Coaching Notes: Texans, Jaguars, Jets, Colts
The Texans were the last team to hire their head coach, so David Culley got a bit of a late start in building his staff. Now he’s wasting no time, making a couple of hires this week. Most importantly he’s settled on a special teams coordinator, hiring Colts assistant Frank Ross to fill that position, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Ross is a former Patriots scout who went to small school John Carroll University, which has become a feeder school for NFL coaches. Houston also hired Dino Vasso to be their new secondary coach, Wilson tweets. Vasso spent the past eight seasons as an assistant with the Eagles.
Here are some more coaching updates from around the league:
- Zach Orr is going to be back on an NFL sideline. An UDFA linebacker in 2014, he became a full-time starter with the Ravens and was a second-team All-Pro in 2016. Unfortunately that would be his final season, as a spinal condition cut his career short prematurely. Orr stayed with Baltimore in a front office role, and now he’s getting into coaching as Urban Meyer’s new linebackers coach with the Jaguars, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets. Still only 28, it’ll be great to see Orr back on the field in some capacity.
- Robert Saleh continues to build his inaugural Jets staff, and he has now hired Mike Rutenberg to be his linebackers coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL Neetwork tweets. Rutenberg was a passing game specialist under Saleh in San Francisco this past season, and before that had been an assistant with the Jaguars.
- Orr isn’t the only notable former player getting back with an NFL team. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Mawae will be joining the NFL coaching ranks as well. Mawae has been hired to be an assistant offensive line coach on Frank Reich’s Colts staff, Stephen Holder of The Athletic tweets. Mawae had been an analyst under Herm Edwards at Arizona State, and he told Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he had been hoping to land an NFL opportunity. The legendary former center spent 16 years in the league with the Seahawks, Jets, and Titans. He made eight Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro seven times during his playing days.
Jon Gruden, Richard Sherman Have Mutual Interest?
Derek Carr had one of the best seasons of his career in 2020, but it didn’t mean much due to the abysmal state of the Raiders’ defense. Things got so bad that Jon Gruden fired defensive coordinator Paul Guenther toward the end of the year, and now he’s looking to completely revamp that side of the ball. It sounds like he’s going to be aggressive in remaking the defense, and that could mean bringing in a big name free agent like Richard Sherman.
Gruden and Sherman were on Cris Collinsworth’s podcast yesterday, and appeared to express a mutual interest in joining forces this offseason.
“I’ve been fined, I’ve been punished . . . but Richard Sherman, if you are a free agent, which there is a rumor you are, we are looking for an Alpha presence in our secondary. Somebody that can play this technique . . . If you’re available and interested maybe you and I can get together at some point off air,” Gruden said, via Jerry McDonald of the Mercury News, referencing the league’s tampering rules at the top.
“There is a conversation to be had for sure. I’m free and available these days — fortunately and unfortunately. But that scheme that Gus runs, and he runs it more than anybody else, there are some coaches that dabble in, and dabble out, and go man and go zone and go quarters and go there. Gus lives it. Gus lives and dies by it. Eight-man box, you’re not going to be able to run the ball, and we’re going to stop the pass. He’s like one of the Godfathers of it,” Sherman replied.
Sherman was referring to Gus Bradley, recently hired to be Vegas’ new DC. There’s a lot of familiarity there of course, as Bradley coordinated the legendary ‘Legion of Boom’ defenses that Sherman was a part of in Seattle. All fun aside, what Gruden said does appear to be tampering since Sherman is still under contract until next month with the 49ers, and it’ll be interesting to see if the league takes action.
Sherman, 33 in March, was a second-team All-Pro in 2019 but had this past season derailed by a calf injury that limited him to only five games. Still he’s played at a very high level recently, and could be worth a leap of faith for a Raiders team that desperately needs help in the secondary.
Coaching Notes: Steelers, Jags, Bruschi, Jets
Offensive line coach Mike Munchak left the Steelers for Denver after the 2018 season, and Pittsburgh’s O-line immediately declined. Shaun Sarrett initially replaced Munchak, but after two disappointing seasons he wasn’t retained this offseason. It was a big hire for Mike Tomlin that was talked about a lot, and in the end he opted to promote from within. The Steelers are promoting Adrian Klemm to the role, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Klemm had spent the past two seasons as an assistant offensive line coach. A second-round pick of the Patriots back in 2000, Klemm spent a handful of years in the league as a player. He then started coaching in the college ranks, and was the run game coordinator and associate head coach at UCLA for a while under Jim Mora.
Here are a few more coaching notes from the NFL universe:
- Urban Meyer continues to build his inaugural Jaguars staff, and now he’s settled on a secondary coach. Chris Ash has agreed to fill that role, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Ash, the former head coach at Rutgers, is a pretty big name by secondary coach standards. Meyer continues to surround himself with guys who have coordinating and head coaching experience, most recently adding Brian Schottenheimer to the staff. Ash has an extensive college coaching history, but this will be his first NFL gig. He was Meyer’s co-defensive coordinator for a couple of years at Ohio State, so there’s plenty of familiarity here. He’ll work under new Jacksonville DC Joe Cullen.
- Legendary Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi is getting into the college coaching game. He’ll serve as a senior adviser to new Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch, the university announced. Bruschi is an Arizona alum and Fisch served under Bill Belichick as the Patriots’ quarterbacks coach this past season, so this isn’t totally out of left field. Bruschi will apparently be staying on as an analyst at ESPN, so you’ll still be seeing him on your TV screens.
- Robert Saleh is adding two people he’s familiar with to his new Jets staff. New York is hiring Marquand Manuel as safeties coach and Tony Oden as senior defensive assistant/cornerbacks coach, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. As Pelissero points out, Manuel and Saleh coached together in Seattle while Oden was DBs coach in San Francisco with him last year. Manuel was the Falcons’ defensive coordinator for two seasons from 2017-18, and spent last season coaching DBs in Philly.
Extra Points: Smith, Easterby, Ogunjobi
Perhaps the best story of the unprecedented 2020 NFL season was the improbable return of Alex Smith. Not only did Smith shockingly return to the starting lineup for Washington, something nobody in their right mind saw coming, he also went 5-1 as a starter and led them to a playoff berth. He didn’t always look too mobile, and a calf injury to the same leg he had his devastating infections in cut his season short prematurely. But if you were expecting Smith to ride off into the sunset after his incredible triumph, you might be in for a surprise. In a recent interview with the Rachel Ray show, the quarterback certainly didn’t sound like someone dead-set on retiring.
“For me, this year was such a crazy rush to be out there, practicing out there every single day. To be able to put on my cleats and helmet. But for me, the crazy thing was how well my body responded to that. I just feel like I continued to get stronger and stronger and better and better,” the Washington signal-caller said. “I still feel like I’m kind of a kid right now headed into the offseason. I’m excited for this offseason to see what I can go do — football and everything else. Skiing, snowboarding — I plan on doing as much as I can. I had such an amazing time playing. I felt so good out there. It was crazy after that first game how comfortable I felt back out on the field.”
If Smith does want to keep playing he might have to do it with a new team, as Washington appears to be looking to upgrade at the position. They reportedly were aggressive in going after Matthew Stafford, offering their first-round pick and then some. Smith is under contract for two more seasons, but Washington can get out of it fairly easily this offseason. No matter what happens next, Smith has already shattered all expectations and can hold his head high.
Here’s more from around the league:
- If you were a Texans fan hoping that controversial exec Jack Easterby would quietly slink into the background after all the Deshaun Watson drama, you might be disappointed. “Easterby is still making calls to agents on behalf of the team and is very much involved in football side,” Lance Zierlein of NFL.com hears (Twitter link). As Zierlein points out, that would conflict with Houston’s stated spin that Easterby is merely a pastor and ‘character coach’ of sorts. He seems to be very much involved in football ops alongside new GM Nick Caserio. For whatever reasons, Easterby seems to be sitting pretty in his role and clearly has a great deal of influence with owner Cal McNair. We haven’t heard the last of him, and this saga has no end in sight.
- The Browns are coming off an incredibly successful season that saw them make it back to the playoffs for the first time in nearly 20 years, but there will still be changes coming in Cleveland. One of the biggest could be the departure of defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi. Ogunjobi will likely be allowed to hit free agency and the Browns “probably won’t want to pay him what he can get on the open market,” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com writes. Ogunjobi has been a very solid player for Cleveland, starting at least 15 games each of the past three seasons, but with Sheldon Richardson still also manning the middle and fellow defensive tackle Andrew Billings set to return from COVID opt-out in 2021, Kay Cabot thinks he’s expendable.
- Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy has gotten a lot of attention for getting passed over for head coaching jobs, but Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is similarly upset about the other offensive coordinator coaching in the Super Bowl. “I was very, very pissed that Byron [Leftwich] didn’t at least get an interview this year for the job that he’s done,” Arians said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com (Twitter link). “I get way too much credit and so does Tom Brady for the job that Byron has done.” Strong words from Arians in support of his OC, the former quarterback who spent 10 years as a player in the league from 2003-12. Leftwich got his coaching start as Arians’ quarterbacks coach with the Cardinals in 2017, and was then hired as his OC when he took the job in Tampa in 2019. If the Bucs have this kind of success again in 2021, Leftwich probably will start to get some serious head coaching buzz next cycle.
Saints Hire Kris Richard To Staff
The Saints lost secondary coach Aaron Glenn when he left to become Dan Campbell’s defensive coordinator in Detroit, and now they’re bringing in a big name to replace him. New Orleans is hiring Kris Richard to be their new secondary coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.
We just learned yesterday that Richard was talking to the Packers about their defensive coordinator job, but obviously he won’t be getting that gig. He also interviewed with the Raiders last month for the DC position that ended up going to Gus Bradley. Still only 41, Richard will have a lot more high-level experience than your typical secondary coach.
He served as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator from 2015-17, and then was the passing game coordinator and defensive play-caller with the Cowboys from 2018-19. A third-round pick by the Seahawks out of USC back in 2002, Richard spent six years in the league as a player with a few teams.
He spent 2020 out of the league before landing on Sean Payton’s staff. Current Saints DC Dennis Allen interviewed with the Eagles about their head coaching vacancy this cycle, and Richard could be a prime candidate to succeed him should Allen move on in the near future.
Coaching Notes: Eagles, STC, Bears, Seahawks, Colts
Nick Sirianni continues to flesh out his inaugural Eagles staff, and it’s a young one. The team has hired Michael Clay to be their special teams coordinator, they announced over the weekend. Clay, still only 29, has been the assistant special teams coordinator with the 49ers since 2016. Philly’s new offensive coordinator Shan Steichen is only 35, new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is only 37, and Sirianni himself is 39. As such, it may be the youngest staff in the league. Clay got his coaching start with the Eagles as an assistant under Chip Kelly. When Kelly was fired by the Eagles Clay went with him to San Francisco and was then retained by Kyle Shanahan after Kelly was fired there.
Here are more coaching notes from around the league:
- The Bears recently promoted Sean Desai to defensive coordinator to replace the retiring Chuck Pagano, and now they’re adding to his staff. The team has hired Bill McGovern to be inside linebackers coach, a source told Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). McGovern coached in the college ranks for a couple decades, spending some time as Boston College’s defensive coordinator, before becoming a linebackers coach with the Eagles in 2013. He then was as a linebackers coach with the Giants from 2016-19.
- The Seahawks hired Rams quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Shane Waldron to be their new OC after firing Brian Schottenheimer, and Waldron wasn’t the only one they poached from Sean McVay. Waldron is taking Andy Dickerson with him to be the run game coordinator in Seattle, the team announced. Dickerson had spent the past nine seasons as an assistant offensive line coach with the Rams.
- Another addition to the Eagles’ staff, as they’ve hired Dennard Wilson to be their secondary coach, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets. Wilson held the same position with the Jets most recently, and was also New York’s passing game coordinator. Philly will also be keeping wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead as a holdover from Doug Pederson’s staff, Geoff Mosher tweets, so there will at least be a little bit of continuity on offense.
- To replace Gannon, who had been the Colts’ cornerbacks coach, Indy has hired James Rowe to fill the same role, according to Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. Rowe was most recently the cornerbacks coach at Appalachian State, and had previously been an assistant with Washington.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 2/1/21
Today’s reserve/futures deals will be posted here:
Indianapolis Colts
- QB Jalen Morton, WR J.J. Nelson
Tennessee Titans
Nelson has a bit more NFL experience than your typical reserve/futures signee. A fifth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2015, Nelson made some real noise with Arizona for a while. A speedy deep-threat who has averaged a whopping 17.4 yards per reception on his 85 career catches, he had 568 yards and six touchdowns in 2016. He topped 500 yards again in 2017, but quickly fell out of favor and wasn’t re-signed after his rookie deal ran out.
He signed with the Raiders in 2019 but was released after catching only four passes, and then was in camp with the 49ers this past August before getting hurt and then cut. He signed to the Bills practice squad a month ago, but lasted only a few days in Buffalo. Still only 28, it wouldn’t be shocking if he manages to crack a roster again as a field-stretcher.
Chiefs Place Daniel Kilgore, Demarcus Robinson On Reserve/COVID-19 List
It’s far from a worst-case scenario, but COVID-19 issues are beginning to creep into the Super Bowl. The Chiefs have placed center Daniel Kilgore and receiver Demarcus Robinson on the reserve/COVID-19 list, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
The good news is that Schefter reports both are going on the list due to close contacts, and not positive tests. There’s only a five-day clearance period needed for close contacts, so if both players continue to test negative they’ll be able to rejoin the team this weekend before the game and suit up for Super Bowl LV. Kilgore started 13 games for the Dolphins last year, but he’s mostly been a reserve for Kansas City this season.
He’s appeared in seven games with four starts, although he hasn’t been counted on to start in the playoffs yet. Robinson plays a pretty large role, so the Chiefs certainly don’t want to lose him. He finished the regular season appearing in all 16 games with nine starts, racking up 45 catches for 466 yards and three touchdowns.
He only has three targets through Kansas City’s first two playoff games, but he played at least 65 percent of the offensive snaps in both of those games. We’ve got a long week left to go, but hopefully these are the only COVID-related issues that arise before the big game (knock on wood).
Panthers Offered 8th Pick For Matthew Stafford, Details On Other Offers
As the fallout continues to pour in from the blockbuster Matthew Stafford/Jared Goff trade, we’ve got some new details on the talks the Lions had leading up to it. Most notably, the Panthers had offered the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft as well as a later pick, Albert Breer of SI.com reports. Many would argue that’s a better offer than what Detroit took from the Rams, two future first-round picks (which could be late ones), a third-rounder, and Goff’s bloated contract. 
Taking that deal would’ve given the Lions the seventh and eighth picks this April, giving them a ton of ammo if they wanted to move up for one of the top couple of quarterbacks. Clearly, they didn’t view Goff and his contract as a huge negative like many others do, and this offer from Matt Rhule will likely be the one looked back on most when we reflect on this trade in the years to come. If nothing else this just goes to show how serious Carolina is about upgrading from Teddy Bridgewater, and we’ve heard they’re gearing up for an aggressive run at Deshaun Watson.
Washington offered the 19th pick this April as well as a third-round selection, Breer writes. The Colts discussed packages of picks but never made an offer that included their first-rounder this year, the 21st pick. Although the 49ers did show some interest, they never made a formal offer, which tracks with them being content to run it back with Jimmy Garoppolo.
The Broncos also showed interest but Breer says it became clear early on the price was rising well beyond what new GM George Paton was willing to pay. The Patriots were willing to package a second-rounder with a defensive player although obviously that wasn’t going to cut it and Stafford apparently had no interest in going to New England and reuniting with Matt Patricia anyway.
Interestingly, Breer notes that the Jets checked in over the weekend. All those other teams had been heavily linked to Stafford, but New York would’ve been something of a wild card. Obviously the talks went nowhere, but it’s notable to learn the Jets are at least considering rolling with a veteran passer instead of Sam Darnold or a rookie with their second overall pick.
So, what do you think? Are the Lions foolish for not taking the eighth pick and running with it, or will Goff prove some people wrong?
Bills Re-Sign OL Jordan Devey
As the Bills start to get their offseason in order following their AFCCG loss to the Chiefs, they’ve made a relatively minor move. Buffalo has re-signed offensive lineman Jordan Devey to a one-year deal, the team announced Monday.
Terms weren’t immediately available, although it’s safe to assume it’s for close to league minimum. He bounced between the practice squad and active roster, and only played a couple of offensive snaps this past season. While he didn’t see the field much for Buffalo, he has received some significant run in the past. In 2019 he started four games with the Raiders, and appeared in seven with a couple of starts with the Chiefs the year before.
Devey entered the league as an UDFA in 2013 and has bounced around since, starting four games for the Patriots in 2014 and nine with the 49ers in 2015. He won Super Bowl XLIX with New England. Although he has a decent amount of starting experience this is nothing more than a depth signing, and in an ideal world he won’t be helping to protect Josh Allen next year.