Todd Downing - Pro Football Rumors

Coaching Rumors: Jets, Bills, Jaguars, Titans

January 14th, 2017 at 9:38pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Broncos running backs coach Eric Studesville opted to stay in Denver rather than pursue the Jets‘ offensive coordinator vacancy, and New York’s hope to conduct a wide-ranging search for a new play-caller may have played a factor in Studesville declining to remain in contention, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, who adds that Studesville didn’t want to “lose a bird in the hand.” The Jets have “at least” three other candidates on their radar at the moment, per Cimini, and one name of interest could be Chiefs co-offensive coordinator Matt Nagy (though it’s not clear if the ESPN scribe is reporting or speculating). Kansas City would be able to block any interview request from New York, which could present a problem as Gang Green continues its hunt. The Jets also expressed interest in new Raiders OC Todd Downing before he was promoted from QBs coach, per Cimini.

Here’s more on the coaching front from around the NFL:

The Bills announced that they’ve hired Mike Waufle to serve as the club’s new defensive line coach. Under Waufle’s direction, the 2016 Rams defensive line ranked first against the run, according to Football Outsiders‘ adjusted line yards metric. Additionally, the Bills have released former DC Dennis Thurman and OL coach Aaron Kromer — both of whom were hired by ex-head coach Rex Ryan — from their respective contracts, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
Former Michigan running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley is joining the Jaguars staff, likely in the same capacity, tweets Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio. Jacksonville has already announced that several members of their offensive coaching staff — including play-caller Nathaniel Hackett — will remain in place under new head coach Doug Marrone, but the club has been silent of the fate of current RBs coach Kelly Skipper. Wheatley, who was under consideration for Western Michigan’s head coaching job, last coached in the NFL from 2013-14 with the Bills.
The Titans are not expected to hire any of the wide receivers coaches who have recently been fired around the league, according to Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. Tennessee, seeking to replace Bob Bratkowski, has already offered the WR job to Denver’s Tyke Tolbert, who declined the offer in order to remain with the Broncos.

Raiders To Promote Todd Downing To OC

January 10th, 2017 at 4:48pm CST by Zachary Links

Bill Musgrave is out in Oakland but the Raiders won’t be going out of house to look at candidates. Quarterbacks coach Todd Downing is being promoted to OC, Albert Breer of The MMQB tweets.

Downing was a “hot” coach and had been contacted about “four or five jobs” around the league, a source tells Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Ultimately, the Raiders had to make a choice and they opted to bump up Dowling and let Musgrave’s contract lapse.

Downing, 36, first broke into the NFL coaching ranks as a low-level assistant with the Vikings in 2003. Since then, he steadily moved up the ladder with stops in St. Louis, Detroit, and Buffalo before landing in Oakland. Downing got some good football out of Matthew Stafford when he was the Lions’ QB coach and the league has taken notice of what Downing has been able to do recently with Derek Carr.

Given that the Raiders acted quickly to fill their offensive coordinator vacancy, only one club — the Jets — is currently looking for a new offensive play-caller on offense. Follow all the latest coordinator news by bookmarking PFR’s Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Tracker.

Raiders Part Ways With OC Bill Musgrave

January 10th, 2017 at 3:20pm CST by Zachary Links

Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave will not be returning to the Raiders in 2017, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Musgrave had an expiring contract and the team allowed it to lapse. Now, quarterbacks coach Todd Downing could be an in-house candidate to replace him.

Under Musgrave’s command this year, the Raiders had the No. 6 ranked offense in the NFL. He was recently mentioned as a candidate to take over as the Broncos’ head coach in the wake of Gary Kubiak‘s retirement, but it is not clear whether Denver has reached out to him.

As shown in PFR’s Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Tracker, the Raiders are now the second team this offseason to be in search of an offensive coordinator, joining the Jets. Former Chargers coach Mike McCoy is said to be a candidate for the Jets’ gig and it will be interesting to see if the Raiders seek out an interview with him, given his familiarity with the AFC West. Before his four-year Chargers stint, McCoy spent three years with the Broncos. Now that he’s available, Musgrave could also garner consideration from Gang Green.

Musgrave, 49, has now completed two separate stints with the Raiders, though they were nearly two decades apart. In 1997, he was Oakland’s quarterbacks coach. In 2015, he was hired as OC.

Extra Points: NFLPA, Mayo, Van Pelt, Raiders

January 23rd, 2015 at 2:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The NFL Players Association has formally filed a grievance against the league challenging the NFL’s new personal conduct policy, which was adopted in December despite the NFLPA’s objections, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. The union contends that it didn’t have an opportunity to collectively bargain many key points of the new policy, arguing that the policy violates the CBA and that it was adopted “without the consent, and over the objections, of the NFLPA.”

While we wait to see what comes of the union’s grievance, let’s round up several items from across the NFL….

Injured Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo has been prioritizing his rehabilitation after a season-ending knee injury, and fully intends to get back on the field in 2015, but he has also developed an interest in coaching during his time spent on injured reserve, writes Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. “I’m just trying to learn as much as I can,” Mayo said. “If I do choose to go down that road, hopefully I can apply some of these principles that I’ve learned from coach [Bill] Belichick in my coaching career.”
While a previous report revealed the Packers turned down the Rams’ request to speak to Alex Van Pelt about their offensive coordinator job, St. Louis wasn’t the only team rebuffed by Green Bay. According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), the Jaguars and Bears were also denied permission to interview Van Pelt.
The Raiders have officially confirmed a handful of new additions to Jack Del Rio’s staff, announcing in a press release that they’ve hired Todd Downing (QB coach), Marcus Robertson (DB coach), Sal Sunseri (LB coach), and Mike Tice (OL coach).
The Jets also announced several new assistants in addition to their new coordinators. According to the team, Mike Caldwell (assistant HC/ILB coach), Mark Collins (OLB coach), Joe Danna (DB/S coach), and Karl Dorrell (WR coach) are among the new arrivals.
Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey isn’t phased by the fact that 2015 could be a make-or-break season for him and head coach Joe Philbin, suggesting that he approaches every season as if it’s make-or-break, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
The Texans have made some front office changes, promoting Jon Carr to director of college scouting and hiring Matt Jansen to the new position of college scouting coordinator, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links).
We learned yesterday that Kansas State wide receiver Tyler Lockett met with the Dolphins at the Senior Bowl, but Miami is far from the only team to interview Lockett. The wideout, who is generating plenty of buzz in Mobile, tells James Walker of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he spoke to 28 NFL teams this week.

Coach Updates: Eagles, Raiders, Bucs, Fewell

January 22nd, 2015 at 6:18pm CST by Dallas Robinson

We’ve already seen one club make a defensive coordinator hire today, as the 49ers promoted Eric Mangini from tight ends coach to DC. Let’s take a look at some position coach hires and news from around the league…

The Eagles are expected to add Boston College offensive coordinator Ryan Day as their quarterbacks coach, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter link). Day, who’s been at BC for nine years, will replace Bill Musgrave, who left to take the Raiders’ OC position. Day has a history with Eagles HC Chip Kelly, as Day played under and coached with Kelly at New Hampshire.
The Raiders have also found a new QB coach, as they are set to hire Bills quarterbacks coach Todd Downing, per Caplan (on Twitter). Downing also interviewed for roles with the Browns and Buccaneers, according to Caplan.
Not to be outdone, the Buccaneers have become the third team to hire a new QBs coach, as they’ve brought in Mike Bajakian to fill their vacancy, reports Roy Cummings of the Tampa Bay Tribune (Twitter link). Bajakian, previously the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee, worked under Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith with the Bears. The Bucs have also added ex-Falcons assistant Andrew Weidinger as an offensive quality control coach, writes Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times.
Ex-Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has an interview lined up with the 49ers, according to Dianna Marie Russini of NBC4 (via Twitter). San Francisco just hired Mangini, so Fewell is presumably a candidate for the Niners’ DB coach job, as Cam Inman of the Mercury News tweets.
Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com expects (Twitter link) that Falcons assistant offensive line coach Wade Harman will remain on staff as the tight ends coach; as McClure notes, Harman held that same role in Baltimore from 1998-2013.
Former 49ers secondary coach Ed Donatell has accepted the same position with the Bears, but as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes, Donatell might have missed out on other opportunities in the past. In each of the last two offseasons, San Francisco blocked Donatell from accepting interview requests from the Buccaneers and the Saints, per Maiocco.