An NFL game is often difficult to understand for anyone new looking to get into the sport.
There are numerous departments to any team, and as a result, each part of a team needs a specialist coach for the offense, defense and special teams, all overseen by the head coach.
DAZN explains the role of these coaches and how many are in an NFL team below.
How many coaches are in an NFL team?
There is just one head coach on an NFL team who is ultimately responsible for all the actions carried on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
When making decisions, the head coach will also take into account the opinion of the offensive, defensive and special teams coorindators.
Each coorindator will also have a number of coaches that report into them, on the offense it is usually five, while the defense has three.
So in total there are usually 12 coaches on any NFL teams.
What is an offensive coordinator?
The offensive coordinator is in charge of establishing strategies for the team's offense.
Below the offensive coordinators are a number of coaches who will specialise in certain positions.
These can broken down into the below roles:
- Quarterback coach
- Offensive line coach
- Running back coach
- Wide receiver coach
- Tight end coach
What is a defensive coordinator?
Just like the offensive coordinator, the defensive coordinator is responsible for establishing strategies for the defense.
Once again there are number specialist position coaches.
- Linebackers coach
- Defensive line coach
- Defensive backs and secondary coach
What is a special teams coordinator?
The special teams coordinator is the coach in charge of the special teams unit.
The responsibilities include leading special teams during practice, and devising strategies when calling kicking and kick return plays during an NFL game.