QB Carr’s Future In Vegas Secure
Quarterback Derek Carr‘s future with the Raiders has been hot and cold for quite a while now, but, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the new leadership in Las Vegas is prepared to show their commitment to the eighth-year veteran with a contract extension. 
Just before the start of February, the Raiders announced the hirings of two former New England employees. They were taking the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, to fill the role of head coach and the Patriots’ director of player personnel, Dave Ziegler, to fill the role of general manager. Both McDaniels and Ziegler had shown interest in trading for Carr during their time in New England.
Since the departures of former head coach Jon Gruden and former general manager Mike Mayock, Carr has been unsure of his future, claiming that his status could be impacted by the team’s hires. Carr’s top choice to replace Gruden was, in fact, McDaniels. The mutual support and respect is something that Carr has not had the luxury of enjoying throughout his eight years with the organization.
Joel Corry, who writes for CBS Sports on NFL contracts and salary caps, tweeted out some ideas of what an extension may look like for Carr. Back in 2017, Carr became the first player in the NFL to average $25MM per annum. Even while breaking that barrier, Carr claimed at the time that he was leaving money in the cap for deals with guard Gabe Jackson and outside linebacker Khalil Mack. Corry and Rapoport both posit that Carr has earned near-top-tier money that could make him the fourth quarterback to join the $40MM per year club, joining the likes Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Dak Prescott.
The Raiders have some time to figure out a deal with Carr, as he’s under contract through next season. They may attempt to make a show of good faith and offer an extension before the start of his contract year, or, with relations between leadership and the quarterback being much healthier, they may be able to take some time to figure out the best deal for both sides. Regardless, it is certainly an improved situation for everyone involved, and the Raiders will hope to reap the benefits.
Former Broncos’ HC Fangio Won’t Coach In 2022
Despite lots of interest and multiple offers for defensive coordinator jobs, former head coach of the Broncos Vic Fangio has decided against taking any of the opportunities offered to him for next season, according to league sources of ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
In three years as the Broncos’ head coach, Fangio failed to accomplish a winning season, coming closest in 2019 with a 7-9 record that was good for 2nd place in the AFC West. The next two seasons saw the Broncos finish 4th in the AFC West. This past season, Fangio’s Broncos started strong with a 3-0 start. Finishing the season 4-10 the rest of the way led to the end of Fangio’s tenure in Denver.
Denver was Fangio’s first head coaching job at any level of football. Before that, Fangio had several successful stints as a defensive coordinator in the NFL. Since 1995, Fangio has served as the defensive coordinator for the Panthers, Colts, Texans, 49ers, and Bears. In his last year in Chicago, Fangio was awarded the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year award.
It’s no surprise, then, that Fangio was so sought after following his departure from the Broncos. Schefter asserts that it’s likely Fangio will take the 2022 season off from coaching and return next year as a highly coveted candidate for open defensive coordinator positions.
Sean McVay Plans To Coach In 2022
In the run-up to Super Bowl LVI, media pundits have attempted to add steam to a long-running rumor: that Rams’ head coach Sean McVay has been considering working as a television analyst, leaving coaching in the rearview. After comments made by McVay in the team’s final media availability yesterday, Nick Wagoner of ESPN wrote an article tying those comments to the rumor. 
McVay answered a media question saying that he “won’t make it” if he’s coaching until he’s 60. When asked to elaborate, McVay expounded on the idea, speaking on things he hopes to focus on in life.
“I’m gonna be married this summer, I want to have a family and I think being able to find that balance but also be able to give the time necessary. I have always had a dream about being able to be a father and I can’t predict the future, you know,” McVay postulated.
He continued, “I don’t really know. I know I love football and I’m so invested in this thing and I’m in the moment right now. But, at some point, too, if you said what do you want to be able to do? I want to be able to have a family and I want to be able to spend time with them.”
McVay went on about the lessons he’s learned from watching his father and grandfather. McVay’s grandfather, John, was an NFL head coach in the 1970s for the Giants. He served as an executive in the 49ers’ front office for two decades, starting in 1980 and eventually became San Francisco’s general manager in 1998. Sean claimed his father, Tim, would have been an “unbelievable coach,” but, seeing the time his own father had missed due to the rigorous schedule of an NFL club leader, he decided he would rather spend that time with his family.
“So, I always remember that and, at some point, I want to be able to have a family,” McVay went on. “So, that’s why I say that. But…you’ll probably be talking to me when I’m 61 doing this stuff. Who knows?”
