Dynasty Football: 2024 Coaching Changes and Fantasy Impact

Players make football and fantasy football go, but coaches help maximize the talent and fun. Who are the new head coaches and defensive and offensive coordinators? How do the 2024 coaching changes impact your fantasy players?

This was a massive coaching cycle! 8 of 32 head coaches changed and there are 31 (of 64) new defensive or offensive coordinators as well. That is 39 of 96 (over 40%) of the main jobs! Below are charts outlining the new coaches at Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator, and Offensive Coordinator with some analysis on each! Some are more known and established than others, but overall these are exciting times for teams facing large changes!

We saw multiple legends leave in Bill Belichick and Pete Carrol. Another couple of highly regarded HCs (Mike Vrabel and 2x Coach of the Year Ron Rivera) and multiple former schematic innovators (Arthur Smith, Frank Reich, Brandon Staley, and Josh McDaniels) also saw the ax. But enough of the old, let’s chat about the new! Let’s get on to the 2024 coaching changes!

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Head Coaching changes

• ATL: Raheem Morris will act more as a CEO, letting coordinators call plays. He has run great, maximizing defenses in his career, been a great WR coach and pass game coordinator in Atlanta (with developing Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley), and has HC experience (including interim in Atlanta).
• CAR: Dave Canales capitalized on reviving Baker Mayfield’s career in his first season as an OC and now hopes to do the same for Bryce Young (another smaller QB). 
• LAC: New Seattle HC Mike MacDonald’s former HC Jim Harbaugh has had success at every stop, and expects to in Los Angeles. Harbaugh will be great for Justin Herbert while instilling the discipline that will get the run game and defense to at least passable.
• LV/NE: Here we group former NFL LBs who were promoted from within. Jerrod Mayo (elevated) and Antonio Pierce (interim) will look to continue success with their teams. They are beloved within their organizations (and around the league) and hope to maximize talent on their rebuilding rosters. Patience is needed here more than anywhere else.
• SEA: Mike MacDonald’s defensive scheme thrives on taking away what the offense does best. He is an amazing defensive adjustor and should bring stars to superstardom while making JAGs relevant. Adding Leslie Frazier to the staff will help him focus on defense and learn the role.
• TEN: Brian Callahan cashes in after helping turn Joe Burrow into a star with Cincinnati. He will call plays and help reset the roster. 
• WAS: Dan Quinn gets his second chance at being an HC, hoping to maximize the usage of immense talent and cap space. We have seen how Dan Quinn’s defenses have been in his career and is a massive plus for a defense that has suffered.

Defensive Coordinator changes

• ATL: Losing Ryan Nielsen sucks. Like a lot. But the combination of Morris and Jimmy Lake is a solid rebound. Lake will call plays, but Morris (who helped turn multiple mid-round picks into NFL and fantasy studs) will help oversee. 
• BAL: Stock down for Baltimore, but this is not an indictment on Zach Orr. He is highly regarded and did wonders with the Ravens’ LB room. This is more a result of losing MacDonald, along with their DL/AHC (Weaver to MIA) and DB (Wilson to TEN) coaches too. Their stars are stars, but there may be struggles for the rest of the group.
• BUF: Status quo here, Sean McDermott remains the playcaller. Babich was promoted to avoid other teams stealing him, as he is regarded after working with DBs and LBs in BUF.
• CHI: After the debacle with Alan Williams last season and his mid-season resignation, just having a DC is stock up for the Bears. Washington has worked with great pressure DLs, so should help increase one of the Bear’s biggest weaknesses. Stock up for the DL, especially if they bring in another edge rusher alongside Montez Sweat.
• DAL: Similar to Atlanta, losing Dan Quinn sucks. But they got a great replacement in Mike Zimmer. He is an aggressive, sound coordinator who saw great production as a DC in Cincinnati and HC in Minnesota. With a more complex defense, they may start slow, but don’t sell!
• GB: Jeff Hafley will hopefully bring some consistency to the Packers’ defense after Joe Barry’s struggles. Hafley came up in DB rooms, which is a huge spot of turmoil for the Packers currently. 
• JAX: Ryan Nielsen is an elite play-caller, so adding him is massive for the Jaguars. However, Mike Caldwell led the Jags to a top-10 D last year while having their stars explode for fantasy (Josh Allen, Foye Oluokun, Devin Lloyd). Nielsen worked great with Carl Granderson in NoLA so this should be good news for Travon Walker. 
• LAC: Minter, like MacDonald and Jim Harbaugh, has shown a penchant for getting the most out of his players, at multiple levels. Michigan’s defense has been elite for the past two seasons under him. He spent time in Baltimore previously coaching DBs, so that room should see an uptick. 
• LAR: Raheem Morris’ departure is concerning for young breakout players. Chris Shula – the grandson of the legendary Don Shula – has been coaching linebackers since Sean McVay’s arrival in 2017 and has done well there (link to dynasty LB article). He has coordinated the pass and run defenses in LA, so should help maintain them.
• MIA: Losing Vic Fangio sucks for top IDP players such as Javon Holland. However, replacing him with Anthony Weaver is great for the DL, who struggled with injuries and consistency this year. Weaver has only been a DC for one year (Houston in 2020), but having experience with Baltimore is a massive plus.
• NE: Losing Bill Belicheck obviously hurts the defense, but keeping it in-house with Mayo/Covington at least helps stay the course and continue development for their young pieces. There is tentative stock up, though, as the defense should be less multiple and more predictable from an IDP sense
• NYG: Wink Martindale ran a fun, chaotic defense. But the LBs on the roster, especially Bobby Okereke, are better utilized as tacklers and in coverage. His seeing less blitzing will allow him to rack up stats. Bowen was key in Harold Landry’s rise to stardom (pre-injury), so he should mean stock up for the young rush duo in Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari.
• PHI: The Desai (and especially Patricia) defense struggled massively, seeing regression from a near-historic 2022. Fangio brings the original version of the system and discipline to a defense that desperately needs it. Stock up for the Eagles!
• TEN: Mike Vrabel and Shane Bowen did a great job of getting the most out of their oft-injured roster, so losing them hurts greatly. Dennard Wilson is unknown as a DC and playcaller, but his presence should help the DB room. In Baltimore, up to 3 safeties and multiple CBs were playable at times.
• SEA: Aden Durde has spent his coaching career with Dan Quinn (former Seattle DC), helping along the DL. Mike MacDonald is a big addition, after the defenses he (helped) engineer with Baltimore and Michigan over the past years. He has been great for LBs, so whoever ends up here will be in a great spot. This is also great news for the talented DBs, Devon Witherspoon and Julian Love.
• WAS: Whitt Jr follows Dan Quinn from Dallas, where he has coached DBs and coordinated the passing game. Having Quinn is stock up for the defense, which was atrocious this season. They need a lot of pieces, but Quinn’s defense has been great for fantasy in recent seasons.

