NFL Coaching Notes: Rams, Brown, Bengals, Texans
While the Rams have lost Kevin O’Connell and Wes Phillips to Minnesota, it appears they won’t see their entire offensive staff dismantled. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, assistant quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson is expected to stay with the team with a bit of a promotion in title.
The Rams still have an offensive coordinator position up for grabs. Currently, the favorite to land the job is University of Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Coen worked on the Rams’ offensive staff for three years before spending last year in Lexington. He’s turned down multiple job offers recently to remain at Kentucky, but the opportunity to rejoin Sean McVay in Los Angeles may be too good to pass up.
Here are a few more coaching notes from the NFL starting with another note from the Super Bowl LVI champions:
- Rapoport also reported that Rams’ running backs coach and assistant head coach Thomas Brown is expected to return to Los Angeles. Brown received head coaching interest from Miami and was a candidate to join O’Connell in Minnesota as offensive coordinator before Phillips was announced earlier today. Brown’s presence will provide McVay with some much needed continuity to his offensive staff.
- The Bengals have hired Charles Burks from the Dolphins to become their cornerbacks coach, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. No word yet on the status of the Bengals’ cornerbacks coach from last season, Steve Jackson.
- The Texans’ have hired Ted White with the official title of offensive assistant-quarterbacks. White had recently accepted the position of offensive coordinator at Grambling State University under head coach Hue Jackson, but Jackson will have to find someone else to fill the role. White has molded quarterbacks at Texas Southern, Southern, his alma mater of Howard, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Prairie View A&M. He’ll be tasked with the development of second-year quarterback Davis Mills.
AFC Coaching Notes: Texans, Browns, Bettcher, Ravens, Gould
The Texans have hired former Dolphins’ coaching assistant Kenyon Jackson in the position of assistant defensive line coach, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. Son of former Pro Bowl tight end Keith Jackson, Kenyon played defensive tackle at the University of Illinois under new Texans’ head coach Lovie Smith.
In what is starting to seem like a trend, Smith also hired Dele Harding as a defensive assistant. Harding also played for Smith at Illinois, serving for two years as a team captain at linebacker.
Here are a few more notes on coaching changes in the AFC, starting with a note from the location of this weekend’s NBA All-Star game:
- The Browns have hired Jordan Thomas in the role of assistant defensive line coach, according to Wilson. Thomas has coached defensive linemen at San Diego State and spent time at Lamar and Texas A&M University-Kingsville, as well. In addition, the Browns added Jeff Anderson to the staff as a defensive quality control coach.
- Staying in the Buckeye State, recent 2021 NFL runner-ups the Bengals have made a move to replace former linebackers coach Al Golden. Golden is headed back to the college coaching ranks to become Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, former NFL defensive coordinator James Bettcher will fill the role. After time as the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals and Giants, Bettcher spent last season as a senior defensive assistant in San Francisco.
- Staying in the AFC North, Baltimore brought in former Texans’ offensive line coach Mike Devlin to become the Ravens’ assistant offensive line coach, according to Wilson. Devlin coached big men for the Jets before Houston and at Toledo before that. The Ravens will certainly welcome the help for an offensive line that frequently had quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley scrambling for their lives last year.
- Lastly, the Chargers have hired 49ers’ kicker Robbie Gould‘s kid brother Chris Gould. The 36-year-old was a former kicker in the Arena Football League and will be the Chargers’ assistant special teams coach, a role he’s held for the past five seasons for the Broncos. Additionally, the Chargers have hired Brendan Nugent as their new offensive line coach. Last year was Nugent’s first year coaching offensive linemen in the NFL in his seventh year with the Saints. He’ll 17 years of NFL coaching experience to Los Angeles.
Dolphins Complete Coaching Staff
Mike McDaniel has completed his staff in Miami. The Dolphins announced their full coaching staff this week, and there were a handful of hires that weren’t previously reported.
