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Matt Edwards

AFC Coaching Notes: Dickerson, Browns, Bills, Addae, Day, Chargers, Dolphins, Colts

February 9th, 2024 at 4:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns allowed Bill Callahan out of his $3MM-plus contract to join son Brian in Tennessee. Given Bill Callahan’s status as one of the NFL’s best O-line coaches, this left a void on Cleveland’s staff. The team will fill it with one of the candidates it interviewed for its OC post. Seahawks O-line coach Andy Dickerson will take the same position with the Browns, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets. Set to work under Ken Dorsey, Dickerson was one of the ex-Sean McVay staffers who followed Shane Waldron to Seattle. The Seahawks promoted Dickerson to their O-line coach in 2022. Upon removing Pete Carroll from his longtime HC post, the Seahawks let their assistants speak with other teams. Additionally, the Browns are adding Roy Istvan as their assistant O-line coach, per the Associated Press’ Tom Withers. Istvan was most recently the Eagles’ assistant O-line coach under acclaimed staffer Jeff Stoutland; Istvan had been in that role for five seasons.

Here is the latest from the AFC coaching ranks:

  • Recently retired safety Jahleel Addae will return to the NFL as a coach. The former Chargers starter will join the Bills as their cornerbacks coach, ESPN.com’s Pete Thamel tweets. Addae, 34, had been on the Miami Hurricanes’ staff. Addae started 63 games during his nine-year career, with most of the starts coming as a Charger.
  • The Bills are not bringing back DBs coach John Butler, Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News tweets. Butler had been Buffalo’s DBs coach since 2018. With the Bills moving Bobby Babich to DC, some changes are being made. Another will be the hire of Matt Edwards as assistant D-line coach. The team recently bumped up Marcus West to D-line coach, replacing the departed Eric Washington. Edwards previously worked as a Raiders defensive assistant, concentrating on the team’s pass rush.
  • Shane Day is coming back to Los Angeles. Spending two seasons as the Chargers‘ QBs coach under Joe Lombardi, Day was with the Texans as a senior offensive assistant. Jim Harbaugh will bring Day back to the Bolts as their QBs coach, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. Justin Herbert became the AFC’s Pro Bowl starter under Day in 2021, and Garafolo adds the star QB enjoyed working with Day. Though, Brandon Staley fired both Lombardi and Day following the Bolts’ wild-card collapse in Jacksonville. The veteran assistant was with the 49ers on two separate occasions, though neither was during Harbaugh’s San Francisco run.
  • The Chargers are also hiring Sanjay Lal as their wide receivers coach, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Lal has been coaching wide receivers in the NFL since the late 2000s. One of those tenures — 2015-16 with the Bills — overlapped with new Bolts OC Greg Roman. Lal was most recently the pass-game coordinator and WRs coach with the Seahawks.
  • Recent Titans assistant Ryan Crow will move to Miami. The Dolphins are hiring Crow as their outside linebackers coach, Breer adds. The Vikings, Seahawks and Giants showed interest as well, per Breer. The Browns also interviewed Crow last month, but he will instead work with the likes of Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips in Miami. Crow’s former boss, Shane Bowen, is now in New York, explaining the Giants’ interest. Crow will replace Ryan Slowik, who interviewed for the DC job that went to Anthony Weaver. But Slowik is set to stay with the Dolphins in a different capacity, according to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson. The older brother of Texans OC Bobby Slowik, Ryan has been an NFL assistant for more than 15 years. Although Mike McDaniel hired him in 2022, the two were low-level staffers in Denver in 2005.
  • The Colts found their next D-line coach at the college level. Charlie Partridge, who spent the past seven seasons as Pitt’s D-line coach, will take the same position under Shane Steichen in Indianapolis, Fox59’s Mike Chappell notes. The former Florida Atlantic HC, Partridge has never coached in the NFL previously, spending more than 25 years in the college ranks. Partridge coached recent first-round pick Calijah Kancey at Pitt and was J.J. Watt‘s position coach at Wisconsin.

Panthers, Titans Coaching Updates

January 25th, 2022 at 10:55am CST by Adam La Rose

There’s been a few updates with respect to the changes in the Panthers’ and Titans’ coaching staffs. The largest change so far, of course, is the hiring of Ben McAdoo as offensive coordinator for Carolina. On Monday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport confirmed that the team has made that hire official (Twitter link). 

The 44-year-old comes in with a successful background at the OC level, having helped the Giants to top-ten rankings in 2014 and 2015. That earned him the head coaching position in New York, although it certainly didn’t end the way he would have wanted. Still, there are high hopes he can turn around a Panthers offense that struggled mightily in 2021, leading to the mid-season firing of Joe Brady.

Meanwhile, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk reported that Carolina is conducting a second interview with Chris Tabor for the special teams coordinator vacancy. The Panthers fired Chase Blackburn earlier this month, and already met with Tabor, who has previously been a ST coordinator with the Browns and Bears. Unlike the first interview, this one will take place in person. Alper notes that the Panthers had offered the job to current Giants ST coordinator Thomas McGaughey, “but the two sides could not agree on a contract”.

As for the Titans, the disappointing loss on Saturday has led to at least four changes on their staff. As Sport Illustrated’s John Glennon tweets, the coaches being let go include: inside linebackers coach Jim Haslett, assistant defensive line coach Kenechi Udeze, assistant ST coach Matt Edwards and assistant strength and conditioning coach Mondray Gee. Tennessee finished the year atop the AFC, but lost in their opening playoff game for the second straight season.

 

Coaching Rumors: Pats, Chargers, Texans

February 13th, 2018 at 5:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Patriots are currently the only club without a defensive coordinator in place, and New England could follow in the footsteps of the Eagles — who may not hire an OC — and not officially name a new coordinator, as Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com speculates (via Twitter). Incumbent linebackers coach Brian Flores is viewed as the favorite to succeed Matt Patricia on the Patriots’ staff, but as Breer notes, Bill Belichick has given former assistants time to grow before placing them in coordinator roles. Patricia, for one, called New England’s defensive plays for two seasons before being given the DC title. Additionally, current offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called plays for the Patriots in 2005 despite not having the official coordinator moniker.

Here’s more from the 2018 coaching carousel:

  • Jerry Schuplinski had been expected to follow McDaniels to Indianapolis, but now that that ship has sailed, Schuplinski will return to the Patriots‘ staff as assistant quarterbacks coach, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Reports earlier this offseason indicated Schuplinski had an “outside chance” to succeed McDaniels as New England’s offensive play-caller, but a path to the Colts had seemed more likely as of last week. Now, Schuplinski — who has been with the Patriots since 2013 — will work with Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, and possibly another signal-caller if New England selects a passer in the upcoming draft.
  • The Chargers have announced several new hires, including the addition of former Bills wide receivers coach Phil McGeoghan in the same role. McGeoghan, who spent only one season in Buffalo, will replace Nick Sirianni, who is now the Colts’ offensive coordinator. He’ll get to work with a receiving corps that includes Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Travis Benjamin. Additionally, Los Angeles has hired Keith Burns (assistant special teams) and Addison Lynch (defensive quality control).
  • Two AFC South clubs — the Titans and Texans — have finalized their 2018 coaching staffs and announced a few hires that hadn’t been previously reported. Tennessee has retained Luke Steckel (offensive assistant) and hired Matt Edwards (assistant special teams), Scott Booker (defensive assistant), Ryan Crow (defensive assistant) , while Houston had added Will Lawning (offensive assistant/offensive line) and Matt O’Donnell (defensive quality control).
  • The Cardinals have hired former University of Findlay offensive coordinator Troy Rothenbuhler as an offensive quality control coach, reports Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Rothenbuhler had spent his entire coaching career in the collegiate ranks, and spent the past seven years as Findlay’s play-caller.