Jaguars Finalize Coaching Staff
The time has come for Liam Coen to finally lead an NFL staff as a head coach. The 39-year-old has been an extremely fast riser after getting his first NFL assistant position in 2018. His first NFL coordinator role came in 2022, and three years later, he’s a head coach. The Jaguars announced yesterday that he’s now completed the building of his first NFL staff in Jacksonville. 
He started with the hirings of offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile. Since then, we’ve been informed of the hiring of quarterbacks coach Spencer Whipple, passing game coordinator Shane Waldron, passing game specialist John Van Dam, defensive line coach Matt Edwards, defensive backs coach Anthony Perkins, and linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, as well as the retention of special teams coordinator Heath Farwell. Their new announcement clears up the rest of the open positions.
On offense, we recently saw Vikings assistant offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett interview for the offensive line coaching job in Jacksonville, and his interview was a successful one. After one year in Chicago, Chad Morton joins the Jaguars as running backs coach. Before holding the same role with the Bears, Morton coached running backs in Seattle for seven years. It was announced earlier this week that Edgar Bennett would not be returning as wide receivers coach for the Raiders in 2025. Well, he has bounced back quickly, getting hired to the same position in Jacksonville.
Two familiar faces will remain on the offense with the Jaguars. Tight ends coach Richard Angulo and assistant wide receivers coach Tyler Tettleton will be retaining their roles with the team in 2025. Angulo has coached tight ends in Duval since 2022, while Tettleton has held his role for two seasons. Tettleton will add the title of passing game specialist to his role, as well.
On defense, we see Derrick LeBlanc join the staff as assistant defensive line coach. It was announced nearly two weeks ago that LeBlanc would not be returning as defensive line coach in Arizona, so he’ll take a step back in 2025 in an assistant role with the Jaguars. Kevin Wilkins has been hired as assistant linebackers coach. After being fired by the Giants last year, Wilkins spent 2024 as a defensive assistant for the University of Michigan. We saw earlier that Colts defensive backs coach Ron Milus would not be returning in 2025. He’ll stay in the AFC South, though, as the new secondary coach in Jacksonville.
Drew Lascari will make his debut as an NFL coach in 2025 as the team’s new assistant defensive backs coach. He’s spent the past seven years at Rutgers, coaching safeties in their last three seasons. One familiar face will be sticking around in Jacksonville on defense. Mario Jeberaeel was hired last year as assistant outside linebackers coach. He’s been retained in 2025, but will serve this year as a defensive assistant.
On special teams, being retained alongside Farwell will be assistant special teams coach Luke Thompson. Thompson will enter his fourth year in that role. Jay Kaiser has joined the staff as assistant to the head coach. It’s his first year with the Jaguars coming from the University of Illinois as director of college personnel and NFL liaison. Joining Kaiser in the role of assistant to the head coach will be ElizaBeth Harrison, who has held that role in Jacksonville for the past 16 years.
Thus concludes the hiring of the main positions of Coen’s first staff in Jacksonville. Some ancillary positions and other assistant roles remain to be filled out, but the main bones of the staff are now solidified.
NFL Coaching Updates: Schneider, Alexander, Berger
It didn’t take long for former 49ers special teams coordinator Brian Schneider to bounce back or for Commanders special teams coordinator Larry Izzo to get some new help. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Schneider has been hired by Washington as the team’s new assistant special teams coordinator.
Schneider was fired after three years in his role with the 49ers. He’s had two other short stints as a coordinator with the Raiders (2007-08) and Jaguars (2021), but his longest coordinator stint came from 2010 to 2020 with the Seahawks, where he worked alongside Commanders head coach Dan Quinn in 2010 and from 2013-14. The 53-year-old will now reunite with Quinn after 10 years.
Schneider fills the role left vacant by John Glenn. Glenn, who had served six seasons as the linebackers coach in Seattle before his lone season in Washington, departed in order to coach linebackers again for the Raiders.
