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Coaching/GM Notes: Pagano, Browns, Fins, Cowboys, Lions

January 3rd, 2016 at 5:57pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest news on various teams’ coaching and front office situations as Black Monday approaches:

Colts owner Jim Irsay will meet with Chuck Pagano on Monday to discuss the head coach’s future, writes Mike Wells of ESPN.com. After helping lead the Colts to playoff berths in his first three years with the team, Pagano’s club missed out this season during an injury-riddled, tumultuous campaign, going 8-8. As a result, the Colts are expected to let go of Pagano, whose contract is up, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora (Twitter link).
With Ray Farmer out as the Browns’ general manager, the franchise might turn its football operations over to executive vice president/general counsel Sashi Brown, Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News reports (Twitter link).
Adam Gase, Jim Mora Jr., Mike Shanahan, Teryl Austin, Mike Smith, Dirk Koetter and Doug Marrone are all currently connected to the Dolphins’ head coaching job, according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).
Not surprisingly, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed Sunday that Jason Garrett will return in 2016 for his seventh season as the team’s head coach. “Let me be real clear: There’s no thought of replacing Jason. At all,” Jones said, according to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link). Jones acknowledged that Garrett’s staff could change, though, as four assistant coaches’ contracts expire (Twitter link via Williams). Whether those changes happen will be up to Garrett, who Jones says is “the ultimate-decision maker” when it comes to the coaching staff (Twitter link via Fox Sports’ Matt Mosley).
Lions president Rod Wood says the club’s search for a new general manager will begin in earnest Monday, tweets Tim Twentyman of the team’s website. Interim GM Sheldon White will be among those interviewed, according to Wood (Twitter link via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press), and Greg Gabriel of NFPost.com reports the Lions will also talk to Giants assistant GM Kevin Abrams (via Twitter). Another Giants executive, Marc Ross, could also get a look, tweets Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo.

Sunday Roundup: Mularkey, Gase, McDaniels

January 3rd, 2016 at 1:13pm CST by Rory Parks

As we roll into the final week of the regular season, let’s round up some news and notes from around the league:

We learned earlier today that Titans interim head coach Mike Mularkey will receive serious consideration to be the team’s permanent head coach, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports explains that although there are aspects of the Tennessee top job that make it appealing, questions about ownership could force some big name candidates to steer clear. If Mularkey does get the job, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com (via Twitter) expects the team to make changes to the rest of its coaching staff.
La Canfora was busy on Twitter this afternoon, reporting that the Browns, Dolphins, and Eagles all have serious interest in making Bears OC Adam Gase their next head coach, and that the Titans and Giants head coaching jobs would be the most appealing to Patriots OC Josh McDaniels (Twitter links).
La Canfora also tweets that Mike Holmgren‘s reported interest in the 49ers‘ head coaching position should not be discounted, though he also tweets that San Francisco will give strong consideration to Chip Kelly if and when Jim Tomsula is fired. Mike Silver of NFL.com tweets that Kelly himself has reached out to express his interest in the job, along with Mike Shanahan. As Silver notes (via Twitter) the 49ers’ head coaching job is much more appealing than is commonly perceived.
Jenna Laine of SportsTalkFlorida.com tweets that Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has received interest from at least one club looking for a new head coach.
Hall-of-Fame executive Ron Wolf had lunch with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam several weeks ago, but per Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com, Wolf denied that Haslam asked him to serve as a consultant for the club. Wolf said he has had no contact with Haslam since that lunch. Wolf’s son, Eliot, currently works as the Packers‘ director of player personnel and is rumored to be Cleveland’s top choice to fill its soon-to-be-vacant GM role.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com) writes that the Raiders, Chargers, and Rams will all apply for relocation in advance of Monday’s deadline, with the expected relocation fee to be a whopping $550MM per team that relocates. The league will assist whatever club or clubs that get left out of the LA sweepstakes to secure a new home.

