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Saints, Browns To Interview Texans’ Jerrod Johnson For OC Position

By | at January 21, 2024 5:44 pm

5:44pm: It appears the Saints‘ request will be honored as Johnson is reportedly expected to interview with the Saints sometime early this week, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Additionally, the Browns have added Johnson to their list of offensive coordinator candidates, as well. Cleveland fired their offensive coordinator of four years, Alex Van Pelt, this week following a one-sided loss to the Texans in the Wild Card round. Van Pelt was a non-play-calling coordinator on head coach Kevin Stefanski‘s staff. His dismissal and Stefanski’s desire to interview one of the top up-and-coming names in the coaching world may point to a willingness from Stefanski to give up play-calling duties. Regardless, Johnson will interview with the Browns early this week, as well.

9:56am: Jerrod Johnson is back on the OC interview circuit. Landing on the coordinator radar last year, Johnson ended up in Houston as the Texans’ quarterbacks coach. After C.J. Stroud‘s rookie season, teams should be expected to give Johnson more attention as OC jobs become available.

One will be the Saints. New Orleans will be the first team to request an OC interview with Johnson this year, with CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones noting the young assistant has received a slip from the NFC South team. Johnson joins Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson and Bengals QBs coach Dan Pitcher on the Saints’ OC radar thus far.

The Chargers brought in Johnson for a meeting last year but ended up going with Kellen Moore soon after the latter’s Cowboys exit. A former Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach, Johnson still managed to move up the ladder. Working under Bobby Slowik in Houston this season, the 35-year-old assistant presided over one of the better QB rookie years in recent NFL history. Stroud’s early readiness will likely garner Johnson more than one OC meeting this offseason.

Puka Nacua‘s record-setting season may not be enough to beat out Stroud for Offensive Rookie of the Year, considering where the Texans were since the Deshaun Watson turbulence began. Stroud led the NFL in passing yards per game and in INT rate, throwing just five picks, and quarterbacked the Texans to a one-sided wild-card win over the Browns. Johnson’s first season as a team’s top QBs coach could not have gone much better.

Johnson, who bounced around the NFL as a practice squad arm during the 2010s, is just two years removed from the quality control level. The Colts employed Johnson as such from 2020-21, with the Vikings bringing him in as their assistant QBs coach during Kevin O’Connell‘s first season. Five teams — the Falcons, Panthers, Seahawks, Titans and Commanders — sent Slowik interview requests. The prospect of Ryans losing his top two offensive assistants after Year 1 will be in play.

3 comments Cleveland Browns Houston Texans New Orleans Saints

2023 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker

By | at February 28, 2023 2:45 pm

As the head coaching carousel spun for several weeks, many teams made coordinator changes as well. Teams seeking new head coaches are conducting OC and DC searches, and a handful of other teams that did not make HC changes are also searching for top assistants.

This is a big year for offensive coordinator hires, with nearly half the league making changes. Here are the teams searching for new OCs and DCs. As new searches emerge, they will be added to the list.

Updated 3-1-23 (3:31pm CT)

Offensive Coordinators

Arizona Cardinals 

Baltimore Ravens (Out: Greg Roman)

Carolina Panthers (Out: Ben McAdoo)

  • Thomas Brown, tight ends coach, (Rams): Hired
  • Jim Bob Cooter, passing-game coordinator (Jaguars): Interviewed

Dallas Cowboys (Out: Kellen Moore)

  • Brian Angelichio, tight ends coach (Vikings): Interviewed 2/2
  • Thomas Brown, tight ends coach (Rams): Interviewed
  • Jeff Nixon, running backs coach (Panthers): Interviewed
  • Brian Schottenheimer, offensive consultant (Cowboys): Hired

Denver Broncos (Out: Justin Outten)

Houston Texans (Out: Pep Hamilton)

Indianapolis Colts (Out: Parks Frazier)

  • Jim Bob Cooter, passing-game coordinator (Jaguars): Hired
  • Tee Martin, wide receivers coach (Ravens): Interview requested

Kansas City Chiefs (Out: Eric Bieniemy)

  • Matt Nagy, quarterbacks coach (Chiefs): Hired

Los Angeles Chargers (Out: Joe Lombardi)

Los Angeles Rams (Out: Liam Coen)

New York Jets (Out: Mike LaFleur)

Philadelphia Eagles (Out: Shane Steichen)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Out: Byron Leftwich)

Tennessee Titans (Out: Todd Downing)

Washington Commanders (Out: Scott Turner)