Here are a couple other coaching updates from around the NFL:
- The Steelers have a new defensive backs coach, per Josh Alper of NBC Sports. Gerald Alexander is returning to Pittsburgh after one year away from the team. Alexander’s first NFL job came in 2020 as the defensive backs coach for the Dolphins. He joined the Steelers as assistant defensive backs coach after being fired in Miami and left last year to retake a full defensive backs coaching job with the Raiders. With the staff turnover occurring in Las Vegas right now, Alexander returns to Pittsburgh. It seems Grady Brown is still on staff in Pittsburgh as secondary coach, but after the team finished 25th in pass defense in 2024, it’s not guaranteed he’ll stay.
- Jon Berger has joined Aaron Glenn‘s new staff in New York. Berger will be the new game management coach for the Jets. He previously spent 35 years with the Giants in various analytics roles but has spent the past three years as an NFL employee, including holding a role as vice president of replay.
Raiders Moving On From DPP JoJo Wooden
With John Spytek taking over as the new general manager, the Raiders are doing some shuffling in the front office. This has resulted in the termination of senior director of player personnel JoJo Wooden and senior national scout DuJuan Daniels, per Tashan Reed of The Athletic. 
Wooden has been a long-time lieutenant of former general manager Tom Telesco, so it’s not a shock to see Wooden’s exit shortly after Telesco’s. A 28-year personnel veteran, Wooden got his start in the NFL as a pro personnel assistant with the Jets in 1997. He stayed in New York until 2012, rising through the ranks with time as a pro scout, senior pro scout, assistant director of scouting, director of pro scouting, and assistant director of player personnel.
After 16 years with the Jets, Wooden was hired by Telesco during Telesco’s first GM job in San Diego. Wooden served as the Chargers director of player personnel for 11 years, eventually taking over the role of interim general manager when Telesco was fired. Not getting the full-time job following his interim stint, Wooden followed Telesco to Las Vegas to serve as his senior director of player personnel during their lone year with the Raiders. With Telesco jobless, it will be interesting to see if Wooden waits around to follow him to their next outpost or if Wooden will find a place on a different staff in 2025.
Unlike Telesco and Wooden, Daniels has been a long-time Raiders front office staffer. After 13 years as a lead scout for the Patriots, Daniels became the assistant director of player personnel in Oakland in 2019. He held that role for three years before transitioning to senior national scout, a job he’s held for the past three seasons.
Spytek, along with some new minority ownership, is ready to make a difference in Las Vegas. It will start with building a staff around himself that he can trust. In 2025, that staff will not include Wooden or Daniels.
Penn State’s Abdul Carter, Colorado’s Travis Hunter Top Prospects?
The college football season is officially over; the playoffs have concluded, and the all-star games showed off a number of talented under-the-radar prospects. While those games are important for fringe first-round prospects looking to solidify their draft stock or players who will end up filling out the middle rounds, NFL scouts have been asserting some opinions at the top of the board. Namely, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports rumors he’s been hearing that Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter and Colorado athlete Travis Hunter have been distancing themselves as the top two prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. 
Carter has been shooting up draft boards recently. The Nittany Lions pass rusher has long been seen as a likely first-round pick, but as of late, Carter has seen his odds to be selected in the first three picks escalate gradually. At this point, Carter is being considered as an option for the No. 1 overall pick. This surge from Carter comes on the heels of a breakout, unanimous All-American season. After combining for 11.0 sacks and 17 tackles for loss in his first two seasons in Happy Valley, Carter reached career highs in his junior season with 12.0 sacks and 24 tackles for loss last year alone.
As for the Heisman Trophy winner, Hunter, there’s not much question as to why he’s shot up draft boards. After playing both cornerback and wide receiver for the Buffaloes at an elite level in 2024, Hunter doesn’t enter the draft as either the top wide receiver or cornerback prospect on many boards. His ability to contribute at both positions, though, has the potential to elevate him over the top prospects at each position.
Hunter likely won’t be playing both positions full-time in the NFL, though. As impressive as it was to watch Hunter often play every snap on both sides of the ball in Boulder, doing that at the NFL-level is a whole different monster. Many scouts will be evaluating Hunter at both positions, as Lance Zierlein of NFL.com plans to do, but Zierlein also mentions that most teams have been looking at him as a cornerback who can take some snaps at wide receiver, which confirms rumors we’ve heard in the past.
