Millennial minds: How Doyle, Udinski leapt to head of the OC class

At age 22, when Declan Doyle arrived in New Orleans in 2019 shortly after getting hired for his first NFL job as an offensive assistant, he wrote down some of his goals and aspirations on sticky notes that he bunched around a mirror. One of the messages read: "Youngest NFL coordinator in history, February 2024." When Doyle was hired to become the Chicago Bears' offensive coordinator in 2025, he remembered that note and thought to himself, "Oh, I was a year late." Doyle's obsessive determination is why he is leading the charge for the new generation of offensive coordinators, which is a storyline for Thursday's game between the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video). Doyle, who is in his first season as the playcaller for the Ravens at age 30, and the Jaguars' Grant Udinski (also 30) are among nine NFL offensive coordinators who are 35 years old or younger. These members of Generation Y represent a young wave in the NFL that has nearly doubled in size in a year. With five offensive coordinators 35 or younger in 2025, that number has grown in 2026 to include Doyle, Udinski, Denver's Davis Webb, Washington's David Blough, Cleveland's Travis Switzer, Philadelphia's Sean Mannion, Atlanta's Tommy Rees, Carolina's Brad Idzik and Los Angeles Rams' Nate Scheelhaase. Their experiences this season range widely: guiding high-scoring offenses, getting stripped of playcalling duties, going from being celebrated to criticized and dealing with multiple quarterback changes. But all of these millennial minds born in the 1990s have proven to be young and relentless, rising rapidly to the role of offensive architects because of their connections, creativity and sacrifice. As a student football assistant at the University of Iowa, Doyle worked 100 hours a week while taking a full course load, which meant he drew up scout cards for the football team during his own classes. As a graduate assistant at Baylor University, Udinski had so little money that he lived in his car in a Walmart parking lot. Now, Doyle is tasked with keeping the Ravens' offense afloat with undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano, who will start Thursday night, and Jacoby Brissett, a veteran journeyman who is expected to be acquired in a trade this weekend. Udinski is the right-hand man of Jaguars coach Liam Coen, helping Jacksonville produce the fifth-most points per game (28.0) this season. "This is going to be my 11th year coaching, and I've pretty much been younger than every guy in the room I've been in," Doyle said. "I've always been too young for every job I've ever had. And what I've noticed is that it really doesn't matter. Knowledge is power." Here are the stories of the NFL's nine millennial offensive coordinators: Offensive Coordinators 35 and under: Doyle | Udinksi | Webb Blough | Switzer | Mannion Rees | Idzik | Scheelhaase Declan Doyle, 30, Baltimore Ravens Inside Doyle's offensive meeting room is a sign that reads: "Nobody adjusts better than us." His first few months as Baltimore's offensive coordinator have tested that mantra. Jackson has played only 14 full quarters this season because of ankle and hand injuries. He will have surgery on his right thumb and be placed on injured reserve with "potentially" a season-ending injury, according to coach Jesse Minter. Backup quarterback Tyler "Snoop" Huntley also suffered a season-ending turf toe injury, which would lead to a rare occurrence: Fagnano will become the second undrafted rookie to start at quarterback in Ravens history. Plus, the Ravens' top three centers have all suffered season-ending injuries, which has led to six different starting offensive line combinations. As a result, the Ravens have been held to 14 or fewer points in three straight games. That hasn't happened in Baltimore in 21 years. "I've said it to the group, but it's all about just fixing this week's problems," Doyle said earlier this season. "So, you figure out what the problems are this week, how do we minimize those things [and] how do we take advantage of giving our guys that are up and that are playing, the best chance to go win the game and to be able to execute at a high level?" At 30, Doyle is the NFL's youngest playcaller. Others inside the Ravens' facility have different names for him. Jackson, who is 10 months younger than Doyle, calls him "a wizard." Flowers refers to him as "a genius." And defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver described him as a "human computer" for the rolodex of offensive plays in his head. One of Doyle's finest trick plays came in Week 6 in Cleveland when tight end Josh Cuevas lined up between the center and left guard. Cuevas positioned himself a step behind the line of scrimmage, which kept him as an eligible receiver. This unusual formation confused the Cleveland defense and allowed Cuevas to slip into the open field for a 29-yard catch. Many of the Ravens players have talked about how offensive coordinator Declan Doyle is an innovator. Case in point: TE Josh Cuevas runs a route after lining up in the left guard spot. https://t.co/imGJrvuuRG — Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) October 18, 2026 "He's somebody that knows where he's going in life," Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. "He's not like copycatting guys. He's making his plays, and I feel like he's a trendsetter in the league. He's going to be like that for a long time just because he's so smart." Some players believe Doyle is too cold-blooded. In the season opener, Flowers scored on a spectacular 54-yard touchdown. When the TV camera panned to Doyle, he sat there stonefaced. "You are trying to eliminate anything that would cloud your judgment or what is going to happen next," Doyle said when asked about not showing any emotion. "If he