HEADLINES

Ben McAdoo

East Notes: JPP, Giants, Washington, Jets

October 3rd, 2015 at 3:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here is some news coming out of the Eastern divisions …

  • A recent report stating Jason Pierre-Paul will re-join the Giants in two weeks came as news to Tom Coughlin, according to James Kratch of NJ.com. “I don’t know anything about that,” Coughlin told media at a charity function. This wouldn’t be the first time the New York staff has been in the dark on this unique saga that’s continued to unearth new layers.
  • Exorbitantly paid kick returner Dwayne Harris looks like the Giants’ next man up at receiver now that Victor Cruz‘s timetable has been further delayed and Preston Parker being cut, per Justin Tasch of the New York Daily News. Offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo also floated the idea out of Shane Vereen being used as a receiver, an idea that may be more efficient than using Harris (one target this season). The former Cowboys return man has 33 career catches; Vereen’s made 119 since being drafted in 2011.
  • Even if he’s not burdened by it, Ryan Kerrigan wants to show the Washington organization made the right investment in signing him to a five-year, $57.5MM deal this offseason, notes ESPN.com’s John Keim. “That’s a lot of personal pride. I got that big contract and I want to show I’m worthy of it. Of course you want to justify it, but it’s not something like I wake up every day and say I’ve got to [justify] it,” Kerrigan said. With a half-sack through three games, Kerrigan’s a bit behind the 13.5-sack pace he set a year ago.
  • The current plan in Washington is to use recently signed veteran Mason Foster on special teams behind the team’s current third inside linebacker, undrafted rookie Terrance Plummer, while Perry Riley is injured, according to Tarik El-Bashir of CSNMidAtlantic.com.
  • Brandon Marshall‘s rejuvenated start with the Jets doesn’t mean as much for his long-term prospects unless one of Gang Green’s complementary targets can become consistent, Jets wide receivers coach Karl Dorrell told Seth Walder of the New York Daily News. “Someone has to step up, because if we don’t have guys that step up, they’ll find a way to take away Brandon Marshall with getting him in double coverage,” Dorrell said. “He’s effectively able to get open in some of those situations, but not all the time.” Marshall’s 23 receptions for 272 yards are well ahead of his career-worst pace established last season.

NFC East Notes: Giants, McAdoo, Eagles

January 14th, 2015 at 7:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Giants owner John Mara told ESPN 98.7 FM that offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo is not the coach in waiting, but he won’t hide his affinity for him, as Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News tweets. “I’m not going to deny that I like him and he could possibly be a candidate at some point in the future,” the owner said (link). More from the NFC East..

  • Mara was also complimentary of GM Jerry Reese (link). “I don’t have any doubt about Jerry Reese. He’s the right guy to lead the organization going forward,” said Mara.
  • It has been nearly two weeks since the Eagles gave coach Chip Kelly total control of personnel, announcing in the process that Kelly would be hiring a new day-to-day personnel executive. After the shakeup, agents aren’t quite sure whether they should reach out to Kelly, GM Howie Roseman, or someone else, writes Les Bowen of the Daily News.
  • Bob Sturm of The Dallas Morning News ranked the Cowboys’ draft needs. He feels that Dallas needs a defensive end, then a safety, and then the best difference maker they can get, regardless of position.
  • Nate Davis of USA Today looked at the teams most likely to pursue Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. While the Eagles seem like a fit, it would take a ton for Philly to move up from No. 20 to No. 1 to make that a reality.

Coach Notes: Jets, Trestman, Coughlin

December 6th, 2014 at 11:56am CST by Ben Levine

Jets coach Rex Ryan intended to talk to the media on Friday about this team’s matchup with the Vikings. Instead, he addressed rumors that he had considered firing offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

“I would deny that, 100 percent I’ll deny that, that I’m looking to fire Marty or anybody,” Ryan said (via Brian Costello of the New York Post). “You know we challenge each other all the time. … I don’t know where it’s coming from. So to me I think it’s a complete bogus deal. So, I’m not saying it wasn’t said by somebody, but it certainly wasn’t said by me or thought by me.”

Let’s take a look at some more rumblings out of the NFL front offices, including whispers about coaches potentially on the hot seat…

  • There has been plenty of finger-pointing in New York regarding the issues surrounding the Jets, and Ryan, Mornhinweg and general manager John Idzik have faced their fair share of criticism. Bart Hubbach of the New York Post believes one member of the organization has unfairly gone unscathed: owner Woody Johnson.
  • While the Bears‘ season certainly hasn’t gone as planned, it doesn’t look like the team will endure any drastic changes. John Mullin of CSNChicago.com appeared on ProFootballTalk Live and stated his belief that head coach Marc Trestman is safe (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com), noting that firing the coach would be an admission of failure by general manager Phil Emery.
  • Meanwhile, Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times believes the Bears need to make major changes. However, based on the team’s moves in previous years, the team will be apprehensive about making any drastic moves.
  • Dan Graziano is unsure what the Giants will do with head coach Tom Coughlin, but he believes there’s a chance that the team could be grooming offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo for the role.

Giants Notes: McAdoo, Coughlin, Pierre-Paul

November 15th, 2014 at 12:34pm CST by Dallas Robinson

There’s been speculation this could be Tom Coughlin’s last season with the Giants, and if that’s the case, the club could have a head coaching candidate on its current staff in the form of offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. “I had calls this off-season from teams looking for head coaches, asking me about…McAdoo,” ESPN’s Andrew Brandt told Armen and Levack on 104.5 The Team in New York. “He’s got a bright future.” McAdoo, 37, was on the Packers’ coaching staff when Brandt worked in Green Bay’s front office. Last night, Rob DiRe included McAdoo when asking which coordinator is most ready to make the transition to head coach. Here’s more from New York.

  • Though he’s only posted 3.5 sacks, Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has had an excellent season, grading as the fifth-best 4-3 DE in the league according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He’s a free agent after the season, leading Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News to wonder if JPP is worthy of the ~$100MM contracts signed by the likes of J.J. Watt and Gerald McCoy. For his part, Pierre-Paul seems ambivalent about remaining in New York. “If I’m here, I’m here. If I’m not, I’m not,” said the 2010 first-round pick. “There’s been ups and downs, but I love it here. But we’ve got to wait and see what happens at the end of the season.”
  • In his latest mailbag at ESPN.com, Dan Graziano tackles the McAdoo scenario and examines which Giants 2014 free agent signings will be around for the long-term. Like Vacchiano, he also looks at a potential Pierre-Paul extension, and opines that New York won’t be afraid to move on if JPP asks for too much money.
  • Earlier this afternoon, we learned the Giants have placed running back Peyton Hillis on season-ending injured reserve.

Poll: Best Head Coaching Candidates

November 14th, 2014 at 11:02pm CST by Rob DiRe

Colts‘ offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and Browns‘ offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan have accomplished plenty on their offenses this season, with each team currently leading its current division through nine games. Those performances could lead to big paydays as head coaches next season.

They are not the only coordinators being rumored for head coaching jobs. Giants‘ offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo has been talked about as a possible successor for Tom Coughlin. Broncos‘ offensive coordinator Adam Gase could follow the path of his predecessor, Mike McCoy, who jumped from a record-setting Peyton Manning-led offense to the top job for the Chargers.

The defending champion Seahawks have taken a step back from last season, but the market may not have cooled on both of their coordinators. Both offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn have both been talked about as head coaching candidates, with particular interest coming from the Jets if general manager John Idzik is retained in New York and head coach Rex Ryan is fired.

Todd Bowles has helped put together a great defense in Arizona, as the Cardinals have gone 8-1 despite injuries on the defense. Lions‘ defensive coordinator Teryl Austin could be in a similar position, as his team is currently leading it’s division based on the strength of the defense.

