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Author: Ely Allen

Commanders Hire Cowboys’ Joe Whitt As Defensive Coordinator

By | at February 4, 2024 9:16 pm

Shortly after the reports that they had landed Kliff Kingsbury to call their offense, it has been reported that the Commanders have filled their defensive coordinator position, as well. Per Steve Wyche of NFL Network, Cowboys secondary coach and pass game coordinator Joe Whitt will be joining Dan Quinn and Kingsbury in Washington as the team’s new defensive coordinator. The move is now official.

This hiring comes as a bit of a surprise as Whitt was considered a heavy favorite to replace Quinn as the new defensive coordinator in Dallas. According to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, Whitt was scheduled to interview with the Cowboys for their coordinator vacancy Monday. Instead, Whitt will take his first coordinator job with the team’s division rival, following his old boss to DC.

The Cowboys reportedly have interviews in the next two days lined up for defensive line coach Aden Durde, former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera, and former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, per David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. The team’s insistence on bringing in candidates with head coaching experience to replace Quinn may have been a factor in Whitt’s willingness to move on from the position without going through with his interview.

Whitt has been coaching in the NFL since 2007, after seven years coaching at the college level with The Citadel, Auburn, and Louisville. Starting as an assistant defensive backs coach with the Falcons, Whitt joined the Packers staff in 2008. Over 11 years in Green Bay, Whitt would move through the ranks from defensive quality control coach to cornerbacks coach to defensive passing game coordinator.

Following Mike McCarthy‘s dismissal from Green Bay, Whitt would detour to Cleveland where he would serve as secondary coach and pass game coordinator. He would follow up his one-year stint with the Browns with another one-year stint as secondary coach in Atlanta with Quinn. When Quinn was fired from the Falcons and joined McCarthy’s staff in Dallas, it was a no-brainer for Whitt rejoin both coaches as the Cowboys’ secondary coach and pass game coordinator.

Perhaps Whitt felt like he was being forced to choose between two divorced parents having to decide between staying with McCarthy, who served as Whitt’s head coach for all 11 years that he was in Green Bay, or following Quinn, who brought him along from Atlanta. Regardless, it’s Quinn who will reward Whitt with his first career defensive coordinator gig in Washington.

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Commanders Hire Kliff Kingsbury As New OC

By | at February 4, 2024 7:27 pm

After reports yesterday that former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was a leading candidate in Washington after deciding not to take the job in Las Vegas, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Kingsbury has agreed to become the next offensive coordinator for the Commanders. The team has now announced the hire.

Three days ago, the NFL world was under the impression that Kingsbury would become the next offensive play-caller in Las Vegas. That story changed yesterday with Kingsbury informing multiple people in the Raiders organization that he would not be joining the team. After a reported “contractual hang-up,” the Commanders swooped in, setting Kingsbury in their sights. Reportedly, Kingsbury was aiming for a three-year pact, and the Raiders only made a two-year offer. Per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post, Washington awarded Kingsbury the three-year contract he desired.

New Commanders head coach Dan Quinn was one of five defensive-minded coaches to assume a new head coaching role this offseason. With the former offensive coordinators who took head coach jobs in Tennessee and Carolina planning to call plays for their respective offenses, it only made sense that Kingsbury would set his focus on the five other teams. With the Falcons and Patriots already having filled their roles, that left Vegas, Washington, and Seattle.

Another reason Washington makes sense is because, though it seems like an uphill battle right now, there’s still an outside chance that USC quarterback Caleb Williams could end up in DC with Kingsbury. Williams has long been considered the favorite to go No. 1 overall in this year’s draft. Though Chicago currently holds the rights to the top pick in the draft, the Commanders brass have made it clear that they have an interest in acquiring Williams. With Kingsbury’s most recent position being as a senior offensive analyst at USC over Williams, the new play-caller could be manifesting a reunion in Washington with his former college quarterback.

If not, Kingsbury will be tasked with righting the ship in Washington. Second-year quarterback Sam Howell was deemed the starter coming into 2023. For a team that spent a good amount of time behind, the Commanders depended a lot on Howell’s arm, resulting in the young passer leading the league in pass attempts. Unfortunately, the one-dimensional nature of the team’s offense led to Howell also leading the NFL in sacks taken, interceptions thrown, and pick sixes.

