Latest On Browns’ Head Coaching Search
The Browns confirmed today that they have interviewed Cowboys secondary coach Jerome Henderson for their head coaching position, tweets Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. Henderson’s meeting with Cleveland had been reported earlier this week.
[RELATED: Browns OC John DeFilippo meeting with 49ers]
Having concluded their sit-down with Henderson, the Browns have now interviewed four candidates for their head coaching vacancy. The Cowboys’ defensive backs coach joins Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, and Jaguars assistant head coach Doug Marrone as the coaches who have spoken to Cleveland so far this week.
The Browns’ interview process will continue this weekend, but it sounds like the team’s Sunday schedule won’t be quite as jam-packed as initially anticipated. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), the Browns don’t have a formal interview lined up yet with Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, despite a previous report suggesting he would talk to the club on Sunday. That doesn’t mean Guenther won’t talk to Cleveland — the two sides just don’t have anything officially scheduled for now.
According to Cabot (Twitter link), however, the Browns will still have a busy day on Sunday, with previously-reported meetings with Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson and Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott still on their schedule. The Jackson interview is set to take place in Cincinnati, with the McDermott interview happening in Charlotte.
To stay up to date on the head coaching searches for the Browns and the six other teams looking for a new coach, be sure to check out our tracker.
Buccaneers To Interview Sean McDermott, Harold Goodwin
10:55am: According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), McDermott’s interview with the Buccaneers will take place on Saturday.
8:14am: Dirk Koetter may be the odds-on favorite to replace Lovie Smith as the head coach in Tampa Bay, but the Buccaneers intend to look beyond their own offensive coordinator as they consider their options. According to Peter Schrager of FOX Sports (Twitter link), the Bucs will interview Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott this weekend.
[RELATED: Buccaneers GM discusses Smith’s firing, head coaching search]
The Buccaneers will have to get their meeting with McDermott in by Sunday, since the Carolina assistant is eligible to interview during the team’s bye week, but not during the week leading up to its divisional playoff game. McDermott is expected to interview with the Browns as well, on Sunday, and has been cited as a potential candidate for the Giants’ and Eagles’ jobs too, though, it’s not clear if either NFC East team has set up a formal interview.
Speaking of the Eagles, McDermott’s time in Philadelphia – he spent more than a decade with the team from 1999 to 2010, in various roles – likely contributed to him landing on Tampa Bay’s radar. Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht also worked for the Eagles during McDermott’s stint there, with Licht holding multiple player personnel jobs in Philadelphia from 2006 to 2008.
Of course, McDermott’s work in Carolina over the last few years, and particularly this season, probably garnered the Bucs’ interest as well. Under his guidance, the Panthers gave up only 322.9 yards per game in 2015, good for sixth in the league. The front seven was particularly successful, surrendering just 88.4 rushing yards per contest to opposing teams.
Before the Bucs speak to McDermott, they’ll sit down today with Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin to discuss their head coaching vacancy, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
Like McDermott, Goodwin is eligible to speak to teams this week since his club has a bye. And like McDermott, Goodwin has some history with Licht — the Tampa Bay GM spent the 2013 season as Arizona’s vice president of player personnel, during Goodwin’s first season as the club’s offensive coordinator.
Goodwin’s unit in Arizona was one of the NFL’s most potent offenses in 2015, leading the league in yards per game (408.3) and ranking second in points per contest (30.6). After ranking 23rd in offensive DVOA in 2014, the club finished fourth this season, per Football Outsiders.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Coach Rumors: Browns, Marrone, Giants, Bucs
The Fritz Pollard Alliance, an organization that works with the NFL to ensure that minority candidates are considered – and hired – for coaching and front office jobs, has put out its list of recommendations for this offseason, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
As Tomasson outlines, the group’s top six picks for head coaching candidates this winter are Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards, Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin, Bills running backs coach and assistant head coach Anthony Lynn, and Cowboys secondary coach Jerome Henderson.
Jackson and Austin are viewed as particularly strong candidates, with both men having scheduled multiple interviews with teams seeking new head coaches. Lynn and Henderson have also lined up HC interviews, so we’ll see if Edwards and Goodwin can follow suit.
Here are more of today’s coaching notes and rumors:
- Reports indicated that Doug Marrone and Sean McDermott were both on the Browns‘ interview schedule for today, but only the Jaguars assistant head coach actually met with the team. Per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Panthers defensive coordinator will now interview on Sunday, which is shaping up to be a busy day for Cleveland — the Browns are also scheduled to meet with Bengals assistants Paul Guenther and Hue Jackson on Sunday.
