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Colts Interview Browns’ Ephraim Banda For DC

January 10th, 2025 at 7:38pm CST by Ely Allen

The meteoric rise continues for Ephraim Banda. The Browns safeties coach has only been in the NFL for two years, and he already has earned his first defensive coordinator interview. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports that Banda will meet with the Colts about their open defensive coordinator position.

Banda’s story is an inspiring one of perseverance and never giving up on your dreams. A high school athlete that turned down a few small school scholarship offers to do junior college and walk on somewhere bigger, Banda found himself working as a bartender while taking classes in San Antonio and staying in football shape by playing in amateur leagues. In 2007, Banda finally got his chance when Incarnate Word created a football program. He walked on at 25 years old, but since he wasn’t on scholarship, he had to continue bartending.

Unfortunately, a knee injury ended any hopes of a playing career for Banda. Still, he refused to give up on his football dream, working as a student assistant for the Cardinals in San Antonio while finishing his degree. He earned a graduate assistant position at the University of Texas on the recommendation of an Incarnate Word coach who had been hired by the Longhorns. In Austin, he met then-defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, another upstart coach who came to football after jobs outside of the sport.

He stayed at Texas for three years, even after Diaz was fired, coaching with the program through the transition from Mack Brown to Charlie Strong. Diaz bounced back in 2015 getting hired as the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State, and Banda joined him in Starkville as a defensive quality control coach. When Diaz was poached by Mark Richt to serve as defensive coordinator in Coral Gables, Banda got his first position coaching job as Miami’s safeties coach.

After three years and sending players like Rayshawn Jenkins, Jaquan Johnson, and Sheldrick Redwine to the NFL, Banda was promoted to co-defensive coordinator of the Hurricanes as Diaz took over the head coaching gig. In 2021, Banda finally parted ways with Diaz, taking the defensive coordinator and safeties coach job at Utah State. He held the role for two years before earning his first NFL job under Jim Schwartz in Cleveland.

In Banda’s two years in Cleveland, the Browns finished first in passing defense in 2023 and 12th this season. He’s managed an impressive safeties group over that time with Grant Delpit leading the group while Ronnie Hickman and Rodney McLeod have filled in for injuries here and there to the other starter, Juan Thornhill.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard has been quoted as valuing a more aggressive approach on defense, per ESPN’s Stephen Holder, something that is likely to affect the team’s coordinator search. According to Mike Chappell of FOX59/CBS4 Sports, the team has also announced that defensive backs coach Ron Milus and linebackers coach Richard Smith will not be returning to the staff in 2025.

With this note, while Banda will be interviewing for the coordinator position, this visit could also serve as an interview for the open defensive backs coaching job, should he fall short. Regardless, the 43-year-old is moving quickly through the coaching ranks of the sport and is a name to watch in the years to come.

Titans Request GM Interviews With Ed Dodds, Reggie McKenzie, John Spytek

January 10th, 2025 at 10:30am CST by Nikhil Mehta

JANUARY 10: McKenzie is likely to receive considerable support for the GM role, Dianna Russini of The Athletic notes. He may be the favorite at this point in the process, although things could of course change over the coming days as interviews take place.

JANUARY 8: The Titans are casting their net far and wide in search of their next general manager, adding three more interviews to their list on Wednesday.

The latest candidates are Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds (per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero), Dolphins senior personnel executive Reggie McKenzie (per ESPN’s Turron Davenport), and Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek (per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times).

[RELATED: Titans Begin GM Search With Three Requests]

Dodds has worked under Colts GM Chris Ballard since 2017. He began his NFL front office career as a scouting intern for the then-Oakland Raiders in 2003. That led to a scouting gig in Seattle, where Dodds finished as a senior personnel executive after nearly a decade. He then started as vice president of player personnel in Indianapolis before receiving a promotion to assistant GM in 2018. The Colts have hit on a number of first- and second-round picks in Dodds’ tenure, including Quenton Nelson and Shaquille Leonard in 2018 and Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor in 2020, but they have struggled to consistently find talent in the later rounds.

McKenzie is a former NFL linebacker who retired from playing in 1992. He briefly coached at the University of Tennessee before landing a scouting job with the Packers. McKenzie stayed in Green Bay for almost 20 years, eventually rising to director of football operations in 2008. The Packers won two Super Bowls in McKenzie’s tenure, which also included the 2005 draft selection of Aaron Rodgers.

McKenzie was then hired to turn around an expensive, underperforming Raiders roster as GM. He hit on Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, and Amari Cooper in back-to-back drafts but struggled to find and retain talent in subsequent years amid interference from new owner Mark Davis and his handpicked head coach, Jon Gruden. McKenzie was fired during the 2018 season and joined the Dolphins a few months later. Miami’s next three drafts all yielded several future starters, including Tua Tagovailoa and Jaylen Waddle, though the team is still chasing their first AFC East title since 2008.

Spytek spent time with the Lions, Eagles, Browns, and Broncos – primarily as a scout – before arriving in Tampa Bay in 2016. The Buccaneers have been one of the most successful front offices in the last decade under GM Jason Licht, who has consistently hit on draft picks and free agent signings. Tampa Bay won Super Bowl LV after successfully engineering the acquisition of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski during the 2020 offseason and has won four straight division titles since. The Buccaneers’ drafts under Spytek have been littered with success, particularly at offensive line.

The Titans’ search is being overseen by president of football operations Chad Brinker, whose football experience stands in contrast to some of Tennessee’s other business-focused executives. He has ties to Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi, Packers VP of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, and Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, all of whom could be candidates for the Titans’ GM job.

Brinker may also look for familiarity with head coach Brian Callahan, in which case a Bengals executive like Mike Potts, Trey Brown, or Steve Radicevic could be considered, according to Breer.

Raiders Request Interview With Ravens OC Todd Monken

January 8th, 2025 at 9:26pm CST by Ely Allen

Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken can add another team to his list of suitors. After the Bears and Jaguars were reported to have requested interviews with the second-year Baltimore play-caller, Las Vegas is the latest team to have requested permission to interview Monken, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Monken has a wealth of experience coaching offenses at both the NFL and collegiate level. First beginning his coaching journey as a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State in 1989, Monken, 58, has worked for eight different college programs and four different NFL teams. Despite all the experience, he’s only had one head coaching stint, going 13-25 in three seasons at Southern Miss, though he did turn them from a 1-11 team in Year 1 to a 9-5 team in Year 3.

Monken has seen prodigious success in his offensive coaching over years in the NCAA. His NFL success has been a bit more hit or miss. As the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay, Monken’s offenses finished 19th in scoring and 18th in total yards in 2016, 18th in scoring and ninth in total yards in 2017, and 12th in scoring and third in total yards in 2018. The following year he took over a Browns offense that had finished 20th in scoring and 13th in total yards in 2018 and saw both of those places fall to 22nd in his lone year at the helm.

Following these first stints as an NFL offensive coordinator, Monken took the same job at the University of Georgia, where he improved the nation’s 49th-best scoring offense and 61st-best total offense to the fourth- and fifth-best offense in those respective categories in just three years. This collegiate success earned him another chance in the NFL, landing him as the successor to Greg Roman in Baltimore.

Monken, now in his second season as the Ravens offensive coordinator, has drawn praise for helping lead Lamar Jackson to his most productive season to date. Baltimore became the first team in NFL history to surpass 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in a season this year, despite significant turnover on the offensive line and the loss of offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris. Under Monken, Baltimore led the league in total offense this season, ranking third in scoring with an average of 30.5 points per game.

Monken’s recent run of success in one of the league’s most prolific offenses will likely continue to garner head coaching attention. Per PFR’s 2025 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker, this is how his competition in Las Vegas is stacking up:

Thomas Dimitroff To Interview For Titans’ GM Job

January 8th, 2025 at 6:53pm CST by Ely Allen

After interviewing for the Jets’ open general manager position back in December, former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has continued his efforts to return to an NFL front office. Per Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com, Dimitroff is set to interview for the same job in Tennessee.

Dimitroff has been out of the NFL for a while now, not holding a position in the league since being fired alongside then-head coach Dan Quinn in 2020. His focus has since shifted to a billionaire-backed football analytics company, SumerSports, which hired Dimitroff on as president of football operations. The company, which is “aimed at creating precision in player acquisition and roster management in the NFL,” must have kept Dimitroff busy during the past few GM interview cycles, as this is his first time even interviewing since 2021.

Dimitroff had earned his first GM job after a run with the Patriots, where he served as the scouting director from 2003-07, collecting two Super Bowl rings. He then filled the role as Atlanta’s GM from 2008-20, overseeing a run of playoff berths during Matt Ryan‘s tenure. Taking over the Falcons in the aftermath of the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, Dimitroff chose Ryan third overall in his first draft at the helm and built rosters that booked first-round playoff byes in 2010, 2012, and 2016. Ultimately, the team had journeyed to the playoffs six times during Dimitroff’s tenure, reaching the NFC championship game twice. The Falcons’ lone trip to the Super Bowl under Dimitroff ended in the now infamous 28-3 collapse.

The veteran exec worked in the NFL from 1993-2020 but has not held a position since. GMs receive second chances at a much lower rate than head coaches, as only two second-chance GMs — Trent Baalke (Jaguars), Tom Telesco (Raiders) — are currently in place. Dimitroff, 58, last interviewed for a GM post in 2021, having met with the Lions about the gig that went to Brad Holmes.

According to McCormick, the Titans are planning to conduct their first round of interviews starting Thursday and continuing over the next two days. Due to an intense winter storm hitting Nashville at the moment, the first round of interviews will likely all be virtual. Should the cold weather subside, in-person interviews could begin next Monday and Tuesday. Dimitroff is currently one of seven candidates reported for the position.

Cowboys To Interview Jets’ Marquand Manuel

February 7th, 2024 at 9:37pm CST by Ely Allen

The Cowboys added another name to their list of defensive coordinator candidates today, scheduling an interview with Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel. According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, the meeting will take place tomorrow.

Manuel started coaching in Seattle in 2012, a few years after concluding his playing career, as an assistant special teams coach. He would climb the ladder for the Seahawks becoming a defensive assistant and an assistant secondary coach over the next two years. He took his first position coaching gig as the secondary coach for the Falcons in 2015 and was promoted to defensive coordinator two years later.

When his contract in Atlanta expired, Manuel was hired as the defensive backs coach in Philadelphia for a year before taking the safeties coach position in New York. Manuel was a candidate for the Texans defensive coordinator job last offseason. He also interviewed for the same job with the Panthers last year, as well.

Manuel would be an interesting choice to replace former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, having worked for two years as Quinn’s defensive coordinator in Atlanta. He faces some stiff competition for the job as the list of candidates includes a number or current Cowboys assistants and multiple former NFL head coaches:

Giants Interview Vikings DBs Coach Daronte Jones For DC

February 4th, 2024 at 7:19pm CST by Ely Allen

A new name has emerged in defensive coordinator interviews. Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones has earned his first opportunity to interview for an NFL defensive coordinator position, meeting with the Giants last week, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The two parties conducted the interview in Mobile, AL, where Jones worked as the National team’s defensive coordinator.

Though Jones has been coaching in some capacity since 2001, he’s a relatively new name to the NFL. After time coaching at several high school and college institutions, as well as a one-year stay in the CFL, Jones earned his first NFL job as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Dolphins in 2016. He became the Bengals cornerbacks coach two years later.

Following his two years in Cincinnati, Jones started his first stint in Minnesota as a defensive backs coach. He only spent one year in that role before departing for the defensive coordinator job at LSU. He had been a defensive coordinator for Franklin HS and Bowie State, but this was his first D1 coordinator gig.

After not being retained following his lone season as the Tigers defensive coordinator, Jones returned to his previous role with the Vikings. This most recent year, he was promoted to defensive pass game coordinator. Minnesota would finish 24th in passing yards allowed.

Here is a list of Jones’ reported competition to replace Don “Wink” Martindale as defensive play-caller in New York:

Raiders Interview Pep Hamilton For OC

February 3rd, 2024 at 4:31pm CST by Ely Allen

After being mentioned as someone who spoke with the Raiders in the aftermath of Kliff Kingsbury backing out of the offensive coordinator job, it has been confirmed that Pep Hamilton did, in fact, interview as an offensive coordinator candidate, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Initial thoughts were that the former Texans assistant coach was in the running for a position coaching job, but after allowing more information to come out, it appears Hamilton is in consideration for the play-calling role.

Hamilton was out of the NFL in 2022, after failing to be retained following the firing of Lovie Smith in Houston. Before that, Hamilton earned his first NFL coordinator job with the Colts back in 2013, following quarterback Andrew Luck from Stanford to Indianapolis as his offensive coordinator. Despite being considered for the Raiders’ head coaching vacancy in 2014, Hamilton was fired midway through the following season.

The next several years would be eventful for Hamilton, seeing him spend a year in Cleveland, serving two years of a four-year contract with the University of Michigan, sitting out the 2019 season, and getting hired as the head coach and general manager of the DC Defenders of the XFL. Following his short XFL stint, Hamilton was hired by the Chargers, where, as quarterbacks coach, he would help Justin Herbert to the offensive rookie of the year award. His success with Herbert led to his next opportunity under David Culley in Houston as passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Hamilton earned his promotion under Smith the following year.

In Vegas, Hamilton would be tasked with helping to determine the team’s currently uncertain future at quarterback. With veteran Jimmy Garoppolo and rookie fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell on the roster, it doesn’t feel like the position is secure for the Raiders. This is what Hamilton’s competition for the job currently looks like:

Mike Zimmer To Interview For Cowboys’ DC Position

February 3rd, 2024 at 3:45pm CST by Ely Allen

After being mentioned as a potential name to watch for the Cowboys defensive coordinator position, former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is now set to meet with the team in regard to the position, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Having not coached in the NFL over the past two seasons, Zimmer could return to a coordinator position for the first time in 11 years and could reunite with the Cowboys for the first time in 18 years.

Zimmer, 67, has a storied history as one of the NFL’s better defensive minds. Starting in the college ranks, worked his way into his first coordinator job with Washington State after stints at Missouri and Weber State. After five years with the Cougars, Zimmer made the jump to the NFL, joining the Cowboys as a defensive assistant focusing on coaching nickel cornerbacks.

It took only a year for Zimmer to get promoted to defensive backs coach in Dallas, and after another five years, Zimmer became an NFL coordinator for the first time in his career, taking over play-calling duties for the Cowboys defense. After holding the position in Dallas for seven years, Zimmer decided to join Bobby Petrino in the same position during Petrino’s only NFL head coaching stint in Atlanta. Petrino famously left the Falcons after only 13 games to become the head coach at the University of Arkansas, drawing much ire from Zimmer who would be left without a job as he refused to follow to the college coaching ranks.

As a result, Zimmer took his next coordinator job with the Bengals. With five years of coaching consistently good defensive in Cincinnati under his belt, the league began to try out Zimmer’s name for head coaching interviews. After seven years with the Bengals, Zimmer would finally get his first head coaching opportunity with the Vikings.

Zimmer’s tenure in Minnesota would widely be deemed as successful, but a failure to stay consistently in contention and a to reach the Super Bowl ultimately led to his departure. Over his eight years as head coach, the Vikings went 72-56-1, never winning fewer than seven games. The Vikings twice won the NFC North under Zimmer and even reached the NFC Championship game in 2017. In 2021, Zimmer missed the playoffs for the second straight year after seeing the postseason in three of his first six seasons. Despite his ability to keep his team competitive, Zimmer was let go.

