Rams Add Two To Offensive Staff
The Rams have seen a number of coaching assistants depart for bigger jobs in 2024 on both sides of the ball. Today, the team filled two of the recently vacated positions on offense, bringing in one former offensive coordinator from the NFL and another from the college ranks. 
Los Angeles was left with one of their two offensive vacancies when former quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator Zac Robinson departed to follow former defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to Atlanta, where Morris will now serve as head coach. Robinson will be Morris’ new offensive coordinator for the Falcons. The other vacancy came when former pass game specialist Jake Peetz left for the pass game coordinator role in Seattle.
To replace Robinson as quarterbacks coach, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Rams have hired the man Robinson will be replacing in Atlanta, former Falcons offensive coordinator Dave Ragone. Ragone has coached in the NFL since 2011, when he entered the NFL coaching ranks as the Titans wide receivers coach. He’s since served as the quarterbacks coach for both the Titans and Bears before taking the coordinator job in Atlanta.
In Ragone’s first season as a quarterbacks coach in 2013, he coached the duo of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jake Locker in Tennessee for a season. Three years later, Ragone started a four-year stint in Chicago that would see him mentor the likes of Jay Cutler, Mitchell Trubisky, Matt Barkley, Brian Hoyer, Mike Glennon, and Chase Daniel. He would then move on to the Falcons as offensive coordinator. The team’s offense has struggled the past three years under Ragone as they have transitioned from Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota to Desmond Ridder. Though he doesn’t show many signs of slowing down, with quarterback Matthew Stafford recently turning 36 years old in Los Angeles, Ragone could be in place to assist with future transitions at quarterback again after dealing with plenty in Chicago and Atlanta.
To fill Peetz’s former role of pass game specialist, the Rams reached down to the collegiate ranks to hire Iowa State offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, according to Schefter. At only 33 years old, this will be Scheelhaase’s first NFL job, though he interviewed for the Eagles offensive coordinator job last offseason. After finishing a four-year playing career at Illinois, Scheelhaase stayed at his alma mater to coach from 2015-17.
In 2018, he made the move to Ames, starting off as a running backs coach. He spent the next two years as wide receivers coach, the two years after that as run game coordinator, running backs, and wide receivers coach, and the final year after that as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Under his direction of the offense, the Cyclones putting up middling stats, performing better in the pass game than the run game behind redshirt freshman quarterback Rocco Becht.
As the Sean McVay coaching tree continues to extend away from him, the Rams will continue to reload around him. This time, McVay brings in a veteran with experience working with an unstable quarterbacks room and yet another up-and-comer who is sure to continue rising under the watchful eyes of McVay.
NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Packers, Magee
The Buccaneers dipped into the realm of college football to hire University of Kentucky offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Liam Coen. The team didn’t stop there, reaching out twice more to help fill out the rest of their offensive coaching staff recently.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report that Coen and company were dipping back to Lexington in order to poach offensive quality control coach Brian Picucci. The hunt was apparently successful as Josh Alper of NBC Sports followed up to confirm that Picucci would be heading to Tampa Bay as the team’s new assistant offensive line coach.
The Buccaneers also went to the college ranks in order to fill their position for wide receivers coach. According to Schefter, University of Georgia wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator Bryan McClendon has been hired as Tampa Bay’s new wide receivers coach. McClendon has been a long-time college staffer and is well-regarded in coaching circles.
As running backs coach for the Bulldogs from 2009-14, McClendon coached Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb. As wide receivers coach at South Carolina from 2016-19, McClendon mentored Deebo Samuel, Bryan Edwards, and Shi Smith. He also had two years of offensive coordinator experience with the Gamecocks, as well. McClendon will inherit a wide receiving corps featuring Chris Godwin, Russell Gage, and Trey Palmer, and he will likely hope the team can come to terms with long-time star, and pending free agent, Mike Evans.
Here are a few other staff updates from around the NFC:
- In the Packers‘ front office, it has been made known that team president and chief executive officer Mark Murphy is going to retire in July 2025. The organization has reportedly formed a search committee in order to find Murphy’s replacement. Packers executive committee vice president and lead director Susan Finco will chair the committee and executive committee secretary and chair of the personnel and compensation committee Dan Ariens will serve as vice chairperson. The search committee is comprised of several individuals throughout the organization’s structure and will utilize the national search firm Korn Ferry to conduct the search. The expectation is that the process will take around six to nine months.
- Lastly, the Bears will also be losing a member of their front office, though this one is in effect immediately. According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Chicago’s chief of staff Sean Magee will be departing for a job in the collegiate ranks. Magee is expected to be hired as senior associate athletic director and general manager for football at the University of Michigan.
