There are a select few head coaches in the NFL that are seen on the sidelines with play cards, calling the plays for their offense. Coaches like Bill Belichick of the Patriots, Sean Payton of the Saints and Mike McCarthy of the Packers are often seen on the sideline covering their mouth with their sheet of plays as they relay their call to the quarterback.
Not since the Tom Coughlin era have the Jaguars had a head coach calling the offensive play calls, but the Jaguars may be heading toward those days once again. It seems almost certain that if the Jaguars choose not to hire Mel Tucker as head coach, that the team will hire an offensive mind to take over.
If they hire an offensive minded coach like Rob Chudzinski, Mike Mularkey or Mike McCoy will that coach be the play-caller or will they assume the facilitator role that many head coaches take and relegate play-calling to an offensive coordinator?
The role of a head coach is different in many cases, but the ultimate role is to be a facilitator and a leader. While I strongly believe that Jack Del Rio was a strong linebackers coach that knew good defense when he saw it and could be a good developer of talent, he failed as the leader of the organization.His disputes with veteran players like Mike Peterson and Deon Grant as well as the amount of assistant coaches that were fired during his tenure were indicators of this and it was only validated by opinions from former players like Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith.
The next head coach's success will likely be predicated upon his ability to be a manager, but whether or not their role will include play-calling remains to be seen.