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Mike Rutenberg

Coaching Notes: Texans, Jaguars, Jets, Colts

February 3rd, 2021 at 1:43pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Texans were the last team to hire their head coach, so David Culley got a bit of a late start in building his staff. Now he’s wasting no time, making a couple of hires this week. Most importantly he’s settled on a special teams coordinator, hiring Colts assistant Frank Ross to fill that position, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Ross is a former Patriots scout who went to small school John Carroll University, which has become a feeder school for NFL coaches. Houston also hired Dino Vasso to be their new secondary coach, Wilson tweets. Vasso spent the past eight seasons as an assistant with the Eagles.

Here are some more coaching updates from around the league:

  • Zach Orr is going to be back on an NFL sideline. An UDFA linebacker in 2014, he became a full-time starter with the Ravens and was a second-team All-Pro in 2016. Unfortunately that would be his final season, as a spinal condition cut his career short prematurely. Orr stayed with Baltimore in a front office role, and now he’s getting into coaching as Urban Meyer’s new linebackers coach with the Jaguars, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets. Still only 28, it’ll be great to see Orr back on the field in some capacity.
  • Robert Saleh continues to build his inaugural Jets staff, and he has now hired Mike Rutenberg to be his linebackers coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL Neetwork tweets. Rutenberg was a passing game specialist under Saleh in San Francisco this past season, and before that had been an assistant with the Jaguars.
  • Orr isn’t the only notable former player getting back with an NFL team. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Mawae will be joining the NFL coaching ranks as well. Mawae has been hired to be an assistant offensive line coach on Frank Reich’s Colts staff, Stephen Holder of The Athletic tweets. Mawae had been an analyst under Herm Edwards at Arizona State, and he told Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he had been hoping to land an NFL opportunity. The legendary former center spent 16 years in the league with the Seahawks, Jets, and Titans. He made eight Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro seven times during his playing days.

49ers Notes: Garoppolo, Brady, Trent Williams

June 24th, 2020 at 10:31am CST by Zachary Links

Before Tom Brady shocked the world and joined up with the Bucs, there was buzz about TB taking his talents to SF. For his part, Jimmy Garoppolo says he wasn’t caught off guard by the speculation.

“The one thing I can say about the whole situation was Kyle and John were very honest with me the whole time,” the quarterback said (via Matt Barrows of The Athletic). “That’s their job — to put the best team together possible and you’ve got to respect that. So as long as the honesty and truthfulness is there, I respect those guys, I love those guys. And it’s going to be a fun year this year.”

It was an odd spot for Jimmy G to be in, especially since he had just capped his first full season as an NFL starter with a Super Bowl appearance. Still, he says he wasn’t sweating the Brady talk.

“It’s the NFL,” he said. “There’s competition. Everyone’s trying to put the best team together they can. And that’s just the reality of it.”

More from SF:

  • 49ers GM John Lynch says he considered trading for Trent Williams midway through last season while tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey were sidelined. If they acquired the left tackle, they would have kicked him inside later on in the year. “We had made a call about it in the last season when Joe and McGlinchey were hurt, thinking, wow, this could be an option,” Lynch said (h/t 49ers Web Zone). “When those guys come back, maybe we play him at guard.” Ultimately, the deal didn’t materialize in 2019. Instead, the Niners landed Williams in April, allowing him to stay at left tackle post-Staley retirement.
  • The 49ers hired ex-Jaguars assistant LB coach Mike Rutenberg to serve as a pass game specialist. The former colleague of defensive coordinator Robert Saleh will help fill in the gap following Joe Woods’ departure to Cleveland.
  • Earlier this week, we learned that the 49ers have forfeited their right to apply the franchise tag to Williams. Initially, Williams wanted his new team to furnish him with a lucrative multi-year deal. Instead, he compromised with the Niners, allowing him to reach unrestricted free agency next year with half of his 2020 salary guaranteed.

Coaching Rumors: Bills, Jags, Raiders, Ravens

January 10th, 2017 at 6:47pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Although Anthony Lynn has long been viewed as the favorite to take over as the Bills‘ head coach, team ownership has been extremely impressed by Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Indeed, Buffalo is now in something of a “holding pattern” as Lynn and McDermott interview elsewhere, tweets Vic Carrucci of the Buffalo News. Lynn has been linked to every head coaching job that remains open, while McDermott has drawn interest from the Chargers and 49ers in addition to the Bills, as PFR’s 2017 Head Coaching Search Tracker shows.

Here’s more on the 2017 hiring cycle:

  • The Jaguars will retain defensive coordinator Todd Wash under new head coach Doug Marrone, but nearly every other member of the defensive staff is being let go, reports Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. Defensive assistant Mike Rutenberg is the only other defensive coach who will remain on board. Jacksonville had 24 coaches on staff at the end of the regular season, and that number figures to be reduced, tweets Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union.
  • Ken Norton Jr. will remain the Raiders‘ defensive coordinator, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Head coach Jack Del Rio assumed play-calling duties midway through the 2016 season, and Oakland ultimately finished 23rd in defensive DVOA. While Norton Jr. will stick around, defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson has been fired, according to Alex Marvez of the Sporting News (Twitter link).
  • Former Buffalo offensive coordinator Greg Roman could potentially join the Ravens staff in some undefined role, per La Canfora (all Twitter links). Baltimore recently announced that offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg will return for the 2017 campaign, so Roman — who has remained in contact with head coach John Harbaugh — could join the Ravens in a run-game director capacity.
  • The Eagles have fired wide receivers coach Greg Lewis, tweets Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports. Lewis spent just one season as a coach with Philadelphia (after having spent the 2003-08 seasons with the club as a player). Current Bills WRs coach Sanjay Lal is of “strong interest” to the Eagles, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • The Browns announced that they’ve begun to restructure their defensive staff under new coordinator Gregg Williams, parting ways with defensive backs coach Louie Cioffi, inside linebackers coach Johnny Holland, assistant defensive backs coach Cannon Matthews, and outside linebackers coach Ryan Slowik. Cleveland also fired offensive line coach Hal Hunter.

Extra Points: 49ers, Pats, Cowboys, Jags

January 24th, 2016 at 9:35pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest from around the NFL as the countdown to a Super Bowl 50 matchup between the Panthers and Broncos begins:

  • After appearing in and starting in 71 games from 2010-14, 49ers offensive tackle Anthony Davis decided last June to take a hiatus from football, announcing that he’d “be back in a year or so.” Earlier this month, the 26-year-old added fuel to the fire when he tweeted an intention to return to the 49ers. However, Davis – who’s under 49ers control through 2019 – hasn’t yet set the wheels fully in motion on a comeback. “As of right now, I’ve got no notification from the league to say that he has [filed for reinstatement],” general manager Trent Baalke told 95.7 The Game, per CSNBayArea.com. “But that period is still open.”
  • In other 49ers news, they’ve hired Jeff Hafley to coach their defensive backs, Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter). Hafley was in charge of Cleveland’s secondary the past two seasons.
  • The Patriots need to invest significant resources this offseason in the offensive line – whether through free agency, the draft or both – in order to keep Tom Brady playing at a high level, writes Christopher Price of WEEI.com. Given the beating Brady took Sunday in the Pats’ 20-18 AFC championship game loss in Denver, Price’s suggestion comes as no surprise. The Broncos hit Brady 20 times, four of which were sacks, and kept him under extreme duress throughout the game.
  • The Cowboys will need a new defensive backs coach to replace Jerome Henderson, who took a job in Atlanta. A successor to Henderson in Dallas is unlikely to come from within the organization, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer (via Twitter). That runs contrary to Ian Rapoport’s declaration (via Twitter) earlier Sunday that Cowboys safeties coach Jim Baker will take over for Henderson.
  • Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley has promoted three members of his staff, according to Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union: Tony Sorrentino has gone from offensive quality control coach to assistant receivers coach; Aaron Whitecotton, who was assistant to the defense, is now the assistant D-line coach; and Mike Rutenberg has shifted from assistant defensive backs coach to defensive assistant.