What if Mark Stoops goes the NFL route? Five names he might consider.
When Ed Orgeron went shopping for an offensive coordinator in 2018, the LSU football coach bypassed the usual college candidates for the NFL where he hired 30-year-old passing game coordinator Joe Brady off Sean Payton’s coaching staff with the New Orleans Saints.
The result: A little-known quarterback, Joe Burrow, put up historic numbers on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy and becoming the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. The Tigers defeated Clemson in the CFP national championship game. Suddenly in high demand, Brady left Baton Rouge to be the offensive coordinator of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
What if Mark Stoops went a similar route? After all, his previous defensive coordinator, Matt House, had NFL experience before coming to Kentucky. His current defensive coordinator, Brad White, had been on the staff of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts before Stoops hired him at UK.
During Sunday’s news conference in which Stoops announced he was parting ways with offensive coordinator Eddie Gran and quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw, Stoops was asked if the NFL was an option when looking for a new play-caller.
“It’s certainly an option,” he said.
If indeed Stoops does go that route, here are five names he might consider, listed alphabetically:
Nathaniel Hackett: The 40-year-old is currently the offensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers. The son of former college head coach Paul Hackett, Nathaniel has been an NFL assistant with Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Jacksonville before joining Matt LaFleur’s staff last season. Hackett also has college coaching experience at Stanford and Syracuse.
Mike Kafka: Currently quarterbacks coach for the NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs, the 33-year-old Illinois native played his college football at Northwestern. Kafka spent six seasons on the rosters of seven different NFL teams before being hired by Andy Reid as a Chiefs’ quality control coach in 2017. He has worked his way up the Kansas City ladder since then.
Mike McDaniel: Currently run game coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, the 37-year-old Colorado native is a Kyle Shanahan protege. A Yale graduate, McDaniel was an assistant with Washington from 2010-2013 before spending 2014 with the Cleveland Browns when Shanahan was offensive coordinator. McDaniel followed Shanahan to the Atlanta Falcons in 2015 and then joined the 49ers when Shanahan was named head coach in 2017.
Nick Sirianni: The 39-year-old New York native is currently offensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts. Sirianni was quarterbacks coach under Mike McCoy with the San Diego Chargers when Frank Reich was the offensive coordinator there from 2013-15. Reich left San Diego to be the Philadelphia Eagles’ OC in 2016 and won the Super Bowl in 2017. When Reich was named head coach by Indianapolis, he hired Sirianni to be his OC.
Shane Waldron: Currently the passing game coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams, the 41-year-old Waldron interviewed for the Cincinnati Bengals’ head coach opening before Zac Taylor was hired at the end of 2018. Last year, Orgeron reportedly interviewed Waldron to replace Brady before hiring Scott Linehan. Waldron has been with Rams Coach Sean McVay since their days as assistants under Jay Gruden with the then Washington Redskins. Gruden brought Waldron to Los Angeles when he was hired as the head coach of the Rams.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 9:56 AM.
