Shaun Sarrett

Jaguars Finalize Coaching Staff

The time has come for Liam Coen to finally lead an NFL staff as a head coach. The 39-year-old has been an extremely fast riser after getting his first NFL assistant position in 2018. His first NFL coordinator role came in 2022, and three years later, he’s a head coach. The Jaguars announced yesterday that he’s now completed the building of his first NFL staff in Jacksonville.

He started with the hirings of offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile. Since then, we’ve been informed of the hiring of quarterbacks coach Spencer Whipple, passing game coordinator Shane Waldron, passing game specialist John Van Dam, defensive line coach Matt Edwards, defensive backs coach Anthony Perkins, and linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, as well as the retention of special teams coordinator Heath Farwell. Their new announcement clears up the rest of the open positions.

On offense, we recently saw Vikings assistant offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett interview for the offensive line coaching job in Jacksonville, and his interview was a successful one. After one year in Chicago, Chad Morton joins the Jaguars as running backs coach. Before holding the same role with the Bears, Morton coached running backs in Seattle for seven years. It was announced earlier this week that Edgar Bennett would not be returning as wide receivers coach for the Raiders in 2025. Well, he has bounced back quickly, getting hired to the same position in Jacksonville.

Two familiar faces will remain on the offense with the Jaguars. Tight ends coach Richard Angulo and assistant wide receivers coach Tyler Tettleton will be retaining their roles with the team in 2025. Angulo has coached tight ends in Duval since 2022, while Tettleton has held his role for two seasons. Tettleton will add the title of passing game specialist to his role, as well.

On defense, we see Derrick LeBlanc join the staff as assistant defensive line coach. It was announced nearly two weeks ago that LeBlanc would not be returning as defensive line coach in Arizona, so he’ll take a step back in 2025 in an assistant role with the Jaguars. Kevin Wilkins has been hired as assistant linebackers coach. After being fired by the Giants last year, Wilkins spent 2024 as a defensive assistant for the University of Michigan. We saw earlier that Colts defensive backs coach Ron Milus would not be returning in 2025. He’ll stay in the AFC South, though, as the new secondary coach in Jacksonville.

Drew Lascari will make his debut as an NFL coach in 2025 as the team’s new assistant defensive backs coach. He’s spent the past seven years at Rutgers, coaching safeties in their last three seasons. One familiar face will be sticking around in Jacksonville on defense. Mario Jeberaeel was hired last year as assistant outside linebackers coach. He’s been retained in 2025, but will serve this year as a defensive assistant.

On special teams, being retained alongside Farwell will be assistant special teams coach Luke Thompson. Thompson will enter his fourth year in that role. Jay Kaiser has joined the staff as assistant to the head coach. It’s his first year with the Jaguars coming from the University of Illinois as director of college personnel and NFL liaison. Joining Kaiser in the role of assistant to the head coach will be ElizaBeth Harrison, who has held that role in Jacksonville for the past 16 years.

Thus concludes the hiring of the main positions of Coen’s first staff in Jacksonville. Some ancillary positions and other assistant roles remain to be filled out, but the main bones of the staff are now solidified.

AFC Staff Notes: Jets, Jaguars, Bills, Titans

While new regimes have been known to wait until after the draft to make major front office changes, the Jets are acting early to start their Aaron Glenn-Darren Mougey run. The team is moving on from two veteran execs. Co-director of player personnel Greg Nejmeh is out after 16 years with the organization, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports. Jones classifies this as a mutual parting. Senior director of football administration David Socie is done as well, per the New York Post’s Brian Costello. Socie had been the Jets’ chief negotiator since 2018, Costello adds, while Nejmeh climbed to his post upon Joe Douglas‘ 2019 GM hire. These moves come a year after the team fired assistant GM Rex Hogan, leaving Mougey with work to do in the front office. Woody Johnson had prevented Douglas from replacing Hogan or Chad Alexander, who left to become Chargers assistant GM, so it will be interesting to see how the Jets move forward here.

