Raiders Fill Multiple Coaching Positions
Klint Kubiak and Co. were busy today as the team filled multiple coaching roles. This evening, reports came out on the hiring of Ronell Williams as linebackers coach (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter) and Al Holcomb as a senior defensive assistant (per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network). 
Williams finds his way to Las Vegas after spending three seasons with the Eagles. Starting as a linebackers coach at Widener and a graduate assistant/defensive analyst at Temple, Williams found his way to Chicago in 2019 as a defensive quality control coach for the Bears. He joined the Eagles in 2023 as the nickel cornerbacks coach, was moved to assistant linebackers coach in 2024, and added defensive quality control coach to his title last year. Like Young, this will be Williams’ first opportunity to lead a position room in the NFL.
According to Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS, the team planned to interview Titans senior defensive assistant Ben Bloom for the role before landing on Williams. Bloom spent the past two years working with Tennessee’s outside linebackers, so he may still be able to find a role on staff working with that more specific division of the position group for the Raiders.
Holcomb arrives in Vegas with over 30 years of coaching experience, with the last 17 all coming from the NFL. Starting as a graduate assistant at Temple in 1995, Holcomb held roles at Colby, Bloomsburg, Kutztown, and Lafayette over the next 13 years. He made his NFL debut as a defensive quality control coach with the Giants before being named a defensive assistant for the team. He worked as linebackers coach of the Panthers for five years before earning a defensive coordinator opportunity with the Cardinals. That opportunity only lasted a year, though, before he went to Cleveland as linebackers coach and run game coordinator.
After returning to the Panthers for three years and serving as an interim defensive coordinator before departing, Holcomb found his way to his most recent stop, Buffalo. He’s spent the past three years in Buffalo, starting as a senior defensive assistant before working the past two seasons as linebackers coach. His tenure with the Raiders will begin in a similar fashion as he provides his wealth of NFL experience in a minor role.
Cowboys Add Derrick Ansley To Staff
New Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker has been busy over the past few days working to piece together his staff. A notable name will be joining him in Dallas for 2026. 
Derrick Ansley has agreed to terms with the Cowboys, ESPN’s Todd Archer reports. This news marks an expected to end to his Packers tenure. Ansley worked as Green Bay’s defensive pass-game coordinator for each of the past two years. The team brought in Bobby Babich to fill that role earlier this week, however.
Ansley has not needed to wait long to find his next opportunity. The 44-year-old will join Ryan Smith in Dallas, per Archer. Smith was reported to be a Cowboys target recently, with the same also being true of outgoing Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr. Like Orr, Ansley has previously been a DC at the NFL level.
In 2023, Ansley was promoted to defensive coordinator of the Chargers. That move followed two years as a defensive backs coach with the Bolts but proved to be short-lived. Brandon Staley‘s midseason firing paved the way for a slew of changes on the sidelines and the eventual arrival of Jim Harbaugh. That led Ansley – who has also worked as a defensive coordinator at the college level (Tennessee in 2020 and ’21) – to Green Bay. He spent two years working under Jeff Hafley, who is now in place as the Dolphins’ head coach.
Ansley will hold the familiar titles of defensive pass-game coordinator and DBs coach, per Archer. He adds Smith will operate as Dallas’ secondary coach. Together, the two will be tasked with helping lead a needed turnaround in production from that unit. The Cowboys ranked last in the NFL in pass defense this season, a key reason why they fell short of the playoffs. A stronger showing in 2026 could help Ansley’s future coordinator stock; he interviewed for one DC opening during each of the past two hiring cycles.
Meanwhile, interviews with several other candidates for the Cowboys’ staff continued today. According to Archer, Steelers outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin, Eagles assistant linebacker coach Ronell Williams and former Vikings defensive line coach Marcus Dixon all conducted in-person interviews on Saturday. USC D-line coach/defensive run game coordinator Eric Henderson will meet with the team tomorrow.
Coaching Notes: Titans, Cowboys, Leonhard, Packers, Eagles, Jaguars
Robert Saleh did not retain Titans OC Nick Holz or DC Dennard Wilson, but the new Tennessee HC kept special teams coordinator John Fassel. Saleh will also have some other Brian Callahan holdovers back. He is retaining running backs coach Randy Jordan, tight ends coach Luke Stocker and cornerbacks coach/defensive pass-game coordinator Tony Oden, according to veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky.
Jordan, 55, coached Washington’s running backs for 10 seasons before joining Callahan’s staff last year. Ron Rivera previously retained him from the Jay Gruden staffs. An 11-year veteran tight end who last played in 2021, Stocker initially jointed the Titans’ staff in Mike Vrabel‘s final year and has been promoted in each of the past two offseasons, rising to TEs coach in 2025.
Oden, 52, has been an NFL staffer since 2004. Of the trio known to be staying, Oden is the only one to overlap with Saleh in the past. That history is extensive. Saleh’s first NFL job — as a Texans intern in 2005 — overlapped with Oden’s Houston stint. Oden broke into the NFL with the Texans a year prior to Saleh but stayed on Dom Capers‘ staff for one more season. Saleh then worked with Oden on the 2020 49ers and brought him to New York for his Jets staff. Oden served as a senior defensive assistant who worked with the team’s corners from 2021-24. He caught on with the Titans last year.