Since then, Zimmer has been away from the NFL, spending the 2022 season as an analyst/consultant under Deion Sanders at Jackson State. A return to the NFL has long been expected and would return one of the league’s better coordinators to the professional ranks.

Zimmer would have the luxury of taking over a top-five defense from the Commanders new head coach, Dan Quinn. Reuniting Zimmer with a Cowboys defense that now contains such stars as Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland seems like a no-brainer. His main competition seems to be Cowboys defensive backs coach Joe Whitt and perhaps former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera. Cowboys cornerbacks coach Al Harris and defensive line coach Aden Durde have been considered as possibilities for a promotion, as well.

A date has not yet been set for Zimmer’s meeting with the Cowboys, but an interview seems imminent. Seeing Zimmer return not only to the NFL but to the Cowboys, as well, could be just what Dallas needs to take that next step in the NFL.

Buccaneers QBs Coach Thad Lewis Receiving Interest For OC; Bills, Raiders First To Reach Out

January 29th, 2024 at 8:40pm CST by Ely Allen

TODAY, 8:40pm: Lewis has secured an interview, as the former QB met with the Titans today about their offensive coordinator vacancy, according to ESPN’s Kimberley A. Martin.

SATURDAY, 3:35pm: The Buccaneers made the playoffs this year partially thanks to some improvements to a re-tooled offense with a new starting quarterback in Baker Mayfield getting coached up by a new offensive coordinator in Dave Canales and quarterbacks coach in Thad Lewis. The success seen in Tampa Bay will result in the team having to re-tool once more. With Canales departing to become head coach of the Panthers, Lewis will see opportunities for offensive coordinator jobs moving forward.

The first of those opportunities will come in the form of an interview with the Bills, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The Bills are looking to replace Ken Dorsey after firing the play-caller midseason this year. After firing Dorsey, the team went on to win six of their final seven games under the play-calls of quarterbacks coach Joe Brady, with their only loss coming in overtime to the Eagles. After failing to win the race for the Falcons’ head job, Brady will interview for the Bills’ full-time offensive coordinator gig, competing with Lewis.

Lewis has also had an interview requested by the Raiders to be the new coordinator under new head coach Antonio Pierce, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. If Lewis were to interview, he would join a field of five candidates that has been reduced from seven due to recent hires. There have also been rumors that Lewis could follow Canales to Carolina.

Lewis has risen quickly in NFL circles. After spending two years as an offensive analyst at UCLA, Lewis joined the Buccaneers as an intern in 2020. He was promoted to assistant wide receivers coach before earning his current position. After only four years in the NFL, Lewis is on the cusp of reaching one of the heights of offensive coaching.

Giants Interview Chiefs LBs Coach Brendan Daly For DC Job

January 27th, 2024 at 5:05pm CST by Ely Allen

It’s taken long enough, but after 26 years of coaching at the college and NFL level, Chiefs linebackers coach Brendan Daly has finally gotten an interview for a coordinator position. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Daly interviewed with the Giants to potentially replace Don “Wink” Martindale as defensive coordinator.

Despite only being 48 years old, it’s been a long road for Daly to get this opportunity. After taking his first coaching job for a Florida high school in 1997, Daly spent eight years coaching at Drake, Villanova, Maryland, Oklahoma State, and Illinois State, coaching tight ends and defensive line. He got his first NFL opportunity as an assistant defensive line coach for the Vikings in 2006. Over the next 16 years, Daly worked as a defensive line coach for the Vikings, Rams, Patriots, and Chiefs, earning the run game coordinator title with the Chiefs for three years.

As a linebackers coach for the past two years, Daly has coached a group of underrated linebackers to help anchor a defensive unit that finished second in the NFL for both points allowed and yards allowed. He joins this pool of five other candidates as he endeavors to earn his first coordinator job:

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