More On The Latest Coaching Hires
The Giants officially hired former Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to be the team’s next head coach earlier today, and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com offered his breakdown of why Shurmur was selected out of the field of six candidates.
Raanan notes that while the Giants did consider coaches with without head coaching experience, general manager Dave Gettleman made it a point that he wanted someone who has held the position before and could bring coordinator experience to the team, which is two criteria Shurmur clearly checks off. He also notes that Gettleman mentioned in his own statement about the hire that the job seemed like it was “not too big” for Shumur, which speaks to Gettleman’s want to bring in somebody that has been lead positions in football for a long while.
Raanan also passes along a ringing endorsement from Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph, who’s Shurmur coached for the past two seasons.
“He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever played for,” said Rudolph. “He’s a guy I had the pleasure of working with in the tight end room before he took over as offensive coordinator halfway through the year, and then working with him day in and day out this year, the way he’s led the offense and took us — even though we faced the adversity [of] losing another starting quarterback, another starting running back — he carried us all the way to a top-10 offense.
It’s not a surprise that Shurmur got the job considering the reports that have been coming out over the past week and with the original criteria that the Giants front office was looking for, it appears that they have hired the type of guy they wanted for the job when they began their search for their next head coach.
Here’s a few more notes from today’s coaching news:
- Mike Vrabel is well known for his days as a Patriots linebacker, but he now enters the biggest challenge of his post-playing days as the new head coach of the Titans. In today’s introductory press conference, Vrabel touched on many things he intends to do now that he is the leader of a team and coaching staff, reports Terry McCormick of Titans Insider. The first-time head coach stated that he doesn’t “want to put a timetable on it because I want the right guys”. This comes in accordance with the reported front runner for the team’s offensive coordinator position, Ryan Day, will not be hired. Speaking of offense, Vrabel noted that even with the team wanting to properly develop Marcus Mariota, he intends to have a strong ground game to compliment him, but not to the team’s detriment. “I think that we’re going to run the football,” said the head coach. “We’re going to run it from the quarterback being under center, we’re going to run it from the quarterback being in gun,” Vrabel said. “We’re going to give Marcus (Mariota) some easy access throws, whether that be RPOs or run reliefs. We’re not going to run it into eight or nine guys, we’re not going to be silly. I believe in screens, I believe in play action, things that he does well.” Overall, Vrabel wants to establish a “Titans Way” brand of football that the team can point to year in and year out. “I think to get a ‘Way,’ you have to win. You have to be able to win championships before people start giving you ‘Ways’ to do things. That will be our ultimate goal, but I talked about how our players are going to be prepared,” Vrabel said. “They’re going to play fast and aggressive, and that’s what I believe in. Until we can win a championship doing that, then there’s not going to be this ‘Titans Way.’ That will be talked about in the building, but people from outside the building, they won’t believe in us, they won’t have faith in us until you win.”
- The Cardinals head coaching search ended in the hiring of former Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks being named to the position this afternoon. Wilks has a difficult job in succeeding Bruce Arians, but Kent Somers of AZCentral believes that he will bring a “stead, firm hand” to the Cardinals organization. Somers notes that former players have lauded him for him for his ability to tell it straight and stay mentally tough in difficult situations. Veteran safety Eric Weddle, told Somers that, “The way we worked, the accountability. He stood tall among the big personalities. He didn’t bow down.” The search lasted Arizona’s front office three weeks, the longest of any team in the NFL. While Wilks doesn’t bring a high level of coordinator or head coach experience, he has made a mark on many of the players that he’s coached along the way, including retired cornerback Antoine Cason. “I think he is a hell of a coach,” Cason said. “He was the type of guy you just knew was going to be a head coach.”
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/22/18
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:
Minnesota Vikings
- OT Dieugot Joseph
- OT Cedrick Lang
- DE Caushaud Lyons
- DE Ifeadi Odenigbo
- CB Horace Richardson
- LB Antwione Williams.
