I love watching the NFL head coach hiring process because among other things, it’s a great reminder that nothing happens in a vacuum.

The NFL had eight head coaching vacancies at the start of this hiring cycle, and at least four are interconnected, much of it starting with former Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke.

Baalke is reportedly hard to work with and doesn’t seem to be particularly good at his job, which took the Jaguars out of the running for this year’s hottest head coaching candidate, Ben Johnson.

Johnson had interviewed with the Jaguars in addition to talking with the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders, and Chicago Bears, who ultimately landed Johnson — but only after Johnson apparently took himself out of the running for the Jaguars gig because he didn’t want to work with Baalke.

Maybe the Bears would have nabbed him anyway, but it sure didn’t hurt their chances that the Jaguars, at the time, picked Baalke over Johnson. And you don’t need me to explain that Johnson picking the Bears affected the head coaching decisions in New England and Las Vegas.

But the ripples go further, because the Jaguars pivoted to Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Coen, like Johnson, told the Jags to pound sand because they were set on Baalke, returning to the Buccaneers on a lucrative deal. Or, so the Bucs thought.

Hearing the same message from two candidates was apparently finally enough for Jacksonville, who canned Baalke and re-approached Coen, who has now agreed to terms. Money talks, I guess, and the Jaguars apparently offered a lot of it.

These hiring reverberations of these decisions will affect the league for years to come. Does Caleb Williams get to partner with Johnson in Chicago if the Jaguars weren’t so initially set on keeping their general manager? How will the Buccaneers fill their sudden offensive coordinator vacancy, and how will it affect the Bucs attempt to win the NFC South again?

And for that matter, how will the Lions deal with losing Johnson and fellow coordinator Aaron Glenn, who’s set to become the New York Jets’ head coach?

This is not news to anyone and these are not new questions, but they’re still important. These teams will rise or fall with these coaches, and these coaches will bring a lot of people up and/or down with them along the way. The timing and nature of all these decisions will still affect the league, its teams, and its players for long after all the initially involved parties have moved on.