HEADLINES

Bill Lazor

East Rumors: Tannehill, Patriots, Kap

February 8th, 2016 at 9:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ryan Tannehill asked former Dolphins offensive coordinator Bill Lazor for more audible latitude last season prior to Lazor’s dismissal, but the then-OC dismissed the notion, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

In Adam Gase, Tannehill will find a more innovative offensive coach, at least judging by his 2010s work in Denver and Chicago, but may not enjoy the kind of freedom he covets, Jackson notes. Gase’s work with Peyton Manning in 2013-14 notwithstanding, the Bears, per CSNChicago.com, were not an audible-heavy team under his direction last season, even as Jay Cutler progressed.

“I’m going to speak for Ryan right now, which I typically don’t do,” Greg Jennings told Finsiders.com. “He wants some more freedom. … He’s been hand-held his entire career.”

Here’s the latest from the NFL’s Eastern divisions on Day 1 of the offseason.

  • Jennings is no lock to be employed by the Dolphins next season after he caught just 19 passes for 208 yards — both well below his previous career-low marks. The 32-year-old wideout’s entering the second season of a two-year, $8MM contract, and the Dolphins, per Pro Football Talk (via Jackson), haven’t told him he’ll be back. Jennings is due to occupy a $5.5MM cap number for the currently over-the-cap Fins, who can save $4MM by cutting the backup target. Jennings is currently Miami’s highest-paid receiver.
  • The Patriots are in discussions with retired coach Dante Scarnecchia about a return to the coaching staff to fix their ailing offensive line, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. Scarnecchia retired after the 2013 season but he has remained around the Pats, particularly to help with evaluating offensive line prospects in the draft. One source told Reiss that it would be a surprise if the coach wasn’t back on the sidelines for the Pats in 2016. Scarnecchia had retired after 32 seasons in the NFL, 30 of which came in New England.
  • There has been a lot of debate as to whether the Jets should pursue 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and, over the weekend, Hall of Famer Joe Namath weighed in. “I think he should consider that a little more,” Namath told ESPN radio (via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News) when asked about Brandon Marshall‘s opposition to the idea. “I know that [Ryan] Fitzpatrick did a wonderful job this year. Whenever I’m asked to critique what I’ve seen and what I feel, I know that he would like to throw the ball more accurately given the chance. You need more than one quarterback on a team. If Kaepernick were available, I’d certainly consider bringing him in, yes.“
  • During an appearance on the Fox News show Fox & Friends, Tom Coughlin reiterated he has no plans to retire, via Tom Rock of Newsday. “I’m not. … I don’t like that word, you know, the retired word,” Coughlin said. “I’m way too young for that, you know what I mean?” Coughlin will also discuss a potential advisory role with the Giants with John Mara soon, Rock reports. Coughlin’s coached in the NFL for 20 of the past 21 seasons, eight with the Jaguars before sitting out 2003.

Zach Links contributed to this report

AFC Coaching Rumors: Bengals, Titans, Colts

January 18th, 2016 at 5:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Recently fired Dolphins coordinators Bill Lazor and Kevin Coyle will reunite with the Bengals, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Although the two former Miami game-planners will head to Cincinnati, they will do so with lesser responsibility. Lazor will coach the Bengals’ quarterbacks, while Coyle will preside over Cincinnati’s secondary.

The Bengals also hired Jacob Burney to coach their defensive line, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter).

Lazor’s first coordinator work lasted barely 1 1/2 seasons, with the Dolphins firing the 43-year-old offensive coach Nov. 30. He previously coached quarterbacks for Washington, the Seahawks and the Eagles before ascending to the top offensive perch in Miami.

Coyle returns to his longest-tenured position. He coached the Bengals’ DBs from 2003-11 before leaving to become the Dolphins’ DC under Joe Philbin. The Dolphins fired Coyle in October.

Burney’s coached defensive lines with the Broncos, Browns, Panthers, Ravens and Washington, with his most recent stint coming as Washington’s defensive line coach from 2010-14. Washington did not retain him after the 2014 season.

