When Super Bowl 51 is over and Kyle Shanahan heads to San Francisco to coach the 49ers, 11 of the last 13 head coaches hired in the NFL will have offensive backgrounds. The exceptions are Vance Joseph in Denver and Sean McDermott in Buffalo.
Take solace, Broncos and Bills fans, as your teams go against the recent grain. Keep in mind the head coaches in Super Bowl 51, Bill Belichick and Dan Quinn, are both defensive guys and Super Bowl winners as defensive coordinators — Belichick under Bill Parcells with the Giants, Quinn under Pete Carroll with the Seahawks.
While I generally agree the best approach in today's quarterback-driven NFL is for teams to go offense when they hire new coaches, it certainly can work with defense if it's the right coach … particularly one who hires an excellent offensive coordinator and has a top quarterback. That’s precisely the case for both the Patriots and the Falcons.
MORE: Super Bowl picks, predictions
Belichick, of course, is a special case. Including this year's trip, he has now gone to more Super Bowls (seven) than any head coach in history. A victory in Houston would break his tie with Chuck Noll for most Super Bowl wins, with five. He's a head coach and a GM, and he's the best in the business at both. He probably could direct an offense as well as any OC in the league.
The good news for Belichick is that, with Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator and Tom Brady as his quarterback, the Patriots’ offense is in great hands, as demonstrated by this year's playoff wins. They scored 34 points and put up 377 yards against the league's top-ranked defense in the Texans, and they followed that with 36 points and 431 total yards against the Steelers. Meanwhile, the New England defense held both opponents under 20 points.
With McDaniels and Brady so effective as the offensive leaders, Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia can focus on things such as controlling the Matt Ryan-to-Julio Jones connection this week.
STEELE: Win or lose, Belichick about to join elite company
As he has done for the offense with players such as Brady, a solid line, running backs LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis, wide receivers Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan and injured tight end Rob Gronkowski, Belichick — when wearing his GM hat — always does a great job finding guys to play his defensive schemes to perfection. Through the draft, he has tapped current Pro Bowlers in linebacker Dont'a Hightower and safety Devin McCourty, who played cornerback for several years before Belichick decided he could contribute more by being moved to safety.
As he always does, Belichick has worked free agency and the salary cap to acquire key veterans like defensive tackle Alan Branch and defensive end Chris Long. (In the recent past, it was Darrelle Revis and Aqib Talib.) As all good personnel men do, he identified top corner Malcolm Butler as an undrafted player out of West Alabama in 2014.
Belichick is so confident in his defensive prowess and ability to plug in players that he traded two of his most productive defensive pieces, defensive end Chandler Jones and linebacker Jamie Collins (for premium draft picks in the past year), before they hit free agency. Without them, the Patriots' defense still led the NFL with the fewest points allowed this season.
MORE: Ranking all 50 Super Bowl winners
Quinn similarly has surrounded himself with a top offensive coordinator-quarterback combo so he can focus on improving the Falcons’ defense. He's only in his second season leading Atlanta, so he's far less experienced, but Quinn made the astute decision to hire Shanahan as offensive coordinator.
Shanahan directed the NFL's second-ranked offense this season, which in the playoffs lit up the usually stingy Seahawks defense for 36 points and 422 total yards before it destroyed the Packers’ defense with 44 points and 493 total yards.
The Falcons have not lacked offensive talent in recent years, and they have worked the draft and free agency to give Shanahan and Ryan a great supporting cast led by Jones and free-agent acquisition Mohamed Sanu. They’ve built a solid line anchored by a Pro Bowl center in Alex Mack, another free-agent pickup, and they have drafted a nice pair of backs in Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.
MORE: These five matchups hold keys to Super Bowl 51
While not in the GM role a la Belichick, the Grand Poobah of New England, Quinn has been very influential in getting GM Thomas Dimitroff (a Belichick disciple from his days as the Patriots' director of player personnel) to add talent on defense. Quinn and Dimitroff have worked through the draft over the past two years to add NFL leading sack artist Vic Beasley and team tackling leaders Deion Jones and Keanu Neal. They've gone the free-agent route to sign veteran pass rushers Dwight Freeney and Adrian Clayborn.
Atlanta’s defense is not on New England's level, but Quinn has it headed in the right direction. It was impressive in holding a hot Green Bay offense scoreless in the first half of the NFC title game. It also forced two turnovers to help the cause in each of the Falcons’ playoff wins.
As is the case for Belichick with Brady, Quinn is fortunate to have an elite quarterback in Ryan, the presumed 2016 NFL MVP who led the league in passing this season. He has continued to play at a stellar level in the playoffs, with seven touchdown passes and no interceptions.
MORE: Ryan explains why ATL offense works
Those are the key ingredients for Joseph in Denver, McDermott in Buffalo and other future defensive-oriented head coaches — hire excellent offensive coordinators and acquire or develop elite quarterbacks.
Joseph and McDermott appear to have Phase 1 on the right track with their hiring of respected offensive coordinators, Mike McCoy in Denver and Rick Dennison in Buffalo.
Now comes the tougher part — finding elite quarterbacks like the ones Belichick and Quinn will have on display this weekend.
Jeff Diamond is the former president of the Titans and the former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
