By Mark Gaughan
New Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett will not be the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL next season. At the moment, he would be the third-youngest offensive coordinator. There still are numerous teams that need to hire an OC.
The Tennessee Titans' Dowell Loggains is the youngest offensive chief, at age 32. The Washington Redskins' Kyle Shanahan, 33, is five days younger than Hackett.
Having a 33-year-old coordinator isn't the norm, but it's far from rare in the NFL.
Josh McDaniels became the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator at age 30 and parlayed it into a head coaching job at age 32. Thank you, Tom Brady. Now McDaniels is back as the Pats' OC at 36.
Welland native Brian Daboll, a St. Francis High graduate, became a first-time OC for the Cleveland Browns at 34. He just was relieved of his duties as Kansas City Chiefs.
The New York Jets hired Brian Schottenheimer as OC at age 32. He has been an OC ever since, now serving with the St. Louis Rams. (Schottenheimer did a good job in New York, and Rex Ryan never should have fired him last year.)
Another recent young OC was Bill Musgrave, who did the job for the Carolina Panthers at 32. He was fired after just four weeks but since rebounded and now is the Minnesota Vikings' OC.
There are lots of examples on the defensive side of the ball. Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin became a coordinator at 33 and a head coach at 34. The Steelers have hired a lot of young head coaches over the years. Bill Cowher was 34 when he got the Pittsburgh job.
