HEADLINES

Mike Hiestand

NFL Coaching Updates: Chargers, Bucs, Colts

April 14th, 2023 at 10:01pm CST by Ely Allen

The Chargers announced that they had officially finalized their coaching staff for the 2023 season this week. Los Angeles had a semi-busy offseason after changing both coordinators but, ultimately, kept most of the same support staff around the new coaches. We’ve noted a number of their offseason changes already on this site, but a few in this week’s announcement were new.

The Chargers used the announcement to officially announce the hiring of new offensive assistant Phil Serchia. For the last three years, Serchia has served as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.

Serchia is likely taking the spot of former offensive assistant Mike Hiestand. Hiestand will be changing sides of the ball to serve on defense as the team’s front seven specialist. Also taking a role change is former defensive assistant John Timu. Timu has been promoted to the position of assistant defensive line coach for the 2023 season.

Here are a few other coaching updates from around the league:

  • The Buccaneers have added an experienced veteran to their coaching staff in a minor role, according to team senior writer/editor Scott Smith. David Raih has been brought on to serve in the role of offensive analyst. Raih has had stints as a wide receivers coach for the Packers and Cardinals but most recently served as offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt in 2021.
  • The Colts made their one and only change to their defensive staff last week, hiring Payton McCollum to the role of defensive assistant, according to Josh Alper of NBC Sports. McCollum only has offensive experience on his resume, serving as an offensive analyst at Eastern Michigan and quarterbacks coach at the University of Washington in recent years. His only NFL experience dates back to 2017 when McCollum spent two seasons as an offensive assistant with the Lions.

AFC West Notes: Herock, Chiefs, Chargers

February 22nd, 2022 at 7:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Raiders are adding a familiar name to their front office. Shaun Herock is joining GM Dave Ziegler‘s staff as a personnel advisor, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). This will interestingly bring Herock back to the Raiders, an organization that has employed both he and his father (Ken Herock). This hire probably should not be too surprising, with Mark Davis calling Ken Herock the “ringleader” of the Raiders’ 2022 GM and HC searches (via The Athletic’s Vic Tafur; subscription required). Shaun finished the 2018 season as the Raiders’ interim GM, working atop Oakland’s front office after Reggie McKenzie‘s exit and before Mike Mayock‘s arrival. Herock worked with the Raiders from 2012-18 and spent the past two years as a Browns national scout. Prior to Herock’s Oakland years, he spent nearly two decades under Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson in Green Bay’s front office.

Here is the latest from the AFC West:

  • Josh McDaniels added another name to his staff as well. The Raiders are hiring Kennedy Polamalu as their running backs coach, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Polamalu, 58, coached the Vikings’ running backs for the past five seasons. He also worked as the Browns and Jaguars’ running backs coach in the 2000s.
  • Donald D’Alesio will move from defensive assistant to safeties coach with the Chiefs, the team announced Tuesday. D’Alesio came to Kansas City in 2021 after a stint as Youngstown State’s defensive coordinator.
  • The Chargers are also dipping into the second-generation ranks. They hired Mike Hiestand as an offensive assistant. Mike is the son of former Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, who took a job at Notre Dame this offseason. Mike Hiestand, 30, worked as an assistant in Denver for the past three seasons.
  • Nathaniel Hackett‘s first Broncos staff will include Andrew Carter as a defensive quality control coach. Carter spent the past two seasons as a Kansas graduate assistant and had agreed to become Tennessee-Martin’s defensive line coach this offseason. Carter, who also worked as a D-line coach at Hampton and Eastern Illinois, will instead head to Denver for his first NFL gig.

Broncos Notes: Paradis, Keenum, Foles, Staff

February 10th, 2019 at 9:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of the NFL’s top centers over the past four years, Matt Paradis is a month away from free agency. The four-season Broncos starter continues to rehab a broken fibula sustained in November, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets Paradis is ahead of schedule. Prior to going down midway through this season, Paradis had not missed a snap since debuting in the Denver starting lineup at the 2015 season’s outset. He is probably the Broncos’ top in-house priority, with the Bradley Roby–Shaquil Barrett–Shane Ray defensive troika likely set to depart. But Paradis is believed to want to test the market rather than re-signing to stay in Denver before hearing other teams’ pitches. If the 29-year-old snapper does hit free agency, there is a reasonable chance he will become the NFL’s highest-paid center. Ryan Jensen, a free agent last year who struggled in 2018, holds that distinction presently with a $10.5MM-per-year deal.

Here is the latest from Denver:

  • Case Keenum‘s first Broncos season did not do much to dispatch the notion his Vikings emergence was a fluke. He finished 31st in Total QBR, 29th in DYAR and 28th in quarterback DVOA. Keenum led the NFL in DVOA in 2017. But the $10MM dead-money hit the Broncos would take if they jettisoned their 2018 starter, coupled with the team’s hope Keenum can improve under new OC Rich Scangarello, points to the 30-year-old passer having a decent chance at sticking around for 2019, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Keenum is on the Broncos’ books at $21MM for next season.
  • John Elway going after another veteran, thus further delaying a long-term plan the Broncos whiffed on with Paxton Lynch, would not be out of character given the GM’s stance on rebuilding. If the Eagles do not follow through on franchise-tagging Nick Foles, whom the Broncos bypassed in the 2012 second round to select Brock Osweiler, Jhabvala can envision Elway considering the Super Bowl LII MVP to replace Keenum. The Broncos would obviously run the risk of gambling on one system-dependent quarterback to potentially doing the same thing a year later, but if they do not have to surrender a third-round pick to the Eagles, it would make more sense than giving up assets and Keenum dead money for Foles. The Jaguars’ situation and John DeFilippo hire make them a more logical Foles destination, but the Broncos hold far more cap space.
  • Denver passed on double-dipping in quarterback investments last year. After signing Keenum, they selected Bradley Chubb over Josh Allen and Josh Rosen. But Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com’s bold prediction is the Broncos both signing a UFA passer and using a high pick to bring in a rookie. This scenario would lead to an astounding number of Broncos quarterback solutions conjured up post-Peyton Manning.
  • The Broncos added a pair of entry-level coaches recently, appointing Justin Rascati and Mike Hiestand to their staff as offensive and defensive quality control coaches, respectively, Jhabvala tweets.