Coaching Updates: 1/3/16

January 3rd, 2016 at 10:42am CST by Rory Parks

After learning this morning that the 49ers are expected to fire Jim Tomsula and that Jim Caldwell is more likely than not to return to the Lions in 2016, let’s dive into a few more notes on the league’s head coaching carousel:

A “plugged-in source” tells Pro Football Talk that Chip Kelly could be headed to the Browns (Twitter link).
Before that somewhat mysterious tweet from PFT, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweeted out a list of a few candidates the Browns are expected to interview in the coming days after they formally fire Mike Pettine. That list includes popular targets Adam Gase, Teryl Austin, and Doug Marrone. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the team is especially interested in Gase and has already laid the groundwork for an interview with the Bears’ offensive coordinator. It was something of a surprise that Gase did not land a head coaching job last year, but it looks like 2016 will find him in charge of his own club.
Rapoport also passes on some news on the Colts (via Conor Orr of NFL.com), reporting that if Indianapolis parts ways with Chuck Pagano, the team will make Sean Payton and Nick Saban say no before turning its search in another direction. Although the presence of franchise quarterback Andrew Luck could alter his thinking somewhat, Saban, as Rapoport tweets, has been approached by NFL clubs countless times in recent years and always says no.
Current Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson is “a name to watch” as the Eagles attempt to fill their new head coaching vacancy, per Albert Breer of the NFL Network, who adds that the team would have to do some “fence-mending” to lure Sean McDermott, one of the hottest head coaching candidates, away from Carolina (Twitter links). ESPN.com news services confirms the team’s interest in Pederson, who spent four seasons as an offensive assistant under Andy Reid in Philadelphia, and adds that interim head coach Pat Shumur has not been ruled out.
The Titans will look at interim head coach Mike Mularkey as a legitimate candidate to become the team’s permanent head coach, as Rapoport writes in his Black Monday primer.
In the same piece, Rapoport writes that Mike McCoy has a much better chance to stay with the Chargers than originally anticipated. The NFL.com scribe reports that San Diego brass will step back and look at factors like the injuries the team has endured, the close losses it has suffered, and the omnipresent Los Angles dilemma before making a final decision. While McCoy could still be fired, it appears as though he will at least get a thorough evaluation before that happens.

East Notes: Dolphins, Giants, Eagles, Cowboys

January 2nd, 2016 at 8:54pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell, whose short stint is almost sure to end Sunday, spoke about his tenure to Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald.

On what he’ll do differently if given another opportunity in the future, Campbell said, “I would do a better job of holding everyone more accountable, from staff to players.”

Going forward, Campbell believes the Dolphins need more leadership from quarterback Ryan Tannehill and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

“Certainly, those are two guys that you’d love to see grow more into that area, and it would help,” he stated.

Campbell also used the word “frustration” to describe the Dolphins’ 5-10 season (and 4-7 mark under his reign). He’ll try to go out with a win Sunday as the Dolphins host AFC East rival New England.

More on the Dolphins and three NFC East teams:

With the Giants’ Tom Coughlin era seemingly on the verge of ending, the New York Daily News’ Ralph Vacchiano wrote Friday that the team should pursue the Saints’ Sean Payton and Alabama’s Nick Saban as possible successors. In addition to Payton and Saban, Vacchiano listed more potential candidates Saturday. Featured prominently: New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, current Giants O-coordinator Ben McAdoo – though Vacchiano argues that he’d be tough to sell to their fan base – as well as college head coaches Brian Kelly (Notre Dame) and David Shaw (Stanford). There’s also Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, a pair of Carolina assistants in OC Mike Shula and D-coordinator Sean McDermott, two more O-coordinators (Pittsburgh’s Todd Haley and Cincinnati’s Hue Jackson), and Jacksonville assistant Doug Marrone. Haley, Jackson and Marrone were all mixed bags in their prior head coaching stops, while Spagnuolo and McDaniels flamed out in epic fashion in St. Louis and Denver, respectively.
The Dolphins’ Olivier Vernon, who leads the team in sacks (seven), could be playing his last game with the team Sunday, ESPN’s James Walker writes. Vernon, 25, stands to cash in as a pending free agent. Thus, he might not fit within the Dolphins’ budget. Vernon does want to stay in Miami, though. “I’d like to be here,” Vernon told Walker. “But at the end of the day, business is business. So if this is my last game and I enter free agency, then I’m going to see how that goes.”
As we learned Saturday afternoon, the Eagles interviewed running backs coach Duce Staley for their vacant head coaching job. Whether they’re truly serious about him remains to be seen, but the interview means they’ve already fulfilled the Rooney Rule because Staley is a minority candidate. That means they could hire Chicago offensive coordinator Adam Gase, whom they’re interested in, as early as Monday. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that won’t happen. Gase will bide his time and explore all options, per Florio.
Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee will lose out on $2MM extra if he doesn’t play Sunday against Washington, Brandon George of SportsDay writes. Lee, whose status is up in the air because of a hamstring injury, has incentives in his contract that will kick his 2015-16 salary from $3MM to $5MM if he plays 80 percent of snaps on the season. He’s currently at 82.1.