In Washington, Kingsbury will hope for better health in 2024 as he works to improve a porous offensive line. Antonio Gibson is set to be a free agent, but Brian Robinson and rookie running back Chris Rodriguez are both set to return for Kingsbury. Two of the team’s top receivers, Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson, will be back with a potentially re-tooled supporting cast as Curtis Samuel, Jamison Crowder, and Byron Pringle are all set to test free agency.

Kingsbury will have his work cut out for him as he attempts to turn around an offense that finished 25th in points scored and 24th in yards gained. He may have the benefit of working with some new faces, but regardless, he should have a decent arsenal of weapons to help Quinn win some games in DC.

40 comments Transactions Washington Commanders

Giants Interview Vikings DBs Coach Daronte Jones For DC

By | at February 4, 2024 7:19 pm

A new name has emerged in defensive coordinator interviews. Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones has earned his first opportunity to interview for an NFL defensive coordinator position, meeting with the Giants last week, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The two parties conducted the interview in Mobile, AL, where Jones worked as the National team’s defensive coordinator.

Though Jones has been coaching in some capacity since 2001, he’s a relatively new name to the NFL. After time coaching at several high school and college institutions, as well as a one-year stay in the CFL, Jones earned his first NFL job as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Dolphins in 2016. He became the Bengals cornerbacks coach two years later.

Following his two years in Cincinnati, Jones started his first stint in Minnesota as a defensive backs coach. He only spent one year in that role before departing for the defensive coordinator job at LSU. He had been a defensive coordinator for Franklin HS and Bowie State, but this was his first D1 coordinator gig.

After not being retained following his lone season as the Tigers defensive coordinator, Jones returned to his previous role with the Vikings. This most recent year, he was promoted to defensive pass game coordinator. Minnesota would finish 24th in passing yards allowed.

Here is a list of Jones’ reported competition to replace Don “Wink” Martindale as defensive play-caller in New York:

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Kliff Kingsbury Now Leading Candidate For Commanders’ OC Job; Latest On Raiders’ Options

By | at February 3, 2024 10:32 pm

Quickly following news that the Raiders would not be closing the deal to make former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury their next offensive coordinator under now official head coach Antonio Pierce, rumors are circulating that Kingsbury is now the leading candidate for the same position in Washington, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. After spending 2023 as a senior offensive analyst at USC, Kingsbury’s return to the NFL seems inevitable at this point.

Two days ago, the NFL world was under the impression that Kingsbury would become the next offensive play-caller in Las Vegas. That story changed this morning with Kingsbury informing multiple people in the Raiders organization that he would not be joining the team. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, there was “a contractual hang-up” that prevented Kingsbury from following through on those initial reports, and as a result, the Commanders have swooped in, setting Kingsbury in their sights. Arizona Football Daily‘s Mike Jurecki adds that the Raiders offered a two-year contract, whereas Kingsbury was aiming for a three-year pact.

Washington makes sense for Kingsbury for a number of reasons. The Commanders recently landed on former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as their replacement for former head coach Ron Rivera. Quinn being a defensive coach puts the Commanders in a different situation than teams like the Titans or Panthers, whose offensive-minded head coaches will be calling plays over their respective offensive coordinators. Kingsbury will be handed the keys to a young offense, something he has experience with from his time in Arizona.

The Commanders also make sense because there seems to be a very real chance that the team could draft a former pupil of Kingsbury’s in USC quarterback Caleb Williams. Though Williams has long been rumored to be the No. 1 overall pick and the Commanders sit at No. 2, rumors have picked up recently that the Bears, who hold the top pick, will not be trading down. While that could mean Williams is headed to Chicago to try and displace Justin Fields as the starting quarterback, there have been an equal number of rumors stating that Williams wants nothing to do with the Bears, meaning he could slip down to No. 2 and end up a Commander being coached by his former mentor.

Kingsbury reportedly interviewed with the Commanders and Quinn recently, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, and though neither side seems to have settled on an agreement, both sides seem to be moving in the right direction.