Additionally, one of the other veteran presences in the front office — ex-Browns GM Phil Savage — is being retained as a consultant, Costello adds. Savage, who closed the season as Jets interim GM, interviewed for the full-time job as well. It is unclear if Savage is being retained for the long haul, as Costello expects more changes post-draft; the veteran exec has been with the Jets since their Douglas hire. He spent six years as a senior personnel advisor.

Here is the latest from AFC staffs:

  • Liam Coen still needs to hire an offensive coordinator, but that to-be-determined Jaguars staffer will oversee a new quarterbacks coach. Spencer Whipple is coming over from the Cardinals to take that job, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. A Kliff Kingsbury hire, Whipple stayed on in Arizona under Jonathan Gannon. He had climbed to co-pass-game coordinator under Kingsbury before sliding to the title of pass-game specialist during Gannon’s first two seasons. This will be a key promotion, as Coen will entrust him to help elevate Trevor Lawrence.
  • Elsewhere on Coen’s offensive staff, the team is interviewing Vikings assistant offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett for its O-line coaching position, ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco notes. This has been a rather difficult position for Coen to fill, as attempts to add Buccaneers staffers Kevin Carberry and Brian Piccuci failed due to Tampa Bay blocking the moves. The Bucs have let it be known they are not letting contracted assistants follow Coen, who departed after indicating he would stay. Sarrett served as Steelers O-line coach from 2019-20, spending nine years with the organization, before settling in as an assistant OL coach. He was with the Chargers during Brandon Staley‘s three seasons in Los Angeles. The Jags also have Rams staffer Zak Kromer on the radar for this gig.
  • Former Bears assistant Travis Smith will find his way to Tennessee, joining the Titans as the team’s defensive run-game coordinator. Smith worked as D-line coach under Matt Eberflus for three seasons. Prior to that, he was with the Raiders for 10 years. Smith’s hire comes shortly after the Titans added ex-Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie to the front office. Smith arrived in Oakland during McKenzie’s first offseason as Raiders GM.
  • The Bills are signing off on a reunion for their defensive staff. Jason Rebrovich is coming back, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, to work as the team’s assistant D-line coach. A Packers staffer for the past three seasons, Rebrovich had previously worked as Bills assistant D-line coach — one of his Buffalo titles during a four-year stay — in 2014. The Bills had hired Rebrovich to work under Doug Marrone and retained him under Rex Ryan. Rebrovich spent the past three seasons with the Packers.
  • The Chargers lost their previous safeties coach, Chris O’Leary, to the college level. After O’Leary became the DC at Western Michigan, ESPN.com’s Pete Thamel indicates the team has selected his replacement from the ACC. Florida State DC Adam Fuller will fill the position. Fuller had been the Seminoles’ DC for five seasons and has only coached in college, doing so since the late 1990s.

NFC Coaching Updates: Falcons, Vikings, Garcia, Glenn

As the offseason chugs along, teams continue to reconstruct their coaching staffs. The Falcons made a number of moves just before the weekend, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN. The staff continues to take shape under new head coach Raheem Morris.

On offense, two announcements were made on assistants looking to hold over from Arthur Smith‘s staff last year. Rothstein reports that assistant offensive line coach Shawn Flaherty and offensive assistant Patrick Kramer, who each came to Atlanta last offseason, will be retained in their previous positions.

A new hire was announced, as well, with the team naming Jacquies Smith as their new outside linebackers coach. Formerly a seven-year NFL defensive end, the former undrafted player out of Missouri will now accept his first NFL coaching position. After disappearing from the NFL-world for a spell and making an appearance in the XFL, Smith worked with draft-eligible players in pre-draft training. He most recently spent the 2023 season as an assistant edge coach for the Texas Longhorns.

In the front office, the team announced the hires of John Griffin as director of player performance and Rob Dadona as manager of coaching operations. Griffin follows Morris after spending the past three years with the Rams. Dadona replaces Brian Griffin, who departed to serve as Chief of Staff at the University of Maryland. Dadona spent the past five seasons with the Jets, serving as assistant to the head coach for the last three.

