Scott Huff

Coaching Notes: Shimko, Cowboys, Rams, Giants

February 10th, 2025 at 8:03pm CST by Ben Levine

The Cowboys continue to refine their offensive coaching staff. ESPN’s Todd Archer reports that the Cowboys will name Steve Shimko as their new quarterbacks coach.

After most recently serving as a Cowboys offensive assistant, Shimko is one of the main holdovers on Brian Schottenheimer‘s new staff. However, Shimko is plenty familiar with his new boss, as the two worked alongside each other in Seattle before reuniting in Dallas last year.

During that Seahawks stint, Shimko worked his way up from an offensive analyst into an assistant QBs coach. He left for Boston College in 2020, where he climbed the ranks from tight ends coach to quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. He only had a one-year stint in that latter role before Bill O’Brien brought on a new staff.

Shimko will be replacing Scott Tolzien, who spent two years coaching Dak Prescott and the Cowboys quarterbacks.

More coaching notes from around the NFL…

Carlos Polk lost out on the Cowboys ST coordinator gig, but he’ll still land in Dallas as the team’s assistant special teams coach under Nick Sorensen, per Archer. Polk held this same role with the Cowboys in 2019, and he’s since held that title with the Jaguars (2021) and Bears (2022-2024). The former NFL linebacker has also had coaching stints with the Chargers and Buccaneers.
After losing Nick Caley to Houston, the Rams have found their new tight ends coach. The team has hired Scott Huff to lead the position grouping, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Huff had coaching stints at the University of Washington and Boise State before catching on with the Seahawks, where he spent last season coaching the offensive line. In Los Angeles, the coach will be responsible for a depth chart that’s currently led by Tyler Higbee and Colby Parkinson.
The Giants have added Chad Hall to their staff as an assistant quarterbacks coach, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Hall will reunite with Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen, as the trio worked alongside each other during their stints in Buffalo. A former NFL wide receiver, Hall coached that position with the Bills and Jaguars, but after eight years working up the ranks, he is now pivoting to the quarterbacks room.
Adam Morris has accepted a job as the Browns assistant defensive line coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. This is the coach’s first foray into the NFL, as he previously held jobs at Ball State, Eastern Illinois, and (most recently) the University at Buffalo. In that latter stop, Morris served as the defensive line coach/run game coordinator.

Seahawks Fire OC Ryan Grubb

January 6th, 2025 at 11:09am CST by Sam Robinson

Ryan Grubb made his professional debut this season, but the Seahawks did not like how it went. After rumors of making Grubb a one-and-done surfaced, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports the team will move on from the former college play-caller.

The Seahawks had poached Grubb from Alabama’s staff. The former Washington OC had followed Kalen DeBoer from Seattle to Tuscaloosa in 2024, but Mike Macdonald made an outside-the-box hire, with other NFL teams not showing interest in Grubb. While college interest should come Grubb’s way again, this is a quick dismissal at the pro level.

Although the Seahawks improved in total offense by going from 21st to 14th from 2023-24, they ranked 28th on the ground. That was believed to have driven Grubb to the hot seat. Macdonald may well target a more experienced option soon, as his college hire did not distinguish himself. Offensive line coach Scott Huff worked with Grubb at Washington, and the two were therefore seen by many as a package deal. Macdonald said on Monday, however, that despite Grubb’s dismissal Huff is likely to remain on staff (h/t The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar).

While Geno Smith has not taken steps forward after his Comeback Player of the Year campaign, he is at worst a middling starting QB. Grubb’s offense also produced a breakthrough effort from 2023 first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had struggled to establish consistency under Shane Waldron. Smith-Njigba jumped from 628 receiving yards as a rookie to 1,130 this season. That will certainly help Grubb if/when he returns to the college level, but this early ouster would stand to trip alarms in the NFL.

Grubb had been the play-caller during Michael Penix Jr.‘s two dominant seasons at Washington, doing plenty to elevate the left-hander to top-10 draft status. Smith finished 21st in QBR, dropping a bit from 2023; the resurgent passer also threw 15 interceptions after finishing 2023 with just nine. Granted, the latter total came in just 15 starts due to two injury-driven absences. Smith played all 17 games this season, guiding the Seahawks to a 10-7 record. Untimely INTs did help define his season, though, and it will now be three play-callers in three seasons — assuming Seattle retains its Russell Wilson successor — for the 34-year-old vet.

The Seahawks interviewed Giants OC Mike Kafka for their HC position and tried to meet with him for their OC post soon after hiring Macdonald; New York blocked the latter effort. With the Giants rumored to have Kafka on the hot seat upon retaining Brian Daboll, the two-year Big Blue play-caller could be a name to watch for this Seahawks post.

Seahawks To Hire Rams’ Jake Peetz

February 15th, 2024 at 4:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of the candidates for the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator position, Jake Peetz will instead join another team that recently hired a new head coach. This will result in another Sean McVay assistant departing the Rams.

The Seahawks are adding Peetz to their staff as pass-game coordinator, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. Peetz has not previously coached alongside Mike Macdonald or new Seattle OC Ryan Grubb. He will nevertheless become the latest Rams assistant to depart Los Angeles and join one of this year’s new HC hires.

Peetz, 38, has been with the Rams for two seasons; he served as a pass-game specialist. He will follow Raheem Morris, Zac Robinson, Jimmy Lake and Eric Henderson off McVay’s staff. Previously the Panthers’ QBs coach under Matt Rhule in 2020, Peetz has spent time in the college game. But he did not coach on the same teams that employed Grubb and Macdonald previously. The Bucs interviewed Peetz late last month but hired another ex-McVay staffer, Liam Coen, to be their play-caller.

Peetz worked as LSU’s offensive coordinator in 2021 and was on Nick Saban‘s Alabama staff in 2013 and then again in 2018. Macdonald was at Georgia in 2013, prior to his long-term Ravens stint, and then resurfaced at Michigan in 2021. While Grubb has spent most of his career in the college ranks, he was in Division I-FCS or at the mid-major level prior to becoming Washington’s OC in 2022. But hiring McVay staffers represents a trend that has not cooled off within the NFL.

While this will keep a McVay tributary flowing to Seattle, Peetz did not work on the same staff as previous Seahawks OC Shane Waldron. The Rams ranked 10th in pass offense last season, and Matthew Stafford bounced back from an injury-filled 2022 to finish sixth in QBR. The 35-year-old passer led a team tied to a retooling year back to the playoffs, nearly toppling the No. 3-seeded Lions in the wild-card round. McVay now must replace his QBs coach and pass-game specialist. Peetz turned down a chance to work with Rhule at Nebraska late in 2022, opting to continue his career in the pros.

Additionally, the Seahawks are hiring Scott Huff as their offensive line coach, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Huff spent the past seven years as Washington’s offensive line coach. He was also set to follow Kalen DeBoer alongside Grubb to Alabama. But Grubb will instead bring him back to the Pacific Northwest. Huff previously served as Boise State’s co-OC, being on Chris Petersen’s staff for 11 seasons — several of them coaching the Broncos’ O-linemen or tight ends. Like Grubb, this will be Huff’s first NFL assignment.

Seattle is also adding Devin Fitzsimmons as its assistant special teams coach. Fitzsimmons will work under ST coordinator Jay Harbaugh. Fitzsimmons has nine seasons’ worth of NFL experience, most recently serving as the Panthers’ assistant ST coach.