HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Giants Expected To Sign QB Davis Webb

February 7th, 2022 at 12:46pm CST by Adam La Rose

A face which is familiar to both Giants fans and new head coach Brian Daboll is set to be returning to East Rutherford. Quarterback Davis Webb is conducting a physical with the team, and is expected to sign, writes Darryl Slater of NJ.com. 

Webb was originally a third round pick of the Giants in 2017, as the team looked for a long-term replacement for Eli Manning. Things didn’t go according to plan, though, as he was waived in September 2018 without having played a regular season game in New York.

He didn’t have to go far to join his next NFL team, as the Jets immediately added him to their practice squad. Even though the former Cal product stuck around for the 2018 season, and actually got a one-year contract with the Jets, he found himself on the waiver wire again before the 2019 campaign started. He spent the past three seasons in Buffalo, twice signing reserve deals despite the fact he only appeared in one regular season game.

Webb’s time in Buffalo, and in particular working with Daboll, has certainly left an impression. As Ryan Dunleavey of The New York Post tweets, the 27-year-old said of his new HC: “I’m a way better player and way better person than I was earlier. When I do get into coaching, I’m going to take the most I’ve ever learned from him”.

Webb will add depth to a QB room featuring Daniel Jones – on whom much of the team’s attention will be placed, as he enters his fourth NFL season – along with former fifth-rounder Jake Fromm.

Texans Moving Towards Hiring Lovie Smith As Head Coach

February 7th, 2022 at 11:47am CST by Adam La Rose

One day after his name was added to the list of finalists for the job, defensive coordinator Lovie Smith is close to being officially hired as the head coach of the Texans. As Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports (via Twitter), Houston is “moving towards” hiring Smith. 

[Related: Texans Considering Lovie Smith For HC]

The 63-year-old has gone from being out of the picture with regards to the vacancy to the likely hire in a matter of hours. While it was believed that the three finalists for the position were former Dolphins HC Brian Flores, Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and recently retired quarterback Josh McCown, it came out recently that the latter two were out of the running for the position.

The presence of Flores as a finalist came, of course, with the fact that his lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams was ongoing. Flores has made it clear he would carry on with the suit even if he had been hired by Houston or any other team. That won’t be the case, in Houston at least, as the Texans are sticking with an internal candidate to replace David Culley.

Smith brings a wealth of experience to the table, having been a head coach for 16 of the past 18 years between the NFL and NCAA ranks. His longest stint on any one sideline was as HC of the Bears between 2004 and 2012. That stretch included a Coach of The Year award, along with a Super Bowl appearance not long after. From then on, though, his time in Chicago generally went downhill; an unsuccessful two years as the HC in Tampa Bay (which came after interviewing in Houston) certainly didn’t help his chances of another opportunity to lead an NFL team. 2021 was his first and only season as the DC in Houston, a year in which the defense did show signs of improvement.

Meanwhile, Rapoport’s colleague Mike Garafolo tweets that McCown could still find himself on the Texans’ sideline this year. While that is a “possibility”, he adds that “those talks have yet to really happen”. He also states that Pep Hamilton is expected to remain on staff, becoming the new offensive coordinator.

With Smith seemingly in place, here’s what appears to be the final look at the Texans’ HC search:

 

Packers To Hire Rich Bisaccia As ST Coordinator

February 7th, 2022 at 10:51am CST by Adam La Rose

Green Bay looks to have their latest special teams coordinator in place. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that Rich Bisaccia is set to be hired by the Packers. 

[Related: Packers Eyeing Rich Bisaccia For ST Coordinator]

The move shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given the interest the Packers had in Bisaccia and their stated goal of dramatically improving their ST unit moving forward. Not long after the season ended, it was announced that former coordinator Maurice Drayton would not be returning. That marked the eighth consecutive time the top ST coach either retired or was forced out of Green Bay.

Bisaccia was a candidate for the Raiders’ head coaching job, but was always thought to be a longshot for the role. He also interviewed with the Jaguars for their HC vacancy, but he will now be making a lateral move to Green Bay. The 61-year-old will be joining his fifth NFL team, holding the title of ST coordinator with each of the Buccaneers, Chargers, Cowboys and Raiders previously.

While the move isn’t a promotion for Bisaccia, it looks like it will nevertheless be a lucrative one. Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune tweets that his contract is expected to “set a new compensation bar for special teams coordinators”. Perhaps this will bring an end to the cycle of underwhelming performances in the third phase of the game for the Packers, while also giving one of the league’s most well-respected coaches a position on a Super Bowl contender.

Jaguars Request Interview With Pep Hamilton For OC

February 7th, 2022 at 9:53am CST by Adam La Rose

The list of names being connected to Doug Pederson‘s staff in Jacksonville is growing. The team has requested an interview with Pep Hamilton, the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator with the Texans, for their offensive coordinator role (Twitter link via USA Today’s Josina Anderson). 

[Related: Candidates For Doug Pederson’s Jaguars Staff]

Hamilton is the first name to be listed as an option for OC, as Press Taylor is thought to be a candidate for a lesser role on the offensive staff. Hamilton, 47, has more than two decades of coaching experience across the NCAA, NFL and even XFL. His most common job title in the NFL has been QBs coach, though he has also been the passing game coordinator in his one season in Houston. His work in the pro and college ranks earned him an interview request from the Panthers last month, but he turned it down.

Despite the external interest, Hamilton may not have to leave Houston to become an OC for the first time since 2015. As ESPN’s Sarah Barshop reports (via Twitter), Hamilton “is expected to be Houston’s offensive coordinator” if Lovie Smith is indeed hired as the team’s head coach. His availability to Jacksonville, or any other interested team, would therefore depend on what the Texans do in the coming days.

Giants Interview Steve Wilks For DC

February 7th, 2022 at 8:55am CST by Adam La Rose

Another name has been added to the list of defensive coordinator candidates for the Giants. As Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk writes, Steve Wilks has interviewed with the team to fill Patrick Graham‘s vacated position. 

[Related: Giants Interview Jim Schwartz For DC]

Wilks becomes the fifth coach with DC experience to be linked to the Giants. After spending more than a decade in the college ranks, his NFL coaching career began in 2006 with the Bears. The role of defensive backs coach he held there for three seasons is the same he subsequently had with the Chargers and Panthers. In 2017, he got his first DC gig with Carolina, which also came with the title of assistant head coach.

One year later, the 52-year-old became a head coach for the first time at the pro level with the Cardinals. His one season in the desert didn’t go according to plan, however as the quarterback tandem of Sam Bradford and rookie Josh Rosen was underwhelming to say the least. With a 3-13 record, Wilks was fired at the end of the campaign. He returned to life as a coordinator in 2019, serving as the Browns’ DC for one season. After one year out of coaching, he held that same title at Missouri in 2021.

Jim Schwartz interviewed with the Giants on the weekend, as the team continues to cast a wide net of experienced coaches to replace Graham. They had also previously met with Teryl Austin, as well as Don Martindale and Sean Desai for the position.

2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

February 6th, 2022 at 10:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Last year, seven NFL teams opted to make a head coaching change. Sean Payton stepping away from the Saints created nine full-time vacancies available this year.

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 2-7-22 (1:45pm CT)

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Texans Considering Lovie Smith For HC

February 6th, 2022 at 8:36pm CST by Ely Allen

Despite reports that the Texans had narrowed their list of candidates down to journeyman quarterback Josh McCown and former Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores, Adam Schefter of ESPN has reported that current defensive coordinator and associate head coach Lovie Smith is now in talks with Houston about potentially becoming their next head coach. Smith interviewed with the team earlier tonight, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. This is the second time Smith has been considered for the Texans’ head coach position, the first time being when he interviewed with the team in December 2013 prior to accepting the head coaching job in Tampa Bay. 

Smith has spent 16 of the last 18 years as a head coach at some level. After three years of coaching at the high school level, Smith spent the next 13 years bouncing around the NCAA as a position coach with stops at Tulsa, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio State. He accepted a job as the Buccaneers’ linebackers coach in 1996 and, after five seasons in Tampa Bay, was hired as the defensive coordinator of the Rams. Smith took the St. Louis defense from a league-worst 29.4 points per game to seventh in the league allowing 17.1 points per game in his first year leading the defense.

Smith soon earned the head coaching job for the Bears in 2004. Despite losing starting quarterback Rex Grossman to injury for most of the 2005 season, the Bears would get a first round bye in the playoffs as the NFC’s number two-seed in Lovie’s second year as head coach, winning Smith the AP NFL Coach of the Year Award. In 2006, the Bears were the NFC’s number one-seed, owning the NFL’s second-ranked scoring offense and fifth-ranked overall defense. In his third season as an NFL head coach, Smith became the first Black head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl, and the second minority head coach after Tom Flores.