Here are a few other staff updates from around the NFC, starting with a couple out of Minneapolis:

  • The Vikings announced two staff additions this weekend, naming assistant offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett and assistant to the head coach Henry Schneider IV. Sarrett replaces Justin Rascati, who departed for Los Angeles to serve as the Chargers pass-game coordinator. The two essentially swapped places, as Sarrett spent the past three years in the assistant offensive line coaching role with the Chargers. Schneider spent the last five years with the Raiders, most recently as the manager of coaching operations.
  • The Cowboys added a hot, young name out of Washington to their defensive staff this weekend. Cristian Garcia, who spent part of last year as the Commanders interim defensive backs coach, will head to Dallas as a defensive quality control coach, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. Garcia was a name that former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera turned to for leadership after firing defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. Now he’ll join the NFC East rival.
  • Washington added their own coaching assistant last week. According to ESPN’s John Keim, John Glenn will join the staff as the Commanders’ new assistant special teams coach. Glenn replaces Ben Jacobs, who had served in the same role since following Rivera from Carolina in 2020 but was not retained by the new staff. Glenn changes roles a bit after spending the past six seasons as the Seahawks linebackers coach.

Steelers Drop OC Randy Fichtner

On Thursday morning the team announced that offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner will not have his contract renewed. The same goes for offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett and defensive backs coach Tom Bradley

I want to thank all three of the coaches for their commitment and dedication to the Pittsburgh Steelers,” said head coach Mike Tomlin in a statement. “They have all played integral roles in our success and I am appreciative of their efforts. Personally, Randy and I have been in Pittsburgh since I hired him in 2007, but our relationship began well before that. He has been a friend of mine for years and wish his family nothing but the best, and I am eternally grateful for our relationship both on and off the field.”

Fichtner worked his way up the Steelers’ ranks to serve as the team’s OC for the last three seasons. Things went well enough in his first year as Todd Haley‘s replacement, but the wheels came off in 2019 and 2020.The Steelers finished last in the NFL this year with 1,351 rushing yards. The previous season wasn’t much better — they placed 29th in 2019 with 1,447 yards.

Meanwhile, Fichtner and Ben Roethlisberger seemed to have a falling out. The Steelers waited a bit to make it official, but Fichtner’s dismissal doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

Coaching Rumors: Rizzi, Dennison, Browns

Darren Rizzi interviewed for the Dolphins coaching job that is likely to go to Brian Flores, but the special teams coordinator is a coveted commodity around the league. The Packers are set to interview him, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Miami wants to retain Rizzi, who has been with the team throughout the 2010s, but has given him permission to seek employment elsewhere. That may soon prompt an extensive interview circuit. Five teams are interested in bringing him aboard, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. The Vikings look to be one of those. Rizzi, 48, has only coached for one NFL franchise. His pre-Dolphins gigs were college jobs in the northeast, including a one-season stay (2008) as Rhode Island’s head coach.

As week three of many teams’ offseason begins, here is the latest from the coaching circuit:

  • Todd Monken‘s rise to Buccaneers play-caller earned him interest in teams’ OC jobs. He ended up landing with the Browns, but the other recent play-caller on this staff will call Cleveland’s plays next season. Freddie Kitchens will be the game-day director for the Browns’ offense next season, Pat McManamon of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter). This won’t be too new for Monken, who spent the first two seasons as Bucs OC watching Dirk Koetter call plays.
  • The Vikings announced Klint Kubiak (quarterbacks coach) and Brian Pariani (tight ends) are following Gary Kubiak to Minnesota, with the latter’s official title being assistant head coach/offensive advisor. Expected to be part of the Gary Kubiak gang getting back together up north, Rick Dennison was not included in this announcement. But Mike Klis of 9News notes the former Broncos and Bills OC is indeed believed to be part of the next Vikings staff (Twitter link). When Kubiak agreed to reprise his longtime role as Broncos OC, he wanted Dennison to oversee the team’s offensive line concepts, per Klis. The Broncos’ pursuit of Mike Munchak overruled this, and Dennison — the Jets’ O-line coach in 2018 — could be set to have a role in aiding the Vikings’ blockers next season.
  • Speaking of Munchak, the Broncos went beyond their usual offensive line coach budget to bring him over from Pittsburgh, Klis notes (on Twitter). Munchak, who has coached for just two franchises (the Oilers/Titans and Steelers), has family in the area.
  • The Steelers promoted Shaun Sarrett to replace Munchak as their O-line coach, the team announced. Sarrett had previously served as the team’s assistant offensive line coach. He has been with the Steelers for seven seasons, helping instruct their offensive linemen for most of that time.
  • After the Steelers let running backs coach James Saxon go, he will move to Arizona. The Cardinals are hiring Saxon to coach their running backs, Aditi Kinkabwala of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). He will replace Kirby Wilson and attempt to revive Arizona’s No. 32-ranked ground game. Saxon has 19 years’ experience coaching running backs in the NFL — the past five with the Steelers, where he oversaw Le’Veon Bell‘s rise and James Conner and Jaylen Samuels‘ quality replacement efforts — and should help rookie NFL coach Kliff Kingsbury.
  • Kris Kocurek will move from south Florida to the Bay Area, shifting from the Dolphins’ defensive line coach to the same role with the 49ers, Adam Caplan of Sirius XM tweets. Kocurek, 40, was the Lions’ D-line coach for nine seasons prior to moving to Miami.

Coaching Rumors: Colts, Steelers, Morton

John Morton and Jim Harbaugh worked together during the best stretch of 21st-century 49ers football, with Morton coaching San Francisco’s wide receivers from 2011-14. That duo could link up again in Ann Arbor. Michigan is interested in the one-and-done Jets OC to coach its wideouts, Bruce Feldman of SI.com reports. Former Florida head coach Jim McElwain is also in the running for this job, Feldman reports, noting the ex-Gators leader interviewed recently. Morton spent one year as an NFL OC but has experience on the college level, having overseen the 2009 and ’10 USC offenses. He coached the Trojans’ WRs in the two years prior. Morton spent the past seven seasons in the NFL. The Jets fired Morton last month.

Here’s the latest from the coaching ranks, now that every NFL team has a head coach again.

  • Frank Reich has been contacting coaches about joining his first Colts staff over the past few days, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets, and former Lions defensive backs coach (and ex-Vikings DC) Alan Williams is a candidate to join Reich in Indianapolis. If hired, Williams would be returning to Indianapolis, along with Reich. Williams served as Colts DBs coach throughout the Tony Dungy and Jim Caldwell tenures, which spanned 10 years from 2002-11. Reich was on Caldwell’s three Colts staffs. Matt Patricia did not retain any Lions defensive coaches upon taking the job in Detroit.
  • A defensive line coach for four NFL teams between 2004 and 2015, Karl Dunbar will join a fifth staff in that capacity. The Steelers hired Dunbar after he’d spent the past two seasons coaching at Alabama. He’ll head up the Pittsburgh D-line and rejoin forces with Mike Tomlin. Dunbar served under Tomlin for one season with the Vikings (2006) before the defensive assistant took the top coaching job in Pittsburgh. Dunbar, who coached in Minnesota for six years, also was an eighth-round Steelers pick in 1990. John Mitchell served as Pittsburgh’s defensive line coach from 1994-2017. The longtime Steelers assistant will remain on staff and retain his assistant head coach title next season.
  • The Steelers also promoted Shaun Sarrett to assistant offensive line coach, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic tweets. Sarrett has worked with Steelers blockers since 2012.
  • Ricky Manning Jr. will not return for a third season with the Seahawks, Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk tweets. The former NFL cornerback had been the teams’ assistant defensive backs coach the past two seasons.