AFC South Notes: Texans, Colts, Anderson
The Texans were one of the NFL’s best surprises of the 2023 season, winning 10 games and making the playoffs with a rookie quarterback and head coach. DeMeco Ryans actually put together quite an impressive staff that would end up drawing lots of interest in from teams looking to fill vacant roles after the season came to an end. Luckily, though, Houston was able to beat off the suitors for two assistants.
Assistant offensive line coach Cole Popovich received interest from a few other teams, at one point interviewing for the offensive line coach job at Washington under new head coach Dan Quinn. Despite the outside interest, Popovich will remain in Houston “under a revamped contract,” per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2.
Wilson also reported that safeties coach Stephen Adegoke was set to depart for the defensive backs coaching job at the University of Michigan. The next day, though, he issued a second report that Adegoke would instead return to Houston. Adegoke had reportedly accepted the Michigan job before finalizing a contract, so he will be able to come back for his second year with the Texans.
Here are a few other staff updates from around the AFC South:
- Colts head coach Shane Steichen has had to do some shuffling for his 2024 staff. With the team’s decision not to retain assistant defensive backs coach Mike Mitchell, they have made the move to hire Titans defensive quality control coach Justin Hamilton in his place, according to Mike Chappell of FOX59. Indianapolis will also bring in Eagles quarterbacks coach Alex Tanney to serve as its passing game coordinator. Remaining in Philadelphia after Steichen’s departure, Tanney will now reunite with his former boss in Indianapolis.
- The Titans have now completed the hiring of their new coordinators. Joining first-time coordinators Nick Holz on offense and Dennard Wilson on defense will be first-time special teams coordinator Colt Anderson, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Anderson, a former undrafted defensive back, saw plenty of time on special teams over his nine-year career in the NFL. After spending the last four seasons as an assistant special teams coach for the Bengals, Anderson will follow new Titans head coach Brian Callahan to Nashville for his first coordinator position.
Steelers Aiming To Re-Sign Mason Rudolph
The Steelers’ quarterbacks room is already set to look a bit different after the expected recent departure of Mitch Trubisky. According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the team is hoping that it won’t change much more as they reportedly aim to keep backup quarterback Mason Rudolph around moving forward. 
Unlike Trubisky, Rudolph’s possible exit is a result of free agency. A former third-round draft pick in 2018, Rudolph has played out his rookie contract plus two one-year extensions. The Steelers turned to Rudolph early in his career, when he started eight games in 2019, but he hasn’t seen that many starts in the four years since combined.
When usual starter Ben Roethlisberger went down with an injury in 2019, Rudolph led Pittsburgh to five wins in eight starts. After a physical on-field scuffle with Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, during which Garrett accused him of using a racial slur, and a poor performance the following week, Rudolph was benched in favor of Devlin Hodges. He wouldn’t start another game until a rest day for the starters at the end of the 2020 season and once again as a COVID-19 replacement for Roethlisberger in 2021. He would spend the entire 2022 season on the bench after being relegated to third-string duties behind Trubisky and then-rookie Kenny Pickett.
This year, Rudolph saw his first extended action in four years. With the Steelers’ season circling the drain as one of the league’s least efficient offenses, Rudolph finally found his way back to the field. With Pickett sidelined with injury, Trubisky was in for a start against the Colts in Week 14. Rudolph stepped in due to Trubisky’s struggles and would start the next two games as to new No. 2 behind an injured Pickett.
When Pickett was cleared to play in a must-win regular season finale against the Ravens, though, Pittsburgh opted to ride with Rudolph. Led by Rudolph, the Steelers beat the mostly second-string Ravens and made the playoffs. Rudolph was once again selected as the team’s starter when they traveled to Buffalo for a Wild Card game against the Bills the following week.
Rudolph’s late-season success had many asking the obvious question: why didn’t Pittsburgh turn to him sooner with all its struggles on offense throughout the year? Apparently, according to Dulac, that same sentiment has caused some internal division within the Steelers’ organization, creating a camp that believes Rudolph should be the starter when the 2024 season opens. In order to make that happen, though, the team will have to find a way to re-sign him, which appears to be their goal.
With Rudolph and Pickett viewed as the preferred contenders for the position, Dulac reports that the Steelers “are not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be a starter.” That rules Pittsburgh out of the race for quarterbacks who are seemingly available like Justin Fields, Kirk Cousins, or even maybe Russell Wilson. It likely rules out a high-end rookie passers like Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, or Jayden Daniels, as well. They may make moves to add some solid, veteran backup depth at the position, but with Pickett already under contract, the aim, for now, is to lock down Rudolph, as well.
Raiders Updates: Foster, Pierce, Armstead
Last we had heard, with former Raiders running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu heading to Seattle for the same position, Las Vegas had selected long-time UCLA staffer DeShaun Foster to take over as their new running backs coach. With Chip Kelly shockingly stepping down as head coach of the Bruins to take the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coaching job at Ohio State, Foster has been selected as Kelly’s replacement in Los Angeles, per Pete Thamel of ESPN, forcing the Raiders to go back to the drawing board for their next running backs coach.
