Coaches can play such a vital role in a player’s success. They get to determine how many times a player touches the ball and how each play is going to be run. For fantasy football, they play a huge role in what a player’s ceiling is and whether or not they are going to reach it.
After a ton of research and time spent compiling data on the coaches from offensive backgrounds that currently hold an offensive coordinator or head-coaching role, I have put together a list of the top five and bottom five coaches in a variety of statistical categories at each position and jotted down my key takeaways in each. Let’s dive in!
In addition, if you would like to get more information on NFL coaches be sure to check out the 2021 Ultimate Coaching Catalog!
List of Coaches and Coordinators Accounted For
These are the 42 coaches that are accounted for in the best/worst play-caller statistics in this article
| Active Offensive-Minded NFL Coaches With Previous Experience As An NFL OC/HC | |||
| Play Caller/Coach Name | Role | Team | Games Coached |
| Jason Garrett* | Offensive Coordinator | New York Giants | 223 |
| Scott Turner* | Offensive Coordinator | Washington Football Team | 20 |
| Mike McCarthy | Head Coach | Dallas Cowboys | 316 |
| Kellen Moore* | Offensive Coordinator | Dallas Cowboys | 32 |
| Nick Sirianni* | Head Coach | Philadelphia Eagles | 48 |
| Shane Steichen | Offensive Coordinator | Philadelphia Eagles | 24 |
| Kyle Shanahan* | Head Coach | San Francisco 49ers | 208 |
| Sean McVay* | Head Coach | Los Angeles Rams | 112 |
| Kevin O’Connell | Offensive Coordinator | Los Angeles Rams | 32 |
| Kliff Kingsbury* | Head Coach | Arizona Cardinals | 32 |
| Matt Nagy* | Head Coach | Chicago Bears | 64 |
| Bill Lazor | Offensive Coordinator | Chicago Bears | 73 |
| Matt LaFleur* | Head Coach | Green Bay Packers | 64 |
| Nathaniel Hackett | Offensive Coordinator | Green Bay Packers | 100 |
| Dan Campbell | Head Coach | Detroit Lions | 12 |
| Anthony Lynn* | Offensive Coordinator | Detroit Lions | 78 |
| Arthur Smith* | Head Coach | Atlanta Falcons | 32 |
| Sean Payton* | Head Coach | New Orleans Saints | 272 |
| Pete Carmichael | Offensive Coordinator | New Orleans Saints | 192 |
| Bruce Arians | Head Coach | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 256 |
| Byron Leftwich* | Offensive Coordinator | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 41 |
| Matt Rhule | Head Coach | Carolina Panthers | 16 |
| Joe Brady* | Offensive Coordinator | Carolina Panthers | 16 |
| Eric Studesville | Offensive Coordinator | Miami Dolphins | 4 |
| George Godsey* | Offensive Coordinator | Miami Dolphins | 32 |
| Brian Daboll* | Offensive Coordinator | Buffalo Bills | 112 |
| Josh McDaniels* | Offensive Coordinator | New England Patriots | 236 |
| Pat Shurmur* | Offensive Coordinator | Denver Broncos | 185 |
| Joe Lombardi* | Offensive Coordinator | Los Angeles Chargers | 23 |
| Andy Reid* | Head Coach | Kansas City Chiefs | 352 |
| Eric Bieniemy | Offensive Coordinator | Kansas City Chiefs | 48 |
| Jon Gruden* | Head Coach | Las Vegas Raiders | 272 |
| Greg Olson | Offensive Coordinator | Las Vegas Raiders | 188 |
| Kevin Stefanski* | Head Coach | Cleveland Browns | 35 |
| Alex Van Pelt | Offensive Coordinator | Cleveland Browns | 32 |
| Greg Roman* | Offensive Coordinator | Baltimore Ravens | 114 |
| Zac Taylor* | Head Coach | Cincinnati Bengals | 37 |
| Brian Callahan | Offensive Coordinator | Cincinnati Bengals | 32 |
| Frank Reich* | Head Coach | Indianapolis Colts | 112 |
| Todd Downing* | Offensive Coordinator | Tennessee Titans | 16 |
| Darrell Bevell* | Offensive Coordinator | Jacksonville Jaguars | 223 |
| Tim Kelly* | Offensive Coordinator | Houston Texans | 32 |
*The asterisk next to the name of the coach denotes that they are expected to be the primary play-caller for the 2021-2022 season
Coaches Not Accounted For
| Defensive/Special Teams NFL Head Coaches Not Accounted For | |||
| Coach Name | Role | Team |
Games Coached (HC)
|
| Joe Judge | Head Coach | New York Giants | 16 |
| Ron Rivera | Head Coach | Washington Football Team | 160 |
| Pete Carroll | Head Coach | Seattle Seahawks | 240 |
| Mike Zimmer | Head Coach | Minnesota Vikings | 112 |
| Bill Belichick | Head Coach | New England Patriots | 416 |
| Sean McDermott | Head Coach | Buffalo Bills | 64 |
| Robert Saleh | Head Coach | New York Jets | |
| Brian Flores | Head Coach | Miami Dolphins | 32 |
| Vic Fangio | Head Coach | Denver Broncos | 32 |
| Brandon Staley | Head Coach |
Los Angeles Chargers
|
|
| Mike Tomlin | Head Coach | Pittsburgh Steelers | 224 |
| John Harbaugh | Head Coach | Baltimore Ravens | 208 |
| Mike Vrabel | Head Coach | Tennessee Titans | 48 |
| Active Offensive-Minded NFL Coaches With No Previous Experience As An NFL OC/HC | |||
| Play Caller/Coach Name | Role | Team |
Games Coached (OC/HC)
|
| Mike McDaniel | Offensive Coordinator | San Francisco 49ers | None |
| Shane Waldron* | Offensive Coordinator | Seattle Seahawks | None |
| Klint Kubiak* | Offensive Coordinator | Minnesota Vikings | None |
| Dave Ragone | Offensive Coordinator | Atlanta Falcons | None |
| Mike LaFleur* | Offensive Coordinator | New York Jets |
At least 11 college games
|
| Matt Canada* | Offensive Coordinator | Pittsburgh Steelers | 175 college games |
| Marcus Brady | Offensive Coordinator | Indianapolis Colts | 108 CFL games |
| Urban Meyer | Head Coach | Jacksonville Jaguars | 219 college games |
| David Culley | Head Coach | Houston Texans | 23 college games |
Photo by Kevin Reece/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)