Tom Coughlin - Pro Football Rumors

Coaching Notes: Buccaneers, Titans, Coughlin

January 16th, 2016 at 10:41am CST by Ben Levine

Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports (via Twitter) that the Buccaneers will hire Jon Hoke as their defensive backs coach. The 58-year-old has spent much of his career in the NCAA, where he was the defensive backs coach for Missouri, Florida, and South Carolina (among many others). Hoke also had a seven-year stint as the Texans DB coach, and he also spent five seasons with the Bears.

Let’s take a look at some more coaching notes from around the league…

Dirk Koetter is overjoyed to be the Buccaneers new head coach, writes Rick Stroud of TampaBay.com. The 56-year-old has been coaching in the NFL since 2007, and he’s thrilled to finally get an opportunity to lead the entire operation. “First, you know, it’s emotional, a day like this. It’s one of the happiest days of my life but also one of the most humbling,” Koetter said. “It’s been a long time, a long time in the making. There’s 32 of these jobs in the world. I know I can do the job, even though I’m whimpering around a little bit up here today. I’m a little tougher than I’ve been coming across so far. I’m ready for it. Nothing that is said here today is going to affect us one bit in wins and losses. That all comes later. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
Defensive coordinator Ray Horton is meeting with the Titans today, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that it will the organization’s last scheduled interview for their head coaching vacancy. The reporter notes that the position could be filled today, and he believes the job is “Mike Mularkey‘s to lose.” If the interim head coach does get the full-time position, Rapoport expects it to be on a short-term contract.
Giants co-owner John Mara admitted that he didn’t want to see former head coach Tom Coughlin take the same gig with the Eagles. “I’m not going to lie, it would’ve bothered me a lot,” Mara said (via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News). “It would’ve been like watching Bill Parcells walk out onto the field with a (Dallas) star on his shirt. That was tough to see at the time. That would’ve bothered me. I want him to be happy, but I certainly didn’t want to see him happy in green.”

Tom Coughlin Withdraws From Eagles HC Search

January 14th, 2016 at 1:37pm CST by Zachary Links

1:37pm: Coughlin could have landed the Eagles’ head coaching position had he not removed his name from consideration, sources tell Gary Myers of the New York Daily News (Twitter links). With most of his assistant coaches still under contract in New York, Coughlin didn’t want to start over with a new staff and the Giants weren’t about to let all those assistants join him.

12:11pm: Tom Coughlin is withdrawing his name from consideration for Eagles head coaching job, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The veteran coach feels that he’s not the right fit for the job. Coughlin had concerns about the Eagles job, including who the offensive coordinator would be, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

In theory, Coughlin taking himself out of the running in Philly could signal something happening with the 49ers, where he has been said to be a strong candidate. However, the Niners are said to be down to Chip Kelly or Mike Shanahan for their own vacancy, which would leave Coughlin on the outside looking in.

As PFR’s 2016 NFL Head Coaching Search Trackershows, Coughlin was one of many candidates to be connected to the job in Philadelphia. So far, the team has also interviewed interim head coach Pat Shurmur, running backs coach Duce Staley, offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo (before he was hired by the Giants), and Chiefs OC Doug Pederson. The Eagles were reportedly closing in on McAdoo before the Giants locked him down on Wednesday evening. Shurmur, Staley, and Pederson have not interviewed with any other teams to date.

Coughlin, who previously served as head coach of the Jaguars, led the Giants to a 102-90 record during his 12 seasons with the team. He also added eight victories in 11 postseason contests, with all of those wins coming in two seasons – 2007 and 2011 – during which the Giants won the Super Bowl.

In recent years, however, Coughlin’s Giants struggled, having failed to earn a postseason berth since that 2011 Super Bowl season. After going 9-7 in 2012, New York has had three straight losing years, finishing 6-10 in a weak NFC East in 2015 and sealing Coughlin’s fate — the Giants were expected to make a change if the veteran head coach hadn’t resigned.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Talks Between Eagles, Tom Coughlin Heating Up

January 14th, 2016 at 9:22am CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles’ talks with Tom Coughlin have intensified, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com hears (Twitter links). He adds that there are questions for Coughlin to answer, but the two sides are far down the line and appear to be headed towards a deal. The Eagles are set for a face-to-face meeting with Coughlin today and this powwow is expected to be a lot more in-depth than the last one (link).

