I notice that three teams have handed over their offensive coordinator duties to wildly inexperienced youngsters. Sean Mannion, David Blough and Davis Webb are all under 35, and none of them have called plays before – at any level.
I don’t believe there’s ever been a younger trio of coordinators taking over before in the same season.
This is a recognition (I think) of the incredible value of an up-and-coming offensive minds. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan have been the most impactful coaches of the last 10 years. Ben Johnson, Kevin O’Connell, Matt LaFleur. This is what teams are looking for. Seattle zigged two years ago and got the defensive version of the same kind of coach.
With this newest trio, all are former quarterbacks, but none had quite enough physical ability to make an impact at the pro level. On that front, they’re similar to Sean Payton, Zac Taylor, Kellen Moore and Kevin O’Connell (all tagged with black dots in the chart below).
For this most recent trio, the two in the NFC East land in pivotal situations. Mannion is tasked with trying to ignite an Eagles offense that’s a year removed from winning the Super Bowl. And Blough gets to work with Jayden Daniels, who took Washington to the NFC Championship game in that same 2024 season.
Webb doesn’t seem as noteworthy. He’s with the Broncos, who hosted the AFC Championship last year, but that team still has Sean Payton, who’ll no doubt play a big role in the offense. Mannion and Blough should play bigger roles in whether their offenses sink or swim.
The big-picture history suggests there’s a good chance a couple of these young unknowns probably are about to start productive coaching careers. Typically when a team is willing to hire an coordinator under 40, that means they have a strong feeling about his abilities.
But at the same time, it’s reasonable to expect some growing pains as they get a feel for what they’re doing. Below see the first-year numbers for 15 other offensive coordinators who were under 40. Only five ranked in the top dozen in scoring (more ranked outside the top 20).
(Coaches who were formerly quarterbacks tagged with black dots.)
| YOUNG OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS (first seasons) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Coach | Age | Team | Points | Run | Pass |
| 2000 | • Sean Payton | 36 | N.Y. Giants | 15th | 9th | 14th |
| 2006 | Josh McDaniels | 30 | New England | 7th | 5th | 9th |
| 2008 | Kyle Shanahan | 28 | Houston | 17th | 11th | 6th |
| 2013 | Nathaniel Hackett | 33 | Buffalo | 22nd | 4th | 31st |
| 2013 | Adam Gase | 35 | Denver | 1st | 14th | 1st |
| 2014 | Sean McVay | 28 | Washington | 26th | 16th | 16th |
| 2015 | • Zac Taylor | 32 | Miami | 27th | 20th | 20th |
| 2018 | Matt LaFleur | 38 | Tennessee | 27th | 8th | 30th |
| 2019 | • Kellen Moore | 31 | Dallas | 6th | 5th | 3rd |
| 2019 | Byron Leftwich | 39 | Tampa Bay | 3rd | 20th | 1st |
| 2019 | • Kevin O'Connell | 34 | Washington | 32nd | 24th | 32nd |
| 2020 | Joe Brady | 31 | Carolina | 24th | 15th | 24th |
| 2022 | Ben Johnson | 36 | Detroit | 5th | 9th | 8th |
| 2022 | • Mike Kafka | 35 | N.Y. Giants | 15th | 3rd | 26th |
| 2023 | Bobby Slowik | 36 | Houston | 13th | 24th | 6th |
| 2026 | Sean Mannion | 34 | Philadelphia | ? | ? | ? |
| 2026 | David Blough | 31 | Washington | ? | ? | ? |
| 2026 | Davis Webb | 31 | Denver | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan
