HEADLINES

Anthony Midget

Coaching Updates: Cowboys, Bears, Vikings, Steelers, Browns

March 23rd, 2024 at 3:22pm CST by Ely Allen

The Cowboys announced a number of staff updates recently. We’ve tracked many of the initial changes to occur with the departure of Dan Quinn and a few assistants across the division to Washington, but with the staff filled out, head coach Mike McCarthy opted to hand out of few promotions.

Firstly, Al Harris, who serves as the team’s defensive backs coach has had the title of assistant head coach added to his title, per Josina Anderson of CBS Sports. Dallas had blocked Harris from interviewing for a lateral move to follow Quinn and opted to sweeten the deal after keeping him from another opportunity. ESPN’s Todd Archer tells us that, also on defense, assistant defensive backs coach Cannon Matthews has been granted the title of safeties coach for 2024, making him a full position coach.

On offense, wide receivers coach Robert Prince has added the role of pass game coordinator to his position. Likewise, Chase Haslett, previously the assistant tight ends coach, will serve as the pass game specialist next season. Lastly, game management and offensive assistant Ryan Feder has replaced “offensive assistant” in his job title with “assistant quarterbacks coach” for the 2024 season.

Here are a few other staff updates from around the NFL:

  • The Bears made a couple of adjustments to their front office recently. Vice president Corey Ruff was promoted by the organization to senior vice president of strategy and analytics and chief of staff. Chicago also hired Tanya Dreesen as the team’s senior vice president of strategy and global affairs and chief of staff, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2.
  • We’ve tracked a number of Vikings staff changes throughout the offseason, but we have a new promotion and an update to an earlier report. First, 2023’s assistant quarterbacks coach and chief of special projects Grant Udinski earned a promotion, replacing “chief of special projects” in his job title with “assistant offensive coordinator,” according to Kevin Seifer of ESPN. Udinksi will assist new quarterbacks coach Josh McCown. We had originally reported that former quarterbacks coach Chris O’Hara had been moved to pass-game specialist with McCown’s addition, but we now see that Minnesota has him listed as senior offensive assistant.
  • The Steelers will add veteran defensive assistant Anthony Midget to their 2024 staff, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. Midget has experience as the Texans former secondary coach and most recently served as the defensive backs coach in Tennessee. After being fired by the Titans following the 2022 NFL season, Midget sat out in 2023. He rejoins the ranks of NFL coaching as the assistant secondary coach in Pittsburgh.
  • Finally, the Browns will add an intriguing young name in Nick Charlton, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Charlton made history at Maine, where he became the youngest head coach in Division I history at 31 years old. Following a three-year stint with the Black Bears, Charlton accepted the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coaching job at UConn. He’ll leave the Huskies to serve as the new offensive assistant and run-game specialist in Cleveland.

Coaching Notes: Panthers, Kocurek, Leftwich, Titans

February 7th, 2023 at 9:53pm CST by Ely Allen

Yesterday, Joseph Person of The Athletic provided a breakdown of the Panthers‘ recent search for a new head coach that ended in the hiring of Frank Reich. There were a few notes of interest that we took away from the behind the scenes look.

The first note of interest is the revelation that, when interim head coach Steve Wilks interviewed for the official role, he laid out his full offensive plan for the search committee. Part of Wilks’ offensive plan relied on the pursuit of Eagles quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson as his offensive coordinator. Johnson’s year coaching a phenomenal season by quarterback Jalen Hurts made him a name to watch for many of the open offensive coordinator jobs around the league. He did end up interviewing with the Rams and Jets for jobs that went to Mike LaFleur and Nathaniel Hackett, respectively.

A second note of interest is likely a clue as to why Wilks didn’t end up as the official head coach of the Panthers. Of the nine candidates Carolina looked at for the position, seven had offensive backgrounds. Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer has a belief that “offensive coordinators-turned-head coaches might have an edge in game management.” That explains why Wilks was so detailed in his offensive plan and, perhaps, how much of an uphill battle he faced.

Lastly, it was reported that Reich was becoming the clear choice for the job by his second interview. “The first time he came in, he was dialed in, laid out his plan,” Fitterer said. “Then when he came back in the second time, he took that plan and went deeper, went to a different level.” Reich was offered the position the next day, prompting an immediate response from the legal team representing Wilks and Brian Flores in their lawsuit accusing the league of racial discrimination.

Here are a few other notes of coaching developments occurring around the NFL:

  • Even though Wilks didn’t get the head coaching position he coveted, he ended up landing a top coordinator position in the league with the 49ers, following the departure of DeMeco Ryans. San Francisco defensive line coach Kris Kocurek received some interest for the Texans defensive coordinator position under his former coordinator and was in consideration for the job that Ryans vacated and Wilks took. Wilks apparently was able to convince Kocurek to stay in the Bay Area, keeping a respected defensive assistant on his staff, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
  • Former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich could be headed to the college ranks, following his recent dismissal from Tampa Bay. According to Grace Remington of 247Sports, Leftwich reached out to Notre Dame about the offensive coordinator position vacated by Tommy Rees, who left to become the offensive coordinator in Tuscaloosa. Leftwich has reportedly remained in contact with the head coach of the Fighting Irish, Marcus Freeman, and remains a strong contender for the job.
  • A slew of coaching updates in Nashville were provided earlier today, with a few smaller assignments sliding under notice. Formerly the running backs coach over star Derrick Henry, Tony Dews has transitioned to the tight ends coaching position for the Titans, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. It was recently reported that former Buccaneers assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust was making her way to Tennessee. Wilson provided clarification that she has been brought on in a defensive quality control role. Justin Hamilton will reportedly join her in a similar role. Finally, Wilson provided news of a departure, reporting that secondary coach Anthony Midget will not be retained in 2023.

AFC Notes: Browns, Titans, Texans

January 28th, 2020 at 9:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Once thought to be the Browns‘ top choice for their latest GM vacancy, George Paton backed out of the race. However, a deal may not have been imminent. The Browns had yet to make Paton an offer, according to Albert Breer of SI.com. Paton’s reasons for backing out of the Cleveland search are not totally clear, but Breer confirms an issue with Jimmy Haslam‘s organizational hierarchy was one of them. Most of the Browns’ GM candidates had an issue with Haslam’s setup — in which the GM, Kevin Stefanski and chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta report directly to the owner — and Paton was not an exception, Breer adds. With the Browns since bringing Andrew Berry back to Cleveland as the NFL’s youngest GM (at 32), Haslam has now worked with six GMs or front office heads since buying the team in 2012. While Breer notes Paton was seriously considering taking the job after the first interview went well, the frequently hesitant Vikings exec will stay in his assistant GM post in Minnesota.

Here is the latest from the AFC:

  • Although the Browns are set up on an analytics front, their scouting experience in the front office is less certain. John Dorsey hired both assistant GM Eliot Wolf and VP of player personnel Alonzo Highsmith, but each longtime exec worked with Berry when he was still with the team in 2018. Highsmith’s contract runs through the 2021 draft, and Wolf’s goes through the ’22 draft, Breer adds.
  • An intra-AFC South coaching move occurred Tuesday. The Titans poached Texans defensive backs coach Anthony Midget, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Midget, who’d been with Houston throughout Bill O’Brien‘s six-season tenure, received the head coach-GM’s permission to interview with Tennessee, per Paul Kuharsky of Paul Kuharsky.com (Twitter link). He will hold the same job with the Titans next season, replacing Kerry Coombs.
  • The Texans will replace Midget in-house, promoting assistant secondary coach D’Anton Lynn to the top DBs role, Wilson adds. Lynn, 30, is the son of Chargers HC Anthony Lynn and has been with the Texans since 2018.
  • Texans backup center Greg Mancz underwent ankle surgery, according to Wilson. A five-year veteran and 28-game starter in his time with the Texans, Mancz underwent an arthroscopic procedure and is expected to be ready for Texans OTAs. The former UDFA originally injured the ankle during the preseason.

Coaching Rumors: Cardinals, McAdoo, Fins

January 19th, 2018 at 10:23pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Cardinals interviewed two more head coach candidates today, but the search will continue into next week, according to Kent Somers of AZCentral Sports. The Cardinals have met with Steve Wilks and Keith Armstrong twice and will not need to interview current defensive coordinator James Bettcher another time because of his history with the organization. The team will also interview John DeFilippo and Brian Flores next week, per Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com (Twitter link).

In addition, Somer states that the team could look at giving Jim Schwartz a second interview, but Jurecki did not mention the Eagles defensive coordinator in his tweet. The search is mostly continuing because both the Eagles and Patriots will be playing in their respective conference championships, so depending on how the games shake out, Arizona could resolve their head coaching search by the end of next week.

Finally, Somers importantly notes that former Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians has recommended Bettcher and Armstrong among this pool of coaches the front office is considering.

Here are more a coaching notes from around the NFL:

  • In more Cardinals coaching staff news, now two former staffers have now left for new opportunities, reports Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). In addition to former special teams coordinator Amos Jones moving onto the same position with the Browns, former wide receiver coach Darryl Drake has been hired by the Steelers.
  • Hue Jackson is adding an offensive coordinator to his staff and have interviewed former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo for the job. He interviewed with the Browns three days ago and apparently “It went fine”, a Browns source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Anderson adds that the source mentioned that they are “Just not going to rush into anything” after speaking to two candidates as of right now. Cleveland is also interviewing a high profile college coach in LSU’s RB coach Tommy Robinson for the same position on their staff, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
  • The Dolphins announced a slew of coaching moves today. The biggest apart from Dowell Loggains being brought on as offensive coordinator is former OC Clyde Christensen being reassigned as the team’s new director of football and player development. Shawn Jefferson was wide receivers coach, but will now be an assistant head coach working with the offense. They are also are promoting Ben Johnson to WR coach. He got experience with this group of players as an assistant WR coach last season.
  • The Bears have named Brock Olivo as the team’s new assistant special teams coach, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Olivo was the Broncos’ special teams coordinator last year and was with Matt Nagy on the Chiefs’ staff from 2014-16 as an assistant to special teams coordinator Dave Toub. He previously was a former running back for the Lions back in his playing days.
  • The Texans have promoted Anthony Midget to the team’s secondary coach, according to Mark Berman of Fox26 (Twitter link). Berman also notes that they have also hired Danny Barrett as the RB coach and Tracy Smith as an assistant special teams coach.

Coaching Rumors: Cowboys, Falcons, Jets

January 16th, 2018 at 7:56pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Former Cowboys linebackers coach Matt Eberflus will reportedly become the Colts’ next defensive coordinator under presumptive head coach Josh McDaniels, but Dallas was willing to promote Eberflus to DC in order to retain him, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com. The Cowboys would have named current defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli assistant head coach, paving the way for Ebeflus to become the club’s new defensive play-caller. But Eberflus “did not want to step on the toes” of Marinelli, per Archer, and therefore decided to head to Indianapolis.

Here’s more from the 2018 coaching carousel:

  • The Falcons are interviewing former UCLA offensive coordinator/interim head coach Jedd Fisch and longtime NFL coach Greg Knapp for their quarterback coach position, per Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) and Alex Marvez of the Sporting News (Twitter link). Fisch, 41, has served in both the collegiate and pro ranks over the past 20 years. In the NFL, Fisch was the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator from 2013-14, and has also worked for the Texans, Ravens, Broncos, and Seahawks, mostly as a quarterbacks or wide receivers coach. Knapp, meanwhile, has coordinated offenses for the 49ers, Falcons, Raiders (two stints), and Seahawks, but was most recently the Broncos’ QBs coach from 2013-16.
  • Now that he’s been passed over for a promotion to Packers defensive coordinator, cornerbacks coach Darren Perry is interviewing to become the Texans‘ secondary coach, according to Marvez (Twitter link). Perry, who’s worked in Green Bay since 2009, would replace John Butler, who was fired by Houston earlier this month. One of three internal candidates to replace former Packers DC Dom Capers, Perry could now leave Green Bay given that Mike Pettine is leading the club’s defense. However, Perry isn’t a lock to defect from the Packers, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, while Texans assistant defensive backs coach Anthony Midget is also in the running for Houston’s secondary coach job, tweets John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.
  • The Buccaneers have exercised their 2018 club options for each of their assistant coaches, reports Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). That should come as no surprise, given that Tampa Bay made the relatively surprising decision to retain head coach Dirk Koetter. However, there could be several “tweaks” to the Buccaneers’ coaching staff, per Stroud, although it’s unclear what those changes might entail. Koetter is signed through the 2020 campaign, while general manager Jason Licht recently had his 2018 option picked up.
  • Assistant defensive backs coach Daylon McCutcheon will not return to the Jets in 2018, sources tell Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. McCutcheon, who worked in New York for the past two seasons, will leave the club in order to move closer to his family on the West Coast, per Mehta.