It’s not uncommon to see a pass rusher trending at the top of draft boards, and Hunter’s versatility makes him an intriguing prospect that could provide value at multiple positions. While the two may have established themselves as the top two talents on the board, they will still have to compete with the overwhelming push for quarterbacks at No. 1 overall. Miami’s Cam Ward has been trending with the best odds to be the first overall pick, and Hunter’s teammate Shedeur Sanders has made a strong case of his own for a high draft slot.
Carter and Hunter may be distancing themselves as the top two overall prospects, but position need may push them down a pick or two. In addition, there’s still plenty of time for other first-round talents to close the gap and make their own cases for a spot in the top five.
Cowboys Making Coaching Hires
The Mike McCarthy-era is over in Dallas, and the time has arrived for Brian Schottenheimer to lead the Cowboys. Despite hiring his new head coach from within, the lack of urgency from owner Jerry Jones allowed for the contracts of all of his assistants to expire along with that of McCarthy. 
Schottenheimer has already made the two most important hires in his first career head coaching gig, bringing on Klayton Adams as offensive coordinator and Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator. Now, both coordinators have begun building their new staffs.
On offense, the team has hired Derrick Foster as their new running backs coach, per Nick Harris of the Star Telegram. Foster first came to the NFL after three years as a running backs coach at Iowa. He began in Los Angeles, where he coached Austin Ekeler through his two best seasons as a Charger, before spending last year in New Orleans coaching Alvin Kamara. He’ll inherit a running backs group that returns Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, and Malik Davis, though his position has certainly been bookmarked as one needing improvements in the offseason, potentially through the draft.
We saw the Cowboys interview one of its former running backs, Tashard Choice, for the position, as well. According to Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS, Choice will be staying in his current role with the Longhorns. Though he was also in consideration for roles with the Raiders and Saints, a raise in excess of $800K will keep Choice in Austin.
While Adams brings plenty of offensive line experience to the offense, the Cowboys have brought in Kansas State co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Conor Riley as their new offensive line coach, per Hill. Riley has been an extremely well-respected position coach in the college coaching ranks with his other stop being at North Dakota State. He’ll make his NFL coaching debut in 2025.
Also on offense, we saw wide receivers coach Robert Prince depart for Miami. While his replacement has not yet been hired, Tiquan Underwood will be on hand after getting hired as assistant wide receivers coach, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. He takes over the position after holding the same job with the Patriots last year.
On the defensive side of the ball, ESPN’s Todd Archer reports that a slew of former Bears assistants have followed Eberflus to Dallas. We already saw reports on the arrival of defensive pass-game coordinator Andre Curtis and linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi with Eberflus, but Archer adds that David Overstreet will follow as assistant defensive backs coach and Bryan Bing will join as assistant defensive line coach. Both Overstreet and Bing held those same positions on Eberflus’ defense in Chicago.
There are still some vacant positions on the Cowboys staff to fill out, but Dallas is working quickly to make some big hires after getting a late start to the market. With Schottenheimer’s inexperience as an NFL head coach, the supplemental ability of his coaching staff will be crucial.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/7/25
Friday’s only reserve/futures deals:
Houston Texans
New York Jets
- FB Andrew Beck
Patriots Announce 2025 Coaching Staff
Along with the hiring of new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel came the addition of two new coordinators, as well, in offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams. Each coordinator went about building their new staffs, with lots of new names arriving in New England over the past few weeks. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported the final lineup today. 
On offense, we had already heard about the hirings of quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant, wide receivers coach Todd Downing, and offensive assistant Riley Larkin. We had also been informed that Thomas Brown, Doug Marrone, and Jason Houghtaling had been hired, but we weren’t yet made aware of their positions. Reiss’ report tells us that Brown will serve as tight ends coach and passing game coordinator, Marrone will be offensive line coach, and Houghtaling will be assistant offensive line coach under Marrone.
