Coaching Rumors: Bucs, McDaniel, Morris, Bolts, Eagles, Vikings, Jags, Commanders
Mike McDaniel is still on the HC carousel, meeting with the Raiders on Monday and set for a second Browns interview Wednesday. He has landed on a few teams’ OC radars, including the Lions, Chargers, Eagles, Titans and Buccaneers. The Tampa gig could appeal given Todd Bowles‘ hot-seat status. The prospect of McDaniel joining the Bucs with an arrow toward succeeding Bowles is on the radar, per SI.com’s Albert Breer. The Bucs have promoted from within twice in the Jason Licht GM era, elevating OC Dirk Koetter and then giving Bowles the job after Bruce Arians‘ mid-offseason retirement in 2022. Bowles survived a collapse this season, firing OC Josh Grizzard. It would be interesting to see if he would hire an OC who could be in line to replace him down the line.
Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:
- If the Chargers lose Jesse Minter to one of the remaining HC jobs, Jim Harbaugh may well look to promote from within. Defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale has a “very good chance” of being Minter’s DC successor, The Athletic’s Daniel Popper notes. Harbaugh confirmed internal staffers would be considered if Minter leaves. This would add up considering Clinkscale’s past. He worked as Michigan’s DBs coach in 2021 before being the Wolverines’ co-DC alongside Minter from 2022-23. While Minter received the DC opportunity in Los Angeles, Clinkscale came along with Harbaugh in 2024. The Chargers would need to comply with the Rooney Rule, of course, meaning one external minority would need to be interviewed before this rumored promotion becomes final.
- Raheem Morris has interviewed for the Cardinals, Giants and Titans’ HC jobs. With New York and Tennessee moving in different directions, Morris is down to either Arizona or the coordinator level. The two-time HC not receiving a third opportunity at a top job could lead to a TV future, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Morris has come up as a possible Commanders DC option, and other teams would surely consider the former Rams coordinator. But he could be joining Mike Tomlin in the media soon.
- Although Nick Sirianni and GM Howie Roseman are the point men in the Eagles‘ offensive coordinator search, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane notes both Jeffery Lurie and his son have been sitting in on interviews. Julian Lurie has recently been named to a position within the organization, being listed as a business and football strategy staffer. Via PFR’s Coordinator Search Tracker, Philly has some big names on its radar.
- The Vikings are moving on from offensive line coach Chris Kuper, with ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert indicating the four-year Minnesota staffer’s contract expired. Minnesota will be looking for a new O-line coach for the first time in the Kevin O’Connell era. This was Kuper’s first crack as a top O-line coach, having been an assistant OL coach with the Broncos and Dolphins previously. Kuper, 43, was an eight-year Broncos O-lineman from 2006-13.
- Jaguars assistant O-line coach Keli’i Kekuewa is taking over as Stanford’s O-line coach, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz tweets. Kekeuwa spent one season in Jacksonville; he will follow ex-Commanders staffer Tavita Pritchard to Palo Alto. Offensive assistant Trevor Mendleson should receive consideration to replace him, per the Florida Times-Union’s Ryan O’Halloran.
- Pritchard’s old job as Commanders QBs coach went to D.J. Williams; Washington has since named Danny Etling as its assistant QBs coach, Zenitz adds. A Patriots seventh-round pick in 2018, Etling bounced around the NFL before being cut by the Packers in August 2023. He spent the 2024 season with the UFL’s Michigan Panthers. This will be the ex-LSU QB’s first coaching job. Etling, 31, was a college teammate of new Commanders OC David Blough at Purdue before transferring.
Eagles Notes: Cox, Lurie, Kirk
The Eagles released longtime DT Fletcher Cox last month to avoid having $18MM of what he was due under his prior contract becoming fully-guaranteed. The club then re-signed him to a one-year, $14MM contract several days later, which, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, is “real” (meaning that Cox will actually earn that money and that the $14MM figure is not inflated by incentives). However, the deal does include two void years to flatten the cap charge, which was especially important since the release already created considerable dead money on the Eagles’ books for the 2022-23 seasons.
Even though Cox is coming off a season in which his play showed noticeable signs of decline and in which he publicly complained about the club’s defensive scheme, his $14MM payout is still $4MM more than what any other free agent interior D-lineman received on a per-year basis this offseason. That has led to plenty of questions about why the Eagles authorized such a contract, but owner Jeffrey Lurie suggested other clubs were willing to pony up for the six-time Pro Bowler, thereby necessitating the financial outlay.
McLane reports that the Eagles did call at least three teams in March to discuss a Cox trade, but just like their in-season trade talks in 2021, the more recent discussions were undermined by Cox’s prior contract and GM Howie Roseman‘s high asking price.
Now for more out of Philadelphia:
- In the same piece linked above, McLane details the growing role of Lurie’s son, Julian Lurie, within the organization. Now 26, the younger Lurie participated in the NFL’s two-year program for prospective executives upon his graduation from Harvard, he took part in the Eagles’ head coaching interviews in 2021 — ultimately advising his father as the team transitioned from Doug Pederson to Nick Sirianni — and even spearheaded the interviews for the team’s analytics department. Assuming he wants to take up the mantle, it seems that Julian Lurie will someday succeed his 70-year-old father at the top of the franchise.
- In a piece exploring whether Jeffrey Lurie is too involved in his team’s personnel decisions, which will be of particular interest to Eagles fans, McLane reports that, in 2018, the team was prepared to select one of two receivers in the second round: Ohio State’s Parris Campbell or Stanford’s JJ Arcega-Whiteside. Roseman and then-VP of player personnel Joe Douglas wanted Campbell, but Lurie preferred Arcega-Whiteside, and after Lurie successfully curried Pederson’s support, Roseman and Douglas felt compelled to go along with their wishes. That has led to broader questions about whether Lurie really values Roseman as a GM as much as he says he does, or if he simply likes that he can use Roseman as a “conduit” to the team.
- The Eagles have not yet acquired a cornerback this offseason, and while Sirianni hyped the unproven contingent of players behind CB1 Darius Slay on the current depth chart — a group that includes Zech McPhearson and Tay Gowan — McLane says the team will almost certainly add a CB or two at some point. The Eagles will hold a “30” visit with top CB prospect Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, and while Gardner may be off the board by the time Philadelphia is on the clock with its No. 15 overall pick, a player like Washington’s Trent McDuffie or LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr. could be an option should Roseman decide to select a first-round corner for the first time in his history as a GM.
- The Eagles have taken some swings at high-profile FA targets this offseason but have mostly come up short (with all due apologies to Haason Reddick and Zach Pascal). In addition to his pursuit of receivers like Allen Robinson and Robert Woods, Roseman also made an offer to former Cardinals wideout Christian Kirk, as McLane writes in a separate article. Kirk, though, received a four-year, $72MM deal from the Jaguars, a move that many have decried as more desperate spending on the part of Jacksonville. Though Kirk would doubtlessly have been an asset to Philadelphia’s WR corps, his $18MM AAV presently looks like an overpay.