Check out the Ohio connections of 11 head coaches who are heading into the NFL postseason
It might be trite to say all roads lead to Ohio when it comes to football, but …
It's an uncanny fact that important roads wound through Ohio for most head coaches in the 2022-23 NFL playoffs. Of the 14 head coaches of an NFL playoff team this season, 11 have some connection to Ohio. And most of those have connections to Northeast Ohio.
Here's a look at the 11, kicking off with the coach of one of the Super Bowl favorites who will jump into action next week after a bye this weekend.
1. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
1, Sirianni racked up 13 touchdowns and 998 yards as a receiver on a 2003 Mount Union team that reached the NCAA Division III national championship game. He is one of three brothers who played for the small-college giant in Alliance. His Philadelphia Eagles are the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
2. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
Harbaugh is the son of parents who were teachers in Stark County when they spent their honeymoon at a Browns game. He played college ball at Miami (Ohio) and was a special teams coach for the Cincinnati Bearcats for eight years. He reached his 10th postseason with the Baltimore Ravens.
3. Brandon Staley, Los Angeles Chargers
Staley and his twin brother, Jason, dressed up as Bernie Kosar on Halloweens when they grew up along Lake Erie, east of Cleveland. Brandon played quarterback at Dayton and coached at John Carroll on his way to taking over the Chargers in 2021.
4. Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
Taylor shocked the NFL as a head coach in last year's Super Bowl and is back in the postseason with the AFC North champion Bengals. Nobody saw that coming when he was offensive coordinator of a Cincinnati Bearcats team that went 4-8 in 2016.
5. Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bowles, a defensive coach, hung around Bruce Arians, an offensive coach, on Cleveland's staff from 2001-03. He stayed on another year after head coach Butch Davis fired Arians. Their friendship led to Arians arranging for Bowles to replace him as Tampa Bay's head coach this year.
6. Brian Daboll, New York Giants
Daboll's first NFL coordinator job came with the Browns in 2009 and 2010, when his starting quarterbacks whirlpool included Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Josh McCown, Seneca Wallace and Colt McCoy. The Giants gave him his first head coaching shot last January.
7. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
Shanahan couldn't make the Johnny Manziel experiment fly as Cleveland's offensive coordinator in 2014, but he has reached the postseason for the third time in six years of piloting the 49ers.
8. Doug Pederson, Jacksonville Jaguars
Pederson started six games at quarterback for the 2000 Browns before getting benched in favor of Spergon Wynn for what became a 48-0 loss at Jacksonville. Pederson replaced Urban Meyer as Jacksonville's head coach last January.
9. Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks
Carroll is in his ninth postseason with the Seahawks. His first major job was in Columbus after he followed Earle Bruce from Iowa State to Ohio State in 1979.
10, Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins
The first-year Dolphins head coach, McDaniel was in charge of a Cleveland receivers group that included Josh Gordon, Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel in 2014.
11. Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota Vikings
O'Connell's first coaching job after a run as a backup NFL quarterback was with the 2015 Browns, whose QBs were Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel. The Vikings hired O'Connell as head coach last February after he helped the Rams win a Super Bowl as offensive coordinator.
Who's missing?
That's 11 of the 14 current postseason head coaches, the exceptions being Andy Reid of the Chiefs, Sean McDermott of the Bills and Mike McCarthy of the Cowboys.
The Ohio connections don't end with the 11 head coaches in the playoffs. Some pretty familiar names have made postseason noise in recent years but missed out on making these playoffs.
Sean McVay's famous grandfather, John McVay, played for Massillon and coached for Canton Central Catholic High School and collegiately at Dayton. Sean played college ball for Miami-Ohio, as did his grandpa. His Rams beat the Bengals 23-20 in last year's Super Bowl.
Mike Vrabel, who played at Walsh Jesuit and Ohio State, took the Titans to the last three postseasons before missing out this season.
Bill Belichick's dad, Steve, was an Ohioan who counted Massillon legend Paul Brown as his top coaching influence. Bill was head coach of the Browns from 1991-95 prior to taking the Patriots to nine Super Bowls.
Josh McDaniels, who played at Canton McKinley and John Carroll, worked for all of Belichick's Super Bowl teams in New England. McDaniels went 6-11 in his first year as Raiders head coach, taking some solace in a recent 30-24 win over the Patriots.
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Nick Sirianni, John Harbaugh, Brandon Staley rep Ohio in NFL playoffs