Add to the mix the possibility of Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher returning to the sidelines, or even the possibility of a college coach like David Shaw of Stanford jumping to the NFL, and teams will have a number of options should they decide to pursue a new coach in 2015. That list does not include the head coaches that will lose their jobs at the end of the season, a number of them will hit the open market with impressive records of success. That list could include Ryan, Mike Smith, and Jim Harbaugh, among others.

East Notes: Cowboys, Jets, McAdoo

November 9th, 2014 at 10:52am CST by Rory Parks

Less than two weeks ago, the Cowboys were 6-1 and sitting pretty atop the NFC East. Then, late in a Week 8 loss to the Redskins, Tony Romo went down with a back injury that will hinder him for the rest of the season, and Dallas went on to drop last week’s contest to the Cardinals to fall to second place in the division. Although the Cowboys have a good chance to right the ship today against the 1-8 Jaguars, all is apparently not well in Big D.

NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that 20 Cowboys players missed curfew on Friday night, and that the club’s coaches and veteran players are “frustrated.” Furthermore, Rapoport notes in a series of tweets that Dallas harbors off-the-field concerns with star receiver Dez Bryant, who is due for a massive contract extension. Rapoport notes that DeSoto City Police have been called to Bryant’s home six times in four years, for a variety of reasons, and that explains why the Cowboys were only willing to guarantee $20MM of the 10-year, $114MM extension they offered to Bryant. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe believes, justifiably, that this “news” regarding the frequent police activity at Bryant’s house is simply an attempt for the Cowboys to gain leverage in negotiations with Bryant. As Volin tweets, “the annual ‘smear Dez Bryant’s reputation’ campaign is here.”

In any event, the Cowboys must find some way to quickly subdue their bubbling inner turmoil lest a once-promising season gives way to another winter nightmare.

Now for some more notes from the league’s east divisions:

  • The Jets, who also find themselves in disarray, recently employed what Rapoport (via Twitter) termed an “egregious example of heavy-handed coaching.” According to Rapoport, before Geno Smith threw one of three interceptions in the team’s Week 8 loss to Buffalo, the Jets coaching staff told Smith to throw the ball to Percy Harvin. Apparently, this was not a way to get the team’s new wideout more involved in the game, it was a way to try and simplify the game for Smith by dictating his reads. Looking for some way to improve Smith’s performance, an increasingly desperate coaching staff tried to play the game for him, and it predictably backfired.
  • Nonetheless, Manish Metha of the New York Daily News believes a bye week coaching change would make very little sense for the Jets and that Rex Ryan has earned the right to fight with his team to the end of the season.
  • There are rumors that this could be Tom Coughlin‘s last year with the Giants, and Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News writes that New York sees a future head coach in current offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.
  • Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com describes how the Patriots caught a break with Akeem Ayers and Ryan Wendell this season.

New York Notes: Coughlin, McAdoo, Ryan

November 8th, 2014 at 6:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Already having combined for a 4-13 record this season, the Giants and Jets will face challenges once again this weekend as they look to pick up victories. Eli Manning and the Giants will head to Seattle to try to knock off the reigning Super Bowl champs, while Rex Ryan‘s Jets will try to slow down the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger, who was tossed 12 touchdowns passes in the last two weeks. As we look forward to seeing whether either team can pull off the upset, here are a few Saturday items out of New York:

  • The Giants‘ ideal scenario would see head coach Tom Coughlin eventually decide on his own to retire, with current offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo sliding into the head coaching role at that point, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, who describes McAdoo as “Coughlin Light.” Of course, if this season continues to go south, that transition may not be possible, but Giants management is confident in McAdoo’s ability to fix the team’s offense, as well as his future head coaching potential.
  • In the view of Gary Myers of the New York Daily News, “the fire is gone” for Coughlin and Ryan, both of whom could be gone at the end of this season. As Myers notes, if the Giants and Jets both decide to make coaching changes, they’ll be in direct competition as they scour the market for candidates.
  • While Jets owner Woody Johnson would be justified in moving on from Ryan after the season, the head coach has earned the right to finish the year, writes Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
  • Earlier today, we rounded up a few more Jets notes.