The AFC West has been as competitive as any division in the league from top to bottom over the last few years.
Kansas City has won the last two division crowns, and Denver won five straight from 2011-2015. Both the Raiders and the Chargers have made the postseason as Wild Card teams in the last five seasons.
Andy Reid is the longest tenured coach in the AFC West. Reid has been with the Chiefs since 2013, but the other three teams in the division have cycled through numerous head coaches.
Anthony Lynn and Vance Joseph are entering their second seasons with the Chargers and Broncos, respectively. Jon Gruden is beginning his second stint with the Raiders, and he will roam the sidelines for the first time since 2008.
The rivalries in the AFC West are some of the best in the NFL. The 2018 season should produce another very competitive season in the division, and all four teams are capable of making the playoffs.
Throughout the month of June, we are ranking the coaches in each division. We’ve already ranked coaches in the AFC North, AFC East, NFC North, NFC East, NFC South and NFC West. At the end of this week, we will rank the top five coaches in the NFL.
AFC West Coach Rankings
- Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos
Denver was the class of the AFC West for five seasons, but they’ve taken a massive step backwards over the last two years. Joseph isn’t responsible for the rapid decline despite leading the team to an abysmal 5-11 campaign in 2017.
Quarterback play has been the main issue for the team. Even during the 2015 Super Bowl run, Peyton Manning struggled in the second half of the season. Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch have all been average at best. Now, Case Keenum is taking over after the best season of his career in Minnesota.
While Joseph doesn’t deserve all the blame for last year’s disappointing team, he wasn’t particularly great in his first season. There was even speculation that the Broncos were going to part ways with Joseph after the season. A rookie head coach is expected to have a learning curve, but Joseph will need to show progress with the team in 2018 to earn a third year.
- Anthony Lynn, Los Angeles Chargers
Joseph wasn’t the only rookie head coach in the AFC West last season. Anthony Lynn guided the Chargers to a 9-7 season in his first year and the team’s first year in Los Angeles. However, the Chargers still missed the postseason.
Los Angeles probably would have made the playoffs if not for an 0-4 start that included a couple of very close and frustrating losses. The Chargers were 6-1 in their last seven games, but most of those wins came against bad opponents.
The chances to make a playoff run with Philip Rivers are running out, but the Chargers should have a very good team this season. The offense has weapons around Rivers, and the defense has several playmakers. With the Raiders and Chiefs possibly facing a transition year, Lynn needs to take advantage and lead the Chargers to an AFC West title.
- Jon Gruden, Oakland Raiders
No one was sure if Gruden would ever coach again once he inked a deal to become the Monday Night Football color analyst. Gruden was one of ESPN’s highest earners, and he had one of the best jobs in broadcasting.
However, the Raiders made him an offer he couldn’t refuse to return to the sidelines. Gruden signed a monstrous 10,year, $100 million deal with Oakland — and this deal includes a no-trade clause.
After a 10-year absence, it’s worth asking: is Gruden a great coach? Sure, he won a Super Bowl in his first season in Tampa Bay. He also led Oakland to the playoffs twice and built a championship caliber team in four seasons. But his last six seasons as a coach produced two playoff teams and only three teams with a winning record. He was only 57-55 overall in Tampa, and his Super Bowl victory at the age of 38 feels like decades ago.
Gruden has a team ready to compete for the division title now. Oakland is only a year removed from a 12-4 team that could’ve made some noise in the playoffs had Derek Carr not been injured late in the season. Nonetheless, it will be intriguing to see if Gruden has lost a step or if the time off rejuvenated him.
- Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
There are two different Andy Reid’s to discuss. First, there’s Regular Season Andy Reid. That coach is 53-27 in five seasons with the Chiefs, and he was 130-93-1 with the Eagles. He’s made the playoffs in 13 of 19 seasons as a head coach. Reid has a remarkable track record with developing teams, coaches and quarterbacks.
But there’s also Playoff Andy Reid. He’s 11-13 in the postseason — which isn’t necessarily bad. However, Reid’s teams have lost several playoff games they should have won, including last season’s home loss to the Tennessee Titans. Reid had a few terrific teams in Philadelphia, and they made the NFC title game in four straight seasons.
In 2004, the Eagles finally broke through and made it to the Super Bowl. Though they lost to the Patriots, it was an overwhelmingly positive step for Reid and the franchise. However, Reid hasn’t had much playoff success in Kansas City. He’s only 1-4 despite having great teams in the regular season.
Meanwhile, former Reid assistant Doug Pederson just defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl with the Eagles. It’s a testament to Reid that his assistants have done well elsewhere. John Harbaugh, Ron Rivera, Pederson, Sean McDermott, Pat Shurmur, Todd Bowles and Matt Nagy are all current head coaches who were assistants under Reid.
After trading Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins, Reid will now have the task of developing Patrick Mahomes into a franchise QB.
Andy Reid made Alex Smith ~4.5 spots better at "TDs Per Red Zone Appearance" out of 32. Alex Smith made Andy Reid ~1.3 spots worse.
This is only one stat, but there are many more like it.#Chiefs pic.twitter.com/ilDsPUMm2G
— Josh Webb (@shwebb29) June 25, 2018
Kansas City has talent elsewhere, but Reid and the front office took a risk on starting Mahomes this season. Given Reid’s track record, the move will probably pay off. There aren’t many coaches in the NFL better than Reid. However, it’s worth wondering if he’ll ever have postseason success again.