Here is the latest from the coaching ranks:
- The Packers had eyed Jim Leonhard for their DC opening back in 2021, but the then-Wisconsin coordinator was believed to have received an offer. Leonhard did not factor into the Pack’s search to replace Joe Barry in 2024, but it was believed he was back on the team’s radar this year. Matt LaFleur was expected to talk with Leonhard, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein. While Leonhard is now free to interview, Green Bay hired Jonathan Gannon shortly before the Broncos’ AFC championship game tilt. A 2024 report indicated Leonhard was LaFleur’s top choice in 2021, so it is interesting the Packers did not formally interview him this time.
- Leonhard remains on the Broncos’ staff as DBs coach but may well receive more DC consideration. The Cowboys interviewed him before hiring Christian Parker, a previous Denver DBs coach. Dallas made the Parker hire Thursday, with the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins indicating the team did not feel it could wait out Leonhard. Had the Broncos booked a Super Bowl LX berth, the Cowboys could not have hired Leonhard until after that game.
- The Cowboys set up interviews with recent Vikings staffer Marcus Dixon and Eagles assistant linebackers coach Ronell Williams, according to ESPN.com’s Todd Archer. Dixon worked with Parker on the Broncos’ staff from 2022-23, serving as the team’s D-line coach. Dixon spent the past two years as the Vikings‘ D-line coach, and ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert notes his contract has expired. While Minnesota could work out a new deal as it did with Brian Flores, Dixon is scheduling interviews elsewhere. Dixon was with the Cowboys as a player from 2008-10. Williams has worked with the Eagles since 2023, overlapping with Parker over the past two seasons. Williams is still under contract with the Eagles, per Watkins.
- Philadelphia made an in-house promotion after losing Parker to Dallas. The Eagles are elevating safeties coach Joe Kasper to DBs coach/defensive pass-game coordinator, NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe tweets. Interest came in from elsewhere, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s EJ Smith, but the Eagles will retain Kasper by promoting him. Kasper followed Vic Fangio from Miami in 2024; he served as Dolphins safeties coach in 2023. Kasper, however, is in his second stint with the Eagles; he was on Nick Sirianni‘s staff from 2021-22.
- The Jaguars are adding Brian Picucci from the Buccaneers’ staff. Picucci is joining Liam Coen‘s staff as the Jags’ run-game coordinator on offense, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. The Bucs blocked Coen from poaching Picucci last year, after Coen’s acrimonious Tampa exit, but the two have an extensive history. Picucci followed Coen from Kentucky to Tampa in 2024; he served as the Bucs’ O-line coach in 2025, after Tampa Bay had blocked him from interviewing for that job in Jacksonville.
NFC Coaching Updates: Giants, Commanders, Eagles, Bucs, Seahawks
The Giants announced the finalization of their 2023 staff early last month, according to Giants staff writer Michael Eisen. We’ve covered a couple of minor changes in previous posts, but there are a number of new updates in this announcement that have yet to be covered.
With the departure of Tony Sparano Jr., who left to coach the Colts‘ offensive line, New York has hired Chris Smith to fill the role of assistant offensive line coach. Smith has just finished a six-year career at Holy Cross, serving as offensive coordinator last year and offensive line coach, run game coordinator, and recruiting coordinator in previous years. The team also promoted two assistants. An offensive assistant with New York last year, Christian Jones will serve in 2023 as assistant quarterbacks coach. Angela Baker, the inaugural recipient of the Rosie Brown Minority Coaching Fellowship, will move from offensive quality control coach to offensive assistant.
Two staffers received promotions on the defensive side of the ball, as well. Last year’s assistant defensive backs coach Michael Treier was promoted to safeties coach for this year. And, after spending time as a football data & innovation research analyst, Ben Burress will rejoin the coaching staff in 2023 as a defensive assistant.
The Giants made a special teams addition, as well, hiring former Lions defensive quality control coach Stephen Thomas to fill a role as the team’s second assistant special teams coach.
Here are a few other coaching updates from around the league:
- A strong candidate early in their search, the Commanders announced the hiring of Bobby Engram as their new wide receivers coach. The former Seahawks wideout has coaching stints at the 49ers and Ravens but mostly recently served as offensive coordinator at Wisconsin. Washington also hired Shane Toub as the team’s offensive quality control coach. Toub was a defensive quality control coach at Kansas last year after serving in the same position for the Bears previously. The team also hired former NFL cornerback Reggie Howard as a defensive quality control coach. Howard started coaching in 2015, about nine years after his playing career ended. This will be his first NFL coaching opportunity. Lastly, as the Commanders continue to try and fill their vacant offensive line coaching role, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post provided the update that head coach Ron Rivera has informed John Matsko that they will not be hiring him for the job.
- New Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai filled two position coaching roles last month. The team tweeted out that they would be hiring D. J. Eliot as their new linebackers coach. Eliot has been coaching at the college level since 1999, serving as defensive coordinator for Colorado, Kansas, and Temple, most recently. Eliot will receive his first NFL opportunity under Desai. Philadelphia also brought in Ronell Williams to serve as nickels coach, according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN. Williams previously served as a defensive quality control coach for the Bears.
- The Buccaneers have added a new role to their staff, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN, hiring Jordan Somerville as their new assistant quarterbacks coach. Somerville coached running backs at New Mexico before serving last year as an offensive analyst at Oregon. This will be Somerville’s first NFL role.
- The Seahawks made an addition to their defensive staff, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, hiring Roy Anderson as secondary coach. Anderson comes over after three years as assistant defensive backs coach in Minnesota. With the addition of Anderson, Karl Scott, who served last year as defensive passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach, will now take the title of defensive passing game coordinator/senior assistant.