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Willie Taggart

John Harbaugh Retains Two Giants Coaches, Hires Two From Ravens Staff

By | at January 26, 2026 11:20 pm

John Harbaugh is about to complete his first week as the Giants’ new head coach, and as promised, he is making some changes in New York.

Outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and tight ends coach Tim Kelly are the only two members of Brian Daboll‘s staff that will retain their jobs under Harbaugh, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.

Bullen was hired before the 2024 season and served as the team’s interim defensive coordinator for the last four games of the 2025 season. His position group has arguably been the best part of the Giants’ defense over the last two years.

Brian Burns, Azeez Ojulari, and Kayvon Thibodeaux combined for 20 sacks and 32 tackles for loss in 2024; Burns put up