AFC Rumors: Dolphins, Browns

January 2nd, 2016 at 6:15pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest on a couple of AFC teams that are on the cusp of major overhauls:

Doug Marrone and Jim Schwartz were the head coach and defensive coordinator, respectively, of a 2014 Bills team that finished 9-7. They could reunite soon in the same roles for the AFC East rival Dolphins, multiple sources have told the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero (Twitter link). Marrone, who is currently an assistant in Jacksonville, was the Jets’ offensive line coach in 2002-05. Dolphins executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum was also with the Jets then, as Salguero notes (on Twitter), so Tannenbaum and Marrone are familiar with one another. Further, the Tannenbaum-led Dolphins reached out to Schwartz earlier this season when the team fired defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle.
In other important Dolphins news, they could soon name director of college scouting Chris Grier their next general manager, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. They’ll first have to fire current GM Dennis Hickey, which appears likely. If the Dolphins do ax Hickey, they’ll be able to quickly promote Grier – a minority candidate – instead of having to follow the Rooney Rule process.
Significant changes to both the Browns’ front office and coaching staff seem imminent, as the team is expected to fire general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine. As a result, names that will be connected to the club in the coming days include Adam Gase, Tom Cable and the aforementioned Doug Marrone as head coaching candidates and Green Bay executive Eliot Wolf as a GM possibility (via ESPNCleveland.com’s Tony Grossi on Twitter). Interestingly, if the Browns hire Gase, their quarterback next season could be Peyton Manning, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Gase and Manning worked closely together in Denver from 2012-14.

Extra Points: Dolphins, Lynch, Giants, Browns

January 1st, 2016 at 10:09pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

As the Dolphins get their head coaching search under way, the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero lists a slew of candidates. Chip Kelly, Todd Haley, Josh McDaniels, Jim L. Mora, Jim Schwartz and Hue Jackson are those with NFL head coaching experience. The potential first-timers consist of three offensive coordinators – Carolina’s Mike Shula, son of legendary ex-Dolphins coach Don Shula, as well as Chicago’s Adam Gase and Tampa’s Dirk Koetter. The Dolphins are looking for a leader of men capable of assembling a great staff, according to Salguero.

More from around the league as the first day of 2016 wraps up:

Welcome news for the Seahawks as the playoffs near: Running back Marshawn Lynch should return to practice Monday, head coach Pete Carroll said (link via The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta). Lynch has been out since mid-November because of abdominal surgery.
Sunday could be head coach Tom Coughlin‘s last game with the Giants. The same holds true for a pair of the club’s defensive institutions, writes Paul Schwartz of the New York Post, as end Jason Pierre-Paul and cornerback Prince Amukamara are both pending free agents. “I’d be lying if I said it’s never come up in my head or someone has never brought it up to me,” said Amukamara, whom the Giants chose in the first round of the 2011 draft. Amukmara added that he’d like to remain a Giant. “I love the organization, definitely treated first class here, so it’s been great.’’ There’s no word on whether the Giants want to retain Amukamara, but there was a report Thursday that they are hoping to keep Pierre-Paul, a 2010 first-rounder.
Browns pass rusher Paul Kruger indicated Thursday that the team’s coaching staff hasn’t deployed him properly this year. “Personally, I probably wouldn’t say so. I don’t have too much more to say about it, and I don’t put everything personally this year on that, but I don’t think I was utilized in the best way,” he opined, per Jeff Schudel of the Morning-Journal. Kruger has just 27 tackles and 2.5 sacks, his lowest total since 2010, though Schudel notes that he’s second in the league in quarterback hurries (33, up from 18 in 2014). Assuming Kruger’s with the Browns next season, he’ll probably work under a different staff than the one with which he’s currently disenchanted, as head coach Mike Pettine and coordinator Jim O’Neil are both on the outs.

