8 NFL Coordinators Who Will Have Biggest Impact on 2024 Season's Script

In the NFL, players win games. Among them, quarterbacks get most of the credit when things go well—and most of the blame when things do not. Where coaches are concerned, it's almost always the head coach who is lauded in victory and faulted in defeat.

However, the NFL's best teams wouldn't be where they are were it not for offensive and defensive coordinators. The Kansas City Chiefs wouldn't be the league's newest dynasty were it not for Steve Spagnuolo's defense. Ben Johnson has turned the Detroit Lions offense into one of the most dangerous in the league. Coordinators may not get the glory, but they have an immense impact on the success (or failure) of a team in a given season.

Quite a few contenders have new faces in coordinator roles this season, including the defending NFC champions. Not all of the offensive and defensive coordinators listed in this column are in their first year on the job. But all of them will play major roles in how the 2024 NFL campaign plays out.

Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady took over the job last year when the Bills fired Ken Dorsey in-season. Now, Brady enters his first full year with the gig—following quite the eventful offseason.

There are major changes in the Bills receiving corps this year. Buffalo's top two wide receivers from a year ago (Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis) are gone. Replacements were brought in in the likes of veteran Curtis Samuel and rookie Keon Coleman, but it's hard to view the Bills' pass-catchers in 2024 as better than (or even as good as) the 2023 iteration.

However, the team still has a superstar under center in Josh Allen, and Brady told the Jeremy and Joe Show that takes a lot of pressure off the rest of the unit.

"The big thing with Josh is he's falling in love with being bored. I mean that as greatness, those little details of the boring things. If we overlook the mechanics, if we overlook, 'Hey, you know what, you've got a lot of time on task with this play, let's do something else,' those things start to slide," Brady said. "You can see that he put a lot of time in the offseason refining some of the technique, trying to find a way to get better. Whether it's this year, whether it's Year 18 here, I believe, with his mindset, he's going to understand, 'I got to find a way to get a little bit better.' That's what makes life a little easier for us, and a lot of fun knowing your best football player has that mindset. So, everybody else is gonna believe that too."

The Bills have a clear go in 2024—a trip to New Orleans and Super Bowl LIX. But the Bills don't have a clear "go to" wideout this year. Brady is going to have to scheme his new pass-catchers open.

And in an absolutely loaded AFC, he doesn't have much margin for error.

After San Francisco came up just short of a victory in Super Bowl LVIII, the team parted ways with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after just one season. This time, the Niners went the internal route, promoting defensive assistant Nick Sorensen.

Sorensen has never been a coordinator before, but Pro Bowl linebacker Fred Warner told reporters that he has every confidence the 46-year-old can return San Francisco's defense to the top of the NFL.

"It helps that he knows the system and has been around it," Warner said. "We just have to get better at the fundamentals and technique of what we do as well as implementing some tweaks in there as well, because we have been running the same thing for a long time. Teams know what we're running. We're not afraid of that. But there do have to be some tweaks in there to make sure that we are switching things up a little bit, and I think Nick is going to do an amazing job."

Personnel isn't an issue—whether it's Warner, edge-rusher Nick Bosa or safety Talanoa Hufanga, the Niners have high-end talent at all three levels. And it's not like the team was bad defensively last year—San Fran was eighth in yards allowed and third in points allowed a season ago.

But there were lapses down the stretch, including spotting the Detroit Lions a big lead in the NFC Championship Game and the game-deciding drive by the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

When you're widely considered the favorites to represent NFC in New Orleans, even the smallest lapses are magnified.

The Houston Texans are one of the most-hyped teams in the league this year after last year's run to the AFC South championship and blowout win over the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card Round. The team was aggressive in bringing in veteran talent on offense in the offseason, acquiring the likes of running back Joe Mixon and wide receiver Stefon Diggs.

Paired with 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud and young wideouts Nico Collins and Tank Dell, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik has something of an embarrassment of riches at his disposal. Of course, as Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman told Larry Brown Sports, was it up to him, Slowik wouldn't even be a coordinator anymore.

"I will say, if it had been up to me, he wouldn't be the coordinator right now. I was pushing him for a head coaching job. He's going to get a job — maybe it'll be after this season — who knows? Talk to a lot of people who he's been on a staff with, and they have nothing but great things to say about him. He's got an awfully bright future," Aikman said.

Those accolades are all well and good, but something else comes with them—expectations. The Texans won't be a pleasant surprise if they win nine games in 2024—they will be a disappointment. Just making the postseason won't be good enough this year—the Texans are viewed by some as legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Whether it's fitting all the new pieces together or coaxing an even better second season from Stroud, Slowik has his work cut out for him this season.

Earlier this year, NFL players voted Aaron Glenn the highest-rated defensive coordinator in the league. But while players may love him, the results in Detroit under Glenn's tenure have been mixed. The Lions were 19th in the league in total defense in 2023, and fell apart in the second half of the NFC Title Game.

Now, after another offseason of improving Detroit's defensive personnel, Lindy's Sports NFL preview magazine posited that Glenn could be on something of a hot seat in 2024.

"Coming off the winningest season in franchise history, there aren't a lot of hot seats these days," they said. "But after years of being lauded for trying to make lemonade with a bad roster, excuses have now run out for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. He's hugely popular with players and around the league, but his units have never performed that well. Now that the Lions have finally invested heavily on that side of the ball, including spending their top two draft picks on cornerbacks -- after signing another one in free agency, and trading for yet another, the time to produce has arrived. If they continue to be held back by their defense, the fingers will start to point at Glenn awfully quick."

