NFL Playoffs: What Browns Can Learn from the Teams

Dec 21, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns have made a commitment to Mike Pettine as their head coach so he will at least get one more year. We take a look at the playoff coaches, their philosophical background and how many years they have been head coaches in the NFL:

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So right away we see that of the 12 teams that made the playoffs only 4 of them have offensive minded head coaches the other 8 are all on the defensive side of the ball. That may surprise many Browns fans who have called for an offensive coach for years in Cleveland.

We understand this is a one year sample but the defensive minded coaches are also coaches that have found the playoffs year after year: Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, John Fox, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, Marvin Lewis and Chuck Pagano have all been regulars with their backgrounds.

The experience spread is also very interesting. The average experience is 8 years for the head coaches in the playoffs. The long term guys like Belichick, Fox and Lewis have been able to stick around for a long time based on getting to the playoffs. Three of the four offensive coaches are newer to the head coaching ranks with Jason Garrett holding rank at 5 years, Jim Caldwell at 4 and Bruce Arians with 2 years. Mike McCarthy of the Packers is the long term offensive coach with 9 years in the league, all with the Packers.

The other interesting thing is how many of these coaches are with the team that hired them as first time coaches. Belichick, Fox, Carroll and Caldwell are the only coaches who are on their 2nd (Fox and Caldwell) or 3rd (Belichick and Carroll) coaching stops. The rest have all made the playoffs with the team that gave them their big chance.

So far the Browns are on the right track. Mike Pettine is a defensive minded head coach, like two-thirds of those in the playoffs, with the team that hired him as a first time head coach, also like two-thirds of the coaches in the NFL Playoffs. But who the coaches are isn’t the only piece to the puzzle. Next we turn to the offenses and see what they can teach us.

Next: What do the NFL Playoffs Offenses Teach Us?