- Within that same piece, Kabot cites sources who say there’s some concern among Browns players about the possibility of Marrone landing the job, since he’s not considered a players’ coach. Joe Thomas has indicated he may ask for a trade if he’s not happy with Cleveland’s new head coach, and fellow offensive linemen Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz could both depart in free agency, so the Browns may want to proceed with some caution.
- The Giants have officially confirmed that they interviewed Teryl Austin for their head coaching job today, bringing their total number of interviewees so far up to three, as our tracker shows. Adam Gase and Marrone also have meetings lined up this week with Big Blue, with Jackson and McDermott potentially in the mix for interviews as well.
- Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was upset by the sudden firing of Lovie Smith, sources tell Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com. Koetter also may have more interest in a head coaching job in the Pacific Northwest, where he grew up, but he “relishes” coaching Jameis Winston, so if he gets the opportunity to land the Bucs’ HC job, he could be a good fit. Mortensen adds that, while the Bucs tried to hire Chip Kelly back in 2012, the former Eagles head coach probably won’t be a candidate this time around.
Coach Rumors: Gase, Eagles, Pederson, Jets
The Eagles have not yet scheduled a second interview with Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase for their head coaching position, a league source familiar with the club’s thinking tells Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com. While Frank suggests that this contradicts a previous report on Gase, that Wednesday report didn’t actually say a second interview had been formally set up by the Eagles — just that the team wanted to bring him back for a second meeting.
Although it hasn’t been scheduled yet, a second interview between Gase and the Eagles could still happen. However, Frank suggests that the club may not finish its first round of interviews and regroup until next week sometime.
In other coaching news out of Philadelphia, Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson will interview with the Eagles on Sunday for their head coaching job, regardless of how Kansas City does in its playoff game, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
Here are several more coaching-related updates from around the NFL:
- The Jets have parted ways with special teams coach Bobby April, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. Special teams assistant Steve Hagen and assistant offensive line coach Ron Heller have also been let go by the club.
- If he doesn’t get a head coaching job somewhere, look for ex-Falcons head coach Mike Smith to be a candidate for the Buccaneers‘ defensive coordinator job, tweets Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Leslie Frazier is on his way out in Tampa Bay.
- Panthers GM Dave Gettleman says he has talked to several teams looking for a head coach about defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. At the moment, only the Browns have formally asked for an interview, as David Newton of ESPN.com writes. McDermott has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Eagles and Giants as well.
- Per Mike Wells of ESPN.com, the Colts have officially confirmed several previously-reported changes to their coaching staff, including the dismissal of defensive coordinator Greg Manusky. The club also announced it has parted ways with strength and conditioning coach Roger Marandino and running backs coach Charlie Williams.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Latest On Giants’ Head Coaching Search
With the Giants having formally said goodbye to head coach Tom Coughlin at a Tuesday press conference, the team is now moving on to identifying his replacement. Let’s round up the known candidates so far for Big Blue, including the latest updates on each of them….
Ben McAdoo / Steve Spagnuolo (Giants):
The two Giants’ coordinators were the first two candidates confirmed to have interviews scheduled for the team’s newly-opened head coaching position, and according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com, McAdoo’s interview took place on Tuesday, the same day as Coughlin’s farewell presser. While the offensive coordinator has already sat down with the Giants, the defensive coordinator has not done so yet — Raanan says Spagnuolo’s interview will take place later this week.
Sean McDermott (Panthers):
The Carolina defensive coordinator is free to interview for head coaching jobs during the Panthers’ bye week, and it seems he’ll do so. A report on Tuesday night indicated that the Giants intend to meet with him, though Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer tweets that, as of about 10 hours ago, nothing had been formally set up yet. The two sides will have until Sunday to have their meeting, since McDermott won’t be eligible to interview next week.
Doug Marrone (Jaguars):
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported on Tuesday that the Giants had requested an interview with the Jaguars’ offensive line coach, and he tweets today that permission has been granted — according to Rapoport (Twitter link), Marrone will meet with the Giants on Saturday, a day after he interviews with the Dolphins and two days after his sit-down with the Browns.
Hue Jackson (Bengals):
The Cincinnati offensive coordinator isn’t eligible to interview with teams this week, but he has received multiple requests for next week. According to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, Jackson is believed to be among the Giants’ targets, though as of Tuesday night, New York wasn’t among the teams to request a meeting.
Sean Payton (Saints):
A report on Monday indicated that the New Orleans head coach would be monitoring the Giants’ situation closely, and John Mara suggested on Tuesday that he wouldn’t rule out the idea of New York trading a draft pick for a coach. A source tells Vacchiano that the Giants would “absolutely” be interested in Payton as a candidate, but according to that source, the team also believes the price to land him may be too high.
Adam Gase (Bears):
The Giants requested an interview with Gase and it appears to be in the plans, but there doesn’t appear to be a date set yet. It’s a busy week for the Bears’ offensive coordinator, who met with Philadelphia yesterday and also has meetings lined up with the Browns and Dolphins before Friday.
Giants To Interview Sean McDermott
The Giants plan to interview Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, according to league sources who spoke with Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News (on Twitter). McDermott now becomes the fourth known candidate to be lined up for an interview, according to the PFR Head Coaching Search Tracker. 
[RELATED: Giants, Tom Coughlin Parting Ways]
McDermott is eligible to talk to teams about head coaching jobs this week since the Panthers have a bye. The Browns will interview McDermott about their own head coaching vacancy on Thursday but it’s not immediately clear when the Giants will get to sit down and talk with him. McDermott has also been cited as a potential candidate for the Eagles, but no interview has been scheduled yet.
Under McDermott’s guidance, the Panthers gave up only 322.9 yards per game in 2015, good for sixth in the league and virtually just as good as the Cardinals at No. 5 (321.7 YPG) and the Jets at No. 4 (318.6 YPG). The front seven in particular was successful, surrendering only 91.2 yards per contest to opposing teams. Prior to joining the Panthers, McDermott was a longtime coach with the Eagles who was eventually elevated to the role of DC.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Browns Eyeing McDermott, Bengals Assistants
1:06pm: In addition to targeting Jackson, the Browns are also considering the Bengals’ coach on the other side of the ball. According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), Cleveland will interview Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther next week.
12:06pm: The Browns, who already reportedly have plans to interview at least four head coaching candidates, have added two more names to their list of potential targets. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link), the Browns have requested permission to interview Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, while Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Cleveland will interview defensive coordinator Sean McDermott on Thursday.
Because Jackson’s Bengals are playing on Wild Card weekend, he won’t be free to interview with any interested teams this week. After the team’s first playoff game though, whether or not Cincinnati wins, Jackson will be eligible to talk to possible suitors, and it sounds like he’ll have a few — the Dolphins and 49ers have already asked for permission to interview him as well.
As for McDermott, he’s eligible to talk to teams about head coaching jobs this week since the Panthers have a bye. His interview is scheduled to take place on the same day the Browns will reportedly talk to Doug Marrone, and a day after the team is set to meet with Teryl Austin and Adam Gase. Cleveland also is said to have received permission to speak to Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.
Any candidate considering the Browns job will certainly have taken notice of the club’s hiring announcement today. In an outside-the-box move, Cleveland added New York Mets executive Paul DePodesta to its front office, suggesting the club will have a significant focus on analytics going forward.
DePodesta will join Jimmy and Dee Haslam, Sashi Brown, and Jed Hughes during the team’s head coach and general manager interviews, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Coach Rumors: Dolphins, Browns, Kelly
A previous report indicated that the Dolphins spoke to Mike Shanahan a couple weeks ago about their head coaching opening, but Mike Tannenbaum said today that the team hasn’t conducted any interviews yet, so it sounds like that December conversation with Shanahan was an informal one (Twitter link via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald). The team will interview Shanahan tomorrow, however.
Addressing the media today, Tannenbaum also said that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross will make the final decision on who the club’s next head coach will be. That new coach will have input on the roster, but it’s not yet decided who will have control over the 53-man squad (Twitter links via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald).
Here are a few more coaching-related updates on Black Monday:
- Former Lions head coach and Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is on the Browns‘ list of head coaching candidates, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). Cleveland has reportedly lined up interviews with Adam Gase, Teryl Austin, and Doug Marrone so far.
- Thus far, we’ve heard more reports about Chip Kelly being interested in certain head coaching jobs than about teams being interested in Kelly. That may not be an accident. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) suggests NFL owners are wary of Kelly, and concerned that his dealings with players may work better at the college level than the professional level.
- Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula doesn’t want to interview for any head coaching jobs until after Carolina’s season is over, but defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said today that he’d be open to meeting with interested teams during the Panthers’ bye week (link via David Newton of ESPN.com). McDermott has been cited as a potential candidate for the Eagles.
Coaching Updates: 1/3/16
After learning this morning that the 49ers are expected to fire Jim Tomsula and that Jim Caldwell is more likely than not to return to the Lions in 2016, let’s dive into a few more notes on the league’s head coaching carousel:
- A “plugged-in source” tells Pro Football Talk that Chip Kelly could be headed to the Browns (Twitter link).
