When you look at head coaching vacancies across the NFL, you see a real trend develop. Many of the jobs hiring are all for teams picking in the top-12 but even more noticeable is the question surrounding the quarterback position. If you don’t have a good quarterback or a good coach you aren’t going to win and that’s what happened to these teams. Here I examine coaching positions for teams in need of quarterbacks, and what direction they could possibly go.

Houston Texans: The Houston Texans have the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and 99 times out of 100, the team with the first pick needs a quarterback. While Matt Schaub was productive until this past season and Case Keenum showed glimpses of promise, the Texans brought in Bill O’Brien because he wasn’t just a great coach but a quarterback guru and teacher.

There is no question that the Texans will make a big move to find their quarterback of the future, but the question is what type of move do they make and who is their target. When O’Brien was hired immediate speculation began about his connection with the New England Patriots and backup quarterback Ryan Mallett. The 25-year-old out of Arkansas was a major name in the 2011 NFL Draft but fell to the Patriots in the third round. Mallett has watched Tom Brady as his backup and has a relationship with O’Brien, who was the Patriots’ quarterbacks coach from 2007-2011. If O’Brien and the Texans front office were to decide Mallett was the man they wanted, they could acquire him and use the first overall pick on Jadeveon Clowney or trade down for more draft picks.

While trading for Mallett can’t be ruled out, it’s still very likely the Texans’ draft a young quarterback from the 2014 class with the first pick. But who do they take with the first pick; the local star in Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Central Florida’s Blake Bortles who O’Brien has raved about and coached against or Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater who is the most pro-ready quarterback in this class. I wrote about the possibility of Bortles going first overall ( http://edraft.com/nfl/news/blake-bortles-nfl-draft-ceiling/ ) and why it would be a reach by the Texans. Manziel would certainly sell tickets and jerseys, but like Bortles he isn’t ready to start either. If O’Brien wants to win right away and take the best player in this class, he has to take Bridgewater with the first pick.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced the hiring of Lovie Smith as their new head coach, it was a move that I loved. While Smith is a defensive-minded coach he brings discipline but also relates to players well and will be big in the Buccaneers’ locker room. Smith’s offensively challenged as a play caller, which makes his decision to hire former California head coach Jeff Tedford, an outstanding decision.

Tedford spent 10 years as the head coach for the Golden Bears, but his track record working with quarterbacks is even more outstanding. He served as Fresno State’s quarterback’s coach from 1992-1997, during which he worked closely with David Carr and Trent Dilfer. While neither player exactly became stars in the NFL, Tedford isn’t responsible for that. He turned them into stars in college, maximizing on their unique abilities and helping them turn into top draft prospects.

Dilfer went sixth overall in 1994, while Carr went on to become the first overall pick in 2002. Tedford left Fresno State and took over as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach from 1998-2001. During that time he worked with Joey Harrington and Akili Smith, who each would go on to be selected third overall with Smith in 1999 and Harrington in 2002. Tedford’s most popular pupil came as the head coach at Cal and his work with Aaron Rodgers who went from junior college quarterback to leading one of the best teams in the country and being another of Tedford’s quarterbacks to be selected in the first round.

Smith and Tedford have already come out and praised currents Buccaneers starting quarterback Mike Glennon who was a third-round pick this past year and finished as the best rookie quarterback. Glennon will be the favorite for the starting job going forward, but don’t be surprised when Smith and Tedford take a quarterback between rounds three to five, with someone like Eastern Illinois’ Jimmy Garoppolo who has great tools but needs to develop. Glennon would still have the starting job while Garoppolo develops with Tedford but eventually, Garoppolo could take over.

Cleveland Browns: In what was the most surprising firing of the offseason, Rob Chudzinski’s early departure as the Cleveland Browns coach, leaves a major opening and more questions about the future. With Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner, the Browns were very likely to take Fresno State’s Derek Carr, who fits perfectly into the Browns’ vertical attack.

Even with the uncertainty at head coach, the Browns will be looking for a new franchise quarterback after 2012 first-round pick Brandon Weeden hasn’t exactly worked as he prepares for his 31st birthday in October. Whoever takes over as the Browns coach will be looking for his new quarterback and one name that is gaining a lot of steam is Manziel.

While the Browns ownership is focused on finding a new coach and would like to win, more of their focus appears to be on selling tickets and collecting money from jersey sales. If the Browns take Manziel with the fourth overall pick, they will be focused on a popular name instead of investing that pick into the best player who can help the team right away. Manziel is the biggest name in college football and he would quickly have one of the highest selling jerseys upon entering the NFL, but he isn’t ready to start for an NFL team. Manziel has potential to be an NFL starter but by taking him fourth overall, you are immediately throwing him into the fire and putting him at risk, in order to make some extra cash to make up for the nearly $50 million Jimmy Haslam owes to fired coaches.

Minnesota Vikings: One of the more intriguing vacancies in the offseason, the Minnesota Vikings have plenty to offer to whomever ultimately becomes their new head coach. Obviously you have star running back Adrian Peterson, but you can’t forget about young studs like Harrison Smith, Sharrif Floyd, Xavier Rhodes on defense and playmaker Cordarrelle Patterson on offense and as a returner. But what this team still needs to become contenders in the NFC North is a quarterback.

The Christian Ponder experiment failed as did the Matt Cassel and Josh Freeman trial runs. While the Vikings continue to go over names of candidates and whether to hire an offensive or defensive minded coach, they are making it a priority to bring in a veteran offensive coordinator either in the same role or as a head coach. Looking towards the 2014 NFL Draft, the Vikings are in a bit of a tough spot with the eighth overall pick. It’s very likely Bridgewater, Bortles, Manziel won’t be there and there is a large chance Carr is gone as well. If that’s the case, Minnesota may have to spend that pick on the defensive side of the ball and take a quarterback in the second round, or potentially trade back from eight to acquire more picks and take a quarterback later in the first.

While there is a noticeable drop off after the top-four, Minnesota can still find a starting-caliber player in Wyoming’s Brett Smith, who is actually very similar to Manziel and has a larger frame, but played in a small conference and like Manziel needs to develop more. Minnesota could also explore moving up into the top three selections as general manager Rick Spielman has proven he is more than willing to make big moves in the first round.

Tennessee Titans: The award for the firing that was drawn out the longest goes to the Tennessee Titans, who waited until January 8th to fire their coach after he refused to fire his staff. Now it leaves the Titans looking for a new coach and potentially a new quarterback.

I’m still a believer in Jake Locker and the 25-year-old showed some significant progress in his third season especially with his accuracy, but ultimately lisfranc surgery ended his season after seven games. Munchak was non-committal to Locker’s 2014 status before he was fired, and it’s even less likely that a new coach will feel as connected to the quarterback.

Tennessee is in a similar situation to the Vikings with a later pick, at 11 they will have to focus on addressing other needs, like offensive tackle to help protect whoever they decide to start under center in Week 1 next season. Locker should still be given a chance to win the job in training camp, but likely will have to battle it out with a later pick like David Fales, Zach Mettenberger or another name. The situation in Tennessee will certainly be interesting to monitor as they begin to narrow in on potential candidates and decide what direction to go in at quarterback and head coach.