To fill the role, the Raiders are turning to a name millennial NFL fans will recognize. Las Vegas dipped back to the college ranks, confirmed by Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, hiring Auburn associate head coach and running backs coach Carnell Williams, known during his playing days as “Cadillac.” The 2005 Offensive Rookie of the Year’s playing career ended after seven seasons in the NFL. He would eventually turn to coaching as a career, starting off at small colleges like Henderson State and West Georgia before spending a year at the high school level at the prestigious IMG Academy.
Williams followed that up with a year as a running backs coach in the Alliance of American Football league before first arriving at his alma mater in 2019. Williams has coached running backs at Auburn for the last five years, spending a stint in 2022 as interim head coach and earning the title of associate head coach this past season. The most notable name coming out of his position group in Alabama would’ve been Tank Bigsby, a third-round rookie for the Jaguars last year.
With star back Josh Jacobs, Ameer Abdullah, and Brandon Bolden all bound for free agency, Williams inherits a room that is currently only slated to hold third-year rusher Zamir White. Perhaps Williams’ input will be crucial in how the position group is formed this offseason.
Here are a few other staff updates coming out of Sin City:
- The Raiders were also able to secure their new offensive line coach, hiring former 49ers assistant offensive line coach James Cregg to the role, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Cregg, who has been in San Francisco for the past two years, will get his first full position coaching opportunity in the NFL with Vegas. He has held the assistant role with the Raiders, Broncos, and Chargers in the past and the offensive line coaching title at three different Power 5 schools at the collegiate level, but this will be his first NFL offensive line coach title.
- Also on offense, the Raiders have added new head coach Antonio Pierce‘s son DeAndre Pierce to the coaching staff, according to Myles Simmons of NBC Sports. The younger Pierce, who served in 2023 as a defensive quality control coach at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, will be an offensive quality control coach for the Raiders in 2024.
- Lastly, the older Pierce reportedly reached out to an old teammate from New York, Jessie Armstead for a potential front office role in Las Vegas. Armstead, who currently works as a special assistant to the general manager for the Giants, was offered a similar role with the Raiders. Las Vegas was under the impression that Armstead was going to be on staff, but the Giants were reportedly able to block the lateral move, since Armstead is still under contract, according to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.
Seahawks To Add Charles London To Staff
New Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb have their new quarterbacks coach in former Titans assistant Charles London, according to Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS. It’s a nice get for Seattle after seeing London interview for offensive coordinator jobs is the past few offseasons.
London’s coaching experience in the NFL dates back to 2007. After three years at his alma mater, Duke, London accepted an offensive quality control coaching job with the Bears. Three years later, he would spend a year with the Titans as an offensive assistant before heading back to the college ranks for two years at Penn State. London would split the next seven years between Houston and Chicago coaching running backs.
After mostly focusing on running backs up to this point in his career, London made a switch when he accepted the Falcons quarterbacks coaching job in 2021. After two years in Atlanta handling the transition from Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder, London took the same job with the Titans last year after initially interviewing for their offensive coordinator job. In Tennessee, London once again handled a quarterback transition after veteran Ryan Tannehill was benched for rookie second-round pick Will Levis following an injury.
While London’s experience in the passing game doesn’t jump off the stat sheet, he is widely respected in offensive coaching circles. Last year, the Titans weren’t the only team with interest in London as a play-caller as the Commanders also requested to interview the veteran coach. The year before saw both the Dolphins and the Rams interview London for a coordinator position, as well.
In Seattle, London will now be tasked with mentoring veteran quarterbacks Geno Smith and Drew Lock. It’s hard to envision the Seahawks moving on from Smith after seeing him rejuvenate his career in the past two seasons, but at 33 years old, Smith is getting to be one of the older starters in the NFL. Not that this is the team’s intention, but London’s experience transitioning offenses from a veteran passer to a new starter would then come in handy should Seattle need to move one from Smith in the near future.
So, after landing their running backs and wide receivers coaches earlier this week, the Seahawks get the new mentor for their veteran passer. With offensive line coach Scott Huff following Grubb from Washington (and Tuscaloosa) and Jake Peetz in place as pass-game coordinator, this leaves tight ends coach as the only position left to fill on Grubb’s offense.
Seahawks Updates: Schneider, Walker, Jackson, Polamalu
With the departure of long-time head coach Pete Carroll, who played a distinct role in the team’s roster decisions over the years, Seahawks general manager John Schneider has been handed the reins for personnel in the new regime moving forward. Schneider now also holds a new title. Previously the general manager and executive vice president, Schneider’s new role sees him take on the president of football operations title for 2024, per Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times.