Somehow, these sentiments have led to speculation that McVay may hang up the whistle at the ripe old age of 36. McVay quickly put these rumors to bed, texting NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport to ensure that he is “committed to this team and coaching.” Rapoport reports that McVay intends to coach the Rams “in the 2022 season and beyond.”
One day, McVay’s main focus, like his father’s, will switch to his family and to being a dad. It appears that this will not be the case for several more seasons to come, but if McVay’s comments to Rapoport are true, it certainly won’t be the case come Monday, regardless of the result of tomorrow’s game.
AFC Coaching Notes: Colts, Bills, Jaguars, Ravens
Since Frank Reich was able to land defensive coordinator Gus Bradley to replace Bears’ head coach Matt Eberflus, Bradley has begun the process of putting his staff together. Today Bradley added longtime defensive backs coach Ron Milus to coach his secondary, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Milus first started coaching defensive backs at his alma mater, the University of Washington, about eight years after playing cornerback there. He held the college position for seven years before getting an NFL coaching opportunity in 2000. Since then, Milus hasn’t spent a season out of work with stints in Denver, Arizona, New York (Giants), St. Louis, Carolina, San Diego, and Las Vegas. His longest stint was with the Chargers, spending eight years in southern California and transitioning with the team to Los Angeles. It was in Los Angeles that Milus was retained when Bradley joined the Chargers’ staff. He followed Bradley to Las Vegas and will join him once more in Indianapolis.
Here are a few other coaching notes from around the AFC starting with another bit from the Hoosier State:
- In addition to Milus, Mike Chappell of Fox59 reports that Indianapolis is also in the process of hiring linebackers coach Richard Smith, who worked with Bradley and Milus in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Smith has coached in the NFL since he debuted for the Houston Oilers in 1988 coaching special teams and tight ends. He found his niche as a linebackers coach in 1997 for the 49ers and has had three short stints as a defensive coordinator in Miami, Houston, and Atlanta.
- ESPN’s Yates also tweeted out a report that the Bills have added former QB Kyle Shurmur on staff in a defensive quality control position. After four years at Vanderbilt, Shurmur signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs, spending time on their practice squad as well as on the Bengals’ and Washington’s practice squads. He was released by Washington a little over a month ago and that appears to mark the end of his playing career. He seems to be following in the footsteps of his father, Pat Shurmur, and joining the coaching track.
- A castaway from the Matt Nagy Bears’ staff, outside linebackers coach Bill Shuey will not be without work for long as Curtis Crabtree of NBC Sports reports that Shuey is joining Doug Pederson‘s staff in Jacksonville in the same role. Shuey and Pederson had two separate tenures together in Philadelphia.
- Pederson also made a crucial move of retaining running backs coach Bernie Parmalee. Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network tells us that keeping Parmalee was a priority for Pederson, especially due to his strong relationship with star running back James Robinson.
- Baltimore has hired Rob Leonard as outside linebackers coach, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley (Twitter). Leonard will replace Drew Wilkins who left to join Brian Daboll‘s staff in New York. Leonard spent the past three seasons in the same position with the Dolphins. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic adds that former Michigan analyst Ryan Osborn will follow Mike Macdonald to the Ravens for a quality control position. Osborn is credited with having a role in the development of Wolverines’ EDGE players like Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/12/22
Here are the league’s minor transactions leading up to Super Bowl LVI:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: DT Mike Daniels, WR Trent Taylor
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: S Eric Weddle, S Blake Countess
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 2/12/22
Here are the league’s practice squad transactions leading up to Super Bowl LVI:
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: K Ryan Santoso, LS Carson Tinker
- Placed on practice squad injured list: LB Anthony Hines III, WR Warren Jackson
Interim HC Bevell Won’t Remain With Jaguars
Darrell Bevell‘s tenure in Jacksonville was a short one. With the hiring of Doug Pederson being announced earlier this month, it appears that Bevell will not remain in northern Florida as a part of Pederson’s coaching staff, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. 
Brought onto Urban Meyer‘s staff to be offensive coordinator a little over a year ago, Bevell was tasked with serving as the interim head coach for the Jaguars’ final four games of the 2021 season after Meyer was relieved of his duties. Over those four games, Jacksonville recorded one win and three losses to finish the season 3-14.
