With the recent coaching hires along with two defensive minded head coaches being in this past season’s Super Bowl, my viewpoints on whether offensive or defensive minded head coaches are the better choice have shifted. Prior to this past season’s Super Bowl where two defensive minded head coaches squared off against each other, I was of the mindset that in the modern NFL, offensive minded head coaches should be prioritized over defensive minded head coaches. However, Mike MacDonald’s brilliant run with the Seahawks thus far has shifted my opinion on the matter. Here I will go into detail deciphering whether offensive or defensive minded head coaches are the better choice in the modern NFL.
My standpoint of believing that offensive minded head coaches should be prioritized over defensive minded head coaches stemmed from me being of the mindset that offense was more important than defense in the modern NFL. However, after this past season’s Super Bowl, where two defensive minded head coaches took center stage, I am still of the mindset that offense is more important than defense. However, how much more important offense is than defense in the modern NFL has certainly shifted in my estimation after this past season’s Super Bowl. Prior to it, I was of the mindset that the league should be viewed as 65% offense and 35% defense, but now I feel as if it’s 55% offense and 45% defense. Offense still being prioritized over defense is evidenced by the following logic. The Browns during the 2025 season had one of the premier defenses in the NFL but one of the worst offenses but were still one of the worst teams. Whereas the Cowboys had one of the best offenses with one of the worst defenses but were still in playoff contention up until the very end of the season. However, the discrepancy between the Browns and Cowboys wasn’t too large as Cleveland finished 5-12 and Dallas finished 7-9-1 with the Browns still being in division contention in the latter portion of the season. Nonetheless, that is one example that goes to show that offense is still more important than defense.
Just because I am of the mindset that offense is more important than defense, does not mean that offensive minded head coaches should be prioritized over defensive minded head coaches. Before I was firmly of the mindset that offensive minded head coaches should be prioritized over defensive minded head coaches, but now I have changed my thinking to the opposite. Although the coaching hires that a team makes are in large part dependent upon the specific circumstances of that team.
The situations in which a team should go with an offensive minded head coach instead of a defensive minded head coach should primarily be when a team does not have an elite QB talent in place. Perhaps for a season or two at a time that team without an elite QB talent can be an elite offense which is almost a pre-requisite for winning it all nowadays. But the offensive coordinator who made that nonelite QB talent look elite will almost certainly depart to become a head coach elsewhere after the season ends. Then the offense of the team sees a regression if not a big regression after losing that star coordinator. For example, the Eagles’ offense in 2024 being a top 3-4 caliber unit with Kellen Moore as the offensive coordinator and then becoming a bottom 10-12 caliber unit in the first season without him. If you get the correct offensive minded head coach in place, then the offense will be coached very well on a year-to-year basis without the impending doom of losing the offensive coordinator who made the offense click.
The situations where a team should prioritize pursuing a head coaching candidate with a defensive background would be if the team has an elite level talent at the QB position. Having an elite talent at the QB spot essentially guarantees that the offense will be high level with him in place regardless of who the coach is. Although hiring an offensive minded head coach to get the absolute most out of that QB could still be a wise choice, it may be counterproductive in the end game. As getting an offensive minded head coach to get the absolute most out of an elite QB for the offense to be potentially great in a historic context may not be the wisest move. As the top 10 scoring offenses in league history have never even once ended up winning the Super Bowl. So, getting an offensive minded head coach to get the most out of your elite QB for your offense to be potentially all time great may be a losing battle. Especially if you are doing so at the expense of hiring a coach with a defensive expertise that may have your defense perform at a championship level. However, if you have an elite QB talent in the likes of Patrick Mahomes and if you can pair him with an all-time great level coach, even if he is offensive minded, you certainly do so. As the offensive combination of that QB with that head coach is so lethal that you can get away with having subpar offensive personnel and stack your talent on defense. While the combination of having that elite QB with that elite offensive minded head coach will almost guarantee that you have the edge on offense over the other team, with offense still being the foundation of the league. The Chargers in their hire of Jim Harbaugh, who has an offensive background and is now paired with an elite QB talent in Justin Herbert, seemed to follow this same rule as well.
However, in the current NFL, I question if the likes of Zac Taylor and Joe Brady, who both have offensive backgrounds, are truly the best fit for their superstar hall of fame elite talent level QBs. As Joe Burrow and Josh Allen will likely lead a great offense regardless of who the head coach is, while Zac Taylor and Joe Brady have certainly not proven to be all-time level head coaches like Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh have proven to be. Although one could make a strong argument that both Taylor and Brady are elite offensive minds and both Burrow and Allen would not be as good as they are without those coaches. Just as if we feel that Patrick Mahomes would likely not be as good as he has been if he were paired with a coach not named Andy Reid. Perhaps the likes of Burrow, Allen, and Mahomes would not be recognized as elite without the offensive coaching that they have had.
The Ravens in their recent hire of the defensive minded Jesse Minter is the way I would approach things. As Lamar Jackson is the type of QB talent who will lead an elite offense regardless of who his coach is. While hiring an offensive minded coach to get the absolute most out of Lamar Jackson and the offense would be excess and even potentially counterproductive as historically great offenses don’t win Super Bowls. The Seahawks with the defensive minded Mike MacDonald and QB Sam Darnold who I still feel is a pretty average starting QB talent may regress next season in large part because of the departure of their offensive coordinator along with Seattle head coach MacDonald not having an offensive background. Whereas the Rams lost an offensive coordinator to a head coaching job but will likely not skip much of a beat due to Sean McVay’s expertise on the offensive side of the ball given his background in that regard. The Brady/Belichick formula that was the foundation of the greatest dynasty in NFL history with the QB taking care of the offense and the coach taking care of the defense is ideal.
Ultimately to answer the question of whether offensive minded head coaches or defensive minded head coaches should be preferred, I can offer the following. At first, I felt as if offensive minded head coaches should be preferred unless there was a defensive minded candidate who truly blew me away. Now I feel the opposite, I feel as if defensive minded head coaches should be preferred unless there is an offensive minded candidate who is truly remarkable. Because if you have the correct QB in place, then the offense will be fine regardless, and the defense needs to be consistently good. Whereas if you don’t have the correct QB in place, then hiring an offensive minded head coach to make him the correct QB is a losing battle. Because if you don’t have a good QB in place, you are likely not going to win regardless of who the coach is. Also, offensive coaches do not make or break the QB, but rather get the most out of them, if a QB is not the right guy, then that QB will not be the right guy regardless of how well he is coached on offense. Likewise, if you have the right QB in place, then he will be the right QB regardless of who his coach is. So, hiring an offensive minded coach to get the most out of him may be unnecessary especially if it’s at the expense of ensuring your defense is consistently strong with bringing on a coach with a defensive background. The individual circumstances of the team outside of just the QB they have should also be factored in to a large extent as well. For instance, if you have an elite defensive coordinator who is unlikely to leave for a head coaching job, such as Steve Spagnuolo of the Chiefs and Vic Fangio of the Eagles, then hiring an offensive minded head coach may be smarter as your defense is consistently taken care of.
Now I feel as if defensive coaches should typically be favored unless there is an offensive minded candidate who is truly remarkable. If you can get your hands on a guy such as Andy Reid or Jim Harbaugh, guys who are all time level head coaches who should be hired regardless of whether they have an offensive or defensive background and regardless of which QB or team they are coaching.