New information tells us that, joining Houghtaling as an assistant offensive line coach under Marrone, Robert Kugler has been retained from last year’s staff. Kugler held the same position with the Texans and Panthers before joining the Patriots as an assistant offensive line coach last year. We also learned that Tony Dews has been hired as running backs coach. Dews served the same position under Vrabel during his tenure in Tennessee (including one year as tight ends coach) before spending last year as running backs coach for the Jets. Lastly on offense, Chuckie Keeton‘s coaching journey continues in New England after he debuted for the Seahawks as an offensive assistant last year.
On defense, we had already heard of the hirings of Zak Kuhr, Scott Booker, and Clint McMillan, as well as the retention of Ben McAdoo, but thanks to Reiss, we now know that Kuhr will serve as inside linebackers coach, Booker as safeties coach, and McMillan as defensive line coach. McAdoo served last year as a senior offensive assistant for the team, and in 2025, he will switch sides of the ball as a senior defensive assistant. Reiss also informed us that defensive assistant Vinny DePalma was retained in the same role. Last year was his first year in the NFL — or coaching period — after finishing his collegiate playing career as a linebacker at Boston College.
Reiss also reported four defensive hirings. We had heard that the Patriots were targeting Colts assistant defensive backs coach Justin Hamilton, and Reiss has him listed as the team’s new safeties coach. Hamilton held a defensive quality control coaching role on the Titans during Vrabel’s last year in Tennessee before landing his role in Indianapolis last year. The Patriots have also hired Mike Smith as outside linebackers coach. Smith has held the same role previously with the Chiefs, Packers, and Vikings but spent last year away from coaching. Lastly, the Patriots announced the hirings of Milton Patterson and Kevin Richardson as defensive assistants. Patterson makes his NFL coaching debut after five seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Florida A&M. Richardson is likewise debuting as a coach in the NFL following two seasons as assistant defensive backs coach at Illinois.
Finally, on special teams, we learned that Tom Quinn has been retained as assistant special teams coach. We knew that special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer had been retained, and while we don’t know his exact fate, Coby Tippett, a special teams assistant coach last year, was not included in today’s staff announcements. We also learned that Deron Mayo was retained as strength and conditioning coach despite his brother’s dismissal as head coach.
There you have it: the Patriots 2025 coaching staff. There are lots of areas that need improvement in order for the Patriots to see success next season, but it all starts with the coaching staff. Vrabel returns with head coaching experience under his belt, and he will try to bring some of the success he had as head coach at Tennessee with him to New England.
Texans Announce New President, Other Staff Updates
About two weeks ago, the Texans announced that they were parting ways with team president Greg Grissom after 23 years with the franchise. It didn’t take long for Houston to identify his replacement, announcing early the following week that Mike Tomon would be stepping into the role.
Tomon was a 2015 winner of the Sports Business Journal’s “40 under 40” award and was recognized as a Top 500 Business Leader by Dallas Magazine in 2024. Before all that, Tomon held senior roles with three NBA franchises (the Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Bobcats, and Phoenix Suns) with a focus on premium ticketing, partnerships, and strategy, before serving as senior vice president of global partnerships at AEG. All of this led to his addition to Legends in 2014.
At Legends, where Tomon most recently served as co-president & chief operating officer, he was responsible for global operations, including domestic and international revenue generation. His time at Legends saw the company establish partnerships with soccer brands Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and FIFA, as well as the Rugby World Cup. He’s also been involved in commercial engagements for NFL venues like SoFi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, Highmark Stadium, and The Star in Frisco. He also lent a hand with the 2024 Olympics in Paris and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Tomon’s myriad business experience will serve him well in his new role atop the team’s business operations. As team president, Tomon will be tasked with overseeing the direction and management of said operations, specifically with marketing, communications, broadcasting, ticket sales and services, event services, corporate sponsorship, community relations, accounting, legal, human resources, and general administration.