Defensive Coordinators

Arizona Cardinals (Out: Vance Joseph)

Atlanta Falcons (Out: Dean Pees)

Buffalo Bills (Out: Leslie Frazier)

Carolina Panthers (Out: Al Holcomb)

  • Ejiro Evero, former defensive coordinator (Broncos): Hired
  • Vic Fangio, former head coach (Broncos): Interviewed
  • Marquand Manuel, safeties coach (Jets): Interviewed
  • Kris Richard, co-defensive coordinator (Saints): Interviewed

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans 

Los Angeles Chargers (Out: Renaldo Hill)

  • Derrick Ansley, defensive backs coach (Chargers): Promoted
  • Doug Belk, defensive coordinator (Houston): Interviewed
  • DeMarcus Covington, defensive line coach (Patriots): Interviewed

Miami Dolphins (Out: Josh Boyer)

Minnesota Vikings (Out: Ed Donatell)

New Orleans Saints (Out: Ryan Nielsen, Kris Richard)

  • Joe Woods, former defensive coordinator (Browns): Hired

Philadelphia Eagles (Out: Jonathan Gannon)

San Francisco 49ers (Out: DeMeco Ryans)

  • Vic Fangio, former head coach (Broncos): On radar
  • Chris Harris, defensive backs coach (Commanders): Interviewed 1/31
  • Kris Kocurek, defensive line coach (49ers): On radar
  • Steve Wilks, former interim head coach (Panthers): Hired
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Texans To Hire Bobby Slowik As Offensive Coordinator

By | at February 12, 2023 11:35 am

The Texans will hire Bobby Slowik as their new offensive coordinator, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports (via Twitter). Like DeMeco Ryans, Houston’s new head coach, Slowik joined the 49ers as a defensive quality control coach in 2017. He subsequently moved to the other side of the ball and spent the 2022 campaign as San Francisco’s offensive passing game coordinator. He will now follow Ryans from the Bay Area to Texas.

[RELATED: Texans Hire Matt Burke As DC]

Slowik, 35, represented a logical candidate to take on the OC job in Houston, one which was vacated by Pep Hamilton. The latter held that role last season for the first time with the Texans, overseeing one of the league’s lowest-scoring and least efficient offenses. Talent obviously played a large role on that front, of course, but it comes as no surprise that a new face is being brought in to help the team’s rebuild.

Today’s news comes just days after Kliff Kingsbury was brought in for an interview for the offensive coordinator posting. That, in turn, came as something of a surprise considering the belief the ex-Cardinals head coach would spend the 2023 season away from the sidelines. Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports that his sit-down with the Texans went well, but Slowik was thought by many to be the frontrunner once it became official that Ryans was the new head coach in Houston.

The son of former NFL DC Bob Slowik, Bobby began his NFL tenure in Washington in 2010. That time was followed by a brief stint as a defensive assistant in the nation’s capital, then a three-year period working as an analyst with Pro Football Focus. He turned his work with the analytics website into his first San Francisco position, allowing him plenty of time to gain experience on both sides of the ball and develop a working relationship with Ryans. Expectations will be raised for the pair heading into the 2023 season.

Slowik played a key role in the 49ers’ offense over the past several years, helping coach one of the more unique units in the league. San Francisco has ranked in the top four in the NFL in terms of total offense three times in the past four seasons, finishing top-six in scoring twice during that same span. Slowik will be dealing with a very different Texans group in his first coordinator posting, but the team does appear to have the foundation of a strong running game in place in tailback Dameon Pierce, and has a prime opportunity in the upcoming draft to land a franchise quarterback.

In other Texans news, Pelissero’s colleague Mike Garafolo tweets that Jerrod Johnson is coming onboard as the team’s quarterbacks coach. Johnson, 34, is a Houston native who received OC interest during this year’s cycle. He interviewed for the Texans’ coordinator vacancy, along with that of the Chargers. Johnson spent last year as the assistant QBs coach in Minnesota, and will take on a larger role this season in Houston with, in all likelihood, a rookie signal-caller in place.

Rory Parks contributed to this post.

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Texans To Interview Kliff Kingsbury For OC

By | at February 10, 2023 12:22 pm

Kliff Kingsbury appears through with his vacation. The recently fired Cardinals coach is interviewing for a job on DeMeco Ryans‘ Texans staff, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets.

This is an offensive coordinator interview, Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports. The team has interviewed multiple OC candidates already; Kingsbury would check in with a higher profile. The Texans are meeting with Kingsbury today.

[RELATED: Texans To Hire Matt Burke As DC]

A mid-January report indicated Kingsbury had rejected OC interviews, instead telling teams he bought a one-way ticket to Thailand. Kingsbury’s only coaching job in the NFL came as a head coach, though he has extensive experience coaching in Texas. Prior to spending six seasons as Texas Tech’s head coach, Kingsbury was an offensive coordinator at Houston and Texas A&M. The former Texas Tech quarterback is a San Antonio-area native. Though a more relevant work sample can be studied from Kingsbury’s Cardinals tenure, he coached Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech and ran the offense during Johnny Manziel‘s 2012 Heisman-winning season.

Kingsbury’s Cardinals tenure unraveled quickly. The Cards gave he and then-GM Steve Keim through-2027 extensions in March 2022. That came after Kingsbury led the Cards to their first playoff berth since 2015. Arizona then finished 4-13, leading to the team canning its recently reupped HC. Despite steady rumblings of the Cards considering a dismissal, Kingsbury was believed to be taken aback by the firing.

The Texans have interviewed 49ers passing-game coordinator Bobby Slowik for their OC position and requested a meeting with Bengals wide receivers coach Troy Walters. Jerrod Johnson, the Vikings’ assistant quarterbacks coach, also interviewed for the job, Wilson tweets. None of these staffers has called plays in the NFL previously. A previous report suggested Kingsbury could take a break in 2023, but he is now entertaining the possibility of taking another job immediately.

Although Kingsbury’s Cardinals offenses drew criticism for a lack of downfield production, the team ranked as a top-eight unit in 2020 and ’21. Both those years produced Kyler Murray Pro Bowl invites, though Murray injuries affected each of those squads. Kingsbury’s team also lost DeAndre Hopkins for the 2021 stretch run, leading to a downturn ahead of a playoff blowout against the Rams. Last season brought an avalanche of issues for the Cards, who are still in the process of selecting their Kingsbury replacement.

Evidenced partially by Murray cursing out Kingsbury during a nationally televised Cardinals win over the Saints, the quarterback and the coach who pushed to bring him to Arizona were not seeing eye-to-eye last season. Hopkins’ PED ban and trade acquisition Marquise Brown‘s ensuing foot injury kept Kingsbury from being able to deploy his top two wideouts together for most of the season. More injury trouble slowed Hopkins, and Arizona’s aging offensive line sustained a few hits as well. The Cardinals lost Murray to an ACL tear during a December Monday-night tilt and ended up starting four QBs before season’s end.

The Texans are looking for their third OC in three years. Bill O’Brien staffer Tim Kelly stayed on under David Culley, and the team promoted QBs coach Pep Hamilton to be Lovie Smith‘s OC. Ryans will not be promoting from within, and the next Houston OC may well have a rookie quarterback to mentor.

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Coaching Notes: Broncos, Montgomery, Robertson, Johnson

By | at February 6, 2023 9:00 pm

After the announcement that he would become the next head coach in Denver, Sean Payton‘s new coaching staff is beginning to take form. Recent reports have clued us in to expected hires for the offensive line and tight ends coaching positions and have revealed the fate of a holdover from last year.

At offensive line coach, the Broncos are expected to hire Zach Strief, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Strief is a former seventh-round draft pick for the Saints that spent five years on the bench before taking over at right tackle for the retiring Jon Stinchcomb. He would go on to start the next five seasons as the team’s right tackle. Strief spent all 12 years of his playing career in New Orleans before eventually retiring a Saint in 2019. Since then, Strief has been working towards a role in coaching, serving as the Saints assistant offensive line coach for the past two seasons. A role as the Broncos offensive line coach would be his first opportunity as the lead coach at that position.

Payton’s poaching of his former coaching staff may not stop there. Josina Anderson of CBS Sports reported today that Saints offensive assistant Declan Doyle is being considered for the Broncos tight ends coaching position. This would also be a first-time position coach hire. Doyle has spent four years in his current role with New Orleans. His only prior experience was as an offensive student assistant at the University of Iowa.

In the opposite direction, the Broncos’ inside linebackers coach from last season, Peter Hansen, is reportedly not going to be a part of the new staff, according to Mike Klis of 9NEWS. In his only year at the job, Hansen coached linebackers Alex Singleton and Josey Jewell to career highs in tackles and tackles for loss. Singleton’s 163 total tackles ranked fifth in the NFL this season. A likely outcome would see Hansen joining his former defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero in Carolina.

Here are a few more coaching notes from around the league:

  • The Lions added a strong piece to their coaching staff today, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, reportedly hiring Scottie Montgomery in the role of assistant head coach/running backs coach. Montgomery had spent the last two years as the running backs coach in Indianapolis coaching up young super star Jonathan Taylor. Despite a third-year slump devastated by injuries, Taylor’s sophomore season benefitted greatly from the addition of Montgomery to the staff as he would lead the NFL with 1,811 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in 2021. The respected veteran position coach was a popular candidate for many other jobs around the league. The hire is a big one for Detroit.
  • The Saints are on the lookout for a new defensive backs coach after dismissing co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach Kris Richard earlier this week. Anderson from CBS Sports reported that Cardinals defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson is being considered for a role that may be defined as secondary coach/passing game coordinator.
  • Former Aggie quarterback Jerrod Johnson was back in Texas this weekend as the Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach interviewed for a senior offensive assistant staff position with the Texans, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. The Houston-native worked closely with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and quarterback Kirk Cousins this season. He’s quickly becoming a hot name in coaching circles, earning an interview this offseason for the Chargers offensive coordinator position that went to Kellen Moore.
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Chargers Request OC Interview With Vikings’ Jerrod Johnson

By | at January 21, 2023 12:43 pm

Joe Lombardi was handed his walking papers earlier this week, and the Chargers are eyeing an assistant QBs coach to fill the offensive coordinator vacancy. According to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones (on Twitter), the Chargers have requested permission to interview Vikings coach Jerrod Johnson for their OC job.

[RELATED: Chargers Fire OC Joe Lombardi]

The former NFL journeyman got into coaching via a Bill Walsh Diversity coaching fellowship with the 49ers in 2017. He later spent three seasons with the Colts before earning the role of assistant quarterbacks coach with the Vikings in 2022.

Along with new head QBs coach Chris O’Hara, Johnson helped guide Kirk Cousins to one of his most successful NFL seasons. Cousins’ 4,547 passing yards were his most during his time with the Vikings, and while his touchdowns (29) were down and his interceptions (14) were up, the QB still played a major role in Minnesota’s 13-4 record.

This isn’t the Chargers’ first attempt to snag a Vikings offensive coach for the vacancy. The organization requested an interview with Vikings OC Wes Phillips, but the coach ultimately rejected the opportunity. Otherwise, Rams passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson is a candidate for the position, and ESPN’s Chris Mortensen recently opined that Frank Reich would be a good fit for the job.

1 comment Los Angeles Chargers Minnesota Vikings

Vikings Notes: Coaching Staff, Scheme, O’Connell

By | at February 18, 2022 1:51 pm

With new head coach Kevin O’Connell in place, the Vikings made a number of announcements at his inaugural press conference. Among those was the confirmation of several assistants on his staff, as reported by ESPN’s Courtney Cronin (Twitter link). 

One of the most notable names on the list is that of Mike Pettine. The 55-year-old was reported to be joining the team’s staff earlier in the week, albeit not as the defensive coordinator as was originally thought by some. The team unveiled that his title will be assistant head coach, the highest-ranking position he’ll have had since his time in Cleveland in 2014-2015.

In addition, Ed Donatell was confirmed as the team’s new defensive coordinator, giving first-time HC O’Connell a vastly experienced staffer on the defensive side of the ball. Several assistants were also announced, each in the roles they were initially reported to be filling: Chris Rumph as defensive line coach, Chris O’Hara and Jerrod Johnson to work with the team’s quarterbacks, Chris Kuper and Justin Rascati to coach the offensive line, as well as Brian Angelichio and Curtis Modkins to serve as offensive pass and run game coordinators, respectively.

Here are some other Vikings notes, including further announcements from the presser:

  • As Ben Goessling of The Minneapolis Star Tribune writes, the Vikings will switch to a 3-4 base defense, something that hasn’t been seen in Minnesota since the 1980s. With that said, the team, like almost all in the NFL now, will still principally deploy its nickel package, and they plan to switch between three- and four-man fronts within drives and games.
  • In a widely expected announcement, O’Connell confirmed that he will call plays on offense. That will make him the first Vikings HC to do so since Brad Childress, and keep him in line with the structure he is leaving under the Rams and Sean McVay. O’Connell added that he plans to include the “up-tempo offensive concepts” he developed in L.A. within Minnesota’s offense.
  • One assistant coach who will not be following O’Connell to the Vikings is Jonathan Cooley. The Rams’ assistant defensive backs coach has been blocked from interviewing with Minnesota (Twitter link via Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic). Especially given the loss of Ejiro Evero earlier this offseason, keeping Cooley would be particularly important for the Rams.

 

4 comments Los Angeles Rams Minnesota Vikings

NFC Coaching Notes: Giants, Seahawks, Bears

By | at February 14, 2022 10:27 pm

Brian Daboll is naturally making some changes to the Giants coaching staff. Per Aaron Wilson on Twitter (detailed in four tweets), the Giants have hired Drew Wilkins as linebackers coach, Christian Jones as an offensive assistant, Laura Young as director of coaching operations, Bobby Johnson as offensive line coach, Shea Tierney as quarterbacks coach, DeAndre Smith as running backs coach, Mike Groh as wide receivers coach, Andy Bischoff as tight ends coach, Tony Sparano Jr. as assistant offensive line coach, and Andre Patterson as defensive line coach.

Daboll also retained a handful of holdovers from Joe Judge’s staff. That grouping includes Jerome Henderson (defensive backs coach), Mike Treier (assistant defensive backs coach), Anthony Blevins (special teams assistant), and Nick Williams (special teams quality control coach).

Finally, the Giants shifted Ryan Hollern to college scouting coordinator and named Mark Loecher as assistant strength and conditioning coach.

Some more coaching notes out of the NFC…

  • The Seahawks will promote Andy Dickerson to their offensive line coach, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson (via Twitter). Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron recruited Dickerson from the Rams last offseason, with Dickerson earning the role of run-game coordinator. Now, he’ll earn the (apparent) promotion to OL coach. The Seahawks fired former offensive line coach Mike Solari last week, reports NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). This was the 67-year-old’s second stint with the organization, and he had served as the team’s OL coach since 2018.
  • The Bears announced last week that they hired Carlos Polk as their assistant special teams coach. The 44-year-old coach has served in the same role with a handful of teams, including the Chargers, Buccaneers, Cowboys, and Jaguars. He spent the 2021 campaign in Jacksonville.
  • The Cardinals have hired Matt Burke as their defensive line coach, reports Pelissero (on Twitter). The 45-year-old was the Dolphins defensive coordinator between 2017 and 2018, and he most recently worked for the Jets as a “game management coach.” Burke has also had coaching stints with the Eagles, Bengals, Lions, and Titans.
  • The Vikings have hired Brian Angelichio as their pass game coordinator/tight ends coach, reports ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter). Angelichio spent the past two years as the Panthers tight ends coach, so he’s getting a slight promotion in Minnesota. Meanwhile, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the Vikings are hiring Jerrod Johnson as an offensive assistant. Johnson is expected to work with the QBs. The coach was a two-time participant in the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, and he spent last season as the Colts quality control coach.
  • Matt Rhule has made some changes to his staff. The Panthers announced that they’ve hired Joe Dailey as wide receivers coach. Dailey has spent the past two seasons as Boston College’s offensive coordinator. Meanwhile, Robert Kugler was hired as assistant offensive line coach while defensive analyst Kevin Gilbride Jr. was promoted to TE coach (replacing Angelichio).
3 comments Arizona Cardinals Carolina Panthers Chicago Bears Minnesota Vikings New York Giants Seattle Seahawks Uncategorized

Cowboys Trim Roster To 53

By | at September 3, 2016 5:23 pm

The Cowboys have made the following moves in order to cut their roster down to 53:

Cut:

Waived/Injured:

  • DE Mike McAdoo

Reserve/Suspended:

NFI:

5 comments Dallas Cowboys Rico Gathers Transactions

Cowboys To Sign Jerrod Johnson

By | at September 1, 2016 12:21 pm

Rejoice, Texas A&M fans. The Cowboys will sign Jerrod Johnson to serve as Jameill Showers‘ emergency backup for tonight’s preseason finale against the Texans, Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram tweets. Jerrod Johnson (vertical)

Johnson, 28, has yet to appear in a regular season game for an NFL team, but he has had stints with five different teams, including practice squad tours. Since going undrafted in 2011, Johnson has signed deals with the Eagles, Steelers, Seahawks, Bears, and Ravens. However, with the rash of injuries in Dallas, Johnson could have an opportunity to hook on with the Cowboys as their No. 3 QB behind Showers and Week 1 starter Dak Prescott.

In four years at Texas A&M, Johnson completed 650 of his 1,109 total passes, totaling a 58.6% percentage. He threw 67 touchdowns against 27 interceptions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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