Will These New Coaches Transform the NFC South?

New Faces At Offensive Coordinator May Decide The Fate Of The NFC South This Season.

New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak looks on during the rookie minicamp / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Once the most prolific offensive division in pro football, the NFC South has been a far cry from that in recent seasons. Last season, the Carolina Panthers finished dead last in points scored, with the Atlanta Falcons (26th) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20th) both ranking near the bottom of the league.

Carolina also ranked last in total yardage, with the Buccaneers coming in at 23rd and Atlanta at 17th.
The New Orleans Saints ranked ninth in points scored and 14th in total yardage last season. Not bad on the surface, but the unit often floundered in key moments during the season. Outside of Atlanta, none of the other three teams in the division were able to offer anything close to a threat with their running games.

In perhaps a microcosm of the state of this division, all four NFC South teams will have a new offensive coordinator in 2024. Only two teams, Carolina and Atlanta, made the switch because of changes at head coach. New Orleans fired longtime assistant Pete Carmichael, while Tampa Bay needed a new coordinator after Dave Canales took the head coaching position in Carolina.

Today, the Saints News Network takes a look at the four new coaches in charge of the offenses in the NFC South.

Klint Kubiak, Saints

New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak interviewed after a team practice / NOLA.com

The 37-year-old Kubiak comes in after being the Passing Game Coordinator for the NFC Champion 49ers last season. San Francisco ranked second in total yardage and third in points scored last season while producing the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in RB Christian McCaffrey.

Kubiak comes from a long lineage of successful offenses. His system can be traced back to father Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan, who oversaw historically prolific offenses with the Denver Broncos in the 1990s. Klint has worked with Gary at Minnesota and Denver, while also working for Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco.

This is Kubiak's second stint as offensive coordinator. His first was in 2021 with the Vikings. That team produced a 4,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher, and 1,000-yard receiver. Under Dennis Allen, a defensive-minded head coach, Kubiak will have complete control of the New Orleans offense this season.

Liam Cohen, Buccaneers

Offensive assistant coach Liam Cohen when with the Los Angeles Rams / USA TODAY

To replace Canales, Tampa Bay went outside the organization to bring in the 38-year-old Cohen. Most recently, Cohen was the offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky, a position he held for one season. He'd spent the prior year as the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.

Cohen only held his post with the Rams for one year. An injury to QB Matthew Stafford contributed heavily in bogging down a unit that finished 32nd in total yardage and in the bottom-5 in both rushing and passing production.

Cohen's first NFL job was also with the Rams, where he served as an assistant WR/QB coach between 2018 and 2020. Los Angeles made the playoffs twice in those three seasons. Cohen left in 2021 to become offensive coordinator at Kentucky. Since then he's ping-ponged between the Wildcats and Rams before landing in Tampa Bay under defensive-minded head coach Todd Bowles.

Zac Robinson, Falcons

Los Angeles Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson during 2023 training camp at UC Irvine / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta was a conservative team with no direction under previous head coach Arthur Smith. While new head man Raheem Morris is a defensive-oriented coach, he brought in one of the league's hottest offensive names with Robinson.

At 37, Robinson has been with the Los Angeles Rams since 2019. It's been his only coaching stop in his five-year coaching career. He's worked his way through the ranks as an assistant quarterback and receivers coach, then as Passing Game Coordinator.

This will be Robinson's first role as offensive coordinator. In five years with the Rams, those teams held top-10 rankings in total offense and passing yardage three times.

Brad Idzik, Panthers

Carolina offensive coordinator Brad Idzik (left) oversees practice while with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers / pewterreport.com

Idzik followed Canales over from the Buccaneers, where he worked under him for one year as WR coach. Prior to that, he spent four years as an assistant WR coach with the Seattle Seahawks from 2019 to 2022. These have been the only jobs as a coach Idzik has had other than as a graduate assistant at Stanford from 2014 to 2018.

At 32, Idzik is the youngest offensive coordinator in the league and the second youngest coordinator on either side of the ball. However, Canales will likely oversee most of the game planning and play-calling duties.

The Canales-Idzik combination helped Tampa Bay withstand the retirement of Tom Brady and QB Baker Mayfield to a career-best season. They'll be tasked with doing the same for QB Bryce Young, the first overall choice in last year's draft.

Three of the new offensive coordinators in the NFC South, Kubiak, Robinson, and Cohen, are working under head coaches that are defensive specialists and will therefore be in complete charge of the offense. The average age of the four is just 36, with Coen being the oldest at 38.

Kubiak, Robinson, Coen, and Idzik have combined for just two NFL seasons as an offensive coordinators. Yet, they are charged with turning around the struggling offenses of the NFC South. The most successful in doing so is likely going to be the favorite to emerge in the division this season.