Quote:Just have a feeling, and by process of elimination. None of the rest of the candidates really instills any sense of confidence in me. It seems to me that the recipe for a good head coach is this: if the guy is a new head coach, he has to have proven himself as a good defensive/offensive coordinator under a head coach whose specialty was opposite of his. If the guy has had head coaching experience before, he has to be a proven winner, or at least had a winning season. The best coaches in the league have all followed this basic formula; Bruce Arians, Todd Bowles, Gary Kubiak, etc. The only one that seems to be bucking this trend is Doug Pederson so far, 3 games into his career.

 

Jim Schwartz and Todd Haley are the popular names being bandied about right now but I have my contention with these two. Both were losing coaches, and while Haley only had 3 seasons in KC, he went crazy toward the end of his tenure and lost the locker room. That's not a good sign. Schwartz's  Detroit teams were undisciplined and basically all had the same exact problems we have now with Gus, Stafford didn't get reeled in until after Schwartz left and is now not a pick machine anymore. Schwartz wouldn't fix anything here and I don't think Haley is cut out to handle the stress that comes with coaching the Jaguars. I would not touch either of the New England coordinators with a 10 foot pole. And anyway I don't think Caldwell and Khan will go after a guy who hasn't had head coaching experience this time around.

 

Mike Smith is the only guy who will be on the market this year who will have not only plenty of experience as a head coach, but also will be the only one with a winning record as a head coach. Like Kubiak in Houston, Smith had just been in Atlanta too long and it was time to move on. Smith is the only guy who has proven himself to be a competent head coach over an extended period of time and he would field a disciplined team with a good defense. And obviously he was the DC here during the early days of the Del Rio era when the defense was great. And obviously Caldwell is very familiar with Smith from his days in Atlanta. He's also at that sweet spot in age where he's not too old but he's old enough for players to respect him as an OG.

 

But anyway, yeah, if I had to bet on who will be the head coach of this team next year I would put my money on Mike Smith.