This wasn’t Bevell’s first tenure as an interim head coach. Just last season, Bevell coached the final five games of the Lions’ 2020 season after the firing of Matt Patricia, winning one game in Detroit, as well, for a career record of 2-7 as a head coach (all in an interim capacity).
Bevell will likely return to his day job as an offensive coordinator. While the Jaguars’ offense finished last in the NFL this season in multiple categories, Bevell’s seen success as a play caller in Seattle, finishing as a top-ten scoring offense in five of his seven seasons with the Seahawks, including a top-four scoring offense in 2015. Bevell’s first gig calling plays came in Minnesota where he spend five years leading a Vikings’ offense to varying results, including a 2009 offense that finished second in scoring, featuring Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, and rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin.
According to Wilson, Bevell has received interest from multiple NFL teams and his moving on from Jacksonville will allow him to pursue those opportunities.
Texans Considering Lovie Smith For HC
Despite reports that the Texans had narrowed their list of candidates down to journeyman quarterback Josh McCown and former Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores, Adam Schefter of ESPN has reported that current defensive coordinator and associate head coach Lovie Smith is now in talks with Houston about potentially becoming their next head coach. Smith interviewed with the team earlier tonight, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. This is the second time Smith has been considered for the Texans’ head coach position, the first time being when he interviewed with the team in December 2013 prior to accepting the head coaching job in Tampa Bay. 
Smith has spent 16 of the last 18 years as a head coach at some level. After three years of coaching at the high school level, Smith spent the next 13 years bouncing around the NCAA as a position coach with stops at Tulsa, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio State. He accepted a job as the Buccaneers’ linebackers coach in 1996 and, after five seasons in Tampa Bay, was hired as the defensive coordinator of the Rams. Smith took the St. Louis defense from a league-worst 29.4 points per game to seventh in the league allowing 17.1 points per game in his first year leading the defense.
Smith soon earned the head coaching job for the Bears in 2004. Despite losing starting quarterback Rex Grossman to injury for most of the 2005 season, the Bears would get a first round bye in the playoffs as the NFC’s number two-seed in Lovie’s second year as head coach, winning Smith the AP NFL Coach of the Year Award. In 2006, the Bears were the NFC’s number one-seed, owning the NFL’s second-ranked scoring offense and fifth-ranked overall defense. In his third season as an NFL head coach, Smith became the first Black head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl, and the second minority head coach after Tom Flores.
The next six years saw the Bears miss the playoffs five times despite only two losing seasons and never finishing with a record worse than 7-9. Smith was fired after failing to reach the playoffs in the 2012 season despite finishing with a record of 10-6, the last winning season the Bears would see until 2018.
After a year hiatus from the NFL, Smith was brought in to replace Greg Schiano in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers went 2-14 and 6-10 in Smith’s first two seasons and Smith was fired with three years remaining on his contract.
After Tampa Bay, Smith accepted the job of head coach at the University of Illinois. A perennial basement-dweller in the Big Ten, Smith amassed a 17-39 record in five seasons at Illinois. In 2019, he did lead the Fighting Illini to their first bowl game appearance since 2014, but was fired the next year after starting the season 2-5.
Following his stint in college football, Smith was hired by Houston in March of 2021 in his current role under rookie head coach David Culley, returning to the NFL after a 5 year hiatus. Smith did improve the Texans’ defense from ranking 30th in defensive DVOA in 2020 to 23rd in 2021, but Houston was not one of the league’s better defensive units.
Schefter reported that Smith was always included in the Texans’ discussions, but his candidacy for head coach didn’t start gaining momentum until very recently. The consensus in the media is that, along with this revived interest in Smith, McCown is no longer being considered for the position, as Schefter, Rapoport, and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero have all tweeted as much.
It looks, for now, as if Brian Flores and Lovie Smith are the two candidates the Texans are focusing on for the position moving forward, unless any more surprise candidates find their way into contention. Be sure to follow our 2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker to keep up with updates to the remaining open positions.
Coaching Rumors: Saints, Texans, McDaniel, Giants, Broncos
The Saints began their cycle of head coaching interviews this week, conducting meetings with the following candidates: former Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson (1/30; hired by Jaguars), former Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores (2/1), Lions’ defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn (2/2), their current special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi (2/3), their current defensive coordinator Dennis Allen (2/4), and Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy (2/6).
