Ranking the 32 Offensive Play Callers in the NFL

Not Rated on abilities to be/as a Head Coach, just play calling.

1st - Josh McDaniels
2nd - Hue Jackson
3rd - Kyle Shanahan
4th - Sean Payton
5th - Todd Haley
6th - Gary Kubiak
7th - Bruce Arians
8th - Andy Reed
9th - Mike McCoy

10th - Scott Linehan
11th - Doug Pederson
12th - Rod Chudzinski
13th - Adam Gase
14th - Mike McCarthy
15th - Bill O'Brien
16th - Ben McAdoo
17th - Jay Gruden
18th - Bill Musgrave
19th - Dirk Koetter

20th - Jim Bob Cooter
21st - Chip Kelly
22nd - Darrell Bevell
23rd - Chan Gailey
24th - Mike Mularkey
25th - Marty Mornhinweg
26th - Mike Shula
27th - Pat Shurmur
28th - Rob Boras
29th - Nathaniel Hackett

30th - Anthony Lynn (Rookie)
31st - Ken Zampese (Rookie)
32nd - Dowell Loggains (Rookie)

UPDATE 1: Dropped Norv Turner to 23rd.
UPDATE 2: Raised Bevell to 22nd.
UPDATE 3: Nathaniel Hackett replaces the fired Greg Olsen @ 29.
UPDATE 4: Pat Shurmur replaces the now resigned Norv Turner. Also drops to 27th.

The Saints have had a top 5 offense offense (ypg) every year since Sean Payton arrived in New Orleans, and they have only finished outside of the top 10 in scoring once. I am not sure what qualifies you to be #1 overall, but with results like that, I am dumfounded as to how Hue, Kyle, and Josh are ahead of him.

An offense that made the following improvement in total offense is indicative of the 25th worst play caller in the NFL?

2012 - 17th ---> 2013 - 18th ---> 2014 - 9th ---> 2015 - 4th

We honestly may have the worst fans in the NFL.

The funny thing is that outside of Seattle, Bevell is regarded as one of the best play callers.

75% of fan bases dislike their O-Coordinator. They are the easy scapegoat for a bad offense.

Only O-Coordinator's I'd probably rather have than Bevell are: Haley, McDaniels, and Hue Jackson.

Do Seahawk fans know how ridiculous you sound when you say you'd rather have O-Coordinators on awful offenses like the Giants or Jets over what we have. Wake up guys. Whether you like him or not, Bevell is easily top 10 at his position, you are just biased because you follow the Seahawks. I have friends in NY and everyone has been wanting Gailey fired for the last year. Every GB fan has wanted Mike McCarthy fired for quite some time now. The list goes on.

Great post.

Fade":ocmxtom0 said:

Not Rated on abilities to be/as a Head Coach, just play calling.

1st - Josh McDaniels
2nd - Hue Jackson
3rd - Kyle Shanahan
4th - Sean Payton
5th - Todd Haley
6th - Gary Kubiak
7th - Bruce Arians
8th - Andy Reed
9th - Mike McCoy

10th - Scott Linehan
11th - Doug Pederson
12th - Rod Chudzinski
13th - Adam Gase
14th - Mike McCarthy
15th - Bill O'Brien
16th - Ben McAdoo
17th - Jay Gruden
18th - Bill Musgrave
19th - Norv Turner

20th - Dirk Koetter
21st - Jim Bob Cooter
22nd - Chip Kelly
23rd - Chan Gailey
24th - Mike Mularkey
25th - Darrell Bevell
26th - Marty Mornhinweg
27th - Mike Shula
28th - Rob Boras
29th - Greg Olson

30th - Anthony Lynn (Rookie)
31st - Ken Zampese (Rookie)
32nd - Dowell Loggains (Rookie)

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DB is about 7 spots too high IMHO. 8)

Norv Turner is too high...

Bevell and Turner have to be the worst OC in the entire league in that they dont develop game plans for the personell they have...its rediculous.

If anyone watched that Viking game it was the exact same thing as our game. No help for the tackles and both QBs got alot of pressure in their face

It was clear the Vikings offense was way better in Shotgun but when AP came back Norv tries to force this 2TE 1FB IForm all day. Bridgewater with AP out actually played pretty good but then AP comes back and they go back to this old school offense and he sucks...I wonder why

WilsonMVP":608ic7jn said:

Norv Turner is too high...

