One of the key areas for any NFL team is the coaching staff. Being able to have the same team on the sideline year in and year out makes the players feel comfortable and establish trust in the leaders along the sideline. Going into the season, some teams in the AFC East stayed with consistency on the sideline while others decided to make some changes.
For the Buffalo Bills, the trio of head coach Sean McDermott, defensive coordinator/assistant head coach Leslie Frazier, and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll will return for another season. Each season these guys have been getting better and better, reaching the AFC Championship game during the 2020 season. They are one of the few teams in the league that will be returning their head coach along with their defensive and offensive coordinators. Even special teams coordinator Heath Farwell will be back for another season.
The New England Patriots are also one of the teams returning their trio of coaches. Bill Belichick will once again be in charge of the team with Josh McDaniels calling the plays. Then Bill’s son, Steve will be controlling a defense looking to bounce back after a rough season. A wild card for this coaching staff could be former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia who rejoined the team after getting fired as the head coach of the Detroit Lions.
The Miami Dolphins are trying to take the next step after just missing out on the playoffs last season. Head coach Brian Flores will once again be in charge and trying to implement his final phase of the rebuild—playoffs. Josh Boyer will once again be calling the defense but the key for this team comes on the offensive side of the football. After Chan Gailey announced his departure as offensive coordinator, the team decided to hire Eric Studesville and George Godsey as co-coordinators. How that will work is anyone’s guess but the success and failure of this football team may depend on those two.
We end with the New York Jets because they had the most coaching turnover in the division. With Robert Saleh being hired as head coach of the team after the departure of Adam Gase, Saleh was able to bring in his guys, taking Mike LaFleur with him from the San Francisco 49ers to be his offensive coordinator while Jeff Ulbrich will be in charge of the defense after being the linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons last season. These three will have a tall task as they try to install a winning culture down in the Big Apple.