Specifically, we learned that the organization hired:
- Steve Gregory as safeties coach
- Chandler Henley as assistant quarterbacks coach
- Derrick LeBlanc as assistant defensive line coach
- Steve Ferentz as assistant linebackers coach
- Mathieu Araujo as assistant defensive backs coach
- Kolby Smith as offensive assistant
- Ryan Slowik as senior defensive assistant
- Patrick Surtain as defensive assistant
Surtain is one of the most familiar names on the list. The former cornerback earned All-Pro honors in both 2002 and 2003, and he earned three Pro Bowl nods throughout his career. The 45-year-old served as a high school head coach for the past six years. His son, Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II, was the ninth-overall pick in last year’s draft. Gregory had an eight-year playing career, appearing in 111 games (54 starts) in stints with the Chargers and Patriots. Since his career ended in 2014, Gregory has been in the coaching ranks. He spent the 2021 season on the Dolphins staff, serving as a defensive assistant.
Frank Smith will guide the offense as the offensive coordinator, while Josh Boyer is serving as defensive coordinator.
Dolphins Unlikely To Tender WR Preston Williams?
After going undrafted in the 2019 draft, wideout Preston Williams has managed to play in 24 games for the Dolphins over the past three seasons. Despite his role, it sounds like the Dolphins will let the impending restricted free agency test his value. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins are “more likely” to decline Williams’ $2.6MM tender, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.
The Colorado State product caught on with the Dolphins following the 2019 draft, and he had a standout rookie campaign in 2019, finishing with 32 receptions for 428 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately, a torn ACL ended his season after only eight games (seven starts). Williams got into eight games (seven starts) again during his sophomore season, finishing with 18 receptions for 288 yards and four touchdowns, but a foot injury cut short his year.
The 24-year-old found himself buried on the depth chart in 2021. He (once against) got into eight games, finishing with only six catches.
Just because the Dolphins likely won’t be tendering the receiver, it doesn’t mean he won’t be back. Not including Williams, Miami has four wideouts hitting unrestricted free agency (Will Fuller, Albert Wilson, Isaiah Ford, Mack Hollins), and veteran Allen Hurns has a non-guaranteed contract.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/18/22
Today’s minor moves:
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: G Jordan Meredith
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: DE Daeshon Hall, FB John Lovett
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 2/17/22
Here are Thursday’s reserve/futures deals:
Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins
Dolphins To Add Sam Madison To Staff
Sam Madison is set to return to Miami. The former Pro Bowl Dolphins cornerback agreed to join their coaching staff Wednesday night, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
A Chiefs assistant for three seasons, Madison will join Mike McDaniel‘s Dolphins staff as a passing-game specialist and cornerbacks coach. Madison played nine seasons as a Dolphins cornerback, earning four Pro Bowl bids and notching first-team All-Pro honors twice.
Madison originally came to Miami in 1997 as a second-round pick, starting 127 games — most by a corner in Dolphins history — before signing with the Giants in 2006. His 31 interceptions rank third in franchise history. Madison, 47, spent three years coaching the Chiefs’ cornerbacks — a group featuring mid- or late-round picks or low-cost free agents throughout Madison’s tenure — and is in line to oversee high-priced corners Xavien Howard and Byron Jones in 2022. Madison will also follow ex-teammate Wes Welker back to Miami. The Dolphins hired Welker as their wide receivers coach last week.
This move comes shortly after previous Dolphins cornerbacks coach Charles Burks agreed to join the Bengals in a similar role, Schefter tweets. Despite Burks being a holdover from Brian Flores‘ staff, the Dolphins were planning to retain him.
The Dolphins are also hiring Tyrone McKenzie as their new outside linebackers coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. McKenzie, 36, coached the Titans’ inside linebackers from 2018-19 and headed up the Lions’ linebackers in 2020.
NFC Coaching Notes: Seahawks, Vikings, Falcons, Packers, Bears
With the various changes to coaching personnel around the league winding down, teams are beginning to officially unveil their 2022 staffs. The Seahawks recently did so, confirming a number of changes following a disappointing season, but some important retentions as well.
As Bob Condotta of The Athletic tweets, Sanjay Lal is remaining with the team in his current role of wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator. The 52-year-old has worked with that position group on seven different teams dating back to 2009. He spent the 2020 campaign in Seattle, but spent last season in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, Karl Scott, 36, is officially being brought in as the team’s secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator. That move had been expected since last week when it was reported the team was in talks with him.
In addition, Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network reports (in a pair of tweets) more names on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Dave Canales will remain as the team’s QBs coach, a role he first had in 2018, but he will no longer have the passing game coordinator title. Brad Idzik has been added as an assistant WRs coach; he entered the NFL with Seattle in 2019. Lastly, Nate Carroll has been promoted to senior offensive assistant, after spending 11 years with the Seahawks in various roles.
