HEADLINES

Anthony Campanile

Dolphins To Retain Eric Studesville, Hire New Offensive Line Coach

February 12th, 2022 at 4:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

In addition to keeping DC Josh Boyer and special teams coordinator Danny Crossman, the Dolphins are also retaining more coaches from Brian Flores‘ most recent staff. This includes one of Flores’ final offensive coordinators.

Eric Studesville will return on Mike McDaniel‘s first staff, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Co-offensive coordinator along with George Godsey in 2021, Studesville will stay on as Miami’s running backs coach. Godsey will not be back and is now part of the Ravens’ staff, taking a job as their tight ends coach.

Studesville was previously Miami’s running backs coach under Flores but rose to the co-OC position last year. McDaniel will mark Studesville’s third boss in Miami, with Flores also keeping him around as a holdover. Adam Gase initially brought Studesville to Miami in 2018. The veteran coach was previously with the Broncos for eight years, serving as their interim HC in 2010 and staying on as running backs coach under John Fox, Gary Kubiak and Vance Joseph.

The Dolphins are still conducting OC interviews. Whoever lands the job will be the team’s seventh OC in the past six seasons. The team has interviewed Falcons QBs coach Charles London, Chargers offensive line coach Frank Smith and Saints wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson thus far. Miami will also retain defensive line coach Austin Clark, linebackers coach Anthony Campanile and cornerbacks coach Charles Burks, Jackson adds.

Miami’s O-line coach role has also been in flux for years, and there appears to be another new hire en route. While Jackson notes incumbent Lemuel Jeanpierre had not been informed of his status as of Friday, Pete Thamel of Yahoo.com tweets the Dolphins are expected to hire Boston College O-line coach Matt Applebaum to the same position. Given the team’s O-line situation, which saw multiple young blockers (Robert Hunt, Austin Jackson) change positions over the past year, this is a fairly key hire.

This will be a big jump for Applebaum, who was at the Division I-FCS level as recently as 2019. He did spent four years in the NFL previously, spending time as an assistant with Washington and Jacksonville in the early 2010s. This continues a pattern for the Dolphins, who have not employed the same O-line coach in consecutive seasons since John Benton headed up the unit from 2014-15.

Dolphins To Interview Frank Smith For OC Job

February 12th, 2022 at 12:30pm CST by Ben Levine

Mike McDaniel continues to look for an offensive coordinator. The Dolphins will interview Chargers run game coordinator/OL coach Frank Smith for their OC job, reports NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter).

[RELATED: Dolphins Retain Josh Boyer As DC]

Smith joined the Chargers just last offseason. He spent the previous three years with the Raiders as their tight ends coach, overseeing the development of Darren Waller. The veteran coach also served as the Bears tight ends coach for three years, and he had a five-year stint as the Saints assistant offensive line coach (during which time the Saints had four OLs earn Pro Bowl nods: Jermon Bushrod, Jahri Evans, Ben Grubbs, and Carl Nicks).

We previously heard that Curtis Johnson was a candidate for the OC job in Miami. The Dolphins were set to interview the long-time Saints coach for the vacancy.

Elsewhere on the Dolphins staff, McDaniel will be retaining a handful of coaches. In addition to defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, the Dolphins will also be keeping linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, cornerbacks coach Charles Burks, and defensive line coach Austin Clark on the staff (per Barry Jackson of Miami Herald on Twitter).

Coaching Notes: Giants, Kitchens, Cowboys

January 15th, 2020 at 8:47pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Giants have interviewed both former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett and incumbent offensive coordinator Mike Shula for their vacant OC position, but new head coach Joe Judge may have a few other names in mind, as well. Judge is interested in speaking to ex-Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens and former Dolphins OC Chad O’Shea about positions on his staff, according to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. Kitchens served as the Browns’ offensive play-caller during the latter portion of the 2018 campaign before becoming head coach in 2019, while O’Shea lasted only one year in Miami. Both could presumably also be considered as position coaches on Judge’s staff.

Here’s more from the coaching circuit:

  • The Broncos have formally announced the addition of former Giants head coach Pat Shurmur as their new offensive coordinator, and Shurmur will receive a two-year contract, tweets Mike Klis of 9 News. Shurmur reportedly had other offers on the table, but chose the opportunity in Denver after the Broncos surprisingly fired first-year play-caller Rich Scangarello earlier this week. A longtime NFL OC, Shurmur will bring in his own quarterbacks coach, as incumbent T.C. McCartney has been fired, per Benjamin Allbright (Twitter link).
  • Former Maryland interim head coach Matt Canada has been hired as the Steelers‘ new quarterbacks coach, the club announced. Pittsburgh did not have a formal QBs coach in 2019, as offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner held the role. Canada, who has a long history of coaching in the collegiate ranks, took over as the Terrapins’ interim coach in 2018 after D.J. Durkin was placed on administrative leave.
  • New Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has hired Skip Peete as running backs coach, reports Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Peete, who previously coached in Dallas from 2007-12, spent the last four seasons with the Rams, and also has experience with the Raiders and Bears. He’ll be replacing Gary Brown, who had taken over for Peete in 2013.
  • The Panthers requested permission to interview Saints assistant offensive line coach Brendan Nugent, but New Orleans rejected the ask because Carolina is a division rival, according to Jeff Duncan of The Athletic (Twitter link), who adds Nugent is a longtime friend of new Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Nugent previously spent time with the Bears as well as in the collegiate ranks.
  • Michigan linebackers coach Anthony Campanile is joining the Dolphins‘ staff in an as-yet unspecified role, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Campanile recently turned down an opportunity to become the defensive coordinator at Rutgets, per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).