Browns Negotiating With Pep Hamilton
A day after we heard Hue Jackson wasn’t planning to hire an offensive coordinator to start his Browns regime, the Browns are negotiating with former Colts OC Pep Hamilton, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter).
Hamilton is in talks to become the Browns’ assistant head coach/offense, basically becoming the top offensive assistant to Jackson in the event these negotiations progress toward Hamilton joining the Browns’ staff.
Jackson, per Cabot will be the Browns’ play-caller this season, just as he was with the Bengals the past two years and with the Raiders, when he coached in Oakland in 2011.
Hamilton, who called plays in Indianapolis before being fired after the Colts started 3-5 this season, met with Jackson on Friday to initially discuss a potential role in Cleveland.
The Browns today informed 2015 offensive coordinator John DeFilippo he would not be back next season. DeFilippo has two years remaining on his contract, which the team will be required to pay out.
Andrew Luck‘s offensive coordinator at Stanford before moving to Indianapolis, Hamilton carried a reputation as a conservative play-caller with the Colts. Hamilton reportedly wasn’t receptive to internal calls to speed up the Colts’ offense this season. An injured Luck helped the Colts regress from third in total offense in Hamilton’s final full season in Indianapolis to 28th this season.
Hamilton previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Jets, 49ers and Bears from 2004-2009 before spending three seasons in Palo Alto.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Browns Rumors: Wilson, DeFilippo, Patricia
2:46pm: The Vikings have denied Wilson permission to become the Browns’ running-game coordinator, ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson reports (on Twitter). Minnesota would have needed to grant Wilson approval to meet with Jackson about this position, and the Vikings halted that overture today.
Earlier updates: As eight teams prepare to extend their seasons, let’s look at one that’s firmly in offseason mode. The Browns appear to be going with Hue Jackson‘s plan to not hire an offensive coordinator and have fired John DeFilippo and several other staffers. They are considering Pep Hamilton and Vikings running backs coach Kirby Wilson to come aboard as key offensive assistants, however. Here’s the latest from Cleveland.
- With DeFilippo’s time with the Browns deemed a one-year experiment today by new Jackson, the first-time OC has a chance to join the Rams as their passing-game coordinator, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. A 37-year-old Youngstown, Ohio, native, DeFilippo interviewed for the Rams’ position as well as the 49ers’ head-coaching vacancy recently filled by Chip Kelly. Cabot reports DeFilippo was waiting to hear Jackson’s plans for his offensive staff before making a decision on potentially heading to Los Angeles. Rob Boras ascended to the position of the Rams’ offensive coordinator Friday after serving in that capacity in an interim basis when the team fired Frank Cignetti during the season. Under DeFilippo, the Browns’ passing game, despite being saddled with Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel and missing Josh Gordon, amassed 4,155 yards — fourth-most in franchise history.
- Jackson ended up with the Cleveland job, but the Browns were also eager to visit with Patriots DC Matt Patricia for a second interview, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (Twitter links). The team contacted Patricia to gauge interest, which didn’t seem to be mutual. Had Patricia been more interested in the fluid position, talks may have progressed to a second interview, Rapaport notes.
- Jackson and former Colts offensive line coach Hal Hunter have engaged in talks about the veteran assistant joining the Browns’ staff, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. Hunter, 56, spent the past three seasons as the Colts’ co-offensive line coach before the team announced Thursday that Hunter wouldn’t be retained. After spending more than two decades as a college assistant, Hunter served as the Chargers’ offensive line coach from 2006-11 and offensive coordinator in 2012.
Browns To Fire OC John DeFilippo
The Browns have informed offensive coordinator John DeFilippo that he will be released from his contract, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter). The reporter adds that head coach Hue Jackson will call the offensive plays in 2016, meaning he’ll presumably go without an offensive coordinator.
Jackson said yesterday that the Browns would likely go into next season without an OC. Jackson called plays the past two seasons with the Bengals, and he also had similar duties as head coach of the Raiders in 2011. Still, the new head coach is eyeing some big names for his coaching staff, having interviewed ex-Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton yesterday. Earlier today, ESPN’s Josina Anderson tweeted that Hamilton was considering the position of assistant head coach with Cleveland. The team has also reportedly been eyeing Vikings running backs coach Kirby Wilson.
DeFilippo has been coaching since 2000, when he spent several years on the staff for Fordham, Notre Dame and Columbia. He got his first NFL gig as the offensive quality control coordinator with the Giants in 2005, and he’d go on to be the quarterbacks coach for the Raiders (two tenures), the Jets, and San Jose State. In early 2015, DeFilippo was hired as the Browns offensive coordinator. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com tweets that the coach still had two years left on his contract, which the Browns will be responsible for.