gets tackled, [and] we are at the 8-yard line, I have to have a play as fast as I possibly can to get into [Lamar Jackson]. You do not smile until it hits zeroes." -- Jamison Hensley Grant Udinski, 30, Jacksonville Jaguars In Jacksonville, Udinski's journey from his first coaching job to offensive coordinator for the Jaguars began in a Walmart parking lot. When Udinski arrived at Baylor in 2019 to be a graduate assistant under then head coach Matt Rhule he had little money and no place to stay. He also knew nobody in Waco, Texas, so his solution was to hunker down in his car in a store's lot near campus. That lasted about a week until Baylor's assistant defensive coordinator Phil Snow found out and convinced Udinski to move in with him. A year later Udinski was a coaching assistant under Rhule with the Carolina Panthers lasting two seasons, followed by three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. Then Jaguars head coach Liam Coen called in January 2025. Udinski's path from several uncomfortable nights sleeping in his car to the Jaguars' offensive coordinator at only 29 years old took just six years. It's a journey that Udinski acknowledges has been surprisingly quick but also one that wouldn't have happened without help from a lot of people -- and he's grateful for all of it. "Those are the things that you look back and you almost think the amount of stars to align seems impossible for things like that to work out the way that they did," Udinski said. "Those type of things, you pinch yourself and on the long days and long nights, you remind yourself where you came from." Udinski doesn't call plays for the Jaguars but his impact on the offense throughout the week and on game day is significant. Coen, who is Jacksonville's playcaller, likes that Udinski is level-headed, which balances out his own ups and downs. "If something doesn't look good on a Wednesday, I'm typically going to be the one to say, 'Let's throw it out. Why waste our time on that? We have a million other plays,'" Coen said. "Whereas he can then communicate to me, 'Hey, no, no, no. Let's try it again tomorrow.'" Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, 27, called Udinski one of the best coaches he has ever had. "Sometimes I think Grant's double my age, honestly. Not three years older," Lawrence joked. "Just the way he's about his business. "... He's really sharp, so smart, works extremely hard and I think he's so reliable. When you ask him something, you know how much time he's put into it, so the answer you get, you trust it because you just know he's put the time in." -- Michael DiRocco Davis Webb, 31, Denver Broncos It started with such promise in Denver, back in February, when Broncos coach Sean Payton said publicly, for the first time, Webb would call plays in the upcoming season. Calling Webb "gifted," Payton said he wouldn't have surrendered playcalling if Webb hadn't shown so much potential for the job. That changed after four games when, in nine words, Payton took playcalling duties back in an effort to kick-start Denver's struggling offense. "We'll make a change offensively, I'll call the plays,'' Payton said in the days before the Broncos' Week 5 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. And even as he said it he offered Webb would be a future NFL head coach. In four games with Webb as the playcaller, the Broncos were 27th in both scoring (18.5) and yards (280.3). In four games with Payton, Denver has increased its scoring at 24.5 points per game but has produced fewer yards (265.8). The most troubling part was the struggles of quarterback Bo Nix. With Webb calling the plays, Nix ranked 22nd in QBR (44.3), throwing five touchdowns and three interceptions. For his part, Webb has said he's still "all-in''on Nix. When asked earlier this month if four games was a big enough sample size to show what he could do, Webb said: "Luckily that's not my job, that's (Payton's) job. (But) I think he answered that. I think the world of (Payton), how we've gone about it ... it's not ideal ... Welcome to the league.'' Webb, who went directly from his last season as an NFL quarterback in 2022 with the New York Giants to Payton's staff as a quarterbacks coach in 2023, said he takes it -- including the disappointment of his role changing -- as part of the developmental process. "I taught myself early to think about the best- and worst-case scenarios,'' Webb said. "And if you're OK with both, then take that job on. It is what it is, nothing I can do about it now except be the best offensive coordinator I can be and that's what I'm trying to do.'' -- Jeff Legwold David Blough, 31, Washington Commanders Blough, who is in his first year as the Commanders offensive coordinator, understands how quickly a playcaller can go from being celebrated to being criticized. In Week 3, Blough orchestrated an offense that scored 33 points on the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. It was the second-most points allowed by Seattle since the start of last season -- all with Marcus Mariota subbing for the injured Jayden Daniels at quarterback. Two games later Blough was at the center of a late-game gaffe that cost Washington a chance to beat the New York Giants in overtime. With 50 seconds left in overtime, the Commanders had just been tackled at the Giants' 24-yard line. Because four kicks had been missed that day due in part to rain and slick field conditions, Blough wanted to gain more yards. But the play took too long to get to the huddle, according to multiple team sources, and the ball wasn't snapped until 12 seconds remained. Once Daniels was tackled, instead of throwing the ball away, the Commanders lost a chance at a game-winning field goal attempt. It was evident the offensive players did not realize how little time remained. "I'm the one with the last line of communication to the