Coaching Rumors: Giants, Browns, Dolphins, Eagles

January 1st, 2016 at 5:30pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

If the Giants go the expected route and fire longtime head coach Tom Coughlin in the coming days, his act will be a tough one to follow in New York. Coughlin’s 12-year run with the Giants has been fruitful, likely Hall of Fame-worthy, with the 69-year-old having helped the franchise to 102 regular-season victories and a pair of Super Bowl titles. The Giants’ next coach should be someone capable of that type of success, someone to enliven a disenchanted fan base, writes Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. Vacchiano suggests Giants owner John Mara should take a swing-for-the-fences approach and target either Saints coach Sean Payton or Alabama’s Nick Saban to succeed Coughlin.

Vacchiano doesn’t believe the Giants are in position to hire a neophyte as their next coach, though he acknowledges that neither Payton nor Saban will be easy to land. Payton is still under contract with the Saints for two more years and makes over $8MM per annum, but it’s possible he’ll seek another opportunity this offseason. If so, the team that hires Payton will need to give him a similar contract in terms of value and send compensation to New Orleans in the form of one or more draft picks. Saban is similarly paid at $7MM a year. A large price tag shouldn’t stand in the way of hiring either for the big-market Giants, Vacchiano opines.

Elsewhere on the coaching landscape. . .

Browns head coach Mike Pettine‘s short tenure with the team is likely to end after Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh, Rand Getlin of NFL.com reports (Twitter link).
If the Browns do fire Pettine, they could replace him with Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. Cleveland has done its homework on Gase, as have the Dolphins, according to La Canfora. The Eagles are another possibility for his services.
Speaking of the Eagles, Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther is an under-the-radar candidate for Chip Kelly‘s former job, per Geoff Mosher of 97.5 The Fanatic (Twitter link). Guenther, 48, is a native Pennsylvanian whose defense leads the league in points per game allowed (17.5).

Coaching Staff Notes: Browns, Lions, Jaguars

January 1st, 2016 at 11:29am CST by Rob DiRe

Mike Pettine isn’t giving up his position as Browns head coach without a fight, as he has already offered up the suggestion that he would make significant changes to his coaching staff if the ownership decided to retain him, writes Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal.

It is unusual for a head coach to be so willing to give up his staff in exchange for his job, which points towards the likelihood of him getting fired. However, owner Jimmy Haslam vowed not to blow up the franchise back in August, and might consider keeping Pettine for continuity’s sake.

Here are some more notes involving current coordinators and coaching staffs in the NFL:

Despite offensive struggles this season, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett has not lost any confidence in Scott Linehan’s ability to coordinate the offense, writes David Moore of DallasNews.com.
Jim Caldwell may be on the hot seat in Detroit, but his coaching staff is even more uncertain. Many Lions’ coaches could be in the running for better jobs elsewhere, while others could decide to jump ship if any opportunity should arise, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
Of all the Lions’ staff, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is least likely to return, as he will be a top head coaching candidate around the league this hiring cycle, writes Michael Rothstein of ESPN.
The Jaguars offensive took a big step forward this year, but defensive coordinator Bob Babich might not have done enough to keep his job into 2016, writes Ryan O’Halloran of Jacksonville.com.
The Bears are expecting offensive coordinator Adam Gase to be offered a head coaching job this year, after interviewing with five teams a year ago, writes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains will be in consideration, as could Ken Whisenhunt and Pat Shurmur.
Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan looked like a head coaching candidate during the team’s 5-0 start, but the disappointing finish put that status into question. Still, Shanahan is excited to be back with the team in 2016 to build on what the offense started, writes Vaughn McClure of ESPN.
Despite completely turning the Seahawks offense around midseason, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell isn’t receiving much head coaching buzz this season, writes Sheil Kapadia of ESPN. He has been in the discussion the past two offseasons but has not been able to come away with a job. His 2015 performance might be the best offense he put on display, but he doesn’t seem to be as hot as other candidates.
Some changes will be made on the 49ers coaching staff, but defensive coordinator Eric Mangini believes they won’t wait long to find out, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. For one, linebackers coach Clancy Pengergast is expected to leave to join USC’s coaching staff.

