HEADLINES

Jim O’Neil

Coaching Notes: Cowboys, Browns, Eagles

January 27th, 2014 at 8:50pm CST by Ben Levine

There were a handful of coaching moves today. Here are the highlights from around the league…

  • The Cowboys will hire former Lions‘ offensive coordinator Scott Linehan as their passing game coordinator, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Linehan had been Detroit’s offensive coach since 2009, but was fired at the end of the December. Rapoport also mentions that Linehan will be hired to call plays on offense, the Cowboys’ third playcaller in three seasons.
  • The Browns have continued to poach the Bills coaching staff, announcing today that linebackers coach Jim O’Neil will be joining Mike Pettine in Cleveland as the team’s defensive coordinator. Pettine will also take Buffalo coaches Brian Fleury and Jeff Hafley along with him. The Bills defense set a franchise record in 2013 with 57 sacks.
  • The Eagles filled some roles on their coaching staff, signing Bill Musgrave as their quarterbacks coach and promoting Mike Dawson from defensive quality control coach to assistant defensive line coach, according to Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Additionally, 22-year-old Michael Clay, will take over Dawson’s former role. Clay played for Eagles’ head coach Chip Kelly at Oregon for four seasons.

Browns Notes: O’Neil, Shanahan, McDaniels

January 27th, 2014 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Browns hired Mike Pettine as their head coach last week, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported that the former Bills defensive coordinator would likely be bringing a coach with him from Buffalo. According to Mehta, the Browns were expected to hire Bills linebackers coach Jim O’Neil as their defensive coordinator, assuming Buffalo let him out of his contract. Today, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported (via Twitter) that the Bills have indeed given O’Neil permission to talk to the Browns, adding that the interview is merely a formality. Here’s more from out of Cleveland, including word of another coach heading from Buffalo to the Browns:

  • Chuck Driesbach, who was fired by the Bills earlier this month, will be joining Pettine’s Cleveland staff in some capacity, reports Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The longtime college coach was working with Buffalo’s linebackers before he was let go.
  • As Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun tweeted this afternoon, Kyle Shanahan won’t be joining the Ravens’ coaching staff, and Rapoport believes that Shanahan could be a candidate for the offensive coordinator vacancy in Cleveland (Twitter link).
  • In his latest MMQB column, Peter King writes that Pettine seems like the “ultimate compromise candidate” for the Browns, who aggressively pursued Josh McDaniels of the Pats. Referring to McDaniels as the “apple of owner Jimmy Haslam’s eye,” King says the team had multiple conversations with the Pats’ offensive coordinator about the possibility of him re-entering Cleveland’s coaching derby.

Coaching Notes: Browns, Redskins, Jets, Giants

January 26th, 2014 at 9:00am CST by Rory Parks

The Browns would like to hire Bills linebackers coach Jim O’Neil as their new defensive coordinator, but if the Bills should block O’Neil from interviewing with Cleveland, the Browns will pursue Ravens inside linebackers coach Don “Wink” Martindale, tweets NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Martindale served as the Broncos defensive coordinator in 2010 before joining the Ravens, and was the Raiders linebackers coach from 2004 to 2008.

Although their tenures with Baltimore never overlapped, new Browns head coach Mike Pettine worked as the Ravens outside linebackers coach in 2008 under John Harbaugh. According to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, if Harbaugh vouches for Martindale, Pettine will value Harbaugh’s endorsement.

  • Newly-extended Jets head coach Rex Ryan is looking to fill out his coaching staff, and LSU special teams coach Thomas McGaughey has become a leading candidate to replace Ben Kotwica as New York’s special-teams coordinator, according to Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. Kotwica recently left the Jets to become the Redskins special-teams coordinator.
  • Speaking of the Redskins, Washington has hired Randy Jordan to be its new running backs coach. Jordan beat out former Redskins running back and coach Ernest Byner for the post, and his hire fills the last vacant position coach job on Jay Gruden‘s staff.
  • The Giants, meanwhile, continue the overhaul of their offensive coaching staff by hiring Oregon State offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf as their new quarterbacks coach. Along with fellow new hires Ben McAdoo and Craig Johnson, Langsdorf will try to help turn around a Giants offense that struggled mightily in 2013 under the shaky hand of quarterback Eli Manning.

Browns Notes: Pettine, Hoyer, Mack, Ward

January 23rd, 2014 at 6:01pm CST by Zachary Links

It took quite a while for the Browns to make their hire, but they finally got their man in Mike Pettine earlier today. Meanwhile, Pettine told Joe Buscaglia of WGR550 (Twitter links) after his introductory presser that it almost didn’t happen. As the hiring process lingered on, the former Bills defensive coordinator worried that it wasn’t fair to keep Buffalo waiting. “That was starting to wear on me these last couple of days. I talked to [Bills head coach Doug Marrone] and it was getting to the point where I’d say, ‘Hey, if this goes on much longer I need to pull out because it’s just not fair to the Bills.‘” Here’s a look at the highlights from Pettine’s first press conference and more from Cleveland..

  • Pettine says that the perception matches the reality: the club is behind the eight-ball because he was hired so late, tweets Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal. The new head coach is already getting to work on assembling his staff.
  • The new man in charge offered a strong endorsement of quarterback Brian Hoyer, Ulrich tweets, calling him a “winner” and describing his intangibles as “off the charts.” However, he did concede that even though the offense has talent, there are “some holes” to address (link).
  • The Browns submitted a request to Buffalo to interview linebacker coach Jim O’Neil for their defensive coordinator opening, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. O’Neil and Pettine also worked together with Jets. It was reported earlier today that Pettine would seek to bring O’Neil along with him to the Browns.
  • Pettine said potential free agents center Alex Mack and safety T.J. Ward are special players he’d love to have back, Ulrich tweets.
  • Browns CEO Joe Banner said team will do everything it can to support troubled wide receiver Davone Bess but wouldn’t comment further, according to Ulrich (via Twitter).
  • Banner and owner Jimmy Haslam revealed that Pettine was on their list of defensive coordinator candidates last year, Ulrich tweets.

Browns Hire Mike Pettine As Head Coach

January 23rd, 2014 at 4:44pm CST by Luke Adams

4:44pm: Pettine agreed to a five-year contract with the Browns, according to team CEO Joe Banner (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal).

3:12pm: The last NFL team without a coach has finally found its man. The Browns have hired Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine as their new head coach, with a press conference scheduled for this afternoon, according to the team (Twitter link). Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported (via Twitter) that the Browns had reached an agreement with Pettine.

Long after every other head coaching position in the NFL had been filled, the Browns continued to interview candidates and consider potential options to succeed Rob Chudzinski. Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels were among the names the Browns were said to be eyeing before hiring Pettine.

Pettine, who spent four years as the defensive coordinator with the Jets before heading to Buffalo last year, turned the Bills’ D into a top-five unit, according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA, a significant turnaround after the team ranked 27th in 2012.

According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (via Twitter), Pettine will bring Bills linebacker coach Jim O’Neil to Cleveland to be his defensive coordinator, assuming Buffalo is willing to let him out of his contract. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets that Pettine had identified Alex Van Pelt as a top candidate for Cleveland’s offensive coordinator opening, but Van Pelt will remain with the Packers as the team’s QB coach (Twitter links).