As for Vegas, their search for their next play-caller under Pierce continues. UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who had been a name to watch in Washington before this most recent news of Kingsbury’s prospects, and former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy are names to watch, according to Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS. Getsy was considered a top candidate for the position when Kingsbury was originally announced, and Kelly may shift focus to the Raiders if the Commanders do indeed shift theirs to Kingsbury.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN mentions that Las Vegas recently spoke to former Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, amounting to what could essentially be considered a coordinator exchange should Bieniemy land in Vegas and Kingsbury be hired in DC. He also mentions that the team spoke with former Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton but includes that Hamilton may just be in consideration for a position coaching job.

So, today’s breaking news from Vegas does create a bit of a shuffle, but both the Raiders and Commanders seem to have reacted quickly in the fallout. As a result, Washington could be closing in on their new play-caller, while Las Vegas continues to explore their options.

27 comments Las Vegas Raiders Washington Commanders

QB Sean Mannion Retires, To Join Packers’ Coaching Staff

By | at February 3, 2024 5:52 pm

Nine years after entering the NFL, veteran quarterback Sean Mannion has made the decision to retire from playing football. According to Brady Henderson of ESPN, the former Rams passer is not walking away from football completely as he’ll hang up his cleats but pick up a whistle. Mannion will reportedly be accepting a job on the Packers’ coaching staff.

Mannion came into the league as a third-round pick out of Oregon State for the Rams of St. Louis. Leaving Corvallis with 13,600 passing yards and 83 passing touchdowns, Mannion went to the NFL with the title of the Pac-12’s all-time passing leader.

Mannion was drafted to serve as a third-string passing option, sitting behind Nick Foles and Case Keenum as a rookie. The following year, No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff would replace Foles, and eventually Keenum, on the depth chart. Over the last two years of his rookie contract, Mannion would serve as the primary backup behind Goff. He would leave Los Angeles having played in 10 games for the Rams, making one start over those four years.

The next two years saw Mannion play on two one-year contracts with the Vikings backing up Kirk Cousins. In 2021, he would sign with the Seahawks as a free agent, but after he was released prior to the start of the season, Minnesota scooped Mannion up, signing him to a practice squad deal. In 2019 and 2021, Mannion appeared in four games, starting two. He would spend the last two years bouncing between the Vikings’ and Seahawks’ practice squads while not appearing in any games.

For his career, Mannion appeared in 14 total games with three of those being starts. He finished his playing career with a 60.9 completion percentage, throwing for 573 yards and one touchdown to three interceptions.

The title of his position with the Packers is not yet known, but Henderson claims that Mannion will be working with quarterbacks and the passing game. As of right now, Green Bay already has a quarterbacks coach in Tom Clements and a passing game coordinator in Jason Vrable, so it’s assumed Mannion will be working in some sort of offensive assistant or quality control position.

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Raiders Interview Pep Hamilton For OC

By | at February 3, 2024 4:31 pm

After being mentioned as someone who spoke with the Raiders in the aftermath of Kliff Kingsbury backing out of the offensive coordinator job, it has been confirmed that Pep Hamilton did, in fact, interview as an offensive coordinator candidate, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Initial thoughts were that the former Texans assistant coach was in the running for a position coaching job, but after allowing more information to come out, it appears Hamilton is in consideration for the play-calling role.

Hamilton was out of the NFL in 2022, after failing to be retained following the firing of Lovie Smith in Houston. Before that, Hamilton earned his first NFL coordinator job with the Colts back in 2013, following quarterback Andrew Luck from Stanford to Indianapolis as his offensive coordinator. Despite being considered for the Raiders’ head coaching vacancy in 2014, Hamilton was fired midway through the following season.

The next several years would be eventful for Hamilton, seeing him spend a year in Cleveland, serving two years of a four-year contract with the University of Michigan, sitting out the 2019 season, and getting hired as the head coach and general manager of the DC Defenders of the XFL. Following his short XFL stint, Hamilton was hired by the Chargers, where, as quarterbacks coach, he would help Justin Herbert to the offensive rookie of the year award. His success with Herbert led to his next opportunity under David Culley in Houston as passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Hamilton earned his promotion under Smith the following year.