- Before that somewhat mysterious tweet from PFT, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweeted out a list of a few candidates the Browns are expected to interview in the coming days after they formally fire Mike Pettine. That list includes popular targets Adam Gase, Teryl Austin, and Doug Marrone. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the team is especially interested in Gase and has already laid the groundwork for an interview with the Bears’ offensive coordinator. It was something of a surprise that Gase did not land a head coaching job last year, but it looks like 2016 will find him in charge of his own club.
- Rapoport also passes on some news on the Colts (via Conor Orr of NFL.com), reporting that if Indianapolis parts ways with Chuck Pagano, the team will make Sean Payton and Nick Saban say no before turning its search in another direction. Although the presence of franchise quarterback Andrew Luck could alter his thinking somewhat, Saban, as Rapoport tweets, has been approached by NFL clubs countless times in recent years and always says no.
- Current Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson is “a name to watch” as the Eagles attempt to fill their new head coaching vacancy, per Albert Breer of the NFL Network, who adds that the team would have to do some “fence-mending” to lure Sean McDermott, one of the hottest head coaching candidates, away from Carolina (Twitter links). ESPN.com news services confirms the team’s interest in Pederson, who spent four seasons as an offensive assistant under Andy Reid in Philadelphia, and adds that interim head coach Pat Shumur has not been ruled out.
- The Titans will look at interim head coach Mike Mularkey as a legitimate candidate to become the team’s permanent head coach, as Rapoport writes in his Black Monday primer.
- In the same piece, Rapoport writes that Mike McCoy has a much better chance to stay with the Chargers than originally anticipated. The NFL.com scribe reports that San Diego brass will step back and look at factors like the injuries the team has endured, the close losses it has suffered, and the omnipresent Los Angles dilemma before making a final decision. While McCoy could still be fired, it appears as though he will at least get a thorough evaluation before that happens.
East Notes: Dolphins, Giants, Eagles, Cowboys
Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell, whose short stint is almost sure to end Sunday, spoke about his tenure to Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald.
On what he’ll do differently if given another opportunity in the future, Campbell said, “I would do a better job of holding everyone more accountable, from staff to players.”
Going forward, Campbell believes the Dolphins need more leadership from quarterback Ryan Tannehill and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
“Certainly, those are two guys that you’d love to see grow more into that area, and it would help,” he stated.
Campbell also used the word “frustration” to describe the Dolphins’ 5-10 season (and 4-7 mark under his reign). He’ll try to go out with a win Sunday as the Dolphins host AFC East rival New England.
- With the Giants’ Tom Coughlin era seemingly on the verge of ending, the New York Daily News’ Ralph Vacchiano wrote Friday that the team should pursue the Saints’ Sean Payton and Alabama’s Nick Saban as possible successors. In addition to Payton and Saban, Vacchiano listed more potential candidates Saturday. Featured prominently: New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, current Giants O-coordinator Ben McAdoo – though Vacchiano argues that he’d be tough to sell to their fan base – as well as college head coaches Brian Kelly (Notre Dame) and David Shaw (Stanford). There’s also Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, a pair of Carolina assistants in OC Mike Shula and D-coordinator Sean McDermott, two more O-coordinators (Pittsburgh’s Todd Haley and Cincinnati’s Hue Jackson), and Jacksonville assistant Doug Marrone. Haley, Jackson and Marrone were all mixed bags in their prior head coaching stops, while Spagnuolo and McDaniels flamed out in epic fashion in St. Louis and Denver, respectively.
- The Dolphins’ Olivier Vernon, who leads the team in sacks (seven), could be playing his last game with the team Sunday, ESPN’s James Walker writes. Vernon, 25, stands to cash in as a pending free agent. Thus, he might not fit within the Dolphins’ budget. Vernon does want to stay in Miami, though. “I’d like to be here,” Vernon told Walker. “But at the end of the day, business is business. So if this is my last game and I enter free agency, then I’m going to see how that goes.”
- As we learned Saturday afternoon, the Eagles interviewed running backs coach Duce Staley for their vacant head coaching job. Whether they’re truly serious about him remains to be seen, but the interview means they’ve already fulfilled the Rooney Rule because Staley is a minority candidate. That means they could hire Chicago offensive coordinator Adam Gase, whom they’re interested in, as early as Monday. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that won’t happen. Gase will bide his time and explore all options, per Florio.
- Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee will lose out on $2MM extra if he doesn’t play Sunday against Washington, Brandon George of SportsDay writes. Lee, whose status is up in the air because of a hamstring injury, has incentives in his contract that will kick his 2015-16 salary from $3MM to $5MM if he plays 80 percent of snaps on the season. He’s currently at 82.1.