the Seahawks. Belichick and Carroll were the two oldest coaches in the NFL and would’ve likely demanded a decent salary given their illustrious resumes.
Before being fired, Belichick was the highest-paid coach in the NFL with a $20 million annual salary. Carroll wasn’t far behind as the third highest-paid coach in the NFL with a $15 million salary. Zac Taylor is still the third lowest-paid coach in the NFL with a salary of $4.5 million.
Sean McVay has signed contract extensions to increase his pay, but he was not demanding the $15 million annual salary when he was originally hired as the youngest coach in NFL history.
When organizations around the NFL saw the success that could be had with young, cheap coaches, they lost interest in paying top-dollar for proven head coaches. Even former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who demanded $9.5 million a year, couldn’t find another head coaching job despite sustained success with the Titans.
Jim Harbaugh is the only new head coach that doesn’t fit the Zac Taylor-Sean McVay mold
This year’s coaching carousel saw eight different teams find new head coaches. Among those eight new head coaches, new Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was the only one who was a proven NFL head coach.
Harbaugh took the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl before leaving to lead the Michigan Wolverines to the national championship.
49ers vs Ravens, Super Bowl 47 Final Drive 💔!
Definitely should have given the ball to Frank Gore here & let him pound it in. Instead, we’d turn it over & downs & come up short of ring #6. #49ers #FTTB #49ersvsRavens pic.twitter.com/nexxi5WBbS
— Chris – NFL Content (@chrissantosss_) February 9, 2024
Every other coach hired has not shown the ability to be successful as a head coach in the NFL. The Seahawks hired Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who is now the youngest head coach in the NFL at 36-years-old.
The Carolina Panthers hired former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales, who has just one year of experience as a coordinator in the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons hire, Raheem Morris, does have head coaching experience. He went 17-31 as the Buccaneers head coach and 4-7 as the Falcons head coach in 2020.
Morris, like Washington Commanders hire Dan Quinn, was not particularly successful as a head coach. Quinn did lead the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016 but suffered one of the worst Super Bowl losses in the history of the NFL. He went 0-5 in 2020 before being fired in his last stint as a head coach.
February 5, 2017: The Falcons blow a 28-3 lead, and the Patriots win Super Bowl LI 34-28 in overtime in Houston. pic.twitter.com/bcrGE4wPaz
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) February 5, 2021
New Titans head coach Brian Callahan almost exactly follows the mold of Zac Taylor. He served under Taylor as the offensive coordinator for the Bengals and is getting his first opportunity as a head coach at 39-years-old. The Titans explained their hire in a statement on their website.
“During his time with the Bengals, he was trusted with a number of responsibilities—offensive design, quarterback development, a contributor to the free agency and draft processes—and showed the ability to be a resource in all of those areas. As we seek sustained success and pursue a championship, Brian has seen firsthand what that looks like, and he is the right person to lead us there.
New England Patriots head coach Jerrod Mayo and Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce are similar in that they were former players hired from within. Pierce hadn’t even been a coordinator in the NFL before becoming the interim head coach for the latter portion of the 2023 season. Mayo hasn’t been a coordinator in the NFL either.
The coaching carousel of this offseason has proven that NFL teams are willing to risk the hiring of an unproven head coach instead of going for a more expensive, proven coach. A lot of things go into the success of a football team and it may be difficult to justify an extreme salary when proven coaches may not be able to succeed due to external factors.
The success of Sean McVay and Zac Taylor in recent years has altered the landscape of coaching hires for the foreseeable future.
Get More NFL and College Football Content
For more news and trends in the college football world, click here or follow me on Twitter @KusleikaAndrew.