New Orleans also requested permission to interview Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. There were some early reports that permission had been granted, but that hasn’t been confirmed and nothing has been scheduled, as of yet. ESPN’s Saints’ reporter Mike Triplett also mentioned that current offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael was offered an opportunity to interview for the position, but Carmichael declined. Despite being a part of Sean Payton‘s staff since Payton’s tenure in New Orleans began back in 2006, it appears Carmichael has no interest in running the show in the Big Easy. Whether he has retirement or another destination in mind or he is just comfortable in his role, Carmichael will not be the Saints’ next head coach.
Here are a few more notes from the ongoing coaching searches and staff changes throughout the NFL, starting with the other head coaching vacancy:
- Houston recently narrowed their list of head coaching candidates down to three: Brian Flores, former quarterback Josh McCown, and Eagles’ defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Well, according to USA Today’s Josina Anderson, the Texans are now down to two candidates, with Gannon being informed Saturday that he will not be receiving the head coaching position, leaving Flores and McCown as the two remaining names.
- New Dolphins’ head coach Mike McDaniel reportedly has interest in holding on to some of the defensive assistants currently under contract in Miami, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. This includes current defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, who followed Flores to Miami from New England. The lack of staff turnover would be a positive for a defensive unit that played well during the team’s seven-game win-streak in the back half of the season.
- The Giants were able to add a piece to Brian Daboll‘s new staff while missing out on another today. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan tweeted out that Andy Bischoff will become the Giants’ new tight ends coach. Bischoff followed David Culley from Baltimore to Houston and will make the lateral move over from the Texans with their head coaching position still in the air. Unfortunately, the Giants did not get their running backs coach, as Bruce Feldman of The Athletic tweeted out that Deland McCullough has turned down Daboll’s offer, choosing instead to remain the running backs coach at Notre Dame, believing it gives him the best opportunity to eventually become a head coach.
- New Broncos’ head coach Nathaniel Hackett is also looking to fill out his staff. The Broncos are planning to interview Jon Embree who most recently held the position of tight ends coach/assistant head coach in San Francisco. Embree parted ways with the Niners after being asked to take a 60 percent pay cut after San Francisco’s NFC Championship loss. The man who has coached George Kittle since he was drafted in 2017 would be a nice addition to Hackett’s system.
Dolphins Hire Mike McDaniel As Head Coach
The Dolphins have announced that they’ve agreed to terms to make 49ers’ offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel their next head coach (Twitter).
McDaniel recently had his second interview with Miami on Friday. Fox Sports Writer Peter Schrager reported that the interview lasted for 10 hours.
McDaniel was one of two candidates to receive a second interview with the Dolphins as Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore interviewed yesterday. With Moore not getting the job, it looks like Dallas will keep both coordinators as Moore has not been mentioned as a contender for the Saints’ or Texans’ jobs and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has informed teams that he is remaining in Dallas.
McDaniel is a longtime Kyle Shanahan-staffer, following Shanahan from Atlanta to San Francisco. Following Mike LaFleur‘s departure to join Robert Saleh on the Jets, McDaniel was promoted to offensive coordinator.
The 2021 NFL season was McDaniel’s first and only year as an offensive coordinator at any level. He first entered the NFL as an intern for the Broncos in 2004. He spent three years as an offensive assistant in Houston before taking the position of running backs coach for Sacramento’s short-lived UFL team. McDaniel re-entered the NFL ranks an an offensive assistant in Washington for two years before getting promoted to wide receivers coach. He spent one season in that position in Washington followed by a season holding the same position in Cleveland before heading to Atlanta to become an offensive assistant under Shanahan.
The 38-year-old’s rise has been meteoric since joining Shanahan. After two years in Atlanta, McDaniel became Shanahan’s run game coordinator in San Francisco for four seasons before finally getting his shot last year at offensive coordinator. McDaniel didn’t call plays for the 49ers, but he did draw up the running plays and coordinate a running game that ranked in the top-10 despite losing Raheem Mostert in Week 1 and missing Elijah Mitchell for 6 games this year.
With Brian Flores‘ lawsuit against the NFL, Dolphins, Giants, and Broncos alleging racial discrimination, much attention will likely be paid to the fact that McDaniel identifies as multiracial, making him the first minority coaching candidate to be hired in this year’s cycle. The 49ers will receive two third-round compensatory picks as a result of the hire.
With Miami securing their man, there are now only two teams remaining who are without a head coach: the Texans and Saints. Keep up with the last remaining coaching searches on our 2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker.