NFC Staff Updates: Cardinals, 49ers, Cowboys, Lions, Buccaneers
New Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur quickly hired Nathaniel Hackett as his offensive coordinator, and he is now looking for coaches to run his defense and special teams.
Arizona is interviewing a number of candidates for defensive coordinator, while Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial has emerged as a leading candidate to take over as special teams coordinator, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
Ghobrial, 37, has spent the last two years with the Giants. Before that, he served as the Jets’ assistant special teams coordinator on Robert Saleh‘s staff, overlapping for two years with LaFleur. Ghobrial previously worked for a number of college programs as well as the Lions in 2017.
The Giants had a solid year on special teams in 2025. They ranked fifth in yards per kickoff return (27.7) and 10th in average starting field position (31.3). Cornerback Deonte Banks also recorded one of the NFL’s five kick return touchdowns last year.
Here is the latest from the coaching ranks across the NFC:
- Elsewhere in the NFC West, the 49ers are hiring former Dolphins offensive assistant Roman Sapolu to their staff, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. He previously served as Hawaii’s offensive coordinator and Fresno State’s run game coordinator. He is also the son of former NFL offensive lineman Jesse Sapolu, who won four Super Bowls with the 49ers between 1983 and 1997.
- The 49ers also promoted team president Al Guido to Chief Executive Officer, per a press release. Guido first arrived in San Francisco in 2014 as the Chief Operating Officer before his promotion to president.
- The Cowboys are retaining Jamel Mutunga, who spent the 2025 season in Dallas via the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. He will be the team’s assistant running backs coach moving forward, per ESPN’s Todd Archer.
- The Lions are promoting assistant offensive line coach Steve Oliver to tight ends coach, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. He will replace Tyler Roehl, who left Detroit to become Iowa State’s offensive coordinator.
- The Buccaneers are making internal promotions to replace cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross (fired) and safeties coach Nick Rapone (retired), according to Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds. Rashad Johnson will take over Ross’ role while Tim Atkins will succeed Rapone. Both served as assistant secondary coaches in 2025.
49ers Name Al Guido Team President
FEBRUARY 18: About two and a half months after the 49ers’ front office reassignment was initially reported, the team has confirmed new titles for Al Guido and Paraag Marathe. According to a press release, Guido will be the club’s new president, while Marathe is now the Niners’ chief strategy officer and executive VP of football operations, as well as a managing partner in the investment entity created by the Yorks.
DECEMBER 5: York addressed the moves in an email to his staff (published on 49ers.com), discussing Marathe’s new role in the organization:
“Paraag has chosen to take a leadership role in the organization’s new ventures efforts. As you know, Paraag has been the lead in our partnership with the Sacramento Republic FC soccer team and was instrumental in developing and launching VenueNext. We anticipate great things to come from our new ventures wing as it continues to grow.
Despite how some have chosen to portray this transition in the media, I want you to know that Paraag has been and will continue to be an instrumental member of this organization. Without his contributions over the last 15 years, the successes achieved by this organization would not have been possible.”
York also discussed how Guido would take over some of Marathe’s previous responsibilities:
“With Paraag focusing so much time and energy on new business opportunities, Al has taken the lead on the day-to-day business operations of the team and Levi’s® Stadium.”
DECEMBER 4: 49ers president Paraag Marathe has been reassigned from his current role with the team, reports Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. According to Maiocco, Marathe will remain with his current title and job description for another couple months, but after the Super Bowl, he’ll take on a lesser role with the Niners and will become more involved in outside business ventures, including the Sacramento Republic soccer team.
Following his reassignment, Marathe will remain involved with the Niners to some extent. Per Maiocco, he’ll continue to manage San Francisco’s salary cap and will still be the club’s top contract negotiator. However, most of his new job description will focus on the 49ers’ outside business interests.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), the decision to change up the roles in the 49ers’ front office happened months ago, but the team wanted to make it through the 2015 season before instituting those changes. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, meanwhile, reports (via Twitter) that the reassignment was Marathe’s decision, since it gives him a chance to do more things and to be an equity partner in the York family’s ventures.
Of course, Schefter’s report would be a little easier to believe if the Niners hadn’t painted Jim Harbaugh‘s departure from the franchise last winter as a “mutual parting.” An NFL source tells Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News that one of the reasons Marathe is being deposed from his team president role is that he’s “believed to be the source of many recent leaks to national reporters, most notably the reports discrediting Colin Kaepernick.” Keeping that in mind, it’s easy to be skeptical about the report from Schefter, a national reporter.
In any case, according to Kawakami, no 49ers executive has been more polarizing than Marathe during his long tenure with the club, and he’s also one of owner Jed York‘s closest confidantes. As such, his reassignment represents something of a “sea change” for San Francisco’s front office structure.
Per Kawakami, Niners executive Al Guido is expected to assume many of Marathe’s administrative responsibilities. The team president title figures to come along with Guido’s new responsibilities, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.