Coaching Notes: Cardinals, Lions, Packers
New Cardinals hire Steve Wilks will be bringing in some of new faces to the coaching staff. One of the biggest changes will be at defensive coordinator as he appears to be poised to bring his former Panthers colleague Al Holcomb to lead the defense. This means that former defensive coordinator James Bettcher will be on the way out, according to Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com (Twitter link).
Jurecki does make sure to note that Bettcher will “land on his feet” with another organization that he’s actively looking for other opportunities around the league. These next few weeks will be a quick change for Bettcher, who was in the final group to be considered for the Cardinals vacant head coaching job.
Here’s more coaching stories to follow:
- While Wilks will be making multiple changes to the Cardinals coaching staff, that doesn’t mean that there’s going to be a complete overhaul. The new first-time head coach is likely to keep some members from Bruce Arians‘ staff on board for next season, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). While many new coaches like to make their imprint on the organization through bringing in new coaches onto the team, there’s also something to be said for trying to keep some of the same voices that players have been hearing from throughout the past few years.
- The Lions will be letting go of their quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan, sources tell Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). As I noted before, it’s not unusual for new head coaches to turnover their staff, but Breer adds that this move is a little surprising because Callahan is well-regarded around the league and will have a number of teams looking to bring him in for 2018. It’s been rumored that he could be a potential candidate for the Titans vacant offensive coordinator gig.
- Meanwhile, the Seahawks have made a decision on who their next quarterbacks coach will be. The team has officially promoted Dave Canales from wide receivers coach to working with Seattle’s signal callers next year, a source tells Alex Marvez of the Sporting News (Twitter link). Canales has been on Pete Carroll‘s staff since 2010 and was previously promoted to the WR coach position back in 2015. Although, this move doesn’t necessarily signal that the Seahawks will move on from former QB coach Carl Smith. Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times hears that Smith could be shifted to a different role (Twitter link).
- The Packers have added a new coach from the college ranks. Mike McCarthy has hired Ryan Downward from Bowling Green to help work on the team’s defensive staff. Downward worked as Bowling Green’s safeties coach for the past two seasons and previously worked for new Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine back when he coached in Cleveland.
Latest On The Vikings QB Situation
The Vikings 2017 campaign ended in disappointment after they were blown out in the NFC Championship game at the hands of the Eagles. Now as the team enters the offseason, they face the very unique challenge of having all three of the quarterbacks on their roster entering free agency at the same time. Michael Rand of the Star Tribune talked to both Case Keenum and Teddy Bridgewater as the team moved their stuff out of the locker room on Monday afternoon.
Keenum, who turns 30 in February, put together a surprisingly productive season after he spent much of his career as a backup. There were rumors that Keenum could be franchised tagged coming off of their miracle finish against the Saints, but that may now put put to rest given the offense’s performance this past weekend. Nevertheless, Keenum told reporters that he would love to come back to Minnesota next season because of the connection he feels to the franchise and the city.
I love this team,” said Keenum. “I love these guys. Love the coaching staff. I love this whole organization. … The culture they have around here is just awesome. Minnesota itself, the people here have been great.”
On the other hand, Bridgewater completed the major accomplishment of working his way back to becoming active after his scary leg injury that he suffered in training camp prior to the start of the 2016 season. Bridgewater told reporters that he understood why the Vikings played things the way they did.
“In a perfect world, I would have loved to have been dressing, but I understand decisions are made to give this team the best chance to win,” said Bridgewater. “I understand that and I’m a pro. I know what it takes. It happened, and I dealt with it.”
But not that he’s healthy, the 25-year-old added that he “definitely, without a question” is capable of being a team’s top signal caller.
Rand notes that Bridgewater and Sam Bradford have real injury questions, which makes Keenum the likely pick of the front office out of three options. However, he does add that it’s entirely within reason that the Vikings could go outside of the organization and sign a guy like Kirk Cousins to solidify the position moving forward.
