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Steve Loney

Staff Notes: Fins, Cowboys, Texans, Chiefs

January 11th, 2018 at 7:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Having interviewed for the Giants’ HC position earlier this week, Eric Studesville will make a trip to Miami. With the Giants zeroing in others for their top coaching job, Studesville is set to interview with the Dolphins for a position on their offensive staff, Alex Marvez of the Sporting News tweets.

This comes on the same day a running backs coach vacancy opened up with the Dolphins, who are relieving Danny Barrett of his duties overseeing the team’s backfield, per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). Salguero adds Studesville could be a candidate for the running backs job but possibly something else. Adam Gase tried to hire Studesville as RBs coach in 2016, but the Broncos blocked the move, Salguero reports.

Studesville coached the Broncos’ running backs for the past eight seasons and was listed as a Denver assistant head coach prior to being fired after this season. Studesville has coached NFL backfields since 1997 and instructed the Bears’, Giants’ and Bills’ running backs from 1997-2009. Barrett coached in college and in the CFL prior to leading the Fins’ backfield the past two seasons. Gase worked with Studesville for a longer period of time, however. The two spent five seasons together on Broncos staffs.

Here’s the latest from the assistant carousel.

  • Elsewhere in the RBs-coaching game, the Chiefs are interviewing USC running backs coach Deland McCullough for the job Eric Bieniemy vacated when he received a promotion to OC, per Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). McCullough has coached the Trojans’ backs for one season but is better known for helping Indiana ball-carriers from 2011-16. Tevin Coleman and Jordan Howard thrived under McCullough’s tutelage in Bloomington.
  • Gary Brown‘s become a coveted assistant over the past two weeks. The Cowboys want to retain him, and the Raiders were interested prior to hiring their next RBs instructor as well. The Texans are now in the mix, with Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporting Brown has offers to coach in Houston and Dallas. Brown is a coaching free agent; he led the Cowboys’ RBs from 2013-17. The Texans fired running backs coach Charles London last week.
  • Miles Austin interviewed for the Cowboys’ wide receivers coach position, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports. The Cowboys saw previous WRs coach Derek Dooley join Missouri’s coaching staff as OC. Austin’s worked in Dallas’ scouting department the past two seasons since retiring.
  • The Browns hired a new wideouts coach in Adam Henry, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It’s a three-year deal for Henry, who was previously the Giants’ receivers coach. Henry coached Big Blue’s wideouts the past two seasons.
  • The Bengals hired former Cowboys offensive line coach Frank Pollack, Hill reports. Pollack coached Dallas’ O-line from 2015-17. He’ll replace Paul Alexander, whom the Bengals fired after more than two decades on staff. Alexander could make this a swap, with Hill reporting he interviewed Thursday to become Cowboys offensive line coach.
  • Cowboys tight ends coach Steve Loney is retiring, Hill reports. The 65-year-old assistant worked with five NFL teams and served as OC for Iowa State and Minnesota during the late 1990s and early ’00s.

NFC Coaching Notes: Nagy, Cowboys, Cards

January 6th, 2018 at 2:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

As the wild-card round looms, here’s the latest from the NFC side of the coaching carousel.

  • Chiefs OC Matt Nagy will have a quick turnaround after Saturday’s first-round game. He’s set for interviews with the Bears and Colts on Sunday for those franchises’ respective HC jobs, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. These are the only two teams to which the 39-year-old OC has been connected. He’s finishing out his second season as Kansas City’s OC. Doug Pederson served in that role for three seasons prior to leaving for Philadelphia.
  • The Cardinals have cast a wide net in their search to replace Bruce Arians, and they are meeting with two members of the Patriots’ defensive staff today. DC Matt Patricia and linebackers coach Brian Flores are meeting with Cards representatives in New England, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). While Flores has only been linked to the Cardinals, Patricia is a candidate for the Giants’ and Lions’ HC jobs.
  • The Cowboys continue to make staff changes as the week winds down. After QBs coach Wade Wilson and secondary coach Joe Baker were dismissed earlier this week, Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News reports (on Twitter) the team is now moving on from wide receivers coach Derek Dooley and tight ends coach Steve Loney. While coordinators Scott Linehan and Rod Marinelli are expected to be back in 2018, many position coaching vacancies exist in Dallas.
  • With Joe Philbin reported to be heading back to Green Bay, he will be set to oversee new Packers wide receivers coach Jim Hostler. Alex Marvez of the Sporting News tweets Hostler will move from the position of Colts wideouts coach to the same job with the Packers, and if the Philbin hire ends up happening, both coaches will be moving from Indianapolis to Green Bay. Hostler’s most notable NFL job came in 2007 when he was the 49ers’ OC.

NFC East Notes: Eagles, Cowboys, Giants

March 1st, 2017 at 9:00pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Eagles are entering free agency in need of help at wide receiver. Fortunately for them, “several” unsigned wideouts regard the idea of playing with Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz as intriguing, according to Tim McManus of ESPN.com. Unsurprisingly, one of those players is the Redskins’ DeSean Jackson, who has made it clear he’d be open to returning to Philadelphia, where he starred from 2008-13. “Carson Wentz, he came in and had a heck of the year as a rookie. I don’t think a lot of people saw that coming,” Jackson told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The 30-year-old added that Wentz “has all the intangibles in being a big-time quarterback in this league.”

More from the NFC East:

  • Despite a report claiming that right tackle Doug Free is mulling retirement, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett says he has heard no such talk (Twitter link via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News). The 33-year-old Free just finished his 10th season and sixth with 16 starts. He’s entering a contract year and due a base salary of $5MM in 2017.
  • Although Ereck Flowers was the ninth overall pick in the draft just two years ago, Giants head coach Ben McAdoo was unwilling to call him the team’s answer at left tackle going forward, writes Tom Rock of Newsday. Flowers was disastrous for a large part of last season, as he allowed 59 QB pressures and took a league-high 13 penalties. However, he’s still just 22, of which McAdoo is cognizant. “You can make a case that he could be here right now preparing to go out and run in the Combine,” said McAdoo. “He’s a young player who has a lot of room to grow and we expect him to grow. We have confidence he’s going to grow.”
  • Cowboys tight ends coach Mike Pope is retiring after three years on Garrett’s staff, reports Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. The Cowboys will replace the 75-year-old Pope with senior offensive assistant Steve Loney. Pope coached in the league for 34 years, during which he won four Super Bowls with the Giants.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

NFC Notes: Cardinals, Cowboys, Buccaneers

January 24th, 2016 at 6:14pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Cardinals running back Chris Johnson hasn’t played since late November because of a fractured tibia, but the team will activate him for Super Bowl 50 if it defeats Carolina in the NFC title game, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reports (Twitter link via Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo). Johnson, 30, rushed for 814 yards and three touchdowns in 11 regular-season games before landing on IR-DTR. He returned to practice earlier this month.

More on the potentially Super Bowl-bound Cards and a couple of their fellow NFC teams:

  • The Cowboys are making adjustments to their offensive coaching staff, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. Steve Loney, who was the Cowboys’ assistant offensive line coach this season, will become the tight ends coach. That leaves the future of incumbent TEs coach Mike Pope unclear. Marc Colombo, who played for Dallas from 2005-10, will take over Loney’s old post as the club’s assistant O-line coach.
  • Carson Palmer‘s $6.35MM base salary for 2016 is on track to increase by $800,000 because of playing time escalators, tweets CBS Sports’ Joel Corry. If that happens, Palmer’s $8.15MM base salary for 2017 will decrease by the same total, however, per Corry (Twitter link).
  • The Buccaneers are hiring Brett Maxie as a defensive backs coach, according to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Bay Tribune (Twitter link). Maxie, who coached Vanderbilt defensive backs the last two years, will join Jon Hoke as the Bucs’ second DBs coach.