David Overstreet

Cowboys Finalize 2025 Coaching Staff

February 16th, 2025 at 10:51am CST by Ely Allen

The Cowboys replaced former head coach Mike McCarthy with in-house candidate Brian Schottenheimer. Despite the consistency of Schottenheimer remaining from last year, the handling of the coaching contracts by owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones caused many staffers to explore opportunities elsewhere in the NFL, forcing Schottenheimer to build a mostly new coaching staff. The Cowboys announced their finalized staff on Friday, and though many of the hires Schottenheimer has made we’ve already reported on, we’ll list every hire in this post.

On offense, we were already made aware of the hires of offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, pass game specialist Ken Dorsey, running backs coach Derrick Foster, offensive line coach Conor Riley, and assistant wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood. We were also aware that former offensive assistant Steve Shimko had been promoted to quarterbacks coach. and that tight ends coach Lunda Wells had been retained to the same role.

We had heard rumors that the team had been working to retain assistant quarterbacks/game management coach Ryan Feder and assistant offensive line/quality control coach Ramon Chinyoung, but Friday’s announcement confirmed that both will remain in slightly different roles. Feder will serve in 2025 as solely game management coordinator and Chingyoung as solely assistant offensive line coach.

The new offensive hire news from the announcement is the additions of Junior Adams as wide receivers coach and Dele Harding in a quarterbacks fellowship. Adams is making his NFL coaching debut after spending the last 17 years coaching at the collegiate level, most recently as (co-)offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Western Kentucky, Washington, and Oregon. Harding, a former linebacker at Illinois, began his coaching career after he finished playing at his alma mater. He spent a year as a defensive assistant for the Texans in 2022. He’s also been a fellow in the past for the Colts and Browns.

On defense, we were already made aware of the hirings of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, and assistant defensive line coach Bryan Bing. We’ve also posted on the hirings of Andre Curtis, David Overstreet, and JJ Clark, but clarifications have been made about their roles. We initially reported that Curtis would serve as defensive pass game coordinator, which is true, but he will add safeties coach to his title, as well. Similarly, we reported Clark in a quality control role, but he will also have the title of defensive assistant. Overstreet was initially reported as assistant defensive backs coach, while the Cowboys’ announcement lists him as secondary/cornerbacks coach.

Overstreet will work alongside Darian Thompson, a quality control/assistant linebackers coach for the team last year who was retained as the new secondary/nickels coach. Lastly, former Rams and Jets defensive tackle Tanzel Smart has been hired as a defensive assistant/quality control coach, like Clark. Smart last appeared in a game in 2023 and was cut from the Jets at the roster cut deadline in August.

Both special teams roles, coordinator Nick Sorensen and assistant coach Carlos Polk were already reported.

There we have it: the Cowboys 2025 coaching staff. Schottenheimer doesn’t get the benefit of familiar faces on staff after Jones’ handling of the contracts, so a mostly new staff has been built. We’ll see what the new staff can do in 2025 after a down, injured year last season.

Cowboys Making Coaching Hires

February 7th, 2025 at 8:11pm CST by Ely Allen

The Mike McCarthy-era is over in Dallas, and the time has arrived for Brian Schottenheimer to lead the Cowboys. Despite hiring his new head coach from within, the lack of urgency from owner Jerry Jones allowed for the contracts of all of his assistants to expire along with that of McCarthy.

Schottenheimer has already made the two most important hires in his first career head coaching gig, bringing on Klayton Adams as offensive coordinator and Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator. Now, both coordinators have begun building their new staffs.

On offense, the team has hired Derrick Foster as their new running backs coach, per Nick Harris of the Star Telegram. Foster first came to the NFL after three years as a running backs coach at Iowa. He began in Los Angeles, where he coached Austin Ekeler through his two best seasons as a Charger, before spending last year in New Orleans coaching Alvin Kamara. He’ll inherit a running backs group that returns Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, and Malik Davis, though his position has certainly been bookmarked as one needing improvements in the offseason, potentially through the draft.

We saw the Cowboys interview one of its former running backs, Tashard Choice, for the position, as well. According to Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS, Choice will be staying in his current role with the Longhorns. Though he was also in consideration for roles with the Raiders and Saints, a raise in excess of $800K will keep Choice in Austin.

While Adams brings plenty of offensive line experience to the offense, the Cowboys have brought in Kansas State co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Conor Riley as their new offensive line coach, per Hill. Riley has been an extremely well-respected position coach in the college coaching ranks with his other stop being at North Dakota State. He’ll make his NFL coaching debut in 2025.

Also on offense, we saw wide receivers coach Robert Prince depart for Miami. While his replacement has not yet been hired, Tiquan Underwood will be on hand after getting hired as assistant wide receivers coach, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. He takes over the position after holding the same job with the Patriots last year.

On the defensive side of the ball, ESPN’s Todd Archer reports that a slew of former Bears assistants have followed Eberflus to Dallas. We already saw reports on the arrival of defensive pass-game coordinator Andre Curtis and linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi with Eberflus, but Archer adds that David Overstreet will follow as assistant defensive backs coach and Bryan Bing will join as assistant defensive line coach. Both Overstreet and Bing held those same positions on Eberflus’ defense in Chicago.

There are still some vacant positions on the Cowboys staff to fill out, but Dallas is working quickly to make some big hires after getting a late start to the market. With Schottenheimer’s inexperience as an NFL head coach, the supplemental ability of his coaching staff will be crucial.

Bears Finalize 2024 Coaching Staff

March 2nd, 2024 at 2:30pm CST by Ely Allen

This offseason, the Bears had to replace both coordinator positions, a situation that usually results in quite a bit of turnover on either side of the staff. Head coach Matt Eberflus allowed each coordinator to make final decisions on their staff, but many assistants (particularly on the defense) were retained in Chicago for the 2024 NFL season.

We’ll start on defense, where Eberflus likely influenced some of the decisions made by new defensive coordinator Eric Washington. The staff looks fairly similar to last year’s with defensive line coach Travis Smith, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, cornerbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator Jon Hoke, safeties coach Andre Curtis, and defensive quality control coach Kevin Koch all being retained in their prior roles. David Overstreet also remains on staff, but his title changes from assistant defensive backs coach to nickelbacks coach. Kenny Norton III also earned a promotion, going from coaching assistant to defensive quality control coach.

The only two new additions on defense appear to be Bryan Bing, who replaces Justin Hinds as assistant defensive line coach, and new defensive analyst (advance/special projects) Matt Pees. After Hinds departed to take the defensive line coaching job in Seattle, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the Bears landed on Bing, who served as a defensive assistant with the Colts last year as a Tony Dungy Diversity Coaching Fellow. Pees is the son of long-time defensive coordinator Dean Pees and previously spent the last three years as a defensive assistant with the Falcons, working two of those years under his father.

On the offensive side of the ball, we already knew that new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron had hired Kerry Joseph as quarterbacks coach, Chad Morton as running backs coach, Chris Beatty as wide receivers coach, Thomas Brown as passing game coordinator, and Jason Houghtaling as assistant offensive line coach. Houghtaling will assist Chris Morgan, who was retained as offensive line coach and granted the additional title of offensive run game coordinator. Also retained were tight ends coach Jim Dray and offensive quality control coach Zach Cable.

There were three notable additions to the staff on offense. Both Ryan Griffin and Robbie Picazo will serve under the title offensive assistant (quarterbacks and wide receivers). Griffin, a former NFL quarterback, is taking his first coaching gig after a short stint in the Italian Football League last year. Picazo spent the past two years as an offensive assistant with the Seahawks and Texans, coaching at Rice and Stanford at the collegiate level for several years before that. The final offensive addition is Jennifer King, who will be the team’s offensive assistant (running backs). After becoming the first black woman to be named a full-time NFL coach as an assistant running backs coach for the past three year with the Commanders, King continues her NFL journey, this time in Chicago.

Lastly, the Bears enlisted the services of Chavis Cook to manage coaching administration.

There you have it. Eberflus has crafted a new staff with a mix of new and familiar faces. With the new staff locked in, the team can now turn its attention to free agency, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, and the future of quarterback Justin Fields.

NFC Coaching Notes: Eberflus, Bucs, Panthers, Giants, Packers

February 5th, 2022 at 4:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although Matt Eberflus landed the Bears job because of the Colts’ defensive performance, Chicago’s new HC is planning more of a CEO-type role for himself. Eberflus is not planning to call defensive plays for the Bears this season, via The Athletic’s Adam Jahns (on Twitter). Instead, new Chicago DC Alan Williams will handle that responsibility. Williams, 52, has previous DC experience, working under Leslie Frazier in Minnesota in the early 2010s, and has enjoyed a few tours as a DBs coach. This will be an interesting transition for Eberflus, a first-time HC. It will not be a notable transition for the Bears, who spent much of the past two seasons with their head coach operating in a CEO-type capacity. Matt Nagy handed off play-calling duties to then-OC Bill Lazor in each of the past two seasons.

Here is the latest from the NFC coaching carousel:

The Buccaneers are set to go through a major transition, with Tom Brady‘s retirement ending a brief but successful era that likely doubled as the second-highest peak in franchise history. But Bruce Arians is not eyeing a rebuild. The fourth-year Bucs HC denied a report that indicated the team would allow assistants to pursue other jobs even if the new positions were not promotions, per The Athletic’s Greg Auman (on Twitter). It looks like Arians will keep both coordinators — Byron Leftwich and Todd Bowles — for the 2022 season, so Tampa Bay will still feature considerable continuity despite Brady’s departure and the presumptive exits of some key free agents.
Circling back to the Bears, the team made some additional hires in recent days. New OC Luke Getsy‘s right-hand man on the Justin Fields front will be Andrew Janocko, Chicago’s new quarterbacks coach. Janocko spent the past seven seasons with the Vikings, ending the run by serving as their QBs coach in 2021. He also worked as the Vikes’ receivers coach and assistant O-line coach at points during his long Minnesota tenure. The Bears also hired James Rowe as their secondary coach. Rowe will come over after serving as the Colts’ cornerbacks coach. David Overstreet, Indianapolis’ assistant DBs coach, will also follow Eberflus and fill the same position with the Bears. Overstreet moved up from the quality control level with Indy in 2021.
Former Packers offensive line coach James Campen landed a job as the Panthers‘ O-line coach, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Following a 12-year tenure in Green Bay, Campen will begin the 2022 season with a new team for the fourth straight year. He coached the Browns, Chargers and Texans’ O-lines from 2019-21.
Giants running backs coach Burton Burns is expected to retire, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post tweets. Burns, 69, began coaching in 1981 and spent the past two years as the Giants’ RBs coach — his only NFL position during his career. Fellow college-staff veteran Kevin Sherrer is expected to follow Burns on the way out, per Dunleavy. Sherrer served as the Giants’ linebackers coach last season and migrated to the NFL level, like Burns, for the first time in 2020.
To replace tight ends coach Justin Outten, who made a big leap to become the Broncos’ offensive coordinator, the Packers promoted John Dunn. Although this is a promotion, after Dunn spent the 2021 season as an offensive analyst in Green Bay, he coached Jets tight ends from 2019-20.

Coaching Notes: Colts, Jets, Giants, Texans

February 10th, 2021 at 9:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Former East Carolina head coach Scottie Montgomery will return to the NFL as a running backs coach with the Colts. Montgomery, an NFL wideout in the early 2000s, was the Steelers’ wide receivers coach from 2010-12 — during which the receiver-developing franchise unearthed Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace — and East Carolina’s HC from 2016-18. Montgomery, 42, spent the past two years as Maryland’s offensive coordinator. The Colts also hired David Overstreet as assistant defensive backs coach.

Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:

The Jets are bringing Leon Washington back into the fold. The former first-team All-Pro Jet return man will be back in New York as an assistant special teams coach under Robert Saleh. Washington, who operated as a Jets return man and running back from 2006-09, spent the past two seasons with the Lions.
A Packers assistant from 2004-18, James Campen will move to his fourth team in four seasons. The Texans are hiring Campen as their offensive line coach, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Campen spent the 2020 season with the Chargers and ’19 slate with the Browns, seeing both teams move in different directions after making HC changes. The Texans hired David Culley recently and are giving Campen a three-year deal.
The Giants intend to hire Rob Sale to be their next offensive line coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Sale spent the past three seasons as Louisiana’s offensive coordinator. He has a history with Joe Judge. The two coached at Alabama together from 2009-11.
Sale will replace Dave DeGuglielmo, who will head to Louisiana himself. After 17 seasons in the NFL, DeGuglielmo agreed to become the offensive line coach at Louisiana Tech, Cory Diaz of the Monroe (La.) News-Star notes. DeGuglielmo, who collected a Super Bowl ring with the 2014 Patriots, was an emergency replacement for the Dolphins in 2019 and Giants in 2020. The Giants opted not to bring him back on a full-time basis.
Urban Meyer is adding veteran NFL running backs coach Bernie Parmalee to his Jaguars staff, according to Adam Caplan of Sirius XM Radio (on Twitter). The former NFL running back has coached a few different areas in his relatively short coaching career, having helmed running backs, tight ends and special teams units. Parmalee spent the past three seasons in Atlanta and served as the Falcons’ ST coordinator in 2020.
The Vikings will add an assistant from the top college football program, hiring ex-Alabama cornerbacks coach Karl Allen to be their defensive backs coach, Pete Thamel of Yahoo.com tweets. Coaching a number of NFL-bound prospects, as Alabama staffers generally do, Allen spent three seasons with the Crimson Tide.