Coach Updates: Spags, Quinn, LeBeau, Tucker
The Giants will interview Ravens assistant (and former employee) Steve Spagnuolo for their defensive coordinator position this week, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Facebook link). Spagnuolo, 55, was New York’s DC from 2007-08. Per Schefter, the club also spoke with its own defensive backs coach, David Merritt, about the job. Here’s more news on the coaching front…
- After parting ways with John Fox earlier today, the Broncos want to interview Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, tweets Schefter. Quinn is viewed as the favorite for the Jets head coaching position, and has also been linked to the vacancies in Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco.
- We heard earlier today that the Jets wanted to bring in Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles for a second interview, and now Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets that the meeting will take place on Wednesday, the same day Bowles will speak with the Falcons for a second time. The Atlanta interview will happen first, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
- Cowboys offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Bill Callahan is a popular man, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). He’s drawing interest elsewhere, which could lead to a promotion of Scott Linehan. Bills head coach Rex Ryan is among those with interest, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
- LSU has been in contact with Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker about their opening at the same position, according to Ross Dellenger and Scott Rabalais of The Advocate. Tucker, who was rumored to be on the hot seat in Chicago, remains under contract with the team.
- While ex-Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau has discussed joining the Cardinals coaching staff (Twitter link via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), it will not be as DC, tweets Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910, who adds that LeBeau could be brought aboard in something of an advising capacity.
- Meanwhile, the Steelers have not met with any outside candidates to replace LeBeau, meaning it’s increasingly likely that linebackers coach Keith Butler will be promoted to DC, writes Scott Brown of ESPN.com. Butler has been in his current role since 2003.
- The Giants met with Washington secondary coach Raheem Morris on Friday about their open DC position, but will go in another direction, according to Dianna Marie Russini of NBC4 (Twitter link). Per Russini, Morris will now interview for Washington’s defensive coordinator job.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Coach Notes: Philbin, Ryan, Bowles, Trestman
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced last month that the team would be retaining head coach Joe Philbin for the 2015 season, and the next step is to lock up Philbin with an extension. As Aramando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes, the Dolphins will indeed make an extension offer to Philbin, to ensure that he doesn’t enter 2015 as a lame-duck coach, and to make sure his price tag doesn’t go up if Miami has a strong ’15 campaign. Of course, if the Dolphins take a step back next season, Philbin could still be dismissed — Ross and the team would just have to eat the remaining cost of his deal.
Here are a few more Thursday coaching updates from across the league:
- Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle is hearing that Rex Ryan‘s first choice is the 49ers, followed by the Falcons (Twitter link). However, it’s not clear if Ryan would be atop the Niners’ list as well.
- The Falcons pushed their interviews for Teryl Austin and Todd Bowles back to Friday and Saturday, respectively, due to the passing of Molly Blank, tweets D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. That’s why Bowles is meeting with the Bears today instead of Saturday.
- Meanwhile, Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee says (via Twitter) that the Raiders have been “knocked off” Bowles’ list, while Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) hears the Cardinals defensive coordinator is making a “very strong impression” in his head coaching interviews. Bowles met with the Jets yesterday, and had the Bears on tap today, before he moves on to the 49ers on Friday and Falcons on Saturday.
- Following Kyle Shanahan‘s departure from the Browns, Marc Trestman‘s name has come up as Cleveland considers new candidates, and the former Bears head coach would be interested in talking to the team, tweets Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
- The Jaguars, on the other hand, aren’t leaning toward Trestman to be their new offensive coordinator, per Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (via Twitter).
- The Giants have requested permission to interview Washington defensive backs coach Raheem Morris for their defensive coordinator position, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- Noting that the contract of Raiders defensive coordinator Jason Tarver expires in less than two weeks, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links) says Tarver is a DC target for some head coaching candidates around the league. The Raiders would like to keep him, but Tarver could choose to pursue a DC job under a new head coach for another team, depending on who lands where.
Redskins To Be ‘Major Players’ For Aqib Talib
The Redskins have never been shy about opening their wallet to big-name free agents under owner Dan Snyder, and it doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.
According to former NFL quarterback and current Bleacher Report analyst Chris Simms, the Redskins are going to be “a major player” for free agent cornerback Aqib Talib‘s services once the 2014 league year starts at 3:00pm CT Tuesday. Simms was in the Patriots organization recently as a coaching assistant and played with Talib in Tampa Bay.
Looking at the Redskins’ offensive needs, ESPN.com’s John Keim said Talib is the one player who could be intriguing, given the tight relationship between Talib and secondary coach Raheem Morris — the duo spent time together in Tampa Bay. Keim acknowledges the hefty price tag but likes Talib’s versatility to play inside and out and evolvement into a leader.
Talib’s biggest knock, as Keim points out, is his injury history — Talib hasn’t played more than 13 games in a season since 2009, and was knocked out of playoff games each of the last two years.
Washington is in a decent cap situation with just under $22MM in space, according to overthecap.com. However, teams like to give themselves $5-6MM of wiggle room as the season approaches and require $2-3MM to pay rookies, so paying Talib his desired salary might be a tall task.