This research examines the impact of defensive coordinators and head coaches on team defensive performance in the National Football League (NFL). We find that elite and very poor defensive coordinators and head coaches can have meaningful impacts on their teams’ defensive performances. A team’s defensive performance is shown to improve with increased defensive coordinator tenure. Similarly, defensive coordinators and head coaches who were NFL players contribute to improved defensive performance compared to coaches without experience as NFL players. In addition, a 3-4 defensive alignment is found to be associated with improved defensive performance compared to a 4-3 defensive alignment.
AdlerE. S.BerryM. J.DohertyD. (2013). Pushing ‘reset’: The Conditional effects of coaching replacements on college football performance. Social Science Quarterly, 94, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00929.x
3.
AudasR.DobsonS.GoddardJ. (2002). The impact of managerial change on team performance in professional sports. Journal of Economics and Business, 54, 633–650. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-6195(02)00120-0
BerriD. J.LeedsM. A.LeedsE. M.MondelloM. (2009). The role of managers in team performance. International Journal of Sport Finance, 4, 75–93.
6.
BertrandM.SchoarA. (2003). Managing with style: The effect of managers on firm policies. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1169–1208. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355303322552775
BloomN.EifertB.MahahanA.McKenzieD.RobertsJ. (2013). Does management matter? Evidence from India. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128, 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjs044
9.
BradburyJ. C. (2017). Hired to be fired: The publicity value of managers. Managerial and Decision Economics, 38, 929–940. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.2834
10.
BridgewaterS.KahnL. M.GoodallA. H. (2011). Substitution and complementarity between managers and subordinates: Evidence from British football. Labour Economics, 18, 275–286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2010.10.001
11.
BrownT.FarrellK. A.ZornT. (2007). Performance measurement and matching: The Market for football coaches. Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics, 46, 21–35.
12.
BruinshoofdA.WeelB. (2003). Manager to go? Performance dips reconsidered with evidence from Dutch football. European Journal of Operational Research, 148, 233–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-2217(02)00680-X
13.
ChanW. (1996). External recruitment versus internal promotion. Journal of Labor Economics, 14, 555–570. https://doi.org/10.1086/209822
14.
CurtisJ. E.LoyJ. W.HillenJ. M. (1986). Managerial succession and team effectiveness: A case study of Japanese professional baseball. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 21, 339–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/101269028602100406
15.
De PaolaM.ScoppaV. (2012). The effects of managerial turnover: Evidence from coach dismissals in Italian soccer teams. Journal of Sports Economics, 13, 152–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002511402155
16.
DeVaroJ.MoritaH. (2013). Internal promotion and external recruitment: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Journal of Labor Economics, 31, 227–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002511402155
17.
FeeC. E.HadlockC. J.PierceJ. R. (2006). Promotions in the internal and external labor market: Evidence from professional football coaching careers. Journal of Business, 79, 821–850. https://doi.org/10.1086/499139
18.
GoffB. (2013). Contributions of managerial levels: Comparing MLB and NFL. Managerial and Decision Economics, 34, 428–436. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.2604
19.
HallC. M.PedaceR. (2016). Do managers matter? Manager effects on organization performance. Managerial and Decision Economics, 37, 541–551. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.2743
20.
HeuerA.MüllerC.RubnerO.HagemannN.StraussB. (2011). Usefulness of dismissing and changing the coach in professional soccer. PLoS One, 6, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017664
21.
HillG. C. (2009). The effect of frequent managerial turnover on organizational performance: A study of professional baseball managers. The Social Science Journal, 46, 557–570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2008.11.001
22.
KahnL. M. (1993). Managerial quality, team success, and individual player performance in Major League Baseball. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 46, 531–547. https://doi.org/10.2307/2524551
23.
LazearE. P.ShawK. L.StantonC. T. (2015). The value of bosses. Journal of Labor Economics, 33, 823–861. https://doi.org/10.1086/681097
24.
MartinezJ. A.CaudillS. B. (2013). Does midseason change of coach improve team performance? Evidence from the NBA. Journal of Sport Management, 27, 108–113. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.27.2.108
25.
PittsJ. D.EvansB. (2018). Manager impacts on worker productivity in American football: Do offensive coordinators impact quarterback performance in the NFL?Managerial and Decision Economics, 40, 105–113. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.2985
26.
RoachM. (2016). Does prior NFL head coaching experience improve team performance?Journal of Sport Management, 30, 298–311. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2015-0008
27.
RoachM. A. (2013). Mean reversion or a breath of fresh air? The effect of NFL coaching changes on team performance in the salary cap era. Applied Economics Letters, 20, 1553–1556. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2013.829181
28.
SingellL. D. (1993). Managers, specific human capital, and firm productivity in Major League Baseball. Atlantic Economic Journal, 21, 47–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02302243
29.
SoebbingB. P.WashingtonM. (2011). Leadership succession and organizational performance: Football coaches and organizational issues. Journal of Sport Management, 25, 550–561. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.25.6.550
30.
Van OursJ. C.Van TuijlM. A. (2016). In-season head-coach dismissals and the performance of professional football teams. Economic Inquiry, 54, 591–604. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12280
31.
WagnerS. (2010). Managerial succession and organizational performance—Evidence from the German soccer league. Managerial and Decision Economics, 31, 415–430. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.1495
