The 2012 NFL season is going to feature a number of new head coaches or old faces in new places. It will be an interesting subplot, as it is every season, to watch how the coaches fare in their new settings. Jim Harbaugh, for example, provided a wonderful story this season with the success of the San Francisco 49ers. This year, names like Greg Schiano and Chuck Pagano will be hoping for a similar impact.
Of all of the new head coaches, Chris Burke says that Dennis Allen of the Oakland Raiders is the most volatile overall. In other words, Allen’s hiring might turn out to be the best of everyone or it might turn out for the worst. Given Allen’s lack of experience, anything goes.
Burke writes, "Either this will be a savvy and successful move or a colossal setback — it’s hard to see any room in between. Allen is the first coach with a defensive background hired to be Oakland’s head man since John Madden. He comes from Denver, one of the Raiders’ biggest rivals, and at 39, will be the NFL’s youngest head coach.
“But aside from one year as coordinator of Denver’s defense, where are the head coaching credentials on this resume? Three years as the Saints’ secondary coach? Four years as a defensive assistant in Atlanta? The ceiling might be high on this move, but the floor is pretty low.”