As PFR’s 2016 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker shows, Coughlin is one of many candidates to be connected to the job in Philadelphia. So far, the team has also interviewed interim head coach Pat Shurmur, running backs coach Duce Staley, offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo (before he was hired by the Giants), and Chiefs OC Doug Pederson. The Eagles were reportedly closing in on McAdoo before the Giants locked him down on Wednesday evening.

Coughlin, who previously served as head coach of the Jaguars, led the Giants to a 102-90 record during his 12 seasons with the team. He also added eight victories in 11 postseason contests, with all of those wins coming in two seasons – 2007 and 2011 – during which the Giants won the Super Bowl.

In recent years, however, Coughlin’s Giants struggled, having failed to earn a postseason berth since that 2011 Super Bowl season. After going 9-7 in 2012, New York has had three straight losing years, finishing 6-10 in a weak NFC East in 2015 and sealing Coughlin’s fate — the Giants were expected to make a change if the veteran head coach hadn’t resigned.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

49ers Backing Off Hue Jackson Pursuit?

January 12th, 2016 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Last week, Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson was viewed as the potential frontrunner for the 49ers’ head coaching job. But with Jackson also drawing legit interest from the Browns and Giants, it sounds like the Niners are backing off their pursuit of the Cincinnati assistant, tweets Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. Kawakami says the team could double back to Jackson, but for now he appears more likely to land in Cleveland or New York.

Michael Silver of NFL Media, who reported earlier today that the Browns are Jackson’s most aggressive suitor, tweets that no teams are out of the running for him yet. Silver suggested a few hours ago that the Niners remained “very interested.”

With Jackson’s Bengals out of the playoffs, the offensive coordinator is free to pursue head coaching opportunities and speak to any team. Now that Adam Gase has joined the Dolphins, Jackson has become perhaps the hottest name on the market — Cleveland is reportedly making a “big push” to land him, though he may speak to the Giants before making a decision. A report this morning indicated that Jackson and the Giants will meet by Thursday morning at the latest.

The 49ers have interviewed five candidates for their head coaching opening so far — Anthony Lynn (Bills), Chip Kelly (ex-Eagles), Dirk Koetter (49ers), John DeFilippo (Browns), and Jackson have all met with the team, though DeFilippo is believed to be targeted as a potential offensive coordinator rather than a head coach.

San Francisco is conducting its sixth head coaching interview today, and it’s perhaps the most intriguing of the bunch, as former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is meeting with the 49ers. Per Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, the interview will take place in the New York area, and will be conducted by GM Trent Baalke — CEO Jed York is in Houston at the NFL’s owners meetings to discuss the Los Angeles situation.

As Barrows observes, DeFilippo worked on the Giants’ coaching staff in 2005 and 2006 when Coughlin was the head coach, so the Niners could be contemplating a scenario where they hire Coughlin as their new head coach and DeFilippo as the OC and heir apparent. DeFilippo is meeting today with the Rams about their offensive coordinator job.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

49ers To Interview Tom Coughlin

January 12th, 2016 at 11:23am CST by Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 11:23am: The 49ers will meet with Coughlin today, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).

MONDAY, 2:36pm: After resigning last week from his job in New York, Tom Coughlin is meeting today with one of the team’s division rivals in Philadelphia, and it appears the Eagles won’t be the only team to interview the former Giants head coach. According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link), the 49ers have been granted permission to speak to Coughlin about their head coaching vacancy.

Having stepped down from his head coaching position with the Giants last week, Coughlin was offered the opportunity to remain with the organization in a new role, but suggested at the time that he wasn’t closing the door on continuing to coach. At age 69, if Coughlin is going to get a new head coaching job, it probably makes sense for him to explore new opportunities sooner rather than later, so he didn’t waste much time in lining up interviews with potential suitors.

Coughlin, who previously served as head coach of the Jaguars, led the Giants to a 102-90 record during his 12 seasons with the team. He also added eight victories in 11 postseason contests, with all of those wins coming in two seasons – 2007 and 2011 – during which the Giants won the Super Bowl.

In recent years, however, Coughlin’s Giants struggled, having failed to earn a postseason berth since that 2011 Super Bowl season. After going 9-7 in 2012, New York has had three straight losing years, finishing 6-10 in a weak NFC East in 2015 and sealing Coughlin’s fate — the Giants were expected to make a change if the veteran head coach hadn’t resigned.

The 49ers have interviewed five candidates for their head coaching opening so far — Anthony Lynn (Bills), Chip Kelly (ex-Eagles), Dirk Koetter (49ers), John DeFilippo (Browns), and Hue Jackson (Bengals) have all met with the team, though DeFilippo is believed to be targeted as a potential offensive coordinator rather than a head coach.

Of those candidates, Jackson is viewed as the front-runner, but he is also being pursued by the Browns and Giants, so it appears the Niners are trying to come up with a strong Plan B. Reports have suggested that San Francisco could also double back to candidates that interviewed for the team’s HC position a year ago. Teryl Austin, Doug Marrone, Josh McDaniels, and Mike Shanahan all fall into that category.

Coughlin’s interview with the Niners hasn’t been formally scheduled yet, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, who tweets that it could happen in Houston this week, with team owners there for Los Angeles meetings. Those relocation discussions could have an impact on a few teams’ coaching searches, with owners focusing their attention for a couple days on the respective futures of the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Eagles Interview Doug Pederson, To Interview Tom Coughlin

January 10th, 2016 at 5:33pm CST by Ben Levine

SUNDAY, 5:33pm: The Eagles are progressing with this idea and will officially interview Coughlin on Monday, Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press reports.

The Eagles also met with Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson in Kansas City on Sunday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). A former Eagles quarterback, Pederson has only been connected to the Philadelphia job. He’s in his third season as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator.

SATURDAY, 9:56am: Coughlin also has an offer from the Giants to stay with the organization, reports Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). However, Coughlin is reportedly seeking a head coaching gig.

SATURDAY, 8:42am: Former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is expected to speak with the Eagles this week about their head coaching vacancy, reports Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports. Since the 69-year-old resigned with a year left on his contract, the Giants still technically hold his rights, and that means the organization would be able to deny any interview requests. However, it appears as if the Eagles request was granted. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the two sides will meet Monday, describing the meeting as more of a “feeling-out for both than an interview.”

When Coughlin stepped down as head coach of the Giants earlier this week, it was uncertain if the 69-year-old would ever coach again. The two sides parted mutually, but the head coach made it clear that he was “resigning,” not retiring.

Coughlin has compiled a 169-146 record in his long coaching career, including a 102-90 mark with the Giants. He has won three Super Bowls, including a pair as head coach of the G-Men. The last few seasons haven’t been as successful, as the team has finished in third place for three straight years and hasn’t reached nine victories since 2012.

Of course, things weren’t much better for the Eagles in 2015, as the squad finished with a disappointing 7-9 record. This led to the dismissal of head coach Chip Kelly, a move that surprised Coughlin.

“Quite frankly, I’m not surprised by anything in this business,” Coughlin said (via Garafolo). “But that one was close.”

Coughlin isn’t the only candidate for the gig, as the Eagles also have interest in former quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson.

