Getty Dan Campbell
On the December 2 episode of Heavy Presents: I’m Just Saying with Brian Mazique, Heavy’s panel of NFL analysts discussed the most embattled NFL head coaches and their best potential landing spots in 2022 or beyond.
It is safe to say, the panel recommended a long drop for one of the coaches on the hot seat: Detroit Lions first-year head coach Dan Campbell.
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Campbell’s Hiring a ‘Complete & Utter Failure’
Heavy’s Ryan Sanudo didn’t just suggest Campbell be fired or moved to a lower level of coaching in the NFL. Instead, he no longer believes Campbell is capable of working in any high-level football environment.
Sanudo said:
I feel like this is comedy hour with Campbell. You’re looking at the coordinator for Bishop Sycamore. Oh my God, I mean the decision making on Thanksgiving, doing a double timeout, the guy is just a joke. I think we’re not giving you an NFL destination. I’m not giving you a college destination. I’m giving you a local high school football team. I’m going off the cuff, not even Bishop Sycamore because I think I wouldn’t even put him there. I’m putting him on your local high school football team.
They have done better in certain areas but Dan Campbell as head coach is a complete and utter disgrace. I don’t know why they even looked at the guy. I mean they saw his resume in Miami. He was interim coach and in New Orleans always attached to Sean Payton, and it’s like, ‘Let’s just get him.’ It was a complete and utter failure. I would put him on a high school level or something, maybe pee-wee. I guess we were talking Bishop Sycamore. Let’s go a little bit lower. Let’s go pee-wee mighty mites.
You can watch the entire segment here:
Other Recommended Spots for Coaches on the Hot Seat
The other coaches mentioned along with Campbell were Matt Nagy of the Chicago Bears, Joe Judge of the New York Giants and Urban Meyer of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The panel believed the best spot for Nagy was as an offensive coordinator where he could rebuild his stock as a play-caller in 2022. A return to the Kansas City Chiefs–if offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy finally gets a head coaching job after three years through the interview process–was mentioned.
A return to the New England Patriots seems like a logical move for Judge, who spent eight seasons as Bill Belichick’s special teams coordinator from 2012 to 2019, if the Giants send him packing.
The job most of the panel suggested for Meyer – Notre Dame – was already filled as the Fighting officially hired Marcus Freeman on December 3, which kicked off this glorious celebration:
Another suggestion for Meyer was the University of Oklahoma, whose head job was suddenly vacated on November 28 after Lincoln Riley’s decision to move on to USC.
We’ll see how things shake out, but if Meyer is sent packing after the 2021 season, it wouldn’t be a surprise given the Jags’ last-place AFC South standing and 2-9 record through 11 games.