As we head into Super Bowl week in the NFL, all nine of the head coaching vacancies around the league have now been filled. Of those nine new head coaches, four are retread head coaches and two of them even made Super Bowls. However, of the group, only three of them have ever called offensive plays in the league before, three have called defensive plays, two have never called any plays in the NFL, and one used to call plays at a previous spot but did not in 2021. Here is how we ranked the hires, from worst to first.

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Ranking the nine NFL head coach hires during the 2022 carousel

9. Lovie Smith | Houston Texans | Grade: F

Smith hasn’t led a team to a winning record in over a decade, his defense finished near the bottom of the league in 2021 and he will be 64 years old when the season kicks off. The Texans predictably had trouble getting out of their way during the hiring process and only leaked Smith as a candidate a day before hiring him. His name was never considered to be in the running for the job up until the moment he was announced as the front-runner. The Texans could have done better here…or could they? Regardless, this move easily ranks as the worst one of the 2022 NFL head coaching cycle.

8. Mike McDaniel | Miami Dolphins | Grade: D-

Another misguided organization with a head-scratching move. McDaniel didn’t interview for any other openings, he has never called offensive plays, and he never played in the NFL or college. Miami must have seen something in the 38-year-old Yale graduate because they got rid of a coach in Brian Flores that seemed to be maximizing his talent to bring in McDaniel, the former San Francisco 49ers assistant that was credited in large part to the usage of Deebo Samuel down the stretch of the 2021 season.

7. Dennis Allen | New Orleans Saints | Grade:  D

The second retread on this list, Saints’ new head coach Dennis Allen, is also an uninspiring choice, for two reasons. One, the team seemed to not consider any other outside candidates, instead, they seemed intent on giving Allen the job from the get-go. And second, there seemed to be real genuine interest from Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy, who has been very selective in his interviews because he is likely the head coach in waiting in Kansas City. This might have been the Saints’ last chance to pry Bienemy away, and they failed to jump at the chance when he gave it to them by interviewing.

6. Matt Eberflus | Chicago Bears | Grade: D+

Interestingly enough, Eberflus was originally scheduled to come to Indianapolis as a member of Josh McDaniels’ coaching staff before the latter backed out of an agreement to become the head coach of the Colts. Eberflus stayed with the team even as Frank Reich was named head coach and the rest is history. While we do like the Eberflus hire because his defenses are top-notch, we just don’t necessarily feel that this was in the best interest of young Bears quarterback Justin Fields. While having a dependable defense can be big for a signal-caller, it has been shown recently that quarterbacks blossom when they are around the right offensive system. For the Bears’ sake, they had better hope that new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is the key to unlocking Fields’ potential.

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5. Nathaniel Hackett | Denver Broncos | Grade: C-

The aforementioned Getsy is one of two coaches from the Green Bay Packers coaching staff that did not call plays in 2021 that will be doing so in 2022, the other is the Broncos new head coach, Nathaniel Hackett. While the hiring of Hackett gets just a C- from us as of now due to his inexperience as a head coach, his track record of average offenses, and the lack of playcalling at his last stop, it can easily be moved up to an A if he can lure quarterback Aaron Rodgers to Denver. Rodgers has said he is not looking to be a part of a rebuild and if the Packers change their minds and intend to start from scratch as a team, then the Broncos need to swoop in and make a trade happen with Green Bay.

4. Kevin O’Connell | Minnesota Vikings | Grade: C

O’Connell is the highest graded hire on this list to not have called offensive plays. If you haven’t caught on. to the theme by now, there isn’t much hope for you anymore, because we have pretty much beat it into the ground that calling offensive plays is a huge plus for a new head coach. For one, it shows that they are up to date on how to attack current NFL defenses, and two, it shows that they have experience in not cracking under pressure. The success that McVay has had going from not calling plays to being a head coach has made it look easy for anyone to do, but the reality is that it is far from a sure thing that a guy like O’Connell will work out, especially early on. Don’t forget, former McVay assistant Zac Taylor was looking like a terrible hire up until this season.

3. Doug Pederson | Philadelphia Eagles | Grade: C+

Pederson comes just short of getting a B grade, but we had to put it at a C+ because he was out of the league in 2021. Typically, when coaches take a year away from the league, it does not do them any good (see Mike McCarthy), but Pederson has a Super Bowl trophy that is a lot more recent than McCarthy and that championship had Pederson’s fingerprints all over it. He may have run his course in Philadelphia, due in part to his inability to diagnose weaknesses in Carson Wentz’s game and fix them but Wentz going to Indianapolis and having many of the same issues certainly made Pederson look better.

2. Brian Daboll | New York Giants | Grade: B

Daboll has done wonders working with Josh Allen in Buffalo and has earned this job after years as an assistant in the league. What we like most about Daboll is that he designed one of the league’s best passing attacks over the past two years and passing has become a huge part of the NFL today. If Daboll can get Giants quarterback Daniel Jones paying at a level anywhere near Allen’s play, this will be a playoff team in no time. If he is not able to fix Jones, however, it will likely signal to the franchise that it is time to move on from their young QB. Knowing whether Jones is an extendable player or not will be crucial to the Giants 2022 season.

1. Josh McDaniels | Las Vegas Raiders | Grade: A

The best hire of the 2022 NFL head carousel is easily the Las Vegas Raiders hiring Josh McDaniels away from the Patriots. McDaniels is a multiple-time Super Bowl winner as offensive coordinator of the Patriots has worked under the best coach of all time for almost two decades and is one of the brightest offensive minds in the game. Even after all these years while the game has passed so many offensive play-callers by, McDaniels has been Mr. Consistent out there, along with Andy Reid. McDaniels is heading to a Raiders team that is in desperate need of a culture change and embracing the “Patriot Way” is certainly a good place to start.