The next six years saw the Bears miss the playoffs five times despite only two losing seasons and never finishing with a record worse than 7-9. Smith was fired after failing to reach the playoffs in the 2012 season despite finishing with a record of 10-6, the last winning season the Bears would see until 2018.

After a year hiatus from the NFL, Smith was brought in to replace Greg Schiano in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers went 2-14 and 6-10 in Smith’s first two seasons and Smith was fired with three years remaining on his contract.

After Tampa Bay, Smith accepted the job of head coach at the University of Illinois. A perennial basement-dweller in the Big Ten, Smith amassed a 17-39 record in five seasons at Illinois. In 2019, he did lead the Fighting Illini to their first bowl game appearance since 2014, but was fired the next year after starting the season 2-5.

Following his stint in college football, Smith was hired by Houston in March of 2021 in his current role under rookie head coach David Culley, returning to the NFL after a 5 year hiatus. Smith did improve the Texans’ defense from ranking 30th in defensive DVOA in 2020 to 23rd in 2021, but Houston was not one of the league’s better defensive units.

Schefter reported that Smith was always included in the Texans’ discussions, but his candidacy for head coach didn’t start gaining momentum until very recently. The consensus in the media is that, along with this revived interest in Smith, McCown is no longer being considered for the position, as Schefter, Rapoport, and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero have all tweeted as much.

It looks, for now, as if Brian Flores and Lovie Smith are the two candidates the Texans are focusing on for the position moving forward, unless any more surprise candidates find their way into contention. Be sure to follow our 2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker to keep up with updates to the remaining open positions.

Coaching Rumors: Saints, Texans, McDaniel, Giants, Broncos

February 6th, 2022 at 8:12pm CST by Ely Allen

The Saints began their cycle of head coaching interviews this week, conducting meetings with the following candidates: former Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson (1/30; hired by Jaguars), former Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores (2/1), Lions’ defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn (2/2), their current special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi (2/3), their current defensive coordinator Dennis Allen (2/4), and Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy (2/6).

New Orleans also requested permission to interview Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. There were some early reports that permission had been granted, but that hasn’t been confirmed and nothing has been scheduled, as of yet. ESPN’s Saints’ reporter Mike Triplett also mentioned that current offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael was offered an opportunity to interview for the position, but Carmichael declined. Despite being a part of Sean Payton‘s staff since Payton’s tenure in New Orleans began back in 2006, it appears Carmichael has no interest in running the show in the Big Easy. Whether he has retirement or another destination in mind or he is just comfortable in his role, Carmichael will not be the Saints’ next head coach.

Here are a few more notes from the ongoing coaching searches and staff changes throughout the NFL, starting with the other head coaching vacancy:

  • Houston recently narrowed their list of head coaching candidates down to three: Brian Flores, former quarterback Josh McCown, and Eagles’ defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Well, according to USA Today’s Josina Anderson, the Texans are now down to two candidates, with Gannon being informed Saturday that he will not be receiving the head coaching position, leaving Flores and McCown as the two remaining names.
  • New Dolphins’ head coach Mike McDaniel reportedly has interest in holding on to some of the defensive assistants currently under contract in Miami, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. This includes current defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, who followed Flores to Miami from New England. The lack of staff turnover would be a positive for a defensive unit that played well during the team’s seven-game win-streak in the back half of the season.
  • The Giants were able to add a piece to Brian Daboll‘s new staff while missing out on another today. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan tweeted out that Andy Bischoff will become the Giants’ new tight ends coach. Bischoff followed David Culley from Baltimore to Houston and will make the lateral move over from the Texans with their head coaching position still in the air. Unfortunately, the Giants did not get their running backs coach, as Bruce Feldman of The Athletic tweeted out that Deland McCullough has turned down Daboll’s offer, choosing instead to remain the running backs coach at Notre Dame, believing it gives him the best opportunity to eventually become a head coach.
  • New Broncos’ head coach Nathaniel Hackett is also looking to fill out his staff. The Broncos are planning to interview Jon Embree who most recently held the position of tight ends coach/assistant head coach in San Francisco. Embree parted ways with the Niners after being asked to take a 60 percent pay cut after San Francisco’s NFC Championship loss. The man who has coached George Kittle since he was drafted in 2017 would be a nice addition to Hackett’s system.

Dolphins Hire Mike McDaniel As Head Coach

February 6th, 2022 at 5:10pm CST by Ely Allen

The Dolphins have announced that they’ve agreed to terms to make 49ers’ offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel their next head coach (Twitter).

McDaniel recently had his second interview with Miami on Friday. Fox Sports Writer Peter Schrager reported that the interview lasted for 10 hours.
McDaniel was one of two candidates to receive a second interview with the Dolphins as Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore interviewed yesterday. With Moore not getting the job, it looks like Dallas will keep both coordinators as Moore has not been mentioned as a contender for the Saints’ or Texans’ jobs and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has informed teams that he is remaining in Dallas.

McDaniel is a longtime Kyle Shanahan-staffer, following Shanahan from Atlanta to San Francisco. Following Mike LaFleur‘s departure to join Robert Saleh on the Jets, McDaniel was promoted to offensive coordinator.

The 2021 NFL season was McDaniel’s first and only year as an offensive coordinator at any level. He first entered the NFL as an intern for the Broncos in 2004. He spent three years as an offensive assistant in Houston before taking the position of running backs coach for Sacramento’s short-lived UFL team. McDaniel re-entered the NFL ranks an an offensive assistant in Washington for two years before getting promoted to wide receivers coach. He spent one season in that position in Washington followed by a season holding the same position in Cleveland before heading to Atlanta to become an offensive assistant under Shanahan.

The 38-year-old’s rise has been meteoric since joining Shanahan. After two years in Atlanta, McDaniel became Shanahan’s run game coordinator in San Francisco for four seasons before finally getting his shot last year at offensive coordinator. McDaniel didn’t call plays for the 49ers, but he did draw up the running plays and coordinate a running game that ranked in the top-10 despite losing Raheem Mostert in Week 1 and missing Elijah Mitchell for 6 games this year.

With Brian Flores‘ lawsuit against the NFL, Dolphins, Giants, and Broncos alleging racial discrimination, much attention will likely be paid to the fact that McDaniel identifies as multiracial, making him the first minority coaching candidate to be hired in this year’s cycle. The 49ers will receive two third-round compensatory picks as a result of the hire.

With Miami securing their man, there are now only two teams remaining who are without a head coach: the Texans and Saints. Keep up with the last remaining coaching searches on our 2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker.

Jets Rumors: Draft, Hamilton, Thibodeaux 

February 6th, 2022 at 4:07pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets are high on safety Kyle Hamilton, according to sources who spoke with Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. Armed with picks Nos. 4 and 10, the Notre Dame standout should be there for Gang Green, if that’s who they want to take. Still, with several weeks to go between now and the draft, the Jets have ample time to consider all of their options, including players at more premium positions.

Here’s more out of East Rutherford, via Cimini:

  • The Jets are “always looking at” big defensive linemen, as head coach Robert Saleh noted recently, and that could lead them to Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux. Cimini hears that the Jets would be hard-pressed to pass on him if he slips to No. 4. He’s long been thought to be a candidate for the No. 1 overall pick, but it’s definitely possible that Thibodeaux could fall to the Jets at No. 4.
  • Some insiders believe that GM Joe Douglas will zero in on the offensive line with a tackle at one of their two Top 10 picks. That’ll largely be dictated by the George Fant / Mekhi Becton situation, Cimini hears. The Jets may opt to leave Fant on the left side and move Becton to the right. If they follow through on that, that’s a sign that the Jets are losing confidence in Becton’s ability to shed weight and, by extension, his long-term potential.
  • While some see the cornerback position as a major draft target, Saleh continues to pump up his current trio of Bryce Hall, Brandin Echols, and Michael Carter II. “The challenge for those three is to find the ball. Once they do that, they’ll be right there with the upper echelon of the league.” Combined, the three CBs tallied just two interceptions last year.
  • Braxton Berrios could be too rich for the Jets’ blood this offseason. One agent predicted that the speedy wideout will look for top slot money, which would put him at ~$9MM/year.
  • Jets tight ends coach Ron Middleton is fond of Colorado State’s Trey McBride and Ohio State’s Jeremy Ruckert, but it’s not clear if the scouting department likes either player enough in Round 2. The Jets could pass on that group of pass-catching TEs, Cimini hears, which would prompt them to spend in free agency instead.
Load More Posts