Bevell and Turner have to be the worst OC in the entire league in that they dont develop game plans for the personell they have...its rediculous.

If anyone watched that Viking game it was the exact same thing as our game. No help for the tackles and both QBs got alot of pressure in their face

It was clear the Vikings offense was way better in Shotgun but when AP came back Norv tries to force this 2TE 1FB IForm all day. Bridgewater with AP out actually played pretty good but then AP comes back and they go back to this old school offense and he sucks...I wonder why

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Nice of you claiming to know more than a 35+ year distinguished offensive mind in the NFL.

I bet if you were invested in all 32 teams like you are the Seahawks you'd have a very different opinion.

This is just another negative Bevell thread wearing a wig, dress and makeup.

Hawk-Lock":3uo7fzhb said:

The funny thing is that outside of Seattle, Bevell is regarded as one of the best play callers.

75% of fan bases dislike their O-Coordinator. They are the easy scapegoat for a bad offense.

Only O-Coordinator's I'd probably rather have than Bevell are: Haley, McDaniels, and Hue Jackson.

Do Seahawk fans know how ridiculous you sound when you say you'd rather have O-Coordinators on awful offenses like the Giants or Jets over what we have. Wake up guys. Whether you like him or not, Bevell is easily top 10 at his position, you are just biased because you follow the Seahawks. I have friends in NY and everyone has been wanting Gailey fired for the last year. Every GB fan has wanted Mike McCarthy fired for quite some time now. The list goes on.

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Bevell regarded as one of the best playcallers outside of Seattle? I don't know what fans you're hanging around. Most NFL fans outside of Seattle remember him for his ill fated playcall at the end of the Superbowl against the Patriots.

drrew":2z46loxg said:

An offense that made the following improvement in total offense is indicative of the 25th worst play caller in the NFL?

2012 - 17th ---> 2013 - 18th ---> 2014 - 9th ---> 2015 - 4th ---> 2016 - 28th

We honestly may have the worst fans in the NFL.

Click to expand...

Small fix there.

NINEster":3q9th3yn said:

WilsonMVP":3q9th3yn said:

Norv Turner is too high...

Bevell and Turner have to be the worst OC in the entire league in that they dont develop game plans for the personell they have...its rediculous.

If anyone watched that Viking game it was the exact same thing as our game. No help for the tackles and both QBs got alot of pressure in their face

It was clear the Vikings offense was way better in Shotgun but when AP came back Norv tries to force this 2TE 1FB IForm all day. Bridgewater with AP out actually played pretty good but then AP comes back and they go back to this old school offense and he sucks...I wonder why

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Nice of you claiming to know more than a 35+ year distinguished offensive mind in the NFL.

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The stats are there....but because "Adrian cant run from Shotgun" they cater to him instead of the QB....Im not wrong its the truth.

Its part of the reason I thought the offense might actually be better with a more dynamic back like Mckinnon who can catch and be a threat in the passing game

Bevell has Wilson as his QB, Graham as one of the best TE in the league and an ELITE, maybe BEST OF ALL TIME defense to help him out and this is the kind of offense we can muster...its embarrasing. I dont think anyone on this forum is begging for an elite offense we would ALL just settle for NFL average...and if we did that we would probably win 13 games a year

I honestly feel like the gameplan is to just dink around until the end of half and then if we are close in the 2nd half just play it ULTRA conservative and try to hit a few plays and let the D close the game out. We have ZERO killer instinct on offense. Its funny how night and day the offense is compared to the D. The offense has absolutely ZERO pride

Overseasfan":3oof3j0o said:

drrew":3oof3j0o said:

An offense that made the following improvement in total offense is indicative of the 25th worst play caller in the NFL?

2012 - 17th ---> 2013 - 18th ---> 2014 - 9th ---> 2015 - 4th ---> 2016 - 28th

We honestly may have the worst fans in the NFL.

Click to expand...

Small fix there.

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Season ended? Hawks won the division? Great news, who do they host next week?

Sorry but I can't take this list seriously. It's a fan making his own assumptions with a clear bias. Ask any Packer fan and they'd rank Mike McCarthy dead last. Does he deserve to be last, no. But they're Packer fans. Ask any Jets fan where Gailey belongs, they'll say last. As great as Andy Reid is, at times KC fans wanted him to give up his play calling duties last year when they were struggling. I have friends in NY and none of them can stand McAdoo as either a head coach or offensive coordinator.

My point is this. Most fan bases hate their O-Coordinator. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Bevell may not be the best, but he is far from the worst. But the list just isn't good. The fact that you have Bevell behind some of the worst offenses in the NFL like the Packers, Giants, Jets, Dolphins, and Texans. Now just because those offenses that I listed are struggling doesn't necessarily make them bad O-Coordinators, but all those guys are behind Bevell IMO. Peyton Manning basically gave Gase and Mike McCoy their head coaching jobs, so I'll just throw that out there. And that brings up another point, O-Coordinators are usually only as good as their offense. Gase went from being a genious in Denver to fans in Miami wanting him gone after their poor start (although it seems like he has turned things around).

WilsonMVP":1qx5icic said:

Norv Turner is too high...

Bevell and Turner have to be the worst OC in the entire league in that they dont develop game plans for the personell they have...its rediculous.

If anyone watched that Viking game it was the exact same thing as our game. No help for the tackles and both QBs got alot of pressure in their face

It was clear the Vikings offense was way better in Shotgun but when AP came back Norv tries to force this 2TE 1FB IForm all day. Bridgewater with AP out actually played pretty good but then AP comes back and they go back to this old school offense and he sucks...I wonder why

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After more thought. I agree, he is a little too high. I was thinking more about the Norv Turner 10 years ago than the Norv Turner Now. I will update my list.

El Caliente":1f1mdhna said:

The Saints have had a top 5 offense offense (ypg) every year since Sean Payton arrived in New Orleans, and they have only finished outside of the top 10 in scoring once. I am not sure what qualifies you to be #1 overall, but with results like that, I am dumfounded as to how Hue, Kyle, and Josh are ahead of him.

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Drew Brees.

Hawk-Lock":2kyjkq2r said:

Sorry but I can't take this list seriously. It's a fan making his own assumptions with a clear bias. Ask any Packer fan and they'd rank Mike McCarthy dead last. Does he deserve to be last, no. But they're Packer fans. Ask any Jets fan where Gailey belongs, they'll say last. As great as Andy Reid is, at times KC fans wanted him to give up his play calling duties last year when they were struggling. I have friends in NY and none of them can stand McAdoo as either a head coach or offensive coordinator.

My point is this. Most fan bases hate their O-Coordinator. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Bevell may not be the best, but he is far from the worst. But the list just isn't good. The fact that you have Bevell behind some of the worst offenses in the NFL like the Packers, Giants, Jets, Dolphins, and Texans. Now just because those offenses that I listed are struggling doesn't necessarily make them bad O-Coordinators, but all those guys are behind Bevell IMO. Peyton Manning basically gave Gase and Mike McCoy their head coaching jobs, so I'll just throw that out there. And that brings up another point, O-Coordinators are usually only as good as their offense. Gase went from being a genious in Denver to fans in Miami wanting him gone after their poor start (although it seems like he has turned things around).

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The Packers are 13th in Offense. Hardly the worst.

Gase has done well wherever he has gone, and has the players play above their talent level.

Mike McCoy has the 2nd rated offense in the NFL, despite a ridiculous amount of injuries.

Brock Osweiler would make any play caller look bad. Same for Fitzpatrick.

McAdoo is a good player caller, he is not a head coach, he is in over his head.

Meanwhile Bevell has RW a top 5 QB in his 5th season (continuity). Jimmy Graham a top 5 TE, & ADB a top 5 slot receiver, and all Bevell can muster is the 28th rated offense. I rated him 25th, giving him the benefit of the doubt. I don't see the problem here.

I am open to changing my list provided a compelling reason is brought forth. I dropped Norv Turner for example.

Not speaking to you, but in general, whining & crying about the rankings isn't a reason.

Fade":3plj3mig said:

Hawk-Lock":3plj3mig said:

Sorry but I can't take this list seriously. It's a fan making his own assumptions with a clear bias. Ask any Packer fan and they'd rank Mike McCarthy dead last. Does he deserve to be last, no. But they're Packer fans. Ask any Jets fan where Gailey belongs, they'll say last. As great as Andy Reid is, at times KC fans wanted him to give up his play calling duties last year when they were struggling. I have friends in NY and none of them can stand McAdoo as either a head coach or offensive coordinator.

