It’s kind of a funny cycle in the NFL. X team has a great season so the O or D coordinator is suddenly the hot ticket. I don’t have the stats, and it does obviously workout from time to time, but the skill sets are very different, coordinator vs HC.
22 of the 32 head coaches employed at the start of 2024 were O/D coordinators immediately before they became head coaches at their current stop. With the 6 that were fired the 3 were coordinators 3 were non coordinators directly before being hired.
Playoff split:
HC who were not coordinators in last stop - 5 made the playoffs 5 missed the playoffs
HC who were coordinators in last stop - 9 made the playoffs 13 missed
Current coaches who were not coordinators immediately before their current job:
Jim Harbaugh (HC college)
John Harbaugh (DB coach)
Zach Taylor (QB coach)
Dan Campbell (AHC/TE coach)
Mike McCarthy (HC in GB before that he was OC)
Sean Payton (HC in NO before that AHC/QB in Dallas)
Andy Reid (HC in Philly before that AHC/QB in GB)
Antonio Pierce - Fired
Doug Peterson - Fired
Jerod Mayo - Fired
There isn’t a big correlation for coordinators succeeded or failing based on where they got hired from or if they were coordinators before they became HC