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Joe Lombardi

Bolts, Seahawks Eyeing Joe Lombardi For OC

January 22nd, 2021 at 6:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints have lost two assistants this month, seeing Dan Campbell take Aaron Glenn with him to Detroit. They may be set to see a third depart. The Chargers and Seahawks have requested interviews with Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi, The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan tweets.

Lombardi has been with the Saints for the past five seasons, catching on with New Orleans after the Lions ended his OC tenure after less than two years in 2015. The Saints have seen some interesting developments transpire at quarterback during Lombardi’s tenure.

After Drew Brees endured his first significant injury as a Saint in 2019, backup Teddy Bridgewater led the team to five straight wins. This season, Brees’ broken ribs brought New Orleans’ Taysom Hill experiment to the forefront. To the surprise of some, the former UDFA showed promise as a passer. Hill completed 73% of his passes at 7.7 yards per attempt and continued to mix in as a gadget player in the games in which Brees started.

Lombardi, 49, has a clear connection with the new Chargers staff. He worked as Mercyhurst’s offensive coordinator and QBs coach from 2002-05. One of Lombardi’s pupils at the Division II school during that time — newly hired Bolts HC Brandon Staley. The fast-rising coach transferred to Mercyhurst from Dayton in 2005, playing under Lombardi as a senior. Lombardi left the college ranks after that season, joining the Falcons as an assistant.

Lombardi is the second name mentioned as a Bolts OC candidate. The Rams blocked the first — Kevin O’Connell — from interviewing for the job. After the Lions went 11-5 with Lombardi as OC in 2014, they fired him after starting 1-6 the following year.

The Seahawks have been connected to big names since splitting with three-year OC Brian Schottenheimer. Anthony Lynn, Adam Gase and Doug Pederson have discussed the position with Pete Carroll. While Pederson indicated he will not coach next season, Lynn and Gase remain unattached. Lynn is also in the mix for the Lions’ OC position. The Seahawks have also interviewed Raiders running backs coach Kirby Wilson, who worked with Carroll at multiple stops, for the post.

Saints To Hire Dan Campbell, Other Assistants

January 13th, 2016 at 3:31pm CST by Zachary Links

3:31pm: In addition to Campbell, Joe Lombardi, and Aaron Glenn are joining the Saints’ coaching staff, reports Mike Triplett of ESPN.com.

Campbell will be New Orleans’ assistant head coach and tight ends coach, Lombardi will be the quarterbacks coach, and Glenn will be a secondary coach. Current tight ends coach Dan Roushar is expected to remain with the team in some capacity.

12:36pm: Although Campbell met with the Saints all day on Tuesday and feels comfortable joining Payton’s staff, the two sides haven’t finalized a deal yet, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Unless another club swoops in at the last minute with a more attractive offer, it looks like just a matter of time until Campbell and the Saints make it official.

WEDNESDAY, 9:02am: Campbell interviewed on Tuesday with the Saints, and may soon be hired as the team’s assistant head coach and tight ends coach, a source tells Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 8:57pm: The Saints are set to add former Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell to their staff, according to Charean Williams of the Star-Telegram (on Twitter). It’s not immediately clear what Campbell’s position will be, however. Dan Campbell (vertical)

In his first stint as an NFL head coach, Campbell had mixed results. After taking over for Joe Philbin when the Dolphins were 1-3, the interim head coach led the team to consecutive blowout wins to get back to .500. However, Miami won just three of its final 10 games, finishing with a 6-10 record for the season and a 5-7 mark under Campbell.

Campbell, a tight end himself over the course of his NFL playing career, served as the Dolphins’ tight ends coach prior to his promotion. Dan Roushar is the Saints’ tight ends coach, so that position doesn’t appear to be open for Campbell.

Campbell and Saints head coach Sean Payton have some history together. Campbell, a former tight end, was drafted by the Giants in 1999, when Payton was coaching quarterbacks and later moved up to offensive coordinator. In 2003, Campbell signed with the Cowboys as a free agent and Payton was also there as an offensive assistant. The two were then together in Dallas for another three seasons.

The Vikings, Cowboys, and Chargers were previously identified as teams with interest in the former Dolphins interim head coach.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC North Notes: Lions, Schwartz, White

October 27th, 2015 at 7:19pm CST by Zachary Links

A look at the NFC North:

  • Former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz is using his year-long break from football to prepare for his NFL return, Don Banks of SI writes. Schwartz just moved his family back to Nashville and he has history with the Titans, so that seems like a logical landing spot for him. Schwartz was with Tennessee from 1999-2008, mostly as Jeff Fisher‘s defensive coordinator. Other than that, there could be openings with the Colts, Saints, Jaguars, Bucs, 49ers, and maybe the Giants if Tom Coughlin decides to retire or resign.
  • Bears rookie wide receiver Kevin White won’t rule out returning to the Bears before the year is through, as John Mullin of CSNChicago.com writes. “If I can get on the field this year and we can make a run for it, I would like to help my teammates and this organization out, as planned,” White said. “If not this year, then try my best and do what I can for next year. “But [I am] not closing any doors, not saying that I’m not coming back or anything this year. There’s a chance, so do my best to try to make a comeback.” Unfortunately, however, the No. 7 pick in the 2015 draft isn’t doing much beyond jogging and he admits that he has “a ways to go.” The Bears have several weeks to activate White from the PUP list and until the end of Week 11 to decide on whether to activate him as part of the 53-man roster or shut him down for 2015.
  • Joe Lombardi, who was fired as the Lions‘ offensive coordinator, will be paid the balance of his three-year deal, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (on Twitter). That includes Lombardi’s fat $1.3MM salary for the 2016 season.

Lions Fire OC Joe Lombardi

October 26th, 2015 at 3:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Just hours after head coach Jim Caldwell told reporters that there wouldn’t be any coaching changes made this week, the Lions have made a major change to their offensive staff. According to Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News (via Twitter), the team is firing offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, along with offensive line coaches Jeremiah Washburn and Terry Heffernan.

Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com has confirmed the changes to the Lions’ coaching staff, tweeting that quarterbacks coach Jim Bob Cooter is taking over for Lombardi as the club’s offensive coordinator. Per Twentyman, tight ends coach Ron Prince will assume the role of offensive line coach, while Devin Fitzsimmons takes over as tight ends coach.

The Lions are off to a disappointing 1-6 start this season, and the underwhelming play of the offense has been a main reason for the team’s struggles. Matthew Stafford has been up and down throughout the season, throwing nine interceptions through seven games, well on his way to surpassing the 12 he threw in 16 games last year.

Detroit’s running game has been worse than its aerial attack, with leading rusher Ameer Abdullah having compiled just 222 yards on 3.6 yards per attempt — no other back has more than 60 yards, and Joique Bell is averaging less than two yards per carry. Overall, the Lions are averaging less than 20 points per game, ranking 26th in offensive DVOA through six weeks, per Football Outsiders.

While the Lions will hope that the changes to the offensive coaching staff will jump-start the team, it’s possible these won’t be the last moves made by the team this season. Albert Breer of the NFL Network notes (via Twitter) that there have been “rumblings around the league about larger-scale changes in Detroit,” since Martha Ford is now in charge of the ownership group, and observers aren’t sure what to expect from her.

As for the team’s new offensive coordinator, Cooter drew some interest around the league this past offseason. The Bears were interested in Cooter for their offensive coordinator opening, but the Lions denied Chicago permission to interview the ex-Broncos assistant, showing how much they valued him.

NFC North Notes: Bears, Gaine, AP, Lions

January 6th, 2015 at 3:12pm CST by Luke Adams

As the last NFC North team left standing prepares to host its divisional playoff game this Sunday, let’s round up a few items on the Packers‘ division rivals….

  • A scouting director who has worked directly with Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard thinks Ballard should be “a lock” as the Bears‘ next general manager, writes Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. That same source believes that if Ballard lands the Chicago job, he could look at ex-Bears special teams coordinator Dave Toub as a head coaching candidate.
  • While Ballard may be the favorite for the Bears‘ job, multiple sources tell Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link) that Texans executive Brian Gaine is interviewing for the position today. A league source suggests to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link) that Gaine may be consultant Ernie Accorsi‘s top recommendation for the team.
  • The first court date in Adrian Peterson‘s legal case challenging his suspension will be February 6, says Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The Vikings running back and the NFLPA will likely push to get resolution in time for the start of March’s free agent period, to allow Peterson the opportunity to reach the market along with everyone else, if Minnesota decides to cut him.
  • Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said on Monday that he has yet to decide whether to make changes to his coaching staff, and strongly defended the work of offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. Kyle Meinke of MLive.com has the details and the quotes from Caldwell.

Lions Notes: Austin, Pettigrew

February 10th, 2014 at 8:45pm CST by Peter Sowards

New Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has big shoes to fill, replacing 32-year NFL veteran Gunther Cunningham. Austin, 21 years Cunningham’s junior, just landed his first coordinating job at the pro level, and is expected to employ a more blitz-heavy defense than his predecessor, according to Justin Rogers of MLive.com. “We’re going to probably stay more in a 4-3, in terms of what we have personnel-wise,” said Austin. “Our pressures with our linebackers will be coming from different angles, different things that way, instead of a per se ‘rush linebacker’ that I’m used to dealing with.” Rogers said the odds do not favor the team pursuing an aforementioned rush linebacker in the draft or free agency, noting all three of the team’s starting linebackers from last season are under contract for 2014.

Other notes from the Motor City:

  • Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi touched on his tight end philosophy in a story relayed by ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein, important given the free-agent status of Brandon Pettigrew. “It’s important to have a guy that can block the point of attack,” said Lombardi. “That’s important. A lot of teams are going to back-or-forth these days and you need a tight end that can hold up against those guys. And then, you want a guy who can be a pass receiver so you’re always looking for those well-rounded guys.”
  • Pettigrew played 925 out of 1,158 snaps for the Lions offense last season, according to Pro Football Focus. Rothstein notes that the Lions emphasized Pettigrew’s run-blocking ability to spearhead a running game led by Reggie Bush and Joique Bell that finished No. 17 in rushing yards last season.
  • If North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron or Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins were available in the second round, Rothstein said either two would be a sound investment. However, Ebron is widely regarded as the best tight end in the 2014 class and highly unlikely to make it out of the top-32.
  • Rothstein cites Dennis Pitta and Dallas Clark, who each played for head coach Jim Caldwell at some point, as potential replacements if Pettigrew is not retained, as well as former Jet and current Dolphin Dustin Keller .