The most interesting new playcallers in 2026

Summary of The most interesting new playcallers in 2026

by The Athletic

1h 17m•August 19, 2026
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Overview of The Athletic Football Show — “The most interesting new playcallers in 2026”

Robert Mays and Derek Klassen break down a big NFL theme heading into the season: massive coaching turnover. They note that there are at least 25 new play callers across offense and defense, then zoom in on a handful of the most interesting hires based on scheme fit, coaching lineage, and how each one might change with a new roster. The conversation is especially focused on how much a coordinator should preserve from the previous system versus how much they should imprint their own ideas.

Big-picture themes

  • The NFL keeps changing faster than ever. The hosts emphasize how much of the league has turned over, especially on offense.
  • Scheme is only part of the story. They repeatedly stress that coaching trees matter, but so does flexibility, communication, and how a coordinator adapts to personnel.
  • Quarterbacks change everything. Several of the most interesting situations depend on whether the new play caller can tailor the offense to the QB instead of forcing a system.
  • Continuity vs. reinvention is the core question. Some teams want a near-copied system; others want a new identity layered on top of what already works.

Defensive play callers to watch

Browns: Mike Rutenberg

  • The Browns are moving from Jim Schwartz’s aggressive, man-heavy, blitz-first style to a system with more roots in the Gus Bradley/Robert Saleh/Jeff Ulbrich world.
  • Expect more quarters coverage, Cover 3, and pressure concepts that add one extra rusher rather than constant all-out blitzing.
  • Cleveland still has the personnel to make it work, especially with:
    • Mason Graham as a disruptive interior piece
    • Quincy Williams as a linebacker/blitzer
    • a secondary built to survive in man and quarters looks
  • The key question is how much they can pressure without Myles Garrett, and whether they blend in some of the more varied Falcons-style pressure ideas Rutenberg helped with in Atlanta.

Cowboys: Christian Parker

  • Parker is highlighted as a strong communicator and a deeply curious football mind who studies the game constantly.
  • His background is especially interesting because he comes from the Vic Fangio tree, but also has some Mike Pettine/Ravens-style pressure DNA in his history.
  • The hosts think he’s well-positioned to avoid being a rigid copy of Fangio and instead build a version that matches Dallas’ personnel.
  • They expect the Cowboys to likely lean more toward dime personnel than the Eagles did with Fangio, because Dallas’ roster may make that its best option on passing downs.

Chargers: Chris O’Leary

  • The appeal here is mostly continuity. Jim Harbaugh’s last two defensive coordinator hires at Michigan worked out extremely well, and O’Leary had already been identified as a possible internal successor.
  • He showed at Western Michigan that he’s willing to be very aggressive, including:
    • heavy blitzing
    • Cover 0
    • corner pressure
  • The hosts believe he may dial up more pressure than Jesse Minter did, but the real test is whether he can keep the Chargers defense in the same overall class despite not having Minter’s exact touch.

Offensive play callers to watch

Eagles: Sean Mannion

  • This is the biggest philosophical shift of the group.
  • The Eagles appear to be moving from a Jalen Hurts/shotgun-heavy, playmaker-driven offense toward something closer to a LaFleur/McVay-style under-center, wide-zone system.
  • The hosts believe the Eagles want to:
    • become more under-center
    • lean into wide zone
    • use timing and footwork to help Hurts access more of the field
  • A big part of the conversation is whether Hurts can be pushed toward more middle-of-the-field throws and cleaner progression work.
  • The staff and players reportedly have strong buy-in, which matters a lot for such a dramatic change.

Chargers: Mike McDaniel

  • The key idea is that Justin Herbert gives the offense a freedom it never had in Miami with Tua Tagovailoa.
  • Rather than having to use motion, ball-handling tricks, and formation manipulation to protect the quarterback, this version can be built around Herbert’s ability to throw from anywhere.
  • The hosts think the passing game may feature:
    • more downfield out-breaking routes
    • quick-game answers
    • selective play-action
    • less of the “QB-protection gymnastics” McDaniel needed elsewhere
  • Omarion Hampton could be a huge part of this if the line holds up; the hosts love his power and think the run game could create explosives.
  • Their main curiosity is how much this offense looks like the Miami version versus a totally new Herbert-centered creation.

Lions: Drew Petzing

  • The Lions are not trying to import a whole new offense.
  • Instead, they carried over the existing Lions verbiage, and Petzing is learning the system from Jared Goff and the retained staff.
  • This is compared to how Raheem Morris handled a defensive transition: learn the established system rather than force everyone to start over.
  • The hosts think this is the right move because Goff has matured into a quarterback who can act as a true bridge between coordinators.
  • Expect the Lions to keep most of their identity, with only selective concepts and run-game wrinkles added from Petzing’s background.

Titans: Brian Dable/Cam Ward pairing

  • The concern here is fit.
  • Dable’s offenses have often featured:
    • more quarterback runs
    • gun-based RPOs
    • spread looks
  • That is not naturally Cam Ward’s game, since Ward is more of a sit-back-and-throw quarterback.
  • The best version of the offense would likely look more like a gun-heavy, aggressive downfield system with fewer designed QB runs and more quick-hitting, structure-based throws.
  • The hosts are skeptical but not dismissive; they just don’t love the stylistic match.

Seahawks: Brian Fleury

  • Fleury has one of the most unusual backgrounds of any new play caller:
    • started on the defensive side
    • spent time in football research / analytics
    • later worked in Kyle Shanahan’s offensive ecosystem
  • That gives him a rare perspective on both what defenses hate and how to build an offense from the ground up.
  • The Seahawks should still retain some of the run-game/play-action structure from last year, but likely with:
    • more motion
    • more five-out concepts
    • more Shanahan-style leverage and formation tricks
  • They expect Sam Darnold to be comfortable with the system because he has seen similar concepts before.

Main takeaways

  • The most interesting new play callers are the ones where scheme, personnel, and quarterback all interact in a meaningful way.
  • The best coaches in this group won’t be the ones who copy their old system exactly; they’ll be the ones who adapt the structure without losing the core identity.
  • Several of these jobs will be judged quickly because the personnel is already good enough to reveal whether the play caller can elevate the group.
  • The episode ends by teasing Jim Leonard as another major name to watch, with more on him coming in the AFC East preview.