Titans Will Not Hire Ryan Day As OC
Mike Vrabel was just hired as the Titans next head coach, but it looks like he’s going to take some more time to hire his next offensive coordinator. Ohio State’s Ryan Day appeared to be the frontrunner in the Titans search, but he will not leave the Buckeyes for the opportunity to work in the NFL, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Being that Vrabel is a defensive-minded coach, this hire appears to be critical in determining Marcus Mariota‘s future success. Day was originally thought to be a good choice because of his familiarity with Mariota’s college offense being that he did work with Chip Kelly in his final season in Philadelphia. He also was the quarterback coach in San Francisco in 2016 before accepting a job with Ohio State.
With Day staying put, Vrabel could just reset his search with some many potential hires available in the open market. There were rumors yesterday that he had interest in Lions QB coach Brian Callahan for the role. But with other more experienced coaches like Ben McAdoo, Darrell Bevell and Mike McCoy still free agents there is no shortage of candidates to be considered.
Cardinals Expected To Hire Panthers’ Al Holcomb
New Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks is quickly working to get his coaching staff in place, and he’s apparently looking at one of his former staffers with the Panthers to help lead his defense. Panthers linebacker coach Al Holcomb seems primed to follow Wilks to Arizona to become the team’s next defensive coordinator, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The team will move on from former Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher after he was passed over for the head coaching job. This opens up an opportunity for Wilks to bring in someone that he’s familiar with to help translate the success he had in Carolina to the desert.
Holcomb has spent five seasons primarily coaching the Panthers linebackers. He’s worked with Wilks every year since he was hired by the Panthers back in 2013. Under Holcomb’s guidance, the Panthers have formed one of the best inside linebacker combos in the league with Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis. It’s unsurprising that Wilks would bring over a familiar face, especially on the defensive side of the ball, with the Panthers finishing as the seventh best total defense in the league last season.
Latest On Patriots’ Brian Flores
Now that he’s no longer in consideration for the Cardinals head coaching job, Patriots linebacker coach Brian Flores has a few options that could be on the table for this upcoming season. After Arizona decided to hire Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, Flores will not follow him to be the team’s next defensive coordinator, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Schefter adds that with current Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia expected to accept a job offer to be the Lions next head coach, Flores is a “prime candidate” to lead Bill Belichick‘s defense next season. Even though Flores is just 36 years old, he already has a fairly long history with the Pats organization. He’s spent the last 10 years as a coach with the team, but his work stems back to his days in the team’s front office when he was hired as a scouting assistant back in 2004.
It’s certainly possible that Flores could have the option of going with Patricia to Detroit, but it’s becoming clear that he’s the odds on favorite to lead the Pats defense in 2018.
Giants Officially Hire Pat Shurmur
It’s been an open secret for about a week, but now that the Vikings are eliminated from the postseason, the Giants have officially named Pat Shurmur to be their next head coach. The team will be signing him to a five-year contract, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).This will be Shumur’s second stint as a head coach after he led the Browns from 2011-12.
“We are pleased to welcome Pat to our organization and look forward to the leadership he will provide for our team,” said owner John Mara and vice president Steve Tisch. “He has an outstanding track record in developing young players, and it is clear his players respond to his guidance and direction. We interviewed six talented and qualified candidates, and we feel like Pat, with his vision and experience, is the right person to lead our team.”
Shumur is entering the Giants organization after a very successful 2017 season as the Vikings offensive coordinator. He dealt with injuries to his top quarterback and running back, but maintained an offense that ranked 11th in total yards. Shurmur got the job after he took over an an interim basis in 2016 after originally being hired as the team’s tight ends coach. Prior to his few seasons in Minnesota, Shurmur worked as the Eagles offensive coordinator from 2013-15 after he was fired from his job with the Browns. After fighting back to being considered for another had coach position, Shurmur expressed that he is excited to start building a winner in New York.
“I am looking forward to getting to work with Dave Gettleman and Kevin Abrams and starting the process to once again build a championship team,” said Shurmur. “I have been fortunate to work with many great coaches and players, and I am thankful for those relationships. I would like to thank my family and friends for their tremendous support.”
It was mentioned early in the search that new general manager Dave Gettleman preferred for his hire to have previous head coaching experience, and it seems that he got exactly what he was looking for in the 52-year-old coach.
“I can’t wait to start working with Pat,” said Gettleman. “I know he will provide the type of leadership we need to take our team back to where it belongs. I have followed Pat’s career for many years, and he has had great success wherever he has been. What struck me during our conversation is that being the head coach of the New York Giants is not too big for him. He is made for this moment and this opportunity.”
Now that Shurmur is officially in place, he’ll have a number of challenges entering the offseason. This includes gaining control of a fractured locker room, addressing the quarterback situation and starting to build a team that can get back to playing like a playoff caliber squad.
Dallas Hires Kris Richard To Defensive Staff
The Seahawks moved on from former defensive coordinator Kris Richard after the team agreed to terms with former Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. However, the 38-year-old coach has found a rebound job now that the Cowboys have decided to hire him to be the team’s next secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator, according to Gee Scott of 710ESPN Seattle (Twitter link). Richard met with the team on Sunday to discuss a potential role, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Richard coming to the Cowboys is a solid addition given the success he had in Seattle during his three-year tenure leading one of the best defenses in football. Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli will continue in his current role, but adding a former defensive play caller should certainly help the staff continue to build Dallas’ defense next season.
Under Richard’s guidance, the Seahawks finished in the top five in total defense in 2015 and 2016, but dropped to number 11 this past year. However, Seattle did lose key starters in Kam Chancellor, Cliff Avril and Richard Sherman. The Cowboys ranked as a top ten defense in 2017, but could always use more experienced voices in the locker room.
Coaching Rumors: Cardinals, McAdoo, Fins
The Cardinals interviewed two more head coach candidates today, but the search will continue into next week, according to Kent Somers of AZCentral Sports. The Cardinals have met with Steve Wilks and Keith Armstrong twice and will not need to interview current defensive coordinator James Bettcher another time because of his history with the organization. The team will also interview John DeFilippo and Brian Flores next week, per Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com (Twitter link).
In addition, Somer states that the team could look at giving Jim Schwartz a second interview, but Jurecki did not mention the Eagles defensive coordinator in his tweet. The search is mostly continuing because both the Eagles and Patriots will be playing in their respective conference championships, so depending on how the games shake out, Arizona could resolve their head coaching search by the end of next week.
Finally, Somers importantly notes that former Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians has recommended Bettcher and Armstrong among this pool of coaches the front office is considering.
Here are more a coaching notes from around the NFL:
- In more Cardinals coaching staff news, now two former staffers have now left for new opportunities, reports Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). In addition to former special teams coordinator Amos Jones moving onto the same position with the Browns, former wide receiver coach Darryl Drake has been hired by the Steelers.
- Hue Jackson is adding an offensive coordinator to his staff and have interviewed former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo for the job. He interviewed with the Browns three days ago and apparently “It went fine”, a Browns source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Anderson adds that the source mentioned that they are “Just not going to rush into anything” after speaking to two candidates as of right now. Cleveland is also interviewing a high profile college coach in LSU’s RB coach Tommy Robinson for the same position on their staff, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
- The Dolphins announced a slew of coaching moves today. The biggest apart from Dowell Loggains being brought on as offensive coordinator is former OC Clyde Christensen being reassigned as the team’s new director of football and player development. Shawn Jefferson was wide receivers coach, but will now be an assistant head coach working with the offense. They are also are promoting Ben Johnson to WR coach. He got experience with this group of players as an assistant WR coach last season.
- The Bears have named Brock Olivo as the team’s new assistant special teams coach, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Olivo was the Broncos’ special teams coordinator last year and was with Matt Nagy on the Chiefs’ staff from 2014-16 as an assistant to special teams coordinator Dave Toub. He previously was a former running back for the Lions back in his playing days.
- The Texans have promoted Anthony Midget to the team’s secondary coach, according to Mark Berman of Fox26 (Twitter link). Berman also notes that they have also hired Danny Barrett as the RB coach and Tracy Smith as an assistant special teams coach.