My point is this. Most fan bases hate their O-Coordinator. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Bevell may not be the best, but he is far from the worst. But the list just isn't good. The fact that you have Bevell behind some of the worst offenses in the NFL like the Packers, Giants, Jets, Dolphins, and Texans. Now just because those offenses that I listed are struggling doesn't necessarily make them bad O-Coordinators, but all those guys are behind Bevell IMO. Peyton Manning basically gave Gase and Mike McCoy their head coaching jobs, so I'll just throw that out there. And that brings up another point, O-Coordinators are usually only as good as their offense. Gase went from being a genious in Denver to fans in Miami wanting him gone after their poor start (although it seems like he has turned things around).

Click to expand...

The Packers are 13th in Offense. Hardly the worst.

Gase has done well wherever he has gone, and has the players play above their talent level.

Mike McCoy has the 2nd rated offense in the NFL, despite a ridiculous amount of injuries.

Brock Osweiler would make any play caller look bad. Same for Fitzpatrick.

McAdoo is a good player caller, he is not a head coach, he is in over his head.

Meanwhile Bevell has RW a top 5 QB in his 5th season (continuity). Jimmy Graham a top 5 TE, & ADB a top 5 slot receiver, and all Bevell can muster is the 28th rated offense. I rated him 25th, giving him the benefit of the doubt. I don't see the problem here.

I am open to changing my list provided a compelling reason is brought forth. I dropped Norv Turner for example.

Not speaking to you, but in general, whining & crying about the rankings isn't a reason.

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Understandable.

It's definitely a conversation worth having. But there are other factors that lead to our 28th ranked offense. We obviously have a bottom tier offensive line. Hard to throw down field when your QB can't sit in the pocket for more than two seconds. Not to mention our QB is banged up to go along with our TE and one of our WR's. And to be fair, offensive stats are skewed. We don't have to put up a ton of points or force the ball down field because of our defense. Whereas the Chargers have to because their defense gives up 30 points each game. I mean just look at the top 5 scoring teams on a per game basis: Atlanta, San Diego, New Orleans, Indy, and Carolina. What do they all have in common? Terrible defenses. If our defense was as bad as New Orleans, we would be scoring a lot more than 18.5 points per game.

I don't know each coordinator well enough to rank them, so I won't. But I do know Bevell isn't a bottom 10 offensive coordinator. Here is my other question, if Bevell is so bad, then how come we were a top 5 offense last year? It's pretty clear that the offense is struggling because of personnel issues.

And now the Bevell-hating thread disguised in a wig, dress and make-up has put on its high heels.

Hawk-Lock":ru2f9hyc said:

Understandable.

It's definitely a conversation worth having. But there are other factors that lead to our 28th ranked offense.We obviously have a bottom tier offensive line.

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They do, but the coaches told me the O-Line is ahead of where it was last year, yet they are performing worse as an offense then at this point of the season last year. Bad O-Lines, have not stopped this team from performing adequately in the past anyway, they are now horrible.

Hawk-Lock":ru2f9hyc said:

I don't know each coordinator well enough to rank them, so I won't. But I do know Bevell isn't a bottom 10 offensive coordinator.

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This statement contradicts itself.
If you don't know the play-callers well enough to rank them. Then how do you know Bevell isn't bottom 10? Finally, I'm ranking play callers, not coordinators. A lot of these guys are head coaches.

Hawk-Lock":ru2f9hyc said:

Here is my other question,if Bevell is so bad, then how come we were a top 5 offense last year?[/color] It's pretty clear that the offense is struggling because of personnel issues.

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3 Things happened last year for the top 5 ranking.

1. Bevell finally adjusted play calling the 2nd half of the season going with a quicker passing game, and using the middle of the field. It caught teams off guard. By the end of the year though teams adjusted. The league is waiting for Bevell to make another adjustment.

2. They ran into a string of bad / injured defenses that inflated their numbers.

3. Russell Wilson is franchise QB, and they mask a lot of woes. Wilson makes Bevell, not the other way around.

Bottom line is the league has figured Bevell out, and it's up to him to come up with some new wrinkles, and show some ingenuity, or it's going to continue to be tough sledding for the offense going forward. Rusell's lack of mobility has exposed him even more as a play caller. Because Russell Wilson scrambling, was the ingenuity of this offense. Not Bevell's schemes.

Having the worst OT tandem in the sport though isn't helping things, and is having an impact on overall offensive rankings. For that I will raise Bevell up the list.