Bears To Hire Eric Studesville As RBs Coach
The Bears have found their replacement for Eric Bienemy, their running backs coach in 2025 who returned to Kansas City as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator this offseason. Former Dolphins assistant Eric Studesville will take up the job in 2026, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
Studesville, 58, began his NFL coaching career with the Bears as an offensive quality control coach in 1997. Interestingly, that followed a college career in which he played and coached on the defensive side of the ball. He then served as the wide receivers coach/assistant special teams coach in 1999 and 2000 before he was hired by the Giants to be their running backs coach. He spent three years in New York before taking the same job with the Bills (2004-2009), Broncos (2010-2016), and Dolphins (2017-2025).
In Miami, he also held the titles of run game coordinator (2017-2020), co-offensive coordinator (2021), and associate head coach (2022-2025). He also overlapped with then-Dolphins WRs coach Ben Johnson for two years and will now fill a key role on his staff in Chicago.
Studeville has developed notable star running backs in his career, including De’Von Achane, Tiki Barber, Fred Jackson, Willis McGahee, C.J. Anderson, and Knowshon Moreno. He will now work with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, who were an effective one-two punch in 2025.
Andy Reid Recommended Matt Nagy To John Harbaugh
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid let offensive coordinator Matt Nagy leave Kansas City this offseason, but he also helped him get his new job in New York.
Reid recommended Nagy to Giants head coach John Harbaugh (via SNY’s Connor Hughes) during his scramble to find a new offensive coordinator after Todd Monken took the Browns’ head coaching job. Harbaugh had long been planning to bring Monken, his OC in Baltimore, to New York and even tried to talk him out of going to Cleveland.
But Monken could not give up his first opportunity to be an NFL head coach, and Harbaugh had to look elsewhere. He interviewed a number of qualified candidates, though the pool of available talent had been thinned significantly by that point. So when Reid called Harbaugh to personally endorse his longtime assistant, the discussion likely carried a lot of weight in the Giants’ final decision.
Harbaugh went with another assistant hire who is once-removed from his coaching tree in assistant offensive line coach Grant Newsome, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Newsome previously worked under Jim Harbaugh as Michigan’s offensive line coach and sent a number of players to the NFL, including current Giants guard Jon Runyan Jr.
The Giants are still adding former Ravens assistants, though, including outside linebackers coach Matt Robinson, per CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. He will move back to an assistant defensive line coach role, which was his title in Baltimore in 2024. He played a key role in developing Ravens outside linebacker Tavius Robinson and defensive tackles Nnamdi Madubuike and Travis Jones.
Ex-Eagles OL Coach Jeff Stoutland Will Not Coach In 2026
On Wednesday, the NFL world found out that legendary Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland would not be coaching in Philadelphia next season. We now know (via ESPN’s Tim McManus) that he does not intend to coach at all in 2026.
The Eagles wanted to keep Stoutland in place under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion
, but he declined their offer. If he was interested in other jobs, he would have become the hottest commodity on the coaching market. While most teams already have their offensive line coach for 2026 in place, Stoutland could have easily become a senior offensive assistant or run game coordinator on any number of staffs.
Instead, he will take a year away from coaching after more than four decades with various college and NFL teams that featured two Super Bowl rings and two BCS National Championships.
Stoutland is leaving Philadelphia after a rocky 2025 season for the Eagles offense. After three straight years as a top-10 unit, they fell back to 19th in points and 24th in yards. Head coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo worked to diversify the run game, but did so in such a manner that encroached on Stoutland’s role as run game coordinator.
Then, after firing Patullo, the Eagles hired Sean Mannion as their new offensive coordinator. He spent time under both Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay and will bring their schemes to Philadelphia. Stoutland does not have as much experience with those systems.
Those factors contributed to Stoutland’s growing discomfort in Philadelphia and eventual departure. However, he does not plan to retire and could becoming one of the most sought-after assistants in the NFL next hiring cycle.
Commanders To Hire Eric Henderson As Defensive Run Game Coordinator/DL Coach
The Commanders’ defensive staff under new coordinator Daronte Jones is continuing to take shape.
USC co-defensive coordinator Eric Henderson is set to join Washington as their defensive line coach/run game coordinator, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. He also held those titles during his two years with the Trojans.
The 43-year-old started his NFL career as a Bengals defensive end, but only appeared in two games in 2008. After a few years in the now-defunct UFL, he retired from playing and began a coaching career at the college level. Henderson moved up to the NFL in 2017 as the Chargers’ assistant defensive line coach. After two years, he was hired by the Rams as their defensive line coach and had run game coordinator added to his title in 2023.
Headlined by Aaron Donald, the Rams’ defensive line was consistently excellent under Henderson, both in terms of stuffing the run and pressuring opposing quarterbacks. The unit played a major role in their 2018 and 2021 playoff runs, the latter of which featured a Super Bowl win for the franchise.