That Detroit secondary was an area of weakness last season—the Lions were 27th in the league against the pass. Now, coming off the first NFC North title in Lions history, Detroit is regarded as one of the favorites in the NFC.

But unless Glenn can coax improvement from the Detroit defense in 2024, the Lions won't get close to the Superdome in February.

It's been a long time since the Pittsburgh Steelers had a losing season—all the way back in 2003. But it has also been a long time since Pittsburgh experienced success in the postseason—the Steelers haven't won a playoff game since losing the AFC Championship Game in 2016.

After yet another first-round playoff exit, there are changes galore in the Steel City this year, including a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith. Smith, who spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, told reporters that he's trying to build an offensive scheme that will be unpredictable in 2024.

"You just don't want to, you become obvious, right?" Smith said. "We need everybody involved. It'll be week to week in how we want to scheme it up, but you can't become obvious. Naturally there's going to be tendencies and that's what you're constantly looking at. We need everybody involved to make us a more lethal offense."

Smith isn't the only new face in Pittsburgh this year. There are a pair of new quarterbacks in town in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. After trading Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers, it will fall to third-year pro George Pickens to serve as the team's No. 1 wide receiver.

The Steelers were 25th in total offense last year, so improvement shouldn't be that hard to pull off. But Smith's Falcons were only a so-so 17th in yards per game and 26th in scoring.

It's going to take more than that to contend in the NFL's toughest division.

Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has been around the block once or twice. Fangio has been a defensive coordinator in Carolina. And Indianapolis. And Houston. And San Francisco. And Chicago. And Miami. The 65-year-old also spent time as the head coach of the Denver Broncos.

Now, after running the Miami defense last season, Fangio has been charged with turning around an Eagles defense that fell apart down the stretch in 2023—especially against the pass.

When the Eagles hired Fangio, head coach Nick Sirianni lauded his extensive experience while speaking to reporters.

"Vic's reputation obviously speaks for itself," Sirianni said. "He's a brilliant defensive mind who has coached at a very high level in this league for many years. In my time spent with Vic, I've seen firsthand what makes him such a great coach – tremendous knowledge of the game, passion, and work ethic. I'm excited for our coaches and players to be able to learn from him and see it for themselves."

Fangio has helmed a number of high-end defenses, and he inherits an Eagles squad loaded up front. Philly added Devin White in free agency to bolster the linebacker corps and spent their first two draft picks on cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.

But just like the other NFC defensive coordinators mentioned in this piece, Fangio joins an Eagles team that has sky-high expectations in 2024—not just of recapturing the NFC East, but of reaching the Super Bowl.

That's not happening if the Eagles are the second-worst pass defense in the league again.

The Dallas Cowboys suffered yet another first-round playoff loss in 2023. But all in all Brian Scottenheimer's first year as the team's offensive coordinator was relatively successful—Dallas was fifth in the league in total offense and led the league in scoring at 29.9 points per game.

Of course, some of that credit belongs to head coach Mike McCarthy, who makes the play-calls offensively. But Schottenheimer is still going to have a sizable impact on whether the "all-in" Cowboys can take the next step in 2024.

Because there are some major changes in Dallas this year.

The CeeDee Lamb contract situation will probably sort itself out ahead of Week 1. But after ranking 14th in the league in rushing last year, Dallas let 2023 lead back Tony Pollard depart. The Dallas backfield in 2024 will consist of a combination of veterans Ezekiel Elliott and Royce Freeman and youngsters Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn.

Scottenheimer has coordinated committee ground attacks in the past, and he told reporters the key is figuring out what each back brings to the table.

"I wouldn't say it's a challenge," Schottenheimer said. "I think it's exciting. Part of our process now is figuring out what all these guys do well. It's nothing that's new to the league. We've got some new pieces, so the biggest thing is getting those guys the reps, getting those guys the work. ... It's such a physical grind. I mean, 17 games before the playoffs start. We're very, very comfortable and confident that it's going to work out very well for us."

As is the case every year, the Cowboys have Super Bowl aspirations. But it's going to be hard to get past the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East with a one-dimensional, pass-heavy offense.

The Miami Dolphins were a top-10 defense in terms of yards allowed last year, but after another first-round playoff exit, the team made a change at defensive coordinator. In fact, the team did a complete 180—going from an experienced, old-school coordinator in Vic Fangio to a first-timer and former player in Anthony Weaver.

Weaver spent the last three years as an assistant for the Baltimore Ravens, and safety Jevon Holland told reporters that the shift in culture defensively in South Florida has been as drastic as it is welcome.

"It's a blast out there," Holland said. "I don't know if you guys got to see, but I'm having a bunch of fun. He's a fun coach to play under. He really established an exciting culture and allows us a lot of room to just grow within it, so I'm enjoying myself a lot. Weaver is super dope, man, as a person, as an ex-player, as a coach -- you could just feel it. He understands where we're coming from, wants to hear us and our input on the defense, and then is able to put that into how the defense is called and how the defense is taught. He's really a solid dude."

There's little doubt that Miami's high-octane offense will put up points this year—no team in the AFC scored more in 2023. But Miami was just 22nd in points per game allowed last season and struggled with consistency.

For Miami to take a step forward and knock off the Bills in the AFC East, Weaver needs to tighten up a defense that added a number of veterans in the offseason like cornerback Kendall Fuller, safety Jordan Poyer and linebacker Jordyn Brooks.