As for the defensive staff, Aaron Curry is now an assistant defensive line coach; the former Seattle draftee spent the last two seasons on their sideline. He will be joined in that role by Damione Lewis. Another former player on staff is DeShawn Shead, who has been promoted to defensive backs coach. The last to fit that description is Will Tukuafu, who is coming aboard as a defensive quality control coach.
Here are some other coaching notes from the NFC:
- USA Today’s Mike Jones tweets that it is “sounding like” Wes Phillips and Chris O’Hara will be following newly-hired head coach Kevin O’Connell to Minnesota. The former, who is also the son of Wade Phillips, has been a TEs coach with three different teams, the most recent being the Rams. It was reported earlier this week that O’Connell was expected to give him the role of either OC or passing game coordinator. The latter only spent the 2021 season in L.A., but worked as an offensive assistant in Jacksonville and Washington before that.
- According to Josh Kendall of The Athletic, the Falcons are parting ways with WRs coach Dave Brock (Twitter link). The 54-year-old has an extensive background in the college ranks, but his only NFL experience was in Atlanta starting in 2017. Chandler Henley, who had been an assistant offensive line coach with them, has left to join the Dolphins.
- The Packers are supporting new ST coordinator Rich Bisaccia with Byron Storer, reports Matt Schneidman of The Athletic (Twitter link).The 37-year-old has worked with Bisaccia in each of his other three NFL coaching locations, and even knows Aaron Rodgers dating back to their college days.
- Lastly, the Bears are hiring Brent Salazar as their strength and conditioning coach (Twitter link via Wilson). He has more than a decade of experience in the NFL, having previously worked with three different teams. He also spent the years between 2017 and 2020 as the director of performance for the United States Tennis Association.
Dolphins Expected To Add Darrell Bevell To Coaching Staff
Mike McDaniel is adding a notable name to his coaching staff. Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com reports that the Dolphins are expected to hire Darrell Bevell as their passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. ESPN ‘s Jeremy Fowler was first to report (via Twitter) that the Dolphins were closing in on a deal with the veteran coach.
Brought onto Urban Meyer‘s Jaguars 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. This wasn’t Bevell’s first tenure as an interim head coach; Bevell coached the final five games of the Lions’ 2020 season after the firing of Matt Patricia, winning one game in Detroit (for a career record of 2-7 as a head coach (all in an interim capacity)).
Prior to his forgettable stints in Detroit (where he also served as OC) and Jacksonville, Bevell had a successful run with the Seahawks. During his seven years as Seattle’s offensive coordinator, the Seahawks were a consistent top-10 offense. Aaron Wilson also gave credit to the coach for the selection of Russell Wilson, and the writer also pointed out Bevell’s ability to recruit former players to his new gigs (a list that includes Brett Favre, Sidney Rice, and Percy Harvin). Now, after having worked with a long list of quarterbacks that includes Favre, Wilson, and Matthew Stafford, Bevell will now be focused on the development of Tua Tagovailoa.
The 52-year-old Bevell was OC in Minnesota from 2006 to 2010, and he also had a six-year stint on the Packers coaching staff.
Dolphins Hire Frank Smith As OC
Not long after interviewing Frank Smith for the biggest remaining role on Mike McDaniel’s new staff in Miami, the team has hired him. As Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports (via Twitter), Smith is the Dolphins’ new offensive coordinator.
[Related: Dolphins To Interview Frank Smith For OC]
Smith, 40, began his NFL coaching career with the Saints in 2010, following six seasons in the college ranks. He then spent three years as the tight ends coach of the Bears, which is the same title he held with the Raiders. From 2018 to 2020, Smith oversaw the unit that includes Darren Waller, who has evolved from a castaway to one of the league’s best at the position. Last season, he worked as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach of the Chargers.
With a strong background in developing both TEs and o-linemen, Smith represents an intriguing addition to the Dolphins’ staff. The team has plenty of room for improvement in the run game, as they ranked 30th in the league with just over 92 yards per game on the ground in 2021. He would also play a much-needed role in the TE department, regardless of if free agent Mike Gesicki is brought back or not.
As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets, McDaniel will call plays on offense, but Smith “will be very involved” in forming game plans. If he is able to replicate his success elsewhere, the Dolphins may have just taken an important step towards the offensive turnaround they need.