The past couple weeks on the AFC East Roundup, we have gone over the projected starters on both sides of the ball for the teams. This week, we will be focusing on the sidelines to see which coaches and coordinators are returning to their teams and which new faces can you expect to see calling the plays on Sunday.
The Bills had an interesting offseason when it came to their coaching staff. Head coach Sean McDermott is back in charge for his second season in the league. McDermott exceeded all expectations in his rookie year by making the playoffs and ending the 17-year drought of the team. On offense, the majority of fans got their wish when the team moved on from coordinator Rick Dennison. In his place comes Buffalo native, Brian Daboll who is coming off a National Championship at Alabama in the same role. Leslie Frazier returns to coach the defense but the team was not so sure if he would return. Frazier had an interview with the Indianapolis Colts after Patriots Josh McDaniels turned down the job after initially taking it. The job was later given to former Bills, Frank Reich.
New England Patriots
The Patriots had the most intense offseason on their coaching staff of any of the team in the East. Although Bill Belichick returns as the guy in charge, it was the coordinators that were tumultuous. Matt Patricia who was the defensive coordinator for the team, took the head coaching job that the Detroit Lions were offering. His replacement is linebackers coach, Brian Flores who will be calling plays but did not receive the official promotion to defensive coordinator. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels looked to be a goner after agreeing to becoming the head coach for the Indianapolis coach but at the last second changed his mind and went back to New England.
For the Jets, head coach Todd Bowles returns for his third season after finishing 5-11 last year. Bowles has managed a New York defensive unit that ranks in the top five in run defense, third down defense, and red zone defense while also finishing in the top half of the league in takeaways. The problem has been on offense, a job that coordinator Jeremy Bates will be in charge of fixing. Bates got promoted after being the quarterback coach for the team last season replacing John Morton. Kacy Rodgers survived to return as defensive coordinator after seeing three coaches that worked with him fired during the offseason. On a side note, former Bills coordinator Rick Dennison, is now the offensive line/run game coordinator for the team.
Adam Gase returns at the helm for his third season with the Dolphins. Things were good in his inaugural season as he led the Dolphins to the playoffs but began to unravel in his second season. Dowell Loggains is the team’s new offensive coordinator coming over from Chicago. However, Loggains will not be calling the plays, that job still belongs to Gase but he will help craft the week-to-week game plan. Matt Burke is in charge on defense for the second year as coordinator after being promoted before the start of last season. Burke helped the defense improve in many facets last season and crafted the game plan that made the Patriots unable to convert a third down during a game last season.