HEADLINES

Joe Kasper

Eagles To Add Doug Nussmeier To Staff; Team Expected To Hire Broncos’ Christian Parker

February 5th, 2024 at 6:18pm CST by Sam Robinson

Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio are bringing some familiar staffers to Philadelphia. One of those will be Doug Nussmeier, who has worked with Moore in Dallas and Los Angeles.

Nussmeier will join the Eagles as quarterbacks coach, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. Additionally, the Eagles are expected to hire Christian Parker from the Broncos’ staff, ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano tweets. Parker loomed as a DC candidate during this year’s cycle. The young assistant will rejoin Fangio, who hired him in Denver.

Moore and Nussmeier coached together in Dallas from 2018-22, with the latter moving from tight ends coach to QBs coach during that span. Moore brought Nussmeier with him to Los Angeles when he took over as Chargers OC last year. That stint did not go especially well, but the Eagles will give Moore leeway to bring his longtime coworker with him to coach Jalen Hurts.

Seeing as both staffers were tied to the Cowboys for years, the Eagles certainly have a degree of familiarity with Moore and Nussmeier. The latter also served as an offensive coordinator for five college programs — including Alabama, Michigan and Florida — from 2008-17. This will be the second former Gators OC the Eagles will have hired as QBs coach under Nick Sirianni. The Eagles brought Brian Johnson from Gainesville to coach Hurts, whom the assistant had known for years, in 2021. The Eagles have since fired Johnson after one season as OC; no team has hired the young staffer yet.

Johnson and Nussmeier did not coach together at Florida; the latter was in Dallas by the time Johnson got to Gainesville. The Ravens interviewed Nussmeier, 53, for their OC job in 2023 but hired Todd Monken. Philly will now entrust additional Hurts development to two former Cowboys staffers. With Jim Harbaugh now running the Chargers, Nussmeier needed to make new plans.

Parker, 32, interviewed for the Patriots and Packers’ DC jobs this offseason. He has been valued in Denver, working as the team’s DBs coach under Fangio, Nathaniel Hackett and Sean Payton. Residing as the last Fangio assistant coach left this past season, Parker has overseen the likes of Justin Simmons and Patrick Surtain. Parker has coached the latter, now a two-time Pro Bowler, throughout his career. He also mentored rookie UDFA slot cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian in 2023. Parker was under contract, per Denver7’s Troy Renck, who notes the team gave the Eagles permission to make this hire.

Additionally, the Eagles are hiring Dolphins assistant Joe Kasper to be their safeties coach, NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe tweets. Fangio targeted Kasper, per Wolfe, and the Eagles sent him an interview slip last week. Despite Fangio’s Dolphins fit not proving ideal, the veteran defensive coach’s time in Miami will lead at least one staffer to follow him. This is a return trip for Kasper, who was a quality control assistant with the Eagles from 2021-22. Fangio’s consulting season helped lead Kasper to Miami, where he served as safeties coach.

One of the staffers who worked under Jonathan Gannon and Sean Desai in Philly, DBs coach D.K. McDonald, is departing to become the co-defensive coordinator at Kansas, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman. This proves interesting due to he and Fangio overlapping in 2022; McDonald was on Sirianni’s staff from 2021-23. The ex-Gannon assistant began his Philly tenure as assistant DBs coach, moving up to secondary coach in 2023.

AFC Coaching Notes: Ventrone, Browns, Broncos, Joseph, Raiders, Dolphins, Texans

February 22nd, 2023 at 2:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

After the Colts changed coaching staffs, Bubba Ventrone will have an opportunity to land on his feet. The Indianapolis special teams coordinator is on track to interview with the Browns, and ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder tweets the Colts are expecting to lose him to the Cleveland job. Ventrone spent five seasons in Indianapolis and is a well-regarded ST coordinator. The Browns are also interviewing Giants assistant special teams coach Anthony Blevins, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports tweets. That meeting is expected to commence via Zoom today, per CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson (on Twitter). The Browns fired ST coordinator Mike Preiffer earlier this week. Blevins has been with the Giants for the past five years.

Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:

  • Prior to the Cardinals making Nick Rallis the NFL’s youngest active coordinator, at 29, the Broncos had him on their radar. Denver showed interest in the former Philadelphia linebackers coach, Troy Renck of Denver7 notes. Rallis is a cool 31 years younger than the favorite to land the Denver job (Rex Ryan), but the Broncos are still eyeing Vance Joseph. Despite being fired after two seasons as Denver’s HC, Joseph is interested in coming back, Renck adds. The Eagles also have eyes on the ex-Cardinals DC; they are finishing up a two-day interview Wednesday.
  • The Colts are hiring University of Cincinnati offensive coordinator Tom Manning as their tight ends coach, Aaron Wilson of KPRC tweets. This will be a reunion for Manning, who was on Frank Reich‘s first Colts staff as tight ends coach. Manning had recently accepted Cincinnati’s offer to be its OC, coming over after a four-year stay on Matt Campbell‘s Iowa State staff. The ex-Cyclones OC drew interest from multiple NFL teams, per Wilson.
  • The Browns will look to the college ranks as well. They are set to hire Utah State defensive coordinator Ephraim Banda to be their safeties coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel (Twitter links). Prior to his two-year run in Utah, Banda spent the previous two seasons as the University of Miami’s co-DC.
  • To fill their safeties coach post, the Dolphins are adding Eagles assistant Joe Kasper, Cameron Wolfe of NFL.com tweets. Kasper joined the Eagles’ staff in Nick Sirianni‘s first year; this will be a move up the ladder, bringing positional responsibilities Kasper’s way for the first time.
  • The Raiders fired defensive line coach Frank Okam, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes. A former NFL D-lineman, Okam came to Las Vegas after two years on Matt Rhule‘s Carolina staff. The Raiders struggled on defense for most of the season, dropping from 14th to 28th in total defense. Rather than can DC Patrick Graham, the team is moving on from one of his lieutenants.
  • In addition to ST coordinator Frank Ross, the Texans are also retaining wide receivers coach Ben McDaniels, Wilson writes. The younger brother of Josh McDaniels, Ben has been with the Texans since Nick Caserio‘s 2021 arrival. While Ben McDaniels has never worked for the Patriots, Caserio has been close with Josh McDaniels for many years. The Texans promoted Ben McDaniels from assistant wideouts coach in 2022.