quarterback. It falls on me," Blough said. It was a hard lesson in handling late-game situations. One person who had coached with Blough in the past called him "very smart" and constantly discussing situational football. But doing so in-game can be trickier. "For me in particular, it's how do you handle that situation better the next time you're in it?" Blough said. Washington's players have maintained belief in Blough, with one saying he coaches with "no fear." In the days following that game, Quinn reiterated his confidence that Blough will be an excellent coordinator -- saying so publicly and privately, according to multiple team sources. For now, Blough has received a crash course in being a coordinator, having to navigate star injuries - Daniels missed two games and multiple starters have missed time -- and a load of second-guessing. "We are paid to adapt and be versatile and be fluid," Blough said. "That is our job, to be able to have the contingencies, whether it's at quarterback, whether it's at running back, whether it's at center or guard, like, our job is to adapt and try to find a way in that week to win." -- John Keim Travis Switzer, 33, Cleveland Browns Switzer knew "pretty much from the jump I was going to play until they told me I wasn't good enough to play anymore and then I was going to coach." But after leaving the University of Akron as a three-year starter at center and an unsuccessful tryout at Dolphins rookie minicamp in 2015, Switzer's entry into coaching was an unorthodox one. Switzer was applying to graduate assistant jobs and staying in shape in Pennsylvania at Power Train Sports and Fitness, which is owned by Steve Saunders, the Ravens' head strength and conditioning coach from 2016 to 2022. Saunders trained Switzer through high school and college, and one day asked Switzer about joining the Ravens -- but as an assistant on the strength and conditioning staff. Switzer was hesitant but agreed to leave for Baltimore in 2017. By 2019, Switzer was moved to the coaching side as an analyst. One of his earliest projects was watching every run play in the NFL over a two-year span and mapping league-wide trends. Next came a quality control job and then a promotion to run game coordinator during the final two years of Todd Monken's stint as Ravens OC. Switzer was one of four offensive assistants that Monken brought with him to Cleveland. Though Switzer doesn't call plays on game day, he has a big role in the game plan installation. "There's a transition period from being an idea guy to somebody that has to make decisions, and that's a step too," Switzer said. "... as you advance, eventually you have to become the one who's the decision maker of, OK, we got some good ideas, we got a lot of good stuff, what are we actually going to do and how are we going to put it together?" -- Daniel Oyefusi Sean Mannion, 34, Philadelphia Eagles Like Webb did, Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion has struggled in his first season as an NFL playcaller. Unlike Webb, Mannion hasn't been stripped of that role for now. The Eagles rank last in offense, averaging 265.3 yards per game. This is Philadelphia's fewest yards per game through eight weeks since 2003. "I have a high confidence level in everybody in this building," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said last month. "Sean, that's why I hired him. Right now, we are in a rough spot, as we know. And so it is about controlling the things you can control in this moment and figuring out what the next steps are." The hype around Mannion got a little out of control this offseason. The front office was looking to modernize an offensive attack that had grown stale of late and ultimately landed on Mannion, the 34-year-old former Oregon State quarterback who studied under offensive gurus such as Sean McVay (Rams), Kevin O'Connell (Vikings) and Matt LaFleur (Packers). "Sean [Mannion] is an evil genius. That is my first impression," Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata said. "The guy knows ball. If I were to lock the three smartest people in the facility in one room, Sean would be there." There was always going to be a needle to thread. Quarterback Jalen Hurts had never majored in a system featuring heavy under center, motion and play-action and it's tough to undergo a transition like this on the fly while maintaining contender status. Philly ended up going with a blend of the old and the new and none of it worked super well. Then came the retirement of right tackle Lane Johnson, the trade of center Cam Jurgens, the rash of injuries to the skill position players and then the loss of Hurts for the season, making it near-impossible to have a highly-efficient offense. The learning curve appeared to hit Mannion hard as well, as the offense struggled week after week in the second half in particular, signaling a lack of effective adjustments. "I know we're fighting tooth and nail every day to get the results that I know we can get, the results I know we want," Mannion said. "The thing with the work part of it is it really is -- that's the part you love. You love coming in here every day, working your tail off with your staff, with your players, working as a unit to try to achieve the best result possible." -- Tim McManus Tommy Rees, 34, Atlanta Falcons Long before Rees was hired as the Falcons offensive coordinator this offseason, he interviewed for an offensive assistant role with the San Diego Chargers at the age of 23. Ken Whisenhunt, who was the offensive coordinator for the Chargers at the time, asked Rees a poignant question. "If you have a 30-year-old receiver roll his eyes at you or tell you to 'F' off, how do you handle it?" Whisenhunt inquired. Rees said his answer then would be the same as his answer now as the 34-year-old Falcons O-coordinator and playcaller. "These guys want to