In Vegas, Hamilton would be tasked with helping to determine the team’s currently uncertain future at quarterback. With veteran Jimmy Garoppolo and rookie fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell on the roster, it doesn’t feel like the position is secure for the Raiders. This is what Hamilton’s competition for the job currently looks like:

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Mike Zimmer To Interview For Cowboys’ DC Position

By | at February 3, 2024 3:45 pm

After being mentioned as a potential name to watch for the Cowboys defensive coordinator position, former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is now set to meet with the team in regard to the position, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Having not coached in the NFL over the past two seasons, Zimmer could return to a coordinator position for the first time in 11 years and could reunite with the Cowboys for the first time in 18 years.

Zimmer, 67, has a storied history as one of the NFL’s better defensive minds. Starting in the college ranks, worked his way into his first coordinator job with Washington State after stints at Missouri and Weber State. After five years with the Cougars, Zimmer made the jump to the NFL, joining the Cowboys as a defensive assistant focusing on coaching nickel cornerbacks.

It took only a year for Zimmer to get promoted to defensive backs coach in Dallas, and after another five years, Zimmer became an NFL coordinator for the first time in his career, taking over play-calling duties for the Cowboys defense. After holding the position in Dallas for seven years, Zimmer decided to join Bobby Petrino in the same position during Petrino’s only NFL head coaching stint in Atlanta. Petrino famously left the Falcons after only 13 games to become the head coach at the University of Arkansas, drawing much ire from Zimmer who would be left without a job as he refused to follow to the college coaching ranks.

As a result, Zimmer took his next coordinator job with the Bengals. With five years of coaching consistently good defensive in Cincinnati under his belt, the league began to try out Zimmer’s name for head coaching interviews. After seven years with the Bengals, Zimmer would finally get his first head coaching opportunity with the Vikings.

Zimmer’s tenure in Minnesota would widely be deemed as successful, but a failure to stay consistently in contention and a to reach the Super Bowl ultimately led to his departure. Over his eight years as head coach, the Vikings went 72-56-1, never winning fewer than seven games. The Vikings twice won the NFC North under Zimmer and even reached the NFC Championship game in 2017. In 2021, Zimmer missed the playoffs for the second straight year after seeing the postseason in three of his first six seasons. Despite his ability to keep his team competitive, Zimmer was let go.

Since then, Zimmer has been away from the NFL, spending the 2022 season as an analyst/consultant under Deion Sanders at Jackson State. A return to the NFL has long been expected and would return one of the league’s better coordinators to the professional ranks.

Zimmer would have the luxury of taking over a top-five defense from the Commanders new head coach, Dan Quinn. Reuniting Zimmer with a Cowboys defense that now contains such stars as Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland seems like a no-brainer. His main competition seems to be Cowboys defensive backs coach Joe Whitt and perhaps former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera. Cowboys cornerbacks coach Al Harris and defensive line coach Aden Durde have been considered as possibilities for a promotion, as well.

A date has not yet been set for Zimmer’s meeting with the Cowboys, but an interview seems imminent. Seeing Zimmer return not only to the NFL but to the Cowboys, as well, could be just what Dallas needs to take that next step in the NFL.

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Giants To Meet With Saquon Barkley’s Camp At Combine

By | at February 2, 2024 9:56 pm

Following all the drama of last year’s offseason, not much has changed in New York concerning the contract of veteran running back Saquon Barkley. The Giants were able to avoid too much trouble with a one-year, $10.10MM band-aid, but with that year now come and gone, the two parties find themselves at quite a similar standoff.

When many of the league’s running backs grew more and more concerned about their value as a position group, a coalition was formed to explore solutions last year. With Barkley and the Giants one of many RB-team pairings dealing with this issue of valuation, chatter rose of trade demands and threats of a holdout. Those rumors were seemingly put to bed in the team’s short-term resolution, but it’s tough to act like the situation never got that bad.

Still, late into the year, Barkley maintained that he wanted to remain with the Giants past this season. Despite multiple trade inquiries amidst a 2-8 start to the year, the Giants stood pat, committing to at least trying to patch things up with Barkley for the long term. Both Barkley and New York were saying all the right things, insinuating that both were interested in finding terms for an extension.

A couple months later, though, Barkley admitted that, despite his repeated assertions that New York was where he wanted to be, he really wouldn’t mind getting to make a fresh start somewhere new. Perhaps, it’s the constant stalemate the two sides seem to keep finding themselves in despite seeing the Colts and Jonathan Taylor reach a new three-year, $42MM deal in much rockier waters. A new deal may be even more difficult to come to after all four running backs headlining the valuation issue in the offseason (Barkley, Taylor, Josh Jacobs, and Austin Ekeler) missed time this season due to injury, further muddying the waters of their bargaining position.

Regardless, the Giants and Barkley will continue to strive for a resolution. General manager Joe Schoen claims to have met briefly with Barkley after the season concluded, and according to Connor Hughes of SNY, he plans to meet with Barkley’s representation at the NFL Scouting Combine at the turn of the month, as well. It will be interesting to see how things will be different in this offseason.

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New Ravens DC Zach Orr Chose Baltimore Over Green Bay?

By | at February 2, 2024 7:59 pm

The Ravens secured what they hope will be the next in a line of mostly outstanding defensive coordinators in their 28-year history when the team promoted inside linebackers coach Zach Orr yesterday. Orr staying in Baltimore, a city in which he’s spent nine years as both a player and coach, seems like a no-brainer, but according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, the team’s new coordinator had another offer: the Packers.

This report comes with a bit of speculation as it stems from an unnamed “league source,” but the timeline holds up. The Packers’ hire of former Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley as their newest defensive coordinator came as a bit of a surprise with no reports of an interview taking place before his sudden appointment. There are perhaps two reasons for this.

The first would be that Hafley is a college football coach who must deal with the trials of the recruiting trail. If Hafley were reported to be interviewing for NFL jobs, any recruits the Eagles were hoping to land may think twice about committing to a coach who isn’t himself committed to the school. If news of an interview surfaced and Hafley returned to Boston College for the 2024 NCAA season, he would likely face innumerable questions concerning the plans for his future in Chestnut Hill.

The second reason pertains to his existing relationship with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. The two are reportedly close friends. This could mean that, due to their friendly nature, the two had off-the-record conversations toying with the idea of a team-up. The theory would then become that Hafley was available as a backup option should LaFleur and company fail to land their preferred option, which was reportedly Orr.

Here’s where the other part of the timeline comes into play. Hafley was hired on January 31, the same day as Orr’s interview for the defensive coordinator job in Green Bay. In theory, Orr was offered the job on the spot, Green Bay having waited patiently for the Ravens to be eliminated from the playoffs. Orr, anticipating the likelihood of a promotion within his current organization, would’ve then turned the Packers down, prompting LaFleur to reach out and hire his good buddy later that day.

This theory makes sense when you consider Baltimore’s history of internal hires for defensive coordinator. After hiring Marvin Lewis in the Ravens’ inaugural season, Mike Nolan, Rex Ryan, Greg Mattison, Chuck Pagano, Dean Pees, and Don “Wink” Martindale were all promoted from internally to defensive coordinator. Mike Macdonald was technically the team’s first external hire for the position, coming from the University of Michigan, but that’s only if you discount the seven years he spent on-staff in Baltimore before his single year in Ann Arbor.

Orr had to have a good idea that he or Ravens associate head coach and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver stood the best chance of succeeding Macdonald as coordinator. If he felt particularly good about his prospects for the promotion, it makes sense that he would turn the Packers down just to be hired into the Ravens’ position the next day. In fact, Orr could’ve taken that Packers’ offer to leverage a similar advancement in Baltimore then informed Green Bay of his decision later that day.

If this report proves to be accurate, it paints an interesting picture for both teams. In Green Bay, it tells the story of a swing and a miss on one of the league’s up-and-coming, young coaches. In Baltimore, it shows how badly the Ravens wanted to hold on to Orr, who coached inside linebackers Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen to first- and second-team All-Pro honors, respectively, this season.

The Ravens knew that, in addition to losing Macdonald, they were likely to see whomever they didn’t promote between Orr and Weaver walk, as well. Head coach John Harbaugh and company claim that they’re really trying to hold onto to Weaver after passing him up for the coordinator position, but he seems destined for that promotion elsewhere as the current frontrunner for the Dolphins’ coordinator job. The 31-year-old Orr was the choice for Baltimore, though he was reportedly the choice in Green Bay first.

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