NFLPA survey reveals top coordinators ahead of annual HC hiring cycle

Detroit‘s Aaron Glenn, Miami‘s Frank Smith, and Dallas‘ John Fassel were identified as the top-ranked defensive, offensive and special teams coordinators in the NFL, according to a survey of players conducted by the NFL Players Association during the 2023 season.

The survey is conducted as part of the union’s broader “report card” initiative that launched last season and surveyed players throughout the league based on various topics related to their teams, including ownership, practice facilities, and coaching, among others.

In this year’s installment, the union wanted to include more topics in the questionnaire, which included coordinators.

“We got really great participation in last year’s report card survey, but we wanted to think about what other areas matter to guys day-to-day,” NFLPA president J.C. Tretter said Thursday, per ESPN. “So, the idea of evaluating the coordinators was brought up. They’re a major factor in your day-to-day life as a player, and we wanted to make sure players had a voice in promoting the good ones.”

According to Tretter, more than 1,700 players participated in this year’s survey, and it will be released around the scouting combine in late February or early March as it was last year. Nonetheless, the union wanted to release the lists of the top five coordinators now in order to conjure positive attention for those who will be candidates in the annual head coaching hiring cycle.

“We hope it will help these really qualified leaders get the chance to move on in the next cycle and have a chance to become head coaches,” Tretter added.

Specifically, the survey asked offensive players to rate their offensive coordinators, and defensive players to rate their defensive coordinators, as well as special teams players to rate their special teams coordinators on a scale of one to 10. According to the NFLPA, 864 offensive players answered the survey, as well as 774 defensive players and 1,025 players who participated on special teams.

The survey ran from late August through mid-November.

“Just about every player, when asked publicly, is trained not to give a negative answer,” Tretter explained. “So, we feel, because the responses are protected, this is a barometer of how players feel about their coaches.”

So far, the NFLPA has only released the top five coordinators from each category in order to highlight strong head-coaching candidates, but also to avoid the issue of playoff-bound teams that might have lowly-rated coordinators on their staff ahead of playoff games.

Here are the lists of the top five offensive, defensive, and special teams coordinators according to the NFLPA report card survey:

Offensive

1. Frank Smith, Miami Dolphins
2. Thomas Brown, Carolina Panthers
3. Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys
4. Brian Callahan, Cincinnati Bengals
5. Kellen Moore, Los Angeles Chargers

Defensive

1. Aaron Glenn, Detroit Lions
2. Steve Wilks, San Francisco 49ers
3. Dan Quinn, Dallas Cowboys
4. Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings
5. Raheem Morris, Los Angeles Rams

Special Teams

1. John Fassel, Dallas Cowboys
2. Chris Tabor, Carolina Panthers (also current interim head coach)
3. Matt Daniels, Minnesota Vikings
4. Dave Fipp, Detroit Lions
5. Darren Rizzi, New Orleans Saints

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