HEADLINES

Charley Casserly

AFC East Notes: Tannehill, Dolphins, Jets, Bills

January 21st, 2015 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking today to reporters, including Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey had nothing but praise for quarterback Ryan Tannehill. While Hickey didn’t commit to picking up Tannehill’s fifth-year option for 2016, Beasley views that as a lock at this point, and suggests that the two sides could even work out a longer-term agreement this offseason.

Let’s round up a few more items on the Dolphins and some of their AFC East rivals…

  • Asked about the future of wide receiver Mike Wallace with the Dolphins, Hickey was noncommittal, and certainly wasn’t as effusive with his praise for Wallace as he was for Tannehill, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. The GM made it clear that the decision on Wallace would be a collaborative effort that would involve head coach Joe Philbin and new executive VP of football operations Mike Tannenbaum.
  • Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Karl Dorrell, who worked with Todd Bowles in Miami, is expected to join the Jets‘ staff, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). It’s not yet clear what Dorrell’s role in New York would be, but he has worked as a quarterbacks coach and a receivers coach in the past.
  • Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf, who advised the Jets during the team’s search for a general manager and head coach, are done with the club for now, but aren’t ruling out potentially continuing the relationship in the future, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • The Bills‘ front office continues to undergo some changes under new ownership, according to John Kryk of the Toronto Sun, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has fired director of pro personnel Tom Gibbons. Gibbons’ contract had been set to expire in June, after this year’s draft.

East Notes: Jets, Casserly, Ryan, Washington

January 7th, 2015 at 8:04pm CST by Zachary Links

Jets consultant Charley Casserly is open to hiring a new coach before a GM, as Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes. “In a perfect world,” Casserly said on 620 AM WDAE, “You hire the GM first and then hire the head coach…However, sometimes opportunities present themselves on a coach that you can get in competition with and you feel like you need to pull the trigger on the coach first. And then come back and hire a general manager..Now people will say, ‘Well, that can’t work.’ Well, Seattle won the Super Bowl and that’s exactly what they did.”

  • The Bills will soon talk to Rex Ryan about their head coaching vacancy but they are concerned that he is leery of their quarterback situation, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. In Buffalo, EJ Manuel stands as the starter and without a first-round pick, there aren’t many clear options for fixing the position.
  • The Chiefs denied permission to Washington to interview Gary Gibbs for their defensive coordinator opening, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Gibbs, for his part, says that he turned the interview down, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter).
  • Eagles assistant DBs coach Todd Lyght is leaving to become the cornerbacks coach at Vanderbilt, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

Jets Reaching Out To GM, Head Coach Candidates

December 27th, 2014 at 10:25am CST by Ben Levine

10:25am: Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News disputes the report (all via Twitter), saying Casserly’s work has not been on behalf of the Jets. The writer notes that Casserly has been researching head coaching candidates as a member of the league’s “career development advisory panel,” which includes “exploring contract language” for at least one college coach.

8:11am: It seemed inevitable that change was coming in the Jets organization, and it appears like those moves will happen very soon. NJ.com’s Dom Cosentino reports that Charley Casserly, a newly-hired consultant to Jets owner Woody Johnson, has been reaching out to potential head coach and general manager candidates. Cosentino notes that both Rex Ryan and John Idzik are expected to be fired this weekend, and he adds that the current head coach has already cleaned out his office.

This matches up with the quotes from the New York Posts’ Bart Hubbuch, who claimed Ryan was addressing his job in the past tense during yesterday’s press conference.

“You do this to win it all, and there is no doubt about that,” Ryan said. “So obviously, I have come up short there that way. As far as all of the other stuff is concerned, I came in and I wanted to give a different identity to this team and I think we did accomplish that.”

As Cosentino observes, the situation is similar to 2013, when Ryan had discovered that Idzik was exploring potential head coach candidates. Ryan and the Jets ultimately finished the season with two straight wins, and the head coach kept his job. It doesn’t seem like we’re heading for any repeats this time around, considering the Jets can’t finish any better than 4-12 (the 2013 Jets finished 8-8).

Casserly was the former general manager in Washington and Houston, and he’s spent the last couple of years on the NFL Network. The team was rumored to be seeking Casserly’s guidance earlier this week.

Jets Notes: Casserly, Wolf, Wilkerson

December 23rd, 2014 at 9:40pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Dolphins now out of the playoff picture, the Jets can’t even play the role of spoiler in Week 17, so the other drama remaining in 2014 for the team is determining draft position for 2015, and figuring out whether the franchise will be looking for a new general manager and head coach. Here’s the latest on the AFC East’s cellar dwellers:

  • If the Jets decide to move on from general manager John Idzik at season’s end, Charley Casserly is expected to be one of the two consultants spearheading the search for a new GM and head coach, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. In a second tweet, Mehta adds that Bill Parcells won’t be the second consultant involved in the process.
  • Abert Breer of the NFL Network has more details on the Jets’ potential consultants, reporting (via Twitter) that the team has approached Ron Wolf about a consultant role. Wolf, who worked for the Jets before going to Green Bay in 1991, also served as a consultant for the Raiders and Chargers in recent years. According to Breer (via Twitter), Wolf would work with Casserly if he comes aboard, as the club looks to “chart a course” going forward.
  • Peter King of The MMQB.com (Twitter link) suggests owner Woody Johnson should look into Eric DeCosta (Ravens), Chris Ballard (Chiefs), Ryan Pace (Saints), and Scott Pioli (Falcons) as possible football decision-makers.
  • Defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson expected to have a new deal in place with the Jets by now, but isn’t upset that it hasn’t happened yet, writes Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. “No, I’m not disappointed,” Wilkerson said. “I mean, I thought it would be done, but it wasn’t, so, hey, it is what it is. I’m patiently waiting. If it happens, it happens.” Wilkerson is currently under contract through the 2015 season, via his fifth-year option.