extend their career," Rees said. "They want to be great. ... If you can show them [at] any level that you can help them 1%, that you know what you're talking about, then they're going to buy in and listen. And we have young guys on our staff, young girls on our staff now that I talk to, and that's always the message. You have to be on it, because if you slip up, you're going to lose their trust." Rees and Doyle are close friends and Rees said they have discussed being considered young for their roles in Atlanta and Baltimore, respectively. Rees believes younger head coaches might be more apt to higher younger coordinators. But it's a balancing act, he said. For instance, Falcons offensive line coach Bill Callahan "has been coaching since before I was born." (For the record, the 70-year-old began coaching in 1978). "And so, there's a level of respect that you always want to approach the job with," Rees said. "There's a level of not always having the answer that you want to approach the job with. You have to be humble, and you have to be respectful to the guys in the room, but at the end of the day, you have to make a decision to move forward. "Everybody thinks it's about calling plays on Sunday. It's not just that. There's so much more that goes into it from planning, from communication, from getting everybody on the same page, from having hard conversations." -- Marc Raimondi Brad Idzik, 35, Carolina Panthers While other first-year playcallers have struggled, Idzik has shown promise with the Panthers. Idzik is in his third season as the Panthers offensive coordinator but coach Dave Canales handed him the playcalling duties for the first time this offseason. Carolina ranks ninth in both scoring (25.4) and yards (363.7). Idzik has forged a bond with quarterback Bryce Young, 25, over the past three years, as the coordinator and his wife, Emily, have hosted the QB room for dinner every offseason. Idzik views relationship building as a paramount aspect of his coaching approach, and he has taken what he's learned from the likes of former NFL coach Pete Carroll and Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer and put his twist on their lessons. "Taking those experiences and then relying on the connection with the players," Idzik said. "Anytime you're a little bit closer in age with some of the guys, there is a cultural connection piece that you feel like you can talk, not eye-to-eye with guys, but making sure that you're receptive to how they're communicating with you and their forms of communication, which has definitely changed over the years." The former Wake Forest wide receiver has found common ground with his players through collaboration. Young and his wide receivers, including Jalen Coker and Tetairoa McMillan, have routinely acknowledged Idzik's tendency to seek out player feedback. "He gives everybody a chance and an opportunity at the ball," McMillan said following a Week 4 win against the Detroit Lions in October. "And he's good at communicating throughout the week just to see what everybody's feeling, see what we like, see what Bryce likes. He likes to communicate in that way as far as [getting] our opinions. He's humble in that way ... ." -- Mike Kaye Nate Scheelhaase, 35, Los Angeles Rams Just two years ago, Scheelhaase was in his first season as an NFL coach, serving as an offensive assistant and pass game specialist on the Rams coaching staff. Since then, it has been a quick rise for Scheelhaase since he was hired by the Rams in February 2024 after spending the previous six seasons at Iowa State. During the 2024 season, Scheelhaase drew plays for head coach Sean McVay, helping the young coach learn the intricacies of the complex offense run by quarterback Matthew Stafford. Scheelhaase made an immediate impression on McVay and others in the NFL. That offseason, he interviewed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their open offensive coordinator role. "It was just two years ago where it was my first time being around Sean, being around this offensive, being around this environment and there was so much learning," Scheelhaase said. "I felt like every day, I was putting my nose down, going to work, listening to the coaches coach, listening to how things were taught, trying to be as disciplined as I could with my notetaking and reviewing and studying. To be able to find a way to then add value at some point." After serving as the Rams' pass game coordinator in 2025, Scheelhaase again received interview requests, this time for head coaching positions. The 35-year-old interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens and twice with the Cleveland Browns. The Rams promoted Scheelhaase to offensive coordinator after Mike LaFleur was hired by the Arizona Cardinals. After he was elevated, Scheelhaase acknowledged that it's "rare" as a coach to get to continue to add responsibilities and stay in one place. "Being here, it is a great place to just learn to ask questions, to hear things taught in a way that you feel like really makes an impact for our players," Scheelhaase said. The new role has meant Scheelhaase has worked even more closely with Stafford and McVay. "I think he's sharp," Stafford said. "Obviously, he's a young guy in the NFL, but a really smart mind. A guy that's really well thought out. He's a really good communicator, calm personality, but in front of the room, he does a really nice job commanding the eyes and ears of everybody that's in there listening to him." McVay praised Scheelhaase's emotional intelligence and his "ability to be able to connect with a variety of different people because he actually listens to understand." "And when he wants to communicate, he's trying to connect," McVay said. "That's who he is all the time. I think he has a good swag and charisma about himself too that people can relate to." -- Sarah Barshop