  • Brian Schottenheimer will replace Clyde Christensen as the Colts’ quarterbacks coach, according to a release on the team’s website. Schottenheimer served as an offensive coordinator for the Jets and Rams from 2006-14 before the Rams fired him prior to the 2015 slate. A longtime Colts QBs coach, Christensen accepted the Dolphins’ OC job on Saturday.
  • Bob Bolstad will be looking for work after the Titans, per Jenna Laine of Sports Talk 1040 The Team (on Twitter), don’t have intentions of offering their defensive line coach another contract. Russ Grimm and Pat Flaherty are finalists for the job, according to Alex Marvez of Fox Sports (Twitter link). Grimm had lengthy stints as the offensive line coach in three places — Washington, Pittsburgh and Arizona — from 1997-2012. Flaherty served on Tom Coughlin’s staff since 2004, signing on to be the Giants’ offensive line coach after Coughlin took over. Big Blue will not retain his services, however, according to James Kratch of NJ.com.

Breer’s Latest: Dolphins, Gronk, Cowboys, Texans

December 5th, 2015 at 3:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

Dan Campbell‘s decision to jettison both his coordinators, with OC Bill Lazor being the second to go, as an interim coach likely stemmed from the tough-minded instructor’s dismay at the Dolphins being referred to as a “finesse team in a power division,” Albert Breer of NFL.com reports.

Miami ranks 27th in rushing yards per game but sixth in yards per carry at 4.6 and attempted just 23 combined runs the past two games. This led to a sense that Lazor was losing his players, per Breer.

Lazor and Ryan Tannehill began to have a less-than-ideal QB-OC relationship, and Breer now notes Campbell will take a more involved role in the Fins’ offensive approach. So, Lamar Miller will probably see more touches going forward.

Here are some more notes from the veteran NFL scribe.

  • Rob Gronkowski‘s league-high five offensive-pass interference penalties stem from teams alerting officials to the Patriots‘ brand of pick routes against an increasing amount of man coverage, with Gronk’s size making separation at route stems noticeable. Defensive coordinators are torn on the degree of the All-Pro tight end’s level of infraction, with one saying “He pushes off on every play” and another categorizing the physical performer’s penalties as a product of his size. “It just looks extreme with him, because of size and strength. A 180-pound dude pushing off is different [than] a 260-pound dude pushing off,” the anonymous DC told Breer. Another coordinator falls in the middle of these characterizations, noting the Patriots’ volume of pick routes makes it logical they should be on the receiving end of the most OPI flags.
  • With Tony Romo set for his age-36 season in 2016 and coming off more severe collarbone trouble, the Cowboys will explore taking a quarterback in the first round and signing a veteran, Breer reports. Romo being the starter for the foreseeable future gives the Cowboys some flexibility here by not having to reach for a player they don’t think can take the reins.
  • The Los Angeles relocation project continues to point toward the Chargers and Rams, with Breer noting Dean Spanos carries the political capital in the owners’ eyes and Stan Kroenke possessing the finances to make this transition work.
  • Bill O’Brien‘s cultivating a reputation as a players’ coach in leading the Texans, permitting open social media use and organizing a 12-player leadership council, Breer notes. Houston’s now tied for first in the AFC South with Indianapolis, but as far back as the Texans’ blowout loss in Miami in late October, players were behind O’Brien. “He’s not the problem. Very cool coach to play for and everyone enjoys the way he treats us,” one Texan told Breer after that 44-26 defeat.
  • In projecting franchise tag figures for next year, Breer also gives predictions of players potentially being tagged. Moving past long-rumored names like Von Miller and Muhammad Wilkerson, NFL executives told Breer players like Josh Norman, Janoris Jenkins, Russell Okung, Mike Daniels and Kirk Cousins are tag candidates.

AFC East Notes: McDaniels, Jets, Tannehill

December 3rd, 2015 at 10:55am CST by Zachary Links

Going back to the turn of the century, NFL teams have fired an average of 6.9 head coaches per season. So, based on recent history, we should see plenty of head coaching positions open up in the offseason. On Thursday, Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com rounded up a list of ten candidates who will likely be on the list of any team seeking a new coach, based on conversations with NFL officials.

Two AFC East coaches made the unranked list: Bills assistant head coach Anthony Lynn and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Lynn interviewed well with the Jets last season but ultimately lost out on the job to Todd Bowles. McDaniels, meanwhile, could be the top candidate available given his success in New England.

Here’s more out of the AFC East:

  • The Jets have proven that they won’t hesitate to cut the cord on high draft picks from the old regime, like Quinton Coples, but it would be bad business not to bring back cornerback Dee Milliner, Manish Mehta of the Daily News opines. Milliner, who is guaranteed $2.1MM in 2016 in the final year of his rookie deal, has not played much this season because he apparently has not earned the trust of head coach Todd Bowles. Still, Milliner’s work habits don’t appear to be a problem and the potential is there – Milliner was almost universally rated as the best cornerback in the 2013 draft.
  • Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill obviously didn’t gloat over the firing of offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, but he sounds glad to be moving on from him. “I’m just excited about being part of the game plan,” Tannehill said, according to James Walker of ESPN.com. “Working with the coaches Monday and [Tuesday], just being a part of the game-plan process and having my thoughts heard and kind of putting our heads together to create some of the things we want to do, it’s been fun so far.”
  • Linebacker Joplo Bartu will work out for the Jets today, according to a source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Bartu, a former starter, made one start in 2015 and appeared in six games total before being released by Atlanta late last month. Between 2013 and 2014, Bartu appeared in all 32 regular season contests for te Falcons with 27 starts. In total, Bartu notched 167 tackles and 4.5 sacks during that span. This year, he has recorded just eleven tackles.

Coaching Notes: USC, Payton, Fisher, Fins

November 30th, 2015 at 11:19am CST by Luke Adams

It wasn’t an NFL coaching job, but the USC head coaching position was expected to have an impact on the NFL, since a number of the school’s potential candidates were current coaches or coordinators around the league. However, the Trojans announced today (via Twitter) that interim coach Clay Helton will become the team’s permanent head coach going forward, meaning that Chip Kelly and other coaches around the NFL can be crossed off the list.

It sounds like USC did reach out to Kelly to gauge his interest before deciding to move forward with Helton though. According to FootballScoop.com (Twitter link), USC officials met with Kelly last week, but the Eagles head coach prefers to remain in the NFL. Similarly, USC checked in on Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio, who told the Trojans he’s not leaving Oakland, tweets Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News.

Here are a few more coaching-related items from around the league:

  • Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com believes that the Saints should “go ahead and start sniffing around” for teams that may be interested in giving up a draft pick or two for head coach Sean Payton, since this winter looks like a good time for an overhaul. La Canfora identifies the Browns, Colts, Dolphins, and Titans as teams that might have interest in Payton, and suggests that the draft pick return could be “substantial.”
  • Having lost four games in a row, Jeff Fisher‘s Rams are in a downward spiral, and Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com believes it’s time for the team to make coaching change at season’s end.
  • Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) hears that the decision to fire offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was made by Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell, who had “shown signs of displeasure” with the offense during the club’s last few games.
  • The Giants could have taken a commanding lead in the weak NFC East division with a win over Washington on Sunday, but the fact that the team couldn’t get it done puts head coach Tom Coughlin on the hot seat, writes Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
  • Several weeks ago, with his team scuffling along at 2-5, head coach Bill O’Brien didn’t exactly look safe in Houston. Four wins later though, Texans owner Bob McNair is giving O’Brien credit for the team’s success, telling Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, “I think he’s doing a fine job.”

Dolphins Fire OC Bill Lazor

November 30th, 2015 at 8:14am CST by Luke Adams

After the team’s latest disappointing loss on Sunday to the Jets, the Dolphins have made another change to their coaching staff, reports Thayer Evans of SI.com (Twitter link). According to Thayer, Miami has fired offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirms the decision, tweeting that “massive changes” are on the way for the Dolphins.

Having replaced head coach Joe Philbin and defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle earlier in the year, the Dolphins have now fired their head coach and their coordinators on both sides of the ball since the regular season began. As such, many of the “massive changes” alluded to by Rapoport seem to have already taken place, but perhaps the NFL.com reporter is suggesting that the roster will also be undergoing a significant overhaul in the near future.

At the very least, given the results for interim head coach Dan Campbell since his hot start, it seems likely that the Dolphins will hire an external candidate for the permanent head coaching job in the offseason, and that new coach will likely bring in his own coordinators and assistants from outside the organization as well.

As for Lazor, a report last week indicated that at least one Dolphins official had “privately questioned” whether the OC’s system was suited for quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has struggled this season after signing a long-term extension. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald noted at the time that an offensive coordinator change wouldn’t surprise anyone, and just a few days later, the team has indeed made that change.

With Lazor out of the picture, quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor will take over Miami’s OC job for the rest of the 2015 season, tweets Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.

AFC East Notes: Bills, Coples, Dolphins, Jets

November 25th, 2015 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams

It’ll be a big weekend in the AFC East, with the Bills in Kansas City fighting for Wild Card positioning, as the Jets and the Dolphins square off, looking to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Patriots, of course, will be in Denver as they try to run their undefeated record to 11-0.

As we look forward to what should be an entertaining slate of games, let’s round up the latest out of the division….

  • The Bills were the only team besides the Dolphins to put in a waiver claim for Quinton Coples when he was cut by the Jets, and head coach Rex Ryan admitted today that he was upset not to land the edge defender (Twitter link via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com). “I wanted him,” Ryan said.
  • Meanwhile, in Miami, head coach Dan Campbell said today that the Dolphins feel like Coples’ best football is ahead of him (Twitter link via Brian Costello of the New York Post). The former Jets linebacker will play defensive end in Miami’s 4-3 system.
  • With Ryan Tannehill struggling, a Dolphins official “privately questioned” whether offensive coordinator Bill Lazor‘s system is suited for the quarterback, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The club has already replaced its head coach and defensive coordinator this season, so an OC change at season’s end wouldn’t surprise anyone, as Jackson notes.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap examines the Jets‘ present and future, suggesting that the team should look to trade Muhammad Wilkerson next year and needs to prioritize the offensive line in the offseason.

Dolphins Rumors: Coyle, Lazor, Tannehill

October 6th, 2015 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

While former Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin is now out of a job, it doesn’t appear a decision has been finalized on equally embattled defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle. According to Albert Breer of the NFL Network (via Twitter), new interim head coach Dan Campbell is expected to make a call today on Coyle, since Mike Tannenbaum empowered Campbell to make staff decisions.

As we wait to see what Campbell decides, let’s round up a few more Dolphins items….

  • According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Coyle is “as disliked by his players as any coach we’ve encountered here.” Jackson has heard from multiple sources that the benefits of Campbell replacing Philbin may only be marginal if Coyle or offensive coordinator Bill Lazor isn’t replaced as well.
  • If Campbell decides to make a change at defensive coordinator, linebackers coach Mark Duffner would be a candidate for the role, since he’s “well liked” within the organization, writes Jackson.
  • Jackson and Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (all Twitter links) are among those corroborating and confirming most of Aaron Wilson’s report from yesterday on an altercation involving Ryan Tannehill and Dolphins practice squad players.
  • Although no reporters have confirmed Wilson’s account that Tannehill told a player to “enjoy [his] practice squad pay check,” Jackson and Marvez both provided additional details on the practice incident, and Marvez says Campbell intends to conduct practices differently in the wake of that incident.
  • Jackson also noted that – as Wilson reported – Tannehill “said something to the effect that he would prepare a scout team trophy case” for linebacker Chris McCain following a turnover in practice.
  • Dolphins owner Stephen Ross admitted to Jackson that there’s a possibility he overestimated the talent on the club’s roster. “We knew where our weaknesses were and we thought we could overcome those weaknesses and develop players that could play at that level,” Ross said. “No team has all stars, but they work together as a team and they make up for the deficiencies that other players have. I didn’t see that development happening.”
  • Ross on whether he should have fired Philbin after the 2014 season: “That’s an easy thing to say now. In retrospect, sure. I didn’t believe it then. … I may be accused of having maybe too much loyalty, but I felt that we had the right people in place…. I don’t think anybody out there wants to win more than I do…. I put my money where my mouth is, and we’re doing everything we can to win.”