In addition to the announcement of their new team president, Ian Rapoport reported yesterday that assistant offensive line coach Cole Popovich has been promoted to offensive line coach and run game coordinator. This was a predictable outcome following the team’s firing of former offensive line coach Chris Strausser. Popovich had drawn offensive line coach interest a year ago from other teams, but the Texans were able to hold on to him as assistant offensive line coach with a “revamped contract.”
Lastly, we saw news yesterday from Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 that Rams senior offensive assistant Jerry Schuplinski is expected to be hired by Houston. Schuplinski is most notably known as a former assistant quarterbacks coach with the Patriots over Tom Brady. Since leaving New England, Schuplinski has bounced around with time as the Dolphins assistant quarterbacks coach, the Giants quarterbacks coach, and the Raiders tight ends coach before landing in Los Angeles last year. His experience could be valuable to a talented, young offensive group in Houston.
Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson Open To Trade
Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson visited the set on The Pat McAfee Show today, and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic was tuned in, as he always is with Bengals-related media. Dehner pulled away a number of notable tidbits, primarily: Hendrickson wants his contract situation figured out now; whether it’s by extension or trade doesn’t much seem to matter to him. 
Nothing about this situation is very new. For each of the past two years, Hendrickson’s contract has been in Cincinnati’s offseason news. Hendrickson initially signed with the Bengals following an impressive conclusion to his rookie deal in New Orleans that saw him total 13.5 sacks in 15 games in 2020. Each year since, Hendrickson has represented Cincinnati as a Pro Bowler, even earning first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career this season after leading the NFL in sacks with 17.5.
As we’ve well learned, the Bengals tend to be allergic to giving NFL players their third contracts, though they’ve recently broken that trend (sort of) with Hendrickson. Initially signing Hendrickson to a four-year, $60MM contract, the Bengals opted to avoid having Hendrickson play with a looming contract year, extending their stud defender before the third year of his deal for an additional season at $21MM.
Similar conversations entailed the following year, with Cincinatti showing hesitancy to extend him a second time. This resulted in Hendrickson requesting a trade before this past season. Ultimately, Hendrickson played through the contract drama, though he remained a hot name in trade circle rumors throughout the year. With their season at an end, the Bengals made it known that they were willing to extend Hendrickson, though it’s unclear where their priorities stand as wide receiver Tee Higgins is poised to make serious money on the free agent market and fellow wideout Ja’Marr Chase is still angling for a monster extension.
Hendrickson’s time on McAfee’s show made a couple things clear. Firstly, whether it’s an extension or a trade, Hendrickson just wants the situation settled quickly. He’d rather not play on an expiring deal and doesn’t want negotiations bleeding into OTAs and training camp. Secondly, he really does not care if it’s solved with a trade; obviously, he’d like to stay with his teammates, but he has no problem being traded. Part of this may be due to frustration with the front office, who Hendrickson mentioned has been terrible with communication, as usual.
Hendrickson also mentioned that the team’s Pro Bowlers (himself, Chase, and Joe Burrow) would like to stay together. On a similar note, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin recently noted that he felt a big issue with the team’s underperforming defense this year was the Bengals’ insistence to keep the core group of defenders from the team’s Super Bowl run together for “a little too long,” per Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Obviously, the Pro Bowler, Hendrickson, likely wasn’t a part of the issue, but this sentiment may impact Hendrickson’s contract talks.
Ultimately, signs could be pointing towards an exit for Hendrickson from the Bengals. Knowing the team’s tendency to favor young, cheap contracts and their poor communication, combined with Hendrickson’s lack of concern for how the situation get resolved, a trade seems like the easiest solution for Cincinnati. Especially considering that two straight career years for Hendrickson isn’t likely to make a new extension very cheap, it’s hard to imagine a situation in which the Bengals pay up for the 30-year-old. With Hendrickson’s desire for urgency, a resolution could be coming soon.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/5/25
Wednesday’s only reserve/futures deal around the NFL:
Cincinnati Bengals
- CB Jalen Davis
The veteran undrafted cornerback has spent the last five years in Cincinnati after originally signing with the Dolphins and spending a year with the Cardinals, as well. He’s served mostly as a depth corner and special teamer in the past, and spent last year on the practice squad, getting elevated twice for game action.