Every year in the NFL there is a backdrop to the playoffs, and it is the revolving door of pro coaches.  They get fired, hired somewhere else, look like a genius with a new team, and the fan base from their old team is angrily screaming at the front office for not resigning their coach.

Alright, so it doesn’t happen with every team, but invariably some NFL doormat will show signs of life, rise from the dead and make a push for the playoffs next year, and experts everywhere will put the credit all on the new head coach.  The truth, of course, is that some teams are ripe for a breakout; the players are there, they just need to be led by the right system.  If you’re not a student of the NFL, you need to learn one thing: a coaching staff is more important than the players. Plug athletes into the right system and you can make a winner.  So what teams with coaching vacancies have potential to tack on 5 or 6 more wins? Read on…

Kansas City Chiefs:  I’m picking the obvious ones first. Granted, they just filled their head coaching vacancy with former Jets coach Herm Edwards, but the future of this team will not hinge on Edwards but on the coordinators he picks up.  The player personnel will not change much, besides of course Larry Johnson permanently replacing Priest Holmes, and in reality that can only be a blessing.  Johnson put fear into every opposing team that played him in the second half of the season, and would probably go for 150 yards and 2 TDs on any combination of the 1970s Steelers, 1980s Bears, and 2000s Ravens defenses.

The best way to improve this already great situation would be this: hire Norv Turner for your offensive coordinator.  The scenario has got to be tantalizing for Chiefs fans, who are hearing news that current o-coordinator Al Saunders will skip town now that Dick Vermeil has retired.  Turner has a rep as a great offensive mind, albeit one that can’t handle the role of being a head coach. As a head coach, Turner’s squads are a collective 58-82-1.  As an offensive coordinator, Turner’s teams posted a 44-20 record!! He’s still capable of leading a great offense, and the best part of all is that Raiders owner Al Davis has a rich history of getting rid of coaches who end up royally screwing him. Ex-Raider coaches include Mike Shanahan, who is currently screwing Davis as coach of the Denver Broncos, John Gruden, who screwed Davis by destroying his team in Super Bowl XXXVII, and Bill Callahan, who screwed Davis by going to Nebraska and proving he never deserved to be an NFL head coach in the first place.  Hiring Turner would preserve this sacred tradition and only make the Chiefs a better offensive team in 2006.

But then I read the Chiefs are leaning towards keeping current defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. Really?? Are you really? WHAT on earth happened this year with KC’s defense that has inspired confidence in this man? After finishing 31^st in team defense in 2004-5, the Chiefs made it their priority in the offseason to go out and buy themselves some defense, aquiring CB Patrick Surtain, LB Kendrell Bell, and drafting LB Derrick Johnson.  Know where they finished this year in total D?  25^th! They still gave up over 320 yards and 20 points per game, as well one often overlooked statistic that can tell the real story behind a defense: teams running the ball against them averaged over 4 yards per carry.

To me, yards per rush allowed by a defense is a much more telling statistic than total yards allowed, which is the typical statistic used to rank NFL defenses.  Take, for example, Green Bay or New Orleans, whose defenses actually finished 7^th and 14^th, respectfully.  But both teams allowed 4+ yrds/run against, letting teams burn the clock against them.  You cannot be successful in the NFL unless you stop the run! This team has got to get some help inside, and it’s got to have an attitude makeover.  The Chiefs have done a lot for a new look by hiring Edwards, who will toughen them up, but they need a better man for the job than Cunningham.  Get a smash-mouth coach who will get in someone’s face if they miss an assignment.  The Chiefs are a sleeper pick to make it deep in the playoffs every year, and every year their d falls apart. If this team continues to disappoint, it will be because of the lack of defense.

Detroit Lions:  On the other side of the equation lies the Lions.  You could field a whole team of “All-Pro-Potential” guys from Detroit’s skill positions that continue to disappoint.  None of their 18 wide receivers could stay healthy, Kevin Jones was doomed by horrible offensive line play, and Joey Harrington has all of the tools and none of the intangibles.  If any player in the NFL could actually have negative intangibles, it would be Harrington.

However, lost among the turmoil of failure this season and the call for Matt Millen’s head on a platter was the fact that Detroit has built a great defense.  They have big, strong defensive tackles including pro bowler Shaun Rogers, speed in the linebacking corps with rising star Boss Bailey, and game-changers in the secondary with RW McQuarters and maybe one of the three best corners in the league, Dre Bly.  The biggest thing that hurt this defense was injuries, but with everyone they can compete with anyone.  It’s a pity that they’re probably going to get rid of Dick Jauron because if he were to move back to a defensive coordinator position, he would be perfect for the job.

What they need is: a) some offensive linemen that can actually block, and b) a tough coach that will keep them grinding in close games instead of worrying about his hair.  Fortunately, they can do both!  This year’s NFL draft is supposedly extremely OL-heavy, and if Matt Millen wants to finally get some real results instead of scoring A’s on Mel Kiper’s report card, he’ll get some youth in his offensive line that will have a chance to gel together for years to come.  With the coaching issue, Millen can please both the fans and his own desires by picking up someone like Steelers line coach Russ Grimm, who knows how to run the ball and actually played with Millen in the NFL.

Minnesota Vikings: Like the Chiefs, this team didn’t bother to wait until I was going to publish this column to hire a head coach, but their outlook looks even more murky.  The Vikes hired former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress last Friday to replace Shrek (Mike Tice).  Fans are excited thinking “This guy made Donovan into a Super Bowl quarterback; he can definitely do that with Daunte!”  Well, here’s the problem: they still don’t have a ground game and Childress is pass-happy as it is.

While Scott Linehan was known as an offensive genius while he was in Minny, he wasn’t just sitting up in the box saying “Alright, let’s throw it deep to Randy. And again. AGAIN!”  People overlook the fact that, when they were a playoff team, the Vikings were among the league leaders in rushing the ball.  Remember Robert Smith?? Remember (the old) Michael Bennett? Remember Ontarrio Smith?  Of course you don’t, because Sportscenter was busy showing 60-yard TD passes… that were SET UP by running the ball!

Their defense started to play well as the season progressed, they ended up winning more games than people thought they would after Daunte went down, but if they want to make the jump into the playoffs, they better get a running game back.

The rest: If I’m an NFL coach, do I want to go to the Texans? Maybe. The Saints? God no. The Jets? They’re getting older. The Rams? Need a d-line.  Raiders? Need an entire defense.

This column was more about the chance for teams to make a big jump.  The rest of the coaching vacancies need to be filled with guys looking long-term, because that’s what a lot of teams need: a five-year plan.

But several teams are ready. They just need the right man to lead them.