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Jimmy Lake

2024 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker

February 9th, 2024 at 1:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

After a crowded carousel previously stopped, the 49ers opened their defensive coordinator position. Here is how the NFC champions’ search looks:

Updated 3-2-24 (10:00am CT)

Offensive Coordinators

Atlanta Falcons (Out: Dave Ragone)

Buffalo Bills (Out: Ken Dorsey)

  • Joe Brady, interim offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (Bills): Hired
  • Thad Lewis, quarterbacks coach (Buccaneers): Interviewed

Carolina Panthers (Out: Thomas Brown)

  • Marcus Brady, senior offensive assistant (Eagles): Interview requested
  • Brad Idzik, wide receivers coach (Buccaneers): Hired

Chicago Bears (Out: Luke Getsy)

Cincinnati Bengals (Out: Brian Callahan)

  • Andy Dickerson, offensive line coach (Seahawks): To interview
  • Dan Pitcher, quarterbacks coach (Bengals): Promoted

Cleveland Browns (Out: Alex Van Pelt)

Las Vegas Raiders (Out: Mick Lombardi)

Los Angeles Chargers (Out: Kellen Moore)

New England Patriots (Out: Bill O’Brien)

New Orleans Saints (Out: Pete Carmichael)

Philadelphia Eagles (Out: Brian Johnson)

  • Jerrod Johnson, quarterbacks coach (Texans): Interviewed
  • Kliff Kingsbury, senior offensive analyst (USC): Interviewed 1/23
  • Kellen Moore, offensive coordinator (Chargers): Hired

Pittsburgh Steelers (Out: Matt Canada)

Seattle Seahawks (Out: Shane Waldron)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Out: Dave Canales)

Tennessee Titans (Out: Tim Kelly)

  • Nick Holz, passing game coordinator (Jaguars): Hired
  • Thad Lewis, quarterbacks coach (Buccaneers): Interviewed
  • Eric Studesville, associate head coach/running backs coach (Dolphins): Interview requested

Washington Commanders (Out: Eric Bieniemy)

  • Chip Kelly, former head coach (Eagles/49ers): On team’s radar
  • Kliff Kingsbury, senior offensive analyst (USC): Hired

Defensive Coordinators

Atlanta Falcons (Out: Ryan Nielsen)

Baltimore Ravens (Out: Mike Macdonald)

  • Zach Orr, inside linebackers coach (Ravens): Promoted

Buffalo Bills

  • Bobby Babich, linebackers coach (Bills): Promoted
  • Mike Caldwell, former defensive coordinator (Jaguars): Interviewed
  • Sean Desai, former defensive coordinator (Eagles): To interview

Chicago Bears (Out: Alan Williams)

  • Joe Barry, former defensive coordinator (Packers): To interview 1/27
  • Chris Harris, secondary coach (Titans): To interview
  • Eric Washington, assistant head coach/defensive line coach (Bills): Hired
  • Terrell Williams, assistant head coach/defensive line coach (Titans): To interview

Dallas Cowboys (Out: Dan Quinn)

Green Bay Packers (Out: Joe Barry)

Jacksonville Jaguars (Out: Mike Caldwell)

Los Angeles Chargers (Out: Derrick Ansley)

  • Jesse Minter, defensive coordinator (Michigan): Hired

Los Angeles Rams (Out: Raheem Morris)

Miami Dolphins (Out: Vic Fangio)

New England Patriots

  • DeMarcus Covington, defensive line coach (Patriots): Promoted
  • Michael Hodges, linebackers coach (Saints): To interview
  • Tem Lukabu, outside linebackers coach (Panthers): To interview
  • Christian Parker, defensive backs coach (Broncos): Interviewed

New York Giants (Out: Don Martindale)

Philadelphia Eagles (Out: Sean Desai)

  • Mike Caldwell, former defensive coordinator (Jaguars): Interviewed
  • Vic Fangio, former defensive coordinator (Dolphins): Hired
  • Ron Rivera, former head coach (Commanders): Interviewed 1/22

San Francisco 49ers (Out: Steve Wilks)

  • Gerald Alexander, safeties coach (Raiders): Interviewed 3/1
  • Daniel Bullocks, defensive backs coach (49ers): Interviewed 2/28
  • David Merritt, defensive backs coach (Chiefs): To interview
  • Nick Sorensen, defensive passing game specialist (49ers): Promoted
  • Brandon Staley, former head coach (Chargers): Interviewed