According to Schneider, his new role “largely signifies (that the) coaching staff now reports to him.” The staff used to report to Carroll, but Schneider reportedly had it put into his contract six or seven years ago that he would inherit that responsibility when Carroll’s tenure ended.
While he will now function as their supervisor, Schneider claims that his role in the process of hiring assistant coaches is “very much like support.” He says that the staff will be of new head coach Mike Macdonald‘s making.
Here are a few other staff updates from the Emerald City:
- The Seahawks interviewed Raiders offensive assistant Fred Walker for their vacant quarterbacks coaching job, according to Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS. In several previous college coaching jobs, Walker’s focus was often on quarterbacks, working with such passers as former Duke Blue Devil Daniel Jones and former Mississippi State star Dak Prescott. He has spent two years in Las Vegas and is looking to earn his first NFL position coaching gig.
- Also on offense, Seattle is making the move to hire Frisman Jackson as their new wide receivers coach, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. This will be Jackson’s fourth NFL receivers job. While his first NFL coaching season in Tennessee saw an uninspired group of Rishard Matthews, Eric Decker, and Corey Davis put up pedestrian numbers, Jackson followed that up with a 2020 season in Carolina that saw D.J. Moore and Robbie Chosen reach the 1,000-yard mark with Curtis Samuel (851 yards) not far behind. He spent the past two years mentoring Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, and company in Pittsburgh.
- Finally, the Seahawks are set to add veteran NFL running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu to the same position in Macdonald’s new staff, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Polamalu has a strong history of building running back tandems over his time in the NFL. After first breaking into the league with the Browns in 2004, Polamalu spent five years coaching up a legendary tandem of Fred Taylor–Maurice Jones-Drew in Jacksonville. After returning to the college ranks for a spell, Polamalu came back to the NFL to build the Dalvin Cook–Alexander Mattison tandem in Minnesota. He’s spent the last two years coaching Josh Jacobs and the Raiders’ backs in Vegas but was not retained when Antonio Pierce took over as the official head coach following his interim tenure.
NFL Draft Rumors: Tackles, Senior Bowl, Rakestraw
The 2024 NFL Draft class may feel relatively light at certain positions like quarterback and running back, but there’s one position that has scouts and coaches excited. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, this year’s offensive tackles group has the potential to match 2020’s class, which saw six tackles selected in the first round.
Four names have been regarded as likely first-rounders for about a year now, so the projections of Notre Dame’s Joe Alt (ranks 6th overall in Dane Brugler of The Athletic’s top 100 prospects), Penn State’s Olu Fashanu (9th), Alabama’s JC Latham (13th), and Georgia’s Amarius Mims (17th) come as no surprise. After some impressive performances in Mobile, Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga (16th) and Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton (18th) have joined those four in the range of the first round.
The top-end depth doesn’t end there, either. There are several other prospects that sit just outside that first-round range in Brugler’s rankings that still find themselves in consideration to be Day 1 picks because of strong Senior Bowl performances and a general interest in the position. Arizona’s Jordan Morgan (32nd), Houston’s Patrick Paul (55th), and Texas’ Christian Jones (NR) all sit on that fringe, according to Fowler.
With these nine guys and still more others pushing for Day 1 money, we’re bound to see a change in recent trends of five or fewer tackles taken in the first round. Even if this year’s class fails to match 2020’s six first-round picks, which seems unlikely as of now, the depth in the first two rounds of this class have a lot of teams excited about what’s available.
Here are a couple of other draft rumors from around the country, starting with more updates out of Mobile:
- In a mailbag Q&A this week, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer gave his take on some prospects who improved their standing after this year’s Senior Bowl. Breer sees Fuaga and Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (11th in Brugler’s rankings) as big risers coming out of Mobile. While both players were already expected to be Day 1 picks, Breer believes that they’ve played their way into the top half of the first round. He also touts Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson (45th) as a recent riser. While Wilson may not hear his name called in the first round, Breer thinks he may have pushed his way up to the second.
- One player who wasn’t able to improve his stock at the Senior Bowl was Missouri cornerback Ennis Rakestraw (48th). Rakestraw had been dealing with a core muscle injury for much of his redshirt junior year before opting to undergo surgery at the close of the season in December, according to Matt Miller of ESPN. After missing out on the college all-star game due to the surgery, Rakestraw, who has been considered a fringe first-rounder, was unable to secure his potential Day 1 status. The young corner has shown a resiliency in coming back from an ACL tear his sophomore year, but his injury history may be enough to push him into the second round.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/16/24
The NFL’s only minor transaction today as we head into the first of a long series of weekends with no NFL football until August:
New York Jets
- Waived: LB Maalik Hall
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 2/16/24
Here is today’s only reserve/futures contract in the NFL:
Houston Texans
Haynes was a part of the Broncos’ undrafted free agent class this past year after five years at Old Dominion. He averaged just under four sacks per season in his time with the Monarchs.