East Notes: Dolphins, M. Smith, Coughlin

January 10th, 2016 at 11:42am CST by Rory Parks

In a fascinating post from Armando Salguero this morning, the Miami Herald scribe dives into the Dolphins‘ front office drama that the team hopes will come to an end in the Adam Gase era. In 2013, Salguero writes that the relationship between then-Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin and then-GM Jeff Ireland was on the rocks, and owner Stephen Ross ultimately chose to fire Ireland. Ross also debated firing then-offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, and in order to save his assistant and friend, Philbin privately blamed the team’s offensive struggles on quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

Although Philbin continued to toe the company line publicly, reaffirming his faith in Tannehill on numerous occasions–with one or two notable exceptions–his internal discussions had a much different tone. Philbin urged the team to draft Derek Carr in the first round of the 2014 draft, and even after Tannehill enjoyed a relatively successful 2014 campaign, Philbin continued to take out his frustrations on Tannehill, a trend that continued into the team’s difficult start to the 2015 season. Ultimately, that situation was one of the factors that led the Dolphins to hire Gase, who they expect to forge a relationship with the quarterback they’ve committed to and to make him the best player he can be.

Now let’s dive into a few more notes from the league’s east divisions, beginning with more out of South Beach.

James Walker of ESPN.com affirms that Dan Campbell‘s future with the Dolphins will be determined by Gase, but Walker does add that Ross would like to keep Campbell on the team’s coaching staff. In a separate piece, Walker writes that Gase will be calling the team’s offensive plays.
Mike Smith will interview with the Giants for their head coaching vacancy tomorrow, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
Mike Garafolo of FOXSports tweets that there were “rumblings” that the Giants would interview Hue Jackson for their head coaching job, but they may not get that chance, as there are multiple reports suggesting that the 49ers could hire Jackson as early as today.
Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer says former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin will meet with the Eagles tomorrow to discuss their head coaching vacancy. Interestingly, Berman calls the meeting an “interview,” and not a “feeling-out” as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggested yesterday.
Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News compiles an offseason to-d0 list for the Bills, a list topped by an extension for GM Doug Whaley and a release of Mario Williams.
David Moore of the Dallas Morning News looks into why the Cowboys have been unable to land an adequate backup quarterback for Tony Romo, and Moore says head coach Jason Garrett should bear as much responsibility for that failing as owner Jerry Jones.

Extra Points: Dolphins, H. Jackson, Bucs, Texans

January 9th, 2016 at 10:37pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Before hiring Adam Gase as their head coach Saturday, the Dolphins considered several other candidates. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald passes along some interesting information on a handful of those names.

The Dolphins interviewed ex-Falcons head coach Mike Smith, but they felt he lacked “some of the gravitas” for the position. In Mike Shanahan‘s case, Miami’s bigwigs were worried that too many of the two-time Super Bowl winner’s potential assistants had jobs elsewhere, which would’ve negatively affected his ability to assemble a staff. They also had concern about whether Shanahan would be prone to complacency. The Dolphins discussed the idea of pursuing another two-time champion, Tom Coughlin, but they decided the soon-to-be 70-year-old was too advanced in age to factor into their long-term plans. Dan Campbell, the Dolphins’ interim head coach for most of the 2015-16 campaign, was the runner-up to Gase. The team simply didn’t think he was ready for the full-time job. Doug Marrone came in third place, largely because his plan for quarterback Ryan Tannehill wasn’t as enticing as Gase’s.

Tannehill didn’t have the belief of ex-head coach Joe Philbin, Salguero offers, but the Dolphins are confident the relationship between him and Gase will bear more fruit.

“We’re convinced you’ll see a different Ryan Tannehill next year,” a team source told Salguero. “That’s how much Adam will affect things around here.”

East Notes: Dolphins, Marrone, Bills, Jets

January 9th, 2016 at 4:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are some notes from the Eastern divisions as the playoffs begin.

Dan Campbell did not react well when told the Dolphins were hiring Adam Gase, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald tweets. Although the interim coach who guided the Dolphins to a 5-7 mark, per Salguero (on Twitter), finished second to Gase after a “great” interview (Twitter link), the team will wait a few days before contacting him again after the way the 39-year-old coach took the news. Campbell’s future in the organization will be up to Gase, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (via Twitter).
The Dolphins studied Tom Coughlin‘s work from this past season and had a long conversation about the viability of the 69-year-old coach but opted against (Twitter links, per Salguero).
Doug Marrone officially interviewed with the Giants today, Michael Eisen of Giants.com reports. The Jaguars assistant and former Bills coach is the fifth coach Big Blue’s visited with about the possibility of succeeding Tom Coughlin. That list will expand to six soon, with Mike Smith set to interview for the position. Thus far, however, Marrone and Steve Spagnuolo are the only former head coaches the Giants have interviewed, and neither enjoyed notable success. Spagnuolo went 10-38 in St. Louis, and Marrone went 15-17 with the Bills after guiding Syracuse to two winning seasons from 2009-12. The Jags new offensive assistant did help the team score 127 more points than it did in 2014, however.
Bills offensive line assistant coach Kurt Anderson will leave his Buffalo post after agreeing to become the offensive line coach at Arkansas, according to a FootballScoop.com report. A member of the Bills’ staff from 2013-15, Anderson served under both Marrone and Rex Ryan.
According to OverTheCap, the Bills are $373K+ over the projected salary cap. Although the official number for the 2016 cap hasn’t been released, the Bills likely won’t be big spenders during free agency, Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News reports. Skurski notes it’s a matter of if, not when in terms of Mario Williams‘ impending release. He also lists Corey Graham, Kyle Williams and Leodis McKelvin as potential salary cap casualties.
Re-signing Damon Harrison needs to be a priority for the Jets, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes. Mehta projects the Jets’ nose tackle’s AAV will be around $4MM-$5MM per year. The New York scribe also advises the Jets to rework D’Brickashaw Ferguson‘s contract, which will count $14.1MM against the ’16 cap at present. Considering Ferguson’s declining play, that’s an untenable number for Gang Green. The longtime left tackle has two years remaining on an eight-year, $73.6MM accord, and Mehta estimates the team will attempt to reduce his 2016 number by nearly $8MM.

Giants Notes: Gase, Reese, Coughlin, McAdoo

January 5th, 2016 at 1:14pm CST by Luke Adams

After confirming today that they’ll interview their coordinators, Ben McAdoo and Steve Spagnuolo, for their head coaching opening, the Giants have requested permission to speak to their first outside candidate, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Rapoport reports that New York has asked to interview Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, one of the week’s most popular targets. Before he meets with the Giants, Gase has a few other interviews lined up. He’ll reportedly meet with the Eagles today, the Browns on Wednesday, and the Dolphins on Thursday.

As the Giants eye candidates to become their new head coach, the team said goodbye to its old head coach during a press conference earlier today. Here are a few highlights from that session, which included co-owner John Mara and former head coach Tom Coughlin:

General manager Jerry Reese kept his job this week, and Mara expressed some confidence in his GM today, but he also made it clear he expects improvement from Reese. As Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets, Mara said there are many holes to fill on the roster, particularly on defense. The Giants co-owner also acknowledged that poor draft classes have had a role in the team’s slump, and suggested changes could be made on the personnel side (Twitter link via Albert Breer of the NFL Network).
Asked if he has coached his last NFL game, Coughlin confirmed what has been reported since his ouster: “I’m not necessarily done with coaching,” he told the media, including Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
Mara said today that he asked Coughlin to consider staying with the organization in some non-coaching capacity, and the 69-year-old said he’d consider it (Twitter link via La Canfora). I imagine that might become a more realistic possibility if Coughlin doesn’t find a head coaching job he likes.
Mara and Reese will conduct the initial interviews for the Giants’ head coaching search, and will the recommend finalists for expanded interviews, tweets La Canfora. Mara also admitted that he can’t completely rule out the idea of trading a pick for a coach, which means someone like Saints head coach Sean Payton could be in play (Twitter link via Jordan Raanan of NJ.com).
The Giants would prefer not to lose McAdoo, but Mara conceded he can only make “recommendations” to a new head coach — he won’t force the new coach to keep the current offensive coordinator on board (Twitter link via Raanan). Of course, McAdoo himself is also a candidate for the head coaching position.