NFLPA survey identifies top coordinators ahead of hiring cycle - ESPN

The Detroit Lions' Aaron Glenn, the Miami Dolphins' Frank Smith and the Dallas Cowboys' John Fassel are the top-ranked defensive, offensive and special teams coordinators in the NFL, according to a survey of NFL players conducted by the NFL Players Association during the 2023 season.

The survey is part of the union's broader «report card» project it launched last year, surveying players throughout the league on various topics related to their teams. Last year's survey asked players to rate their teams on a number of factors, including ownership, practice facilities, coaching, etc. This year, the union wanted to broaden the survey and include more topics, and one of them was coordinators.

«We got really great participation in last year's report card survey, but we wanted to think about what other areas matter to guys day-to-day,» NFLPA president J.C. Tretter told ESPN in a phone interview Thursday morning. «So, the idea of evaluating the coordinators was brought up. They're a major factor in your day-to-day life as a player, and we wanted to make sure players had a voice in promoting the good ones.»

Tretter said more than 1,700 players responded to this year's report card survey, which will be released, as it was last year, around the scouting combine in late February/early March. But the union wanted to put out the lists of top five coordinators now, ahead of the annual head coach hiring cycle, to generate positive attention for some of the coaches who will be candidates.

«We hope it will help these really qualified leaders get the chance to move on in the next cycle and have a chance to become head coaches,» Tretter said.

The survey was specific about who it asked — offensive players were asked to rate their offensive