AFC Notes: Jones, Texans, Browns, Bengals
Despite not failing a drug test or being arrested, Chandler Jones could be subject to discipline under the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports.
Jones’ recent incident reportedly involving synthetic marijuana and a police report indicating a smell of burned marijuana in Jones’ apartment would be enough to place the Patriots defensive end in Stage 1 of the substance-abuse program, Florio notes.
Synthetic marijuana isn’t among the substances for which the NFL tests, but being placed in the program would open up Jones to tests for other substances, and potential advancement within the program would about subsequent discipline a subsequent test comes back positive.
Jones’ recent bizarre happening won’t result in a suspension, Florio reports, unless the fourth-year defender was already in an advanced stage of the program. Confidentiality limits that knowledge to a select few, but Jones is not believed to be among those in the substance-abuse program.
Here are some more notes from AFC as the divisional round nears.
- Ray Horton wants to be the Browns‘ defensive coordinator if he doesn’t receive a head-coaching opportunity, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports. John Wooten of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an organization that promotes minority coaches, front office personnel and scouts, told Cabot Horton “would love to come back to the Browns.” Horton served as Cleveland’s DC in 2013 under Rob Chudzinski but wasn’t retained after Chudzinski was fired after one season.
- In addition to pursuing Kirby Wilson as their running-game coordinator, the Browns will attempt to land Packers assistant offensive line coach Mike Solari as their offensive line coach, with an aim to possibly give him more responsibilities, Cabot reports. The 60-year-old Solari’s most notable role came as Chiefs offensive coordinator in 2006-07 under Herm Edwards. Since, Solari served as the offensive line coach for the Seahawks (2008-09) and 49ers (2010-14) before joining the Packers’ staff.
- The Texans hired former Patriots linebacker Larry Izzo as their special teams coordinator, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports. Izzo had previously served as the Giants’ assistant special teams coach. The 41-year-old Izzo played for three Patriots Super Bowl champion teams in the 2000s and is a Houston-area native.
- Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has taken a lot of heat for deploying the likes of Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones this week, but other coaches and executives believe the responsibility falls more on the Bengals’ ownership, Albert Breer of NFL.com reports. “I don’t think Marvin and that staff are about that stuff. Ownership is. They look at value, and see a way to gain an advantage,” one head coach told La Canfora. An NFC personnel man echoed that, questioning Mike Brown‘s organization’s offseason choices. “People want Marvin to pay with his job, but what about the GM? They went through this period of time where they had a bunch of dirtbags in there, guys like Corey Dillon, and they’ve changed some. But it’s still there. The Brown family, I love and respect them. They’re as high character and have as much integrity as any owners I’ve met. Yet, sometimes, the player selections make you scratch your head.”
- Both Brock Osweiler and Malik Jackson will command contracts “well north” of $10MM per year, Mike Klis of 9News estimates. Both will be the Broncos‘ top priorities once Von Miller is likely franchise-tagged, Klis notes. The Broncos opted to let most of their departing talent walk the past two offseasons, save for Demaryius Thomas and Chris Harris, but today signed Derek Wolfe to a contract paying $9MM AAV. That figure sits seventh among 3-4 defensive ends, according to OverTheCap. The Broncos have $20MM+ worth of cap space heading into 2016, and that’s before factoring in Peyton Manning‘s likely departure, freeing up more than $20MM of additional dollars.
Browns To Go Without Offensive Coordinator?
During a radio interview Friday, Hue Jackson mentioned he does not plan to hire an offensive coordinator after being brought on as the Browns’ head coach, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Jackson will almost certainly call plays in Cleveland this season after doing so in Cincinnati the past two seasons and in Oakland in 2011, when he served as the Raiders’ head coach.
The newly hired Browns HC didn’t rule out the possibility of someone else calling plays but seems intent on doing so himself, and this could well mean the Browns going without an offensive coordinator this season.
“Right now in my mind, I don’t really plan on having an offensive coordinator ‘cause I want to reserve that right to call plays,” Jackson said on a Sirius XM Radio appearance.
“I think that’s something that’s gotten me this job. So if it’s something that you’re an expert at, I think you want to continue to work at that and keep that in your pocket so you can use it to help your team. Now if I get somebody I really trust who has that [expertise], then obviously I’m very willing to kind of give that away as we go, but it’s got to be somebody I really trust and admire.”
This move would basically make Jackson the head coach/offensive coordinator. Jackson worked with an offensive coordinator in Oakland, Al Saunders, in his 8-8 slate in the Bay Area.