Henderson left Los Angeles in 2024 to get his first coordinator job, though he was not the Trojans’ defensive play-caller. Those duties fell to D’Anton Lynn, but after his departure for Penn State, Henderson called plays in the Alamo Bowl. USC’s defense ranked 57th and 51st in the FBS in points allowed in 2024 and 2025. Their run defense – Henderson’s focus – finished in a similar range. Those are uninspiring results, but his previous success in Los Angeles offers plenty of reason to believe that he can resurrect a Commanders run defense that ranked 30th in the league in 2025.
Eagles DC Vic Fangio Will Return For 2026 Season
After considering retirement for the second offseason in a row, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is expected to return to his post in 2026, per Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Fangio, 67, has been an NFL coach since 1986 (outside of one season as Stanford’s defensive coordinator in 2010). He finally won a Super Bowl last year – his first season in Philadelphia – and contemplated going out on top. Instead, he returned for the 2025 season and oversaw some regression, though his defense was still stronger than Kevin Patullo‘s offense.
The Eagles will be hoping Fangio’s unit can return to dominance in 2026, but keeping him in the building is already a major success. The organization has not had a smooth offseason thus far, as their search to replace Patullo did not go as planned. There did not seem to be as much interest in the job as one would expect for a star-studded offense still only a year removed from a Super Bowl win. Multiple candidates withdrew from consideration, and it even seemed like Brian Daboll was more interested in working with Cam Ward in Tennessee than reuniting with Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia after their first stint together at Alabama.
The Eagles eventually landed on Sean Mannion for their OC job. He has just two years of coaching experience, which will likely bring head coach Nick Sirianni into a bigger role in the offense. That made keeping Fangio even more important. This late in the hiring cycle, it would be almost impossible for the Eagles to find a worthy replacement.
They will not have to worry about such a task, for now. But Fangio’s retirement is clearly approaching, and his will not be easy shoes to fill.
Cardinals To Interview Texans DBs Coach Dino Vasso For DC Job
The Cardinals submitted a request to interview Texans defensive backs coach Dino Vasso for their defensive coordinator vacancy, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
Vasso, 38, has spent the last five years in Houston, starting as the cornerbacks coach in 2021 before moving into his current role in 2024. He has been instrumental in the development of the Texans’ starting secondary – safeties Jalen Pitre and Calen Bullock and cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter – who were all drafted during his tenure. In each of the last two years, Houston has ranked sixth against the pass and recorded 19 interceptions. Their two-season total of 38 picks leads the league.
Vasso began his NFL coaching career as an assistant with the Chiefs in 2013. He then served as the Eagles’ assistant secondary coach (2016-2019) and assistant defensive coordinator (2020), missing ex-Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon by a year. Instead, Jim Schwartz was Vasso’s defensive coordinator in Philadelphia, where he also worked with now-Texans DC Matt Burke for the first time.
The Cardinals have a slew of young defensive backs who could benefit from time under Vasso; among them are cornerbacks Will Johnson, Max Melton, and Denzel Burke and safeties Kitan Crawford and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson to Their linebacker and defensive line rooms are older and more proven, so hiring a coach with secondary expertise could get the most out of the entire defense.
With an offensive-minded head coach in Mike LaFleur, the Cardinals may want to find a DC who can install and call his own defense right away. At the same time, the current roster is nowhere near contention, so a first-time play-caller could be afforded more patience in Arizona relative to a more win-now situation.
The Cardinals’ other coordinator spot is already set with the surprising hire of Nathaniel Hackett. It was unclear at the time if Arizona was in compliance with the Rooney Rule, but they did interview Commanders quarterbacks coach D.J. Williams for the job, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Commanders Part Ways With Ryan Kerrigan, Sharrif Floyd, Pete Ohnegian
The Commanders are parting ways with some of their incumbent defensive coaching staff.
Assistant linebackers coach/pass rush specialist Ryan Kerrigan, assistant defensive line coach Sharrif Floyd, and player development coach Pete Ohnegian will all be leaving the team, per KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson. The moves were expected regardless of who the team selected as their DC, according to ESPN’s John Keim.
Kerrigan, 37, is the highest-profile departure. He spent 10 of his 11 NFL seasons in Washington, earned four Pro Bowls, and finished his career as the franchise leader in tackles for loss (116) and forced fumbles (26). Kerrigan also ranks second in team history with 95.5 sacks. After retiring in 2021, he returned to Washington as an assistant defensive line coach. He spent two years in that role before the arrival of Dan Quinn in 2024, who moved Kerrigan to the position he just vacated. The Commanders’ pass rush was middling in his first year in the role, but regressed this past season.
Floyd, 34, is also a former player. He was a Vikings defensive tackle from 2013 to 2017 and started a coaching career shortly after. He started at the high school level and served as an undergraduate assistant at Florida before joining the Cowboys as an assistant defensive line/defensive quality control coach in 2023. He then followed Quinn to Washington, where the Commanders have struggled against the run in back-to-back years.
Ohnegian was another assistant on Quinn’s staff in Dallas, though he only worked for the Cowboys in 2023. Like Floyd, he followed Quinn to Washington in 2024 and moved into a player development role.
Vikings DC Brian Flores Will Make More Than $6MM On New Deal
When Brian Flores‘ contract with the Vikings expired, he was expected to become one of the hottest coaches on the market.
That level of interest never materialized. Flores only interviewed with three teams – the Ravens and the Steelers for their head coaching jobs and the Commanders for their defensive coordinator vacancy – and they all went in different directions.
The Vikings, meanwhile, did not even start a search for a replacement. They were clearly intent on keeping Flores in Minnesota, giving him the leverage to negotiate what might be the biggest coordinator contract in the league right now, if not all-time. The 44-year-old will earn over $6MM per year on his new deal, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
Coaching contracts are not publicized in the same way player contracts are, so there is no definitive ranking of coordinator pay across the league. But the Raiders reportedly gave Chip Kelly $6MM per year to be their offensive coordinator in 2025; that was thought to be the most of any assistant coach in the league. He was fired along with the rest of Pete Carroll‘s staff after just one season, which could mean that Flores is now the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL.
The Vikings tried to extend Flores before the end of the regular season, but he understandably wanted to explore potential head coaching opportunities. Another reason for his hesitation to re-up in Minnesota was “his unease with the direction of the front office,” according to Seifert.
However, the team’s decision to fire general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah 10 days after re-signing Flores is likely an example of correlation, not causation. It seems unlikely that a defensive coordinator could force a general manager out, not to mention the time gap between the moves.
Steelers Close To Hiring Brian Angelichio As OC?
FEBRUARY 3: The Steelers and Angelichio met on Tuesday, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and it seems to have gone well. The two sides are “close to agreeing on a deal” that would make him the team’s offensive coordinator, per Kaboly.
FEBRUARY 2: The Steelers are considering yet another former Mike McCarthy assistant for a job on his new staff in Pittsburgh.
Brian Angelichio, the Vikings’ passing game coordinator/tight ends coach, is expected to interview for the Steelers’ offensive coordinator vacancy in the coming days, per Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show. He previously served as the Packers’ tight ends coach from 2016 to 2018, working closely with both McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers.
Angelichio, 53, began his coaching career in 1995 and spent the next 16 years working for several college programs. He found his specialty as a tight ends coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 2006. After five years with the Panthers and a one-season stint at Rutgers, Angelichio moved to the NFL as the Buccaneers’ tight ends coach. He held the same position in Cleveland (2014-2015), Green Bay (2016-2018), Washington (2019), and Carolina (2020-2021) before joining Kevin O’Connell‘s staff in Minnesota.
The Vikings’ passing game has been one of the league’s best during Angelichio’s tenure. The team ranked no worse than sixth in passing yards and fifth in touchdowns from 2022 to 2024, though the move to J.J. McCarthy in 2025 dropped them to 29th in both categories. Angelichio has worked closely with T.J. Hockenson, who earned a Pro Bowl after being acquired by Minnesota at the 2022 trade deadline and followed it up with career-highs in receptions and receiving yards in 2023.
Angelichio is considered a “strong contender,” for the job, per Kaboly, who even suggests he could be hired by the end of the week. He has not drawn interest as a potential offensive coordinator since 2023, when he interviewed with the Ravens and the Cowboys. But he now finds himself on – maybe even atop – the Steelers’ list of candidates for the job.
Mike LaFleur Will Call Cardinals’ Offense; Wink Martindale Among DC Candidates
The Cardinals were the second-to-last team to hire a new head coach this cycle, putting them behind the ball in the search for their coordinators.
With an offensive-minded head coach in Mike LaFleur, Arizona’s defensive coordinator hire will be crucial. LaFleur will call plays for the offense, per team reporter Darren Urban, but he will need to find someone he trusts to take up those duties on defense. The first-time head coach may also be looking to add some experience to his staff.
Former Ravens and Giants defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale could fit the bill. He is a “name to watch” in the Cardinals’ search for a defensive play-caller, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Martindale, 62, just finished a two-year stint as Michigan’s defensive coordinator. The Wolverines were not as dominant as they were under their last two defensive coordinators, Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter, but they still ranked 19th and 29th in points in 2024 and 2025, respectively. But in Martindale’s previous three seasons as a DC – two with the Giants and his last year with the Ravens – his unit ranked no better than 17th in points allowed and 25th in total defense. However, in Martindale’s first three years as Baltimore’s DC, the Ravens boasted a top-three scoring defense.
Martindale’s blitz-heavy scheme could benefit a Cardinals defense that registered just 30 sacks in 2025, tied for the third-fewest in the NFL. He would also bring four decades of experience on the defensive side of the ball and connections to plenty of assistant coaches around the league who can fill out his staff.