Details, Fallout On Eagles’ Firing Of Chip Kelly

December 29th, 2015 at 10:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Eagles’ decision to part ways with head coach – and de facto GM – Chip Kelly was Tuesday’s biggest piece of news, so it’s no surprise that reports since then have been adding new details to the story, exploring the fallout, and looking ahead to the next steps for both Kelly and the Eagles. We’ve got plenty of Kelly-related material to get to, so let’s dive right in…

Details:

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie “apparently” spoke to some players before making the decision to fire Kelly, says Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). However, both McLane and Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link) talked to several Eagles players who said they had no idea the move was coming.
When running back DeMarco Murray spoke to Lurie recently, he expressed a lack of confidence in Kelly, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link) notes that Lurie already knew that the locker room wasn’t thrilled with Kelly and his methods, so that was nothing new, but the situation reached a breaking point.
According to McLane (Twitter link), Lurie and Kelly had a meeting today that didn’t go well, with the decision to fire the head coach coming shortly thereafter. ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio has heard something similar, reporting that Kelly balked at the idea of ceding personnel control in a recent meeting with Lurie (link via Pro Football Talk).
However, Jordan Raanan of NJ.com (Twitter links) says he wasn’t able to confirm the rumor that the Eagles wanted to strip Kelly’s personnel power, and Garafolo (Twitter link) adds that word out of Philadelphia suggests the team didn’t make Kelly an offer to remain as head coach without that personnel power.
James Harris, Kelly’s “chief of staff,” was also let go by the Eagles today, according to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News (Twitter link).

Fallout:

Kelly insists he wants to remain in the NFL, rather than go back to college, and says that at his next stop he just wants to coach, rather than overseeing personnel decisions as well, reports Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Of course, as Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com observes (via Twitter), Kelly said he wasn’t interested in making personnel calls when he joined the Eagles as well.
The Dolphins are a team that will be in the market for a head coach this winter, so James Walker of ESPN.com and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald explore whether or not the team should pursue Kelly. Neither scribe views him as a great fit for Miami.
Rapoport (Twitter link) heard from a high-ranking Titans source several weeks ago that Kelly wasn’t on the team’s list of head coaching candidates since he was under contract. Now that that’s no longer the case, perhaps Kelly will be added to Tennessee’s list of possible targets, though Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com is unconvinced he’d be the answer for the Titans.
Albert Breer of the NFL Network and Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter links) offer of a couple of potential Eagles head coaching targets, with Breer naming Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott and Mosher identifying Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

La Canfora’s Latest: Dalton, Falcons, Manning

December 20th, 2015 at 4:05pm CST by Dallas Robinson

As the second slate of games near halftime, lets’s take a look at the latest from Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com…

Andy Dalton‘s recent thumb injury could end up costing the Bengals quarterback millions of dollars in escalators, according to La Canfora. Per clauses in Dalton’s six-year, $96MM extension, he can earn extra cash by playing in 80% of Cincinnati’s snaps during the regular season, while separate escalators are tied to his playing (and winning) in each successive round of the postseason. All told, writes La Canfora, Dalton could add $15MM to his current deal, but those plateaus are obviously at risk now.
Falcons ownership is growing frustrated with the club’s lack of success and is considering firing general manager Thomas Dimitroff, writes La Canfora, who adds that Seahawks director of pro personnel Trent Kirchner and Vikings assistant GM George Paton could each be strong candidates to fill the position (each has a professional history with Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn). It sounds like current AGM Scott Pioli (a Dimitroff friend) could also be on the chopping block.
Major changes could also be coming to the Titans staff, and rumors persist that Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning could land in Tennessee as something of a football czar, with former NFL exec Bill Polian (who drafted Manning) as team president. In such a scenario, Polian’s son Chris could act as general manager, while Jaguars assistant Doug Marrone or Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase would be candidates to serve as head coach.