Offensive Coordinator changes

• ATL: Zach Robinson (Colorado high school legend!) is an electric, McVay-adjacent, hire. He and Morris should get the most out of their talent, utilizing their best players efficiently. 
• BUF: Not much changes with Joe Brady having the interim tag removed. The Buffalo offense should stay the course, with Stefon Diggs’ late-season struggles being a massive concern.
• CAR: HC Dave Canales is expected to call plays, so we could see an offense similar to Tampa Bay last season. Bryce Young and whoever is brought in at WR should see an uptick.
• CHI: Shane Waldron was a solid OC in Seattle, keeping multiple WRs and RBs fantasy relevant. He runs a style of the McVay system, and his help reviving Geno Smith’s career is a plus for whichever QB they take at 1.01.
• CIN: With Zac Taylor calling plays, not much should change in Cincinnati’s offense. Pitcher has been Joe Burrow’s only QB coach in the NFL, so tendencies should stay similar.
• CLE: Former Bills coordinator Ken Dorsey helped lead multiple top 5 offenses before his (absurdly stupid, in my humble opinion) firing this season. Dorsey should help the offense run more cleanly through their QB, including the QB run game. 
• LV: Former Bears’ OC Luke Getsy has ties with Davante Adams from Green Bay. The question no one has the answer to is if the issues in Chicago were a Getsy or Justin Fields problem (or dictated from above). When allowing the QB to scramble and be a 1-read player, they thrived and had multiple valuable RBs.
• LAC: Greg Roman has ties with Jim Harbaugh and makes sense as a hire. The Chargers run game has been beyond atrocious, so this hire will improve that. The concern is if Roman tries to hinder their superstar QB, though Harbaugh largely took the job due to Justin Herbert’s golden arm.
• NE: The former Browns’ OC is a great fit in NE, especially Rhammondre Stevenson. Van Pelt thrived running through Nick Chubb (whom Stevenson is a Great Value version of) and should help the OL improve.
• PHI: The Eagles tried to run the Steichen offense, but did not have Steichen nor any adjustments. Moore brings some sense of a real offense to Philly (look at the schematic improvements in LA before everyone got hurt!). This is stock WAY up for all Eagles.
• PIT: Arthur Smith got so much hate in Atlanta (too much, but fantasy managers don’t and shouldn’t care about a fun scheme) and got stale. He got that HC gig due to a bruising run game using bigger WRs with a big arm QB. What does Pittsburgh have? Well, they need a QB, but this is good for the Steelers.
• SEA: The Ryan Grubb hire is fun but super risky. Grubb led great offenses at the collegiate level, most recently chucking the ball to good receivers with Michael Penix Jr at Washington. In Seattle, he has an even better version of Penix and a great receiver room with a strong run game. This could be fun!
• TB: Liam Coen is another McVay-adjacent name, but had an awful season in his one year as an NFL OC (bottom-8 offense, while the Rams were top 5 in the year before and after his tenure). New Panthers HC Dave Canales revived Baker Mayfield, but can Coen continue that even if he loses Mike Evans? This hire feels like a step back.
• TEN: Nick Holz comes to Tennessee (fun facts: he was high-school teammates with head coach Brian Callahan, and was previously on the staff of Brian and his father, Bill). Neither he nor HC/Playcaller Brian Callahan have called plays before, so we are unsure what the offense will look like. The biggest addition is Brian’s father, Bill, who is one of the best OL coaches in NFL history (and has play calling and head coaching experience, which can only help his son).
• WAS: This is my least favorite hire of the season. Kliff Kingsbury was seen as an offensive savant, getting the Cardinals HC gig (after being hired as USC offensive coordinator following being fired as Texas Tech’s head coach). They made the playoffs once, but the offense became massively stale and predictable after the first few games of every season (you could throw in USC this year too). His scheme harmed Kyler Murray’s development, which is a horrifying thought for the elite QB prospects this season. 

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That should just about do it for the main 2024 coaching changes! There were so many this season, keeping it fresh and exciting. Hopefully, most of these hires work out enough to lead y’all to championships in 2024! You can find my other work on the IDP Guys Author Page, and feel free to reach out to me directly @JoeLow63 on X, where you can also find and follow @IDPGuys!