Which of the NFL's 11 New Coaches Are Up to the Task?

Any football fan will inevitably know the 11 new faces coming into this year’s season as head coaches—some of them not so unfamiliar of course.

But with that, comes automatic speculation as to what will happen with their new team. What, if any, types of success will they have? Will they improve upon a miserable season from last year? And so on and so on.

That's the thing with football; you never really know.

One year you could be a playoff contending team, and the next year you be a bottom feeding has been.

This year, there are 11 new head coaches; some of which, obviously, have already been there at the pro level, while others are having their first crack at it.

I have decided to take a look at these candidates and speculate where they could possibly be by year’s end in no particular order.

Eric Mangini—Cleveland Browns

Aside from all the hype of the apparent QB controversy/race that is ensuing in Cleveland, one has to think that Mangini neither gained nor lost anything in terms of who he is coaching. The Browns have had numerous problems in the secondary for the past couple of years, and their underachieving receiving corps. has been trumped by off-season trades and problems.

The Browns had one good year against a schedule that was no better than .500—two years ago—and to say things will immediately turn around given the division they compete in alone would be futile. If Mangini can turn things around for the better it will take two maybe three years to do so, given the amount of holes he has to fill. I can’t see them even competing with the Bengals this year, and to expect anything more than third in the division would be unthinkable.

Steve Spagnuolo—St. Louis Rams

The Rams appear to be a much underestimated team; Spagnuolo may be just the answer.

With rumors of talks about selling the team, an underachieving O-line from last year, and a season that produced nowhere near what they were capable of, the Rams could be poised to make a splash.

Spagnuolo brings an intensity to the club that wasn’t there the last two years. Spagnuolo is a defensive minded coach who can change the level of play in St. Louis—if the team steps up. I would like to say the Rams finish second in the division but I feel the Seahawks will do so.

Jim Mora

—Seattle Seahawks

Add in Housh, a healthy Hasselback, and a handful of receivers ready to step up, and what do you have? How 'bout a team that is still questionable on the ground.

If Seattle can get their ground game moving better than last year, the Seahawks are poised to take second and even push the Cardinals in the latter half of the season for first.

Raheem Morris—Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Morris has all but done away with the Tampa Two defense, and has begun to usher-in a new philosophy, that he feels, better suits the team in a zone blocking scheme. Winslow is not the type of blocking TE to accomplish that, despite the fact he could be taught.

The problem is, the defense doesn’t have enough play-makers to keep up in a very stout division, and although they kept Bryant at WR, and added Ward in the backfield—they simply don’t have enough weapons overall to make it to the postseason.

In another year or two this could change. Look for Tampa to be last in the division unfortunately.

Mike Singletary—San Francisco 49ers

Can Smith be the guy they thought? Can the organization get away from surrounding the team around Gore? Can the team afford themselves more consistency on defense from years past? Can Singletary have another halftime talk with his pants around his ankles for three minutes? Who knows?

The point is, there are more inconsistent issues for the 49ers than they are capable of overcoming to compete in the division. Before anything, and just like the Bengals, this team will first have to learn how to put up points and play solid defense week in and week out to challenge for a postseason spot.

Look for the 49ers to improve upon last year but ultimately be relegated to 4th in the division.

Josh McDaniels—Denver Broncos

McDaniels is another coaching prodigy from New England, and that alone could be enough to get him started.

After all, the Pats coaching staff just simply makes winners out of everyone they touch nowadays. McDaniels and the Broncos have all the right tools in place to be a spoiler in the division: Moreno and Jordan as their primary backs, a new two TE system that will inevitably lessen the load on Orton, who is better than most think, and an O-Line that will be much better than last year.

Denver has become another team making a switch to 3-4 with no true NT to anchor the D, but the Broncos could surprise everyone if they can put it all together by the regular season.

Look for Denver to take second in the division behind San Diego with a possible postseason berth.

Tom Cable—Oakland Raiders

Cable put together a season good enough to allow him to stay, but that won’t be enough this year.

The upside is, the guys in the backfield, if healthy, can pose a serious threat to teams, and the defense should get better against the run; which was an Achilles heel to last year’s season. Look for Higgins to have a breakout season, but other than that, the Raiders will finish 4th behind two teams that have better players and experience, and one team that has better tools to work with.

Todd Haley—Kansas City Chiefs

Haley has a very intriguing situation in KC. He gets Cassel at QB, which will vastly improve the landscape of who is throwing the ball.

The trouble is, outside of Bowe, the Chiefs will need newly acquired Bobby Engram to keep double coverage away from him (Bowe). Enter in, they gave up Gonzalez for Engram and a RB position that, unless Johnson gets himself together, remains suspect—and things don’t look so promising.

The only thing that would help is Johnson. If they can run effectively, the Chiefs can continue to try and spread the field a bit, and with Cassel at the helm there is no reason to think it can’t be done. The DBs are a bright spot but the D must improve on the lack of sacks from last year.

Look for the Chiefs to finish a modest 3rd in the division.

Jim Caldwell—Indianapolis Colts

Wayne and Gonzalez get promotions with Harrison gone, Donald Brown should fit well in the system, and Caldwell is in line to be yet another coach to inherit an already well-built team.

The conundrum with the Colts is that, they have to not only run the ball better, but stop the run better as well. They will probably finish second behind the Titans, but don’t be surprised if the Texans give them a run for their money.

Rex Ryan—New York Jets

If you pay attention closely to the Jets and get away from Mark Sanchez, which in my opinion will be a huge bust, then you can clearly see Ryan’s concerns. Ryan is trying to utilize Jones by instilling a new ground and pound system offensively. He has already improved upon a weak defense in acquiring Douglas and Scott, but without a TE who can block, and virtually no receivers worth mentioning, this team is no better than 4th in the division, even on paper.

Jim Schwartz—Detroit Lions

The best for last perhaps?

The Lions are a big topic with Stafford, but he inevitable comes into a team that isn’t ready just yet—to add to that, Flacco and Ryan set the bar for rookie QBs and although, if you compare Stafford to either of the aforementioned, he clearly measures up—but he won’t be the starter come time game one.

Culpepper reunites with Linehan, and although he won’t have what both of them had in their days in Minnesota, Culpepper has enough tools to make some noise.

The problem is whether or not he will, and the consensus is he won’t. Smith will be asked to be more of a power runner, which he isn’t, and the addition of Morris may not lessen the load.

The Defense will improve upon last year where they weren’t that bad, but the O-Line will definitely have to improve upon a franchise high 52 sacks only second to the 49ers. Is this the year? No!

Will the Lions be a better team in years to come Yes! But for now 4th place is all they will acquire...albeit a better 4th place, but still.