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With only a few games remaining in the regular season, most of the focus in and around the NFL is on the playoff race. And that's not surprising, because that's what really matters at the end of the day. 

But there are also other things at stake, especially when it comes to the future of the league. Not everybody who is in their current job, will have that job next year, for one reason or another. There are always players changing teams and moving into or out of the league, and there will always be coaching changes that occur. 

We're here to talk about the latter of those things, and specifically about coordinators. There are coordinators in the league who have a lot to prove over the final few weeks of the season and potentially into the playoffs, and we want to highlight some of them here. 

We're going to separate this (not necessarily exhaustive) list of coordinators into three buckets: coordinators trying to hang onto their jobs, coordinators trying to prove their mettle as head coach candidates and coordinators who are probably already in the mix for head coach positions this offseason.

Trying to keep their job

Patullo has been under fire basically all year, and mostly with good reason. Sure, the Eagles went off against the Raiders last weekend, but that's the Raiders. The offense has been listless for most of the season, and Patullo has seemed like he doesn't have the answers. We know that the Eagles aren't afraid to change coordinators after a season when they struggle -- even when the guy they promoted to the job came from in house. 

Jerry Jones all but confirmed earlier this week that Eberflus is coaching for his job over the final few weeks of the season. Again, it makes sense that would be the case. His unit has struggled badly for almost the entire year, and he seems to be trying to fit square pegs in round holes by not adapting his system to the talent on hand. He's asking man-to-man corners to play a ton of zone, for example, and it's led to anyone and everyone being able to throw the ball against Dallas. Running it is somewhat difficult because the Cowboys made that priority No. 1, but everything else has fallen apart. 

Robinson's fate might be tied to that of head coach Raheem Morris, but it's still been disappointing to watch Atlanta's offense this year. Despite employing Bijan Robinson, the Falcons are only around a league-average rushing team, and their passing offense was wildly inconsistent throughout the year. Robinson has not been able to get the best out of Kirk Cousins (last year) or Michael Penix Jr. (this year), and if it comes down to a choice between losing a coordinator or losing a job, you have to think that Morris might decide to move on and try something new next year.

Golden was hired to fix Lou Anarumo's unit (more on Anarumo in a minute) and has not come close to doing so. Firing a coordinator after one year when he doesn't have the requisite talent on hand might be an overreaction, but we also know that the Bengals probably aren't going to pay multiple head coaches at once and so Zac Taylor likely isn't going anywhere, which means that shuffling the deck chairs on the defense again is more likely to be the significant change they make this offseason.

Potential head coach candidates

There have been different points this season where Brady might have been in one of the other two sections on this list. Buffalo's offense has at times looked unstoppable and at others looked like it's lost. He's overall done a very good job of piloting the ship for Josh Allen, and leaning into running the ball more often and then utilizing heavy formations and throwing out of those has been a good formula for the Bills. There might just be some teams that want to see more here. 

If this were last year, Monken might be on the next list. He'd be coming off two consecutive seasons of coordinator one of the best offenses in the NFL, fresh off having found a similar level of success at Georgia. But the Ravens have taken a significant step backward this year. A lot of that has to do with Lamar Jackson's injury, obviously, but teams are probably going to be reluctant to hire a 59-year-old first-time head coach if his unit isn't coming off an elite season. 

Anarumo is reportedly going to be in the mix for some jobs this offseason. He's probably been vindicated in the Bengals' defensive disaster given how bad the team still was under Golden (see above), and the improvement he got out of the Colts this year has been impressive. Given him real, veteran players and he can build a competent or better defense. He's also shown at times that he can generate answers against the league's best quarterbacks, when he does have the players. The only things holding him back here are the end of the Bengals tenure, as well as the fact that teams might find some of the younger defensive minds (see below) more intriguing.

Kingsbury is another offensive guy who might have been a hotter name last year, coming off of helping Jayden Daniels turn the Commanders around in one season. He also might be a good who is actually in the role he's best suited for at this point. Coordinating an offense and not having to worry about the other stuff might just be what he's best at. He is intriguing enough as an offensive designer to get looks, though, and he's still young enough that he'll have plenty of chances if he wants to make the jump again.

Then we get into the young defensive coordinators who might be a year or so away from being top candidates, but who could potentially garner some looks this year if there are enough openings and teams decide that the "how do we stop the top offenses in the league" archetype is the one they want to go after. Campanile is 43 years old, Sheppard is 37 and Burke (who calls the defensive plays for Houston despite DeMeco Ryans being the head coach) is 49. They could all fit the mold of a Mike Macdonald type, and given the success he's had in Seattle and the relative lack of obvious offensive-minded candidates, they could thrust themselves into the mix as well.

Already in the mix

There's also a list of coordinators who are likely to be at or near the top of a lot of interview lists this offseason because they have already proven their mettle to one degree or another given the success of their respective units and their connections to specific coaching archetypes or coaching trees. 

That list includes but is not limited to Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores (there are, admittedly, complicating factors here given Flores' lawsuit against the league), Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula.