HEADLINES

Todd Haley

Coaching Rumors: Dolphins, Pagano, Texans

October 27th, 2015 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

A report this weekend indicated that Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley is expected to receive consideration in the offseason for the Dolphins‘ head coaching job. However, asked if there’s any truth to those Haley rumors, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) replied, “None.”

It isn’t the first time that Salguero has shot down a Dolphins-related report from La Canfora — during the 2014 offseason, La Canfora reported that the club was exploring trades involving players like Mike Wallace and Dion Jordan, which Salguero’s sources emphatically denied. It’s not entirely clear if the team was indeed considering deals back then, but the Dolphins ultimately traded Wallace a year later, and probably wish they had moved Jordan as well.

In this case, the performance of the Dolphins and interim coach Dan Campbell down the stretch will play a significant role in what candidates Miami considers after the season — if the club continues to look as good as it has in Campbell’s first two games, it’s hard not to imagine the team hiring him on a full-time basis.

Here are a few more coaching notes and rumors from around the NFL:

  • While Chuck Pagano‘s job in Indianapolis isn’t totally safe, it’s highly unlikely that the Colts will make a change this week, tweets Bob Kravitz of WTHR.com. Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star is skeptical that firing Pagano is the answer to turning things around for the Colts.
  • If the Colts do decide to make an in-season change, that move is most likely to happen during the club’s Week 10 bye, says Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Cole identifies offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, assistant head coach Rob Chudzinski, and quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen as the four in-house candidates to replace Pagano.
  • In the wake of Monday’s report that head coach Bill O’Brien and general manager Rick Smith disagreed on whether Ryan Mallett should be cut, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk examines the Texans‘ organizational structure, suggesting that it will likely continue to cause problems. In Smith’s view, it may be time for either the head coach or GM – or both – to go. For what it’s worth, following Mallett’s release today, Tania Ganguil of ESPN.com tweeted that Rick Smith was always on board with the decision, but disagreed about the timing of the move, which would’ve left the team with just one active veteran quarterback.
  • The Lions‘ firing of offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi should officially put head coach Jim Caldwell on notice, writes Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com.
  • The Eagles are almost certainly giving DeMarco Murray more playing time than Ryan Mathews because of the difference between the two players’ contracts and guaranteed money, and that’s just one example of how Chip Kelly‘s moves as a GM are hampering him as a head coach, says Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • Michael Reghi, Bud Shaw, Dan Labbe, and Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group debate whether Browns head coach Mike Pettine should be on the hot seat in Cleveland.

Todd Haley A Candidate For Dolphins HC?

October 25th, 2015 at 4:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley has had success as a head coach before, leading the Chiefs to a 10-6 record and the AFC West title during his second season in Kansas City. Now, due no doubt to his work with Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the Pittsburgh offense, Haley could ascend to the head coaching ranks once again, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reports that Haley has support from Dolphins officials and is expected to receive “ample consideration” for the position.

Per La Canfora, Bill Parcells — known to have the ear of Dolphins owner Stephen Ross — is highly supportive of Haley, who workd under Parcells with both the Jets and the Cowboys. Many of Ross’ recent hires, including football czar Mike Tannenbaum, have come from the Parcells “coaching tree,” as La Canfora notes, so the interest in Haley would not come as a surprise.

Haley, 48, posted a pedestrian 19-26 overall record with the Chiefs, but his success as a offensive play-caller is hard to question. He helped lead the Cardinals to the Super Bowl following the 2008 season, and has molded Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and others into one of the best offenses in the league. Pittsburgh’s offense has improved each season under Haley, topping out as the second-best unit in 2014, per Football Outsiders’ DVOA.

One obvious impediment to Haley landing in Miami is the presence of interim head coach Dan Campbell, and more specifically, how the Dolphins play for the remainder of the season. The club has won its first two games under Campbell, including a 44-26 drubbing of the Texans today. It’s hard to judge a locker room from the outside, but it’s clear the Miami is playing with a renewed energy. If that continues for the duration of the year, it will be hard for the Dolphins front office to not retain Campbell.

Steelers Extend OC Todd Haley

January 8th, 2015 at 4:21pm CST by Luke Adams

The Steelers have signed offensive coordinator Todd Haley to a two-year contract extension that keep him under team control through the 2016 season, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bouchette writes that the deal was completed “quietly,” so it’s not clear if an agreement was reached this week, or while the Steelers’ Super Bowl hopes were still alive.

Haley absorbed some criticism – notably from rapper Snoop Dogg – early in the season when the Steelers got off to an up-and-down start, but his offense recovered nicely, ultimately finishing second in the league with 411.1 yards per game. The unit, which put up 94 total points in a pair of back-to-back midseason contests against the Colts and Ravens, also ranked second in DVOA, per Football Outsiders.

With Haley locked up, the Steelers will work toward securing another key piece of their offense beyond the 2015 season, with the team expected to try to negotiate an extension with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this offseason. Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review took a shot this week at estimating what a new contract for Big Ben would look like, and predicted an agreement in the range of five years and $100MM.