The East-West Shrine Bowl is in Las Vegas for a second year and as usual will feature upwards of 100 NFL Draft-eligible college football players. But which coaching staffs will be running it this year?
According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, the coaching staffs for the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots have been selected to work the Shrine Bowl. Per the report, they were deemed to be the best fits given their relative staff stability.
As usual, the role of head coaches for the East Team and West Team will be left to the assistant coaches. Last year the East was run by Baltimore Ravens defensive backs coach D’Anton Lynn while the West was led by then-Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Marcus Brady.
Some top candidates from the Falcons to run things would be quarterbacks coach Charles London and linebackers coach Frank Bush. On the Patriots side of things, Jerod Mayo and Troy Brown could get the nod.
It’s not too common for a strong performance in the East-West Shrine Bowl to actually precede someone’s greatness though. Of the dozens of Shrine Bowl MVPs, only a small handful have even gone on to become NFL starters.
Nevertheless, the game will be one of many opportunities for NFL scouts to see just how good the 2023 Draft class will look.
More the coaches of the Falcons and Patriots, it will be a chance to get some added experience in coaching positions with greater responsibilities too.