Jackson interviewed ex-Colts OC Pep Hamilton on Friday, per Ulrich, and seeks to bring Vikings running backs coach Kirby Wilson aboard as a running-game coordinator. Wilbert Montgomery‘s served as Cleveland’s running backs coach the past two seasons.
The Vikings would have to grant the 54-year-old Wilson permission to interview for this job. Wilson has been the coach of six different franchises’ backfields, the longest stint coming with the Steelers from 2007-13. Prior to catching on in Pittsburgh once Mike Tomlin took over in 2007, Wilson coached with the Patriots, Washington, the Buccaneers and Cardinals from 1997-2006, with a one-year stint mixed in as USC’s wide receivers coach.
The Browns ranked 25th this season under first-time OC John DeFilippo.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Coach Rumors: Browns, Pep, Ravens, Bucs
New Browns head coach Hue Jackson confirmed earlier today that he’ll be retaining special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, but there have been announcements yet on Cleveland’s other coordinators. While Ray Horton and Leslie Frazier are among the names that have been linked to the Browns’ defensive coordinator job, one possible candidate worth keeping an eye on is former Dolphins DC Kevin Coyle, says Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter links).
Alex Marvez of FOX Sports reported on Wednesday that Coyle was expected to replace Vance Joseph as the Bengals‘ defensive backs coach, but there are hints he may join Jackson in Cleveland instead. Marvez tweets today that Cincinnati is interviewing 49ers defensive backs coach Tim Lewis for the same position, and Albert Breer of NFL Network tweets that the Bengals are looking at Michigan secondary coach Greg Jackson for that job, so it certainly doesn’t seem like there’s a deal in place between the Bengals and Coyle.
As we keep an eye on that situation, let’s check in on some other coaching updates from around the NFL….
- On the other side of the ball for the Browns, a former Colts offensive coordinator may be a candidate for the job in Cleveland. As first reported by Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com (Twitter link), Pep Hamilton met today with Hue Jackson.
- Last week, a report suggested that the Buccaneers had turned down a Chargers interview request for defensive line coach Joe Cullen. However, after hiring Mike Smith as their new defensive coordinator, the Bucs are willing to let Cullen go. Cullen will join the Ravens as their defensive line coach, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports.
- To replace Cullen, the Buccaneers are hiring Jay Hayes from the Bengals, per Marvez (all Twitter links). Tampa Bay is also hiring Titans special teams coach Nate Kaczor and former Dolphins linebackers coach Mark Duffner for those same positions.
- Since the Titans are the last team without a head coach, they should take their time to make a decision, perhaps interviewing potential candidates from eliminated playoff teams after this weekend’s games, writes Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com.
- Former Giants wide receivers coach Sean Ryan will head to Houston to become the Texans‘ WRs coach, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Coach Rumors: Giants, Tabor, M. Smith, Haslett
Ben McAdoo didn’t announce any decisions on his coaching staff during his introductory press conference this morning, but the new Giants head coach alluded to players improving in their second season in a defensive scheme, suggesting Steve Spagnuolo will be back.
Alex Marvez of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that Spagnuolo will, in fact, return as the Giants’ defensive coordinator. A source tell Marvez (Twitter link) that the Giants will also keep secondary coach David Merritt on McAdoo’s staff.
As for McAdoo, Giants owner John Mara said today that the club had initially scheduled a second interview for him on Thursday of this week. However, when the Giants got wind of the Eagles’ strong interest in McAdoo, they pushed that second interview up a day to Wednesday, and ultimately promoted him to head coach (Twitter link via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News).
Here are a few more coaching-related updates from around the NFL:
- Browns special teams coordinator Chris Tabor has been retained by new head coach Hue Jackson, the team announced today in a press release. Tabor has been in his current role since 2011, working under Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski, Mike Pettine, and now Jackson.
- The Browns are also expected to add Vikings running backs coach Kirby Wilson to their staff as a running game coordinator, if Minnesota approves the move, writes Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
- Former Falcons head coach Mike Smith is a “hot name” as a defensive coordinator and has several options, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). We’ll see if Smith, who interviewed for a pair of head coaching jobs, has interest in returning in 2016 as an assistant.
- Jim Haslett will be named the Bengals‘ new linebackers coach, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com (via Twitter). Haslett, who served as a consultant for Penn State in 2015, was replaced by Joe Barry as Washington’s defensive coordinator a year ago.
- Saints offensive line coach Bret Ingalls, offensive assistant Kyle DeVan, and secondary coach Wesley McGriff are leaving the team, with the latter two landing college jobs, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune tweets that Dan Roushar will likely move from tight ends coach to offensive line coach to accommodate new addition Dan Campbell.
Community Tailgate: Best Head Coach Hire?
As the NFL postseason begins, there are plenty of topics and storylines to discuss, and PFR’s Community Tailgate is designed to address those stories. What’s the Community Tailgate all about? Well, it’s pretty simple. We’ll highlight one of the top stories going on in the NFL. Then, in the comment section below, we want you to weigh in and let us know what you think.
Of course, while the debate may get spirited, we ask that it all stays respectful. If you need a reminder of our rules, please check out our commenting policy. Basically, we ask that you refrain from inappropriate language, personal insults, and attacks. Speaking of commenting: we’ve made it much easier to leave a comment here at Pro Football Rumors. You are no longer required to be a registered user – simply put in your name, email address, and comment and submit.
With the NFL postseason in full swing, and four intriguing divisional playoff games on tap for this weekend, the league would probably like the focus to be on those games, and on the build-up to Super Bowl 50. Instead, this week’s news cycle has been dominated by Los Angeles relocation and head coaching changes, with several teams announcing new head coaches within the last few days.
In today’s Community Tailgate, we’re looking for your thoughts on those head coaching hires. Did any teams make mistakes by firing their previous coaches, or by not choosing a different replacement? Which hire do you like most? Are there any candidates who didn’t get a shot at a head coaching job this time around that you think would have been better choices for the teams making changes?
Here’s a recap of the changes made so far, via our tracker:
- Cleveland Browns hired Hue Jackson to replace Mike Pettine.
- Miami Dolphins hired Adam Gase to replace Dan Campbell (interim)/Joe Philbin (permanent).
- New York Giants hired Ben McAdoo to replace Tom Coughlin.
- Philadelphia Eagles are hiring Doug Pederson to replace Pat Shurmur (interim)/Chip Kelly (permanent).
- San Francisco 49ers hired Chip Kelly to replace Jim Tomsula.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Dirk Koetter to replace Lovie Smith.
What do you think of the hires? Which moves do you like the best, or the least? Which coaches that didn’t get a shot should have received stronger consideration? Weigh in below in the comments section with your thoughts!
Browns Rumors: Manziel, QB, Mayhew, DC
When the Browns hired Hue Jackson as their new head coach, we heard almost immediately that the former Bengals offensive coordinator had made it clear he was prepared to move on from former first-round pick Johnny Manziel. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) echoes that sentiment, suggesting that the young signal-caller is “all but gone,” and it’s just a formality at this point that Cleveland will part ways with him.
According to Cole, the Browns, who hold the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, are strongly considering using that selection on a quarterback, whether it’s Jared Goff, Paxton Lynch, or someone else. Waiting until the second round to nab a QB is also an option for Cleveland — it’s worth noting that, with the Browns and Titans flip-flopping in the second round, and the Patriots not having their first-round pick this year, Cleveland’s second pick will be 32nd overall, essentially making it a first-rounder.
Here are a few more Browns updates:
- The Browns are attempting to move quickly to fill the vacancy in their front office, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com, who tweets that former Lions GM Martin Mayhew is a candidate for the job.
- The opening in the Browns’ front office is a top personnel position, but not technically a general manager job, which means other teams will have more leeway to deny requests to interview their executives. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), that has already happened with the Bears — the Browns requested permission to speak to Bears director of college scouting Joe Douglas, and Chicago turned them down.
- Earlier this afternoon, we learned that Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton is considered a top candidate for the Browns’ defensive coordinator job, if Tennessee is willing to let him go. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (Twitter link) hears that Buccaneers DC Leslie Frazier is also a candidate for the same position in Cleveland.
- The Browns won’t retain quarterbacks coach Kevin O’Connell, according to Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. While O’Connell did a decent job with Manziel this past season, Jackson wants to pick his own guy for the job.
Browns Coach Hue Jackson Eyeing Titans DC Ray Horton
Browns head coach Hue Jackson is looking to bring Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton aboard as his own DC, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. However, it is uncertain whether the Titans will grant him permission to leave, according to a source.
The Titans, of course, can block the Browns from interviewing Horton since it would be for another coordinator position. In the case of any non-head coaching vacancy, teams always reserve the right to block their coaches from interviewing.
Last year, the Titans defense allowed 26.4 points per contest, putting them at 27th in the league. Their 342.2 total yards surrendered per game only put them at No. 12 but their 229.9 passing yards allowed per game was good for No. 7 in the league. If Horton is brought over to Cleveland, it will mark the second time he served as Browns DC. Horton was Cleveland’s defensive coordinator during the 2013 season and left after Rob Chudzinski was axed.