Seattle Seahawks (Out: Clint Hurtt)

Tennessee Titans (Out: Shane Bowen)

  • Brandon Lynch, cornerbacks coach (Browns): Interviewed 1/30
  • Dennard Wilson, defensive backs coach (Ravens): Hired

Washington Commanders (Out: Jack Del Rio)

  • Joe Cullen, defensive line coach (Chiefs): Considered a candidate
  • Joe Whitt, defensive backs coach (Cowboys): Hired

Falcons Yet To Decide QB Direction; HC Raheem Morris Will Not Call Defensive Plays

February 9th, 2024 at 12:14pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Falcons have a new (but familiar) head coach in place in the form of Raheem Morris, along with an adjusted organizational structure. With those moves taken care of, the team’s top priority will be acquiring an upgrade at the quarterback spot.

Both Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke are under contract for 2024, but their collective showings this season left plenty to be desired. Atlanta endorsed the former as a full-time starter based on his four-game performance to close out his rookie year, but he was benched on multiple occasions in 2023. Finding a replacement via trade, free agency or the draft will be a key objective for the Falcons, but a firm direction on that front has not yet emerged.

In the team’s press conference introducing Morris, it was revealed that he and general manager Terry Fontenot have only had “very limited” discussions to date about the QB spot (h/t ESPN’s Michael Rothstein). More than one month remains until the start of the new league year, but the Falcons’ plan with respect to finding a new starter will be worth following.

“When you get those guys that are elite processors, when you get those guys that are decision makers,” Morris said. “When you get those guys that can just cut it loose and play ball and also play with those great fundamental techniques that we talked about… it makes you excited to go out there and find those things. And sometimes, it’s not easy to see.”

A number of veteran options (such as Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield, Gardner Minshew and Ryan Tannehill) are set to reach free agency next month, so Atlanta will have short-term signal-callers to choose from. Passers such as Russell Wilson (Broncos), Justin Fields (Bears) and Zach Wilson (Jets) could also find themselves on the trade market in the near future. The Falcons hold the No. 8 selection in April’s draft, which will likely take them out of contention for the top QB three prospects in Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels. An upgrade under center would help the team rebound from a third straight 7-10 campaign and complement a young skill-position corps, one of the league’s top offensive lines and an improved defense.

Notably, Morris also said he will not serve as the Falcons’ defensive play-caller. Those responsibilities will instead go to DC Jimmy Lake, who followed Morris from the Los Angeles to Atlanta. Lake has never served as a defensive coordinator at the NFL level, but he held DC duties at Washington before becoming the school’s head coach in 2020. The Falcons ranked 11th in total defense in 2023, but the team has room for improvement in a number of categories on both sides of the ball moving forward. An uptick in passing efficiency fits the bill, and Atlanta’s search for a new quarterback will an intriguing storyline to follow.

Falcons Hire Rams’ Jimmy Lake As DC

January 29th, 2024 at 9:55pm CST by Ben Levine

Raheem Morris is set to fill another major hole on his coaching staff with a former Rams staffer. The Falcons announced that they’ve hired Jimmy Lake as their new defensive coordinator.

[RELATED: Falcons To Hire Zac Robinson As OC]

Lake worked alongside Morris this past season in Los Angeles, serving as a defensive assistant. Lake ended his brief coaching hiatus when he joined the Rams last offseason, and he’s rapidly climbed the coaching ladder by securing Atlanta’s coordinator job.

Prior to his brief break, Lake was the head coach at Washington. He had a tumultuous two years in that role, a stint that featured a suspension for shoving one of his players away from a fight. Less than a week after being handed his suspension, Lake was fired as head coach, ending his tenure with a 7-6 record.

Of course, prior to those two forgettable years, Lake made a name for himself in Washington, working his way up from defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator and, eventually, head coach. Lake’s previous NFL jobs included assistant positions with the Buccaneers and Lions.

The 47-year-old coach wasn’t previously connected to the Atlanta job. The only two known candidates for the gig were former Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and former Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai. Ultimately, Morris decided to opt for the familiar face, which is what he did when he added Rams QBs coach Zac Robinson as his new offensive coordinator.

The Falcons also announced that they’ve retained Marquice Williams as their special teams coordinator. The organization seemed to be trending in this direction, and Williams made his preferences clear when he rejected job opportunities elsewhere. Now, the veteran coach will stick around for Morris’s first season at the helm.

NFC West Coaching Updates: Rams, Kubiak, Cardinals

March 26th, 2023 at 8:25pm CST by Ely Allen

The Rams announced that they’ve finalized their coaching staff for the 2023 season earlier this month, according to Rams staff writer Stu Jackson. We covered a number of the changes from 2022 already, but below are the ones we have yet to cover.

With the departure of Thomas Brown, who will be calling plays for the Panthers in 2023, head coach Sean McVay had an opening for a new assistant head coach. We heard last month that the team added Jimmy Lake to the staff, but we didn’t have details on his role. It turns out that he will be replacing Brown as the Rams assistant head coach.

On offense, the biggest change we have yet to cover is the addition of Ron Gould as the team’s new running backs coach. After allowing Ra’Shaad Samples to depart for a college position, the Rams went and poached Gould away from San Diego State a month after Gould was named the associate head coach and running backs coach for the Aztecs. He spent the last six years coaching running backs at Stanford. Additionally, two assistants received promotions this offseason. Jake Peetz, who was an offensive assistant last year has been given the new title of pass game specialist. Kenneth Black, last year’s coaching fellow in Los Angeles, will fill Peetz’s previous role of offensive assistant.

Los Angeles made two new additions to the defensive staff. They hired Joe Coniglio to coach outside linebackers in 2023. Coniglio played a similar role for Navy last season. The other addition is Andrew Carter, who will be the new assistant defensive line coach after the departure of Skyler Jones. Carter was a defensive quality control coach for the Broncos last year.

Additionally, the Rams’ defensive staff saw a rare swap occur. Chris Shula, who served last year as the team’s pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach, will spend 2023 as the inside linebackers coach/pass rush coordinator. Last year’s inside linebackers coach, Chris Beake, will now coach defensive backs.

Here are some other staff changes in the NFC West:

  • We heard last month that the 49ers added Klint Kubiak to their staff in an unnamed role. The team recently announced that Kubiak will serve as San Francisco’s offensive passing game specialist in 2023. The 49ers also announced the hires of Jacob Webster as defensive quality control coach and Max Molz as coaching operations assistant. Both are making their NFL-debuts with Webster coming from Wisconsin as a graduate assistant and Molz serving as the associate director of football operations at Missouri last year.
  • The Cardinals hired some personnel help for new general manager Monti Ossenfort earlier this week, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Arizona is bringing in Rob Kisiel to a pro personnel department executive position. Kisiel has been a pro scout for the Falcons for the last two seasons and previously served as director of pro personnel for the Texans.

Rams To Add Jimmy Lake To Staff

February 16th, 2023 at 12:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Sean McVay will give Jimmy Lake an opportunity, more than a year after Washington fired him as head coach. The Rams will add the former Pac-12 HC to their staff, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

Washington fired Lake before his second season as HC ended, doing so after suspending him for an incident in which he appeared to strike a player on the sidelines. With another complaint against Lake coming out during his suspension, Washington moved on in November 2021. But Lake had visited the Rams as a guest of Raheem Morris in the past, per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, who notes he has been on the team’s radar for about a month (Twitter link).

Lake, 46, was with Washington for eight seasons, rising from Huskies defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator to head coach in that span. Morris appears set to hire Lake to his defensive staff, though Pelissero notes it is uncertain what the role will be.

Morris and Lake were both on Jon Gruden‘s Buccaneers staff in the 2000s, with McVay also starting his career by spending a season under Gruden. Lake also worked as defensive backs coach under Morris in Tampa from 2010-11; he spent the next decade at the college level. The Rams moved on from defensive backs coach Jonathan Cooley last month; Cooley is now with the Panthers.

Washington fired Lake after the above-referenced incident, which occurred just after one of his players argued with an Oregon player during a 2021 game. The Seattle Times also reported Lake faced an allegation of being physical with a player during halftime of a 2019 game. Lake has been in coaching since 1999. He only ended up leading the Huskies for 13 games, going 7-6.

The Rams are also promoting Zak Kromer to be their assistant offensive line coach, Rodrigue tweets. The son of former Rams O-line coach Aaron Kromer, Zak has been with the Rams for the past six seasons. Aaron Kromer remains with the Bills, who lost their assistant O-line coach — Ryan Wendell — to the Rams; Wendell is now Los Angeles’ O-line coach.