Here are today’s reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL:
The Bills have made a groundbreaking hire, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, as they’ve named Kathryn Smith a special teams quality control coach. Smith is the NFL’s first-ever full-time female assistant coach. She previously served in lesser roles under Rex Ryan with both the Jets and Bills.
Regarding Smith’s hiring, Ryan said, “She has proven that she’s ready for the next step, so I’m excited and proud for her” (Twitter link via The Buffalo News’ Tyler Dunne).
Other coaching news from around the NFL . . .
WEDNESDAY, 6:20pm: The Titans have officially hired Robiskie, according to Wyatt. They’ve also named Dick LeBeau their assistant head coach/defensive coordinator and Bobby April their special teams coach.
LeBeau’s new role is a slight title change, as he was the Titans’ assistant head coach/defense during the 2015-16 season. Ray Horton was Tennessee’s D-coordinator, but he left Wednesday to join the Browns’ staff. LeBeau was in charge of a Titans defense that finished an impressive 12th overall this past year, a big improvement over its 27th-place ranking in 2014. The 78-year-old has extensive experience working with defensive staffs, having begun his coaching career in the 1970s. He has served under Mularkey in both Buffalo and Tennessee.
April is familiar with both Mularkey and LeBeau, as the three were together with the Bills in 2004. April has been a special teams coach with eight different teams since 1991. He held that position with the Jets during the ’15-16 campaign.
9:49am: Robiskie will indeed be the Titans’ new offensive coordinator, according to Tiffany Blackmon of the NFL Network, who reports that the former Falcons wide receivers coach has accepted the job (Twitter links).
MONDAY, 1:45pm: Speaking to reporters today at a press conference, Mularkey said Robiskie remains in the interview process for the offensive coordinator job (Twitter link via Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com).
With multiple outlets reporting that Robiskie will get the job, I expect it’s just a matter of time until we get official word from the team, but Mularkey said he has three candidates for the position, per Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com (Twitter link).
Mularkey also said today that the offensive coordinator will call the plays for the Titans, tweets Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com.
11:02am: With the Titans’ new general manager and permanent head coach set to address the media later today, the team may also be set to announce its new offensive coordinator. According to Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the club is hiring Terry Robiskie to fill that position.
[RELATED: Titans name Mike Mularkey permanent head coach]
Robiskie, a longtime NFL assistant, served as the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator from 1989 to 1993, then was the Browns’ OC in 2004. In between those two OC stints, and in the year since then, he has primarily been a wide receivers coach.
Most recently, Robiskie has spent the majority of the last decade in Atlanta, having served as the Falcons’ wide receivers coach since 2008. He and Mike Mularkey worked together in Atlanta for several seasons, with the new Titans head coach having been the Falcons’ offensive coordinator from 2008 to 2011 before heading to Jacksonville.
[RELATED: Titans hire Jon Robinson as general manager]
In Tennessee, Robiskie will be taking over an offense that ranked 30th in the NFL in 2015 with an average of 311.8 yards per contest. The unit, led by Marcus Mariota and Zach Mettenberger, wasn’t particularly productive passing or rushing the ball, ranking 25th in both categories.
That ineffective 2015 unit was led by Jason Michael, who is expected to stay put and become Tennessee’s new quarterbacks coach, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). A Sunday report indicated that Michael would be hired by the Rams as either the tight ends coach or the passing game coordinator, but it appears that’s not the case.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
5:46pm: The Eagles have made Reich’s hiring official. They’ve also named 14 other assistants to posts. Seven of those coaches are holdovers from Chip Kelly‘s staff. Here’s the list (unless otherwise specified, the names come courtesy of the Eagles’ website):
On the heels of these moves, the Eagles released offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and linebackers coaches Rick Minter and Bill McGovern from their contracts, according to Caplan (on Twitter). They let go of previous D-coordinator Billy Davis on Monday, per Caplan (Twitter link).
1:40pm: The Eagles have reached an agreement with Frank Reich to make him their new offensive coordinator, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSports.com, who reports (via Twitter) that it’s a “done deal.” Reich had been scheduled to have a formal interview with the team today, and Adam Caplan of ESPN.com had suggested “it would be an upset” if he wasn’t hired (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Eagles hire Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator]
Reich, recently fired as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator after two seasons leading San Diego’s offense, interviewed for the same position on Adam Gase‘s Dolphins staff, but Miami ultimately chose Clyde Christensen as their new OC.
Had he become the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator, Reich wouldn’t have called the team’s plays (Gase will do that), and it looks as if he won’t handle that responsibility in Philadelphia either. New head coach Doug Pederson indicated during his introductory press conference on Tuesday that he expects to call offensive plays in 2016.
In San Diego, Reich was let go in large part due to the Chargers’ ineffective running game, but he did just fine with the team’s aerial attack — Philip Rivers led the NFL in completed passes in 2015, racking up nearly 4,800 yards passing to go along with 29 touchdowns.
Injuries have plagued the Chargers over the last couple years, and health problems on the offensive line likely contributed to the struggles of first-round running back Melvin Gordon, but Reich took the fall for the offense’s regression. In 2014, Reich’s first year as offensive coordinator, San Diego went from second in offensive DVOA to 11th. The team slipped to 15th this season, and the Chargers also went from scoring nearly 25 points per game in 2013 to just 20 by 2015.
In addition to reaching a deal with Reich, the Eagles have also reportedly agreed to hire former Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo as the club’s quarterbacks coach. The new additions to Pederson’s offensive coaching staff likely spell the end of Pat Shurmur‘s time in Philadelphia, despite the fact that the new head coach said on Tuesday that Shurmur would receive consideration for the OC role.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
JANUARY 20: The Dolphins have made the hiring of Christensen official, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. They’ve also named Bo Hardegree their new quarterbacks coach, according to Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Hardegree worked with Gase as an offensive assistant in both Denver and Chicago.
JANUARY 16: The Dolphins will hire Colts quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen as their new offensive coordinator, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link). Alex Marvez of FOX Sports reported just a few hours ago that Christensen was a candidate for the position.
[RELATED: Dolphins hire Vance Joseph as defensive coordinator]
Christensen is the latest new face on first-time head coach Adam Gase‘s Miami staff, but his role probably won’t be as large as new defensive coordinator Vance Joseph‘s, for example. While Joseph will likely control all aspects of his defensive unit, Gase – a former offensive coordinator himself – will call the plays for the Dolphins, meaning Christensen will probably take on more of an administrative role.
Nevertheless, Christensen will certainly play a part in reshaping a Miami offense that finished just 22nd in the league in DVOA. As noted, the 59-year-old Christensen most recently acted as the Colts’ QBs coach, but he does have coordinator experience, acting in that capacity for Indianapolis from 2009-11 and with Tampa Bay in 2001. All told, Christensen’s coaching experience (pro and collegiate) dates back to 1979, but the last 14 years have been spent with the Colts.
Along with Christensen, former Chargers OC Frank Reich was also interviewed for the Dolphins vacancy. You can follow all the latest assistant coaching headlines by bookmarking our 2016 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Tracker.
The 49ers have offered Texans assistant Mike Vrabel their defensive coordinator job, sources tell Dianna Marie Russini of ESPN.com (Twitter link). According to Russini, the team is currently waiting on Vrabel’s answer. It should come soon, as new head coach Chip Kelly said Wednesday that he’d like to have his staff in place within the next week (Twitter link via the team).
[RELATED: 49ers hire Chip Kelly as head coach]
Vrabel, who spent most of his NFL playing career with the Patriots, winning three Super Bowls with New England, began his coaching career in 2011 following his retirement as a player. After spending three seasons as a positions coach at Ohio State, Vrabel joined the Texans in 2014. He has been the linebackers coach in Houston for the last two years.
The Niners interviewed Vrabel for their defensive coordinator opening on Tuesday, a day before Kelly was introduced to the media. A Tuesday report indicated that incumbent defensive coordinator Eric Mangini would also interview for the job, despite a Monday report suggesting that there was a “strong possibility” he’d be retained.
If Vrabel ends up accepting the 49ers’ reported offer and becoming the club’s new defensive coordinator, he’ll have a challenging task ahead. In Philadelphia, Kelly’s Eagles ranked at the bottom of the NFL in terms of time of possession in each of the last three seasons due to their fast-paced offense, which forced the defense to spend plenty of time on the field. Mangini’s 49ers unit, meanwhile, ranked 29th in the NFL in yards allowed per game (387.4) in 2015, finishing outside the top 25 against both the run and the pass.
As for Mangini, if he ends up on the outside looking in when San Francisco makes its defensive coordinator hire, he’ll hardly be the first assistant coach Kelly has replaced. We learned on Tuesday that offensive coordinator Geep Chryst and eight other assistants won’t be returning to the team for the 2016 season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
As Super Bowl 50 nears, there are plenty of topics and storylines to discuss, and PFR’s Community Tailgate is designed to address those stories. What’s the Community Tailgate all about? Well, it’s pretty simple. We’ll highlight one of the top stories going on in the NFL. Then, in the comment section below, we want you to weigh in and let us know what you think.
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With only three more games left on the NFL’s schedule for the 2015/16 season, fans of 28 teams around the league have already started looking ahead to the offseason decisions facing their respective clubs. Coaching changes are well underway, and draft selections will be made in the spring, but in between, the NFL conversation figures to be dominated by free agency.
While not every team gets overly involved on the free agent market, each of the NFL’s 32 franchises has at least one notable contributor eligible for free agency this winter, so it’s worth looking ahead to which players could have the biggest impact if they sign with new teams. Dallas Robinson of Pro Football Rumors did just that over the weekend, checking in with a second installment of his Free Agent Power Rankings.
Here’s a breakdown of Dallas’s list, which is ranked in terms of projected guaranteed money for these free-agents-to-be:
For explanations of those rankings, you can check out Dallas’s full piece. After you do, and after you take a look at our complete list of 2016 free agents, we want you to weigh in.
Does this top 10 look good to you? Are there players listed here that you think shouldn’t make the cut, or omissions that need to be listed? And how many of these players do you think will actually be available in March, having not been franchised or extended by their current teams?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Asked today during a press conference if he has confidence that cornerback Cortez Allen can be an impact player going forward, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin admitted that he’s not convinced of that, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). Since signing a four-year, $24.6MM extension about a year and a half ago, Allen has struggled significantly — he was benched in 2014 and missed nearly all of the 2015 season with a knee injury.
While it’s possible that Tomlin’s comment was a motivational tactic for Allen heading into 2016, it seems more likely that the club simply plans on moving on from the cornerback. Releasing him this winter would only save $1.7MM against the cap, but the club could increase those savings for 2016 to $4.4MM by designating Allen as a post-June 1 cut and pushing some of his dead money to 2017.
As we wait to see what the Steelers plan on doing with Allen, let’s check in on a few more items from out of the NFL’s North divisions….
Mike Shanahan received strong consideration from the 49ers as the team was deliberating over its new head coach, with former players like Steve Young and Ronnie Lott talking to the team on Shanahan’s behalf, says Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). However, according to Cole, a key factor in the Niners’ decision to go with Chip Kelly was the club’s belief that Shanahan wanted to move on from Colin Kaepernick, using San Francisco’s first-round pick to draft a quarterback.
It remains to be seen whether Kaepernick will bounce back under Kelly’s system, given his accuracy issues, but 49ers management has some confidence that the quarterback can still have success in San Francisco, and Kelly appears likely to give him a shot.
Here’s more from around the NFC West:
It was widely reported during the week leading up to the NFL’s Wild Card games this month that Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula wasn’t interested in interviewing for any head coaching jobs while Carolina remained alive in the playoffs. However, speaking to Alex Marvez of FOX Sports, Shula says he’s not sure where that perception came from.
“All I said (to the media) was I’m focused on the playoffs,” Shula said. “The other quote was if it did happen, if I was approached, I’d have to consider that at the time. Those were my only quotes … Somebody said I had an agent out there talking, too. I don’t have an agent. I have a friend that helps me, but he definitely wasn’t that person … I don’t know where that (report) came from.”
It’s somewhat odd that Shula would clarify his stance now, after all the vacant head coaching positions have been filled, rather than earlier in the interview process. Those reports suggesting he was reluctant to interview for other jobs while preparing for Panthers playoff games didn’t materialize out of thin air, so even if Shula claims he would have been open to opportunities, I’d imagine he’s happy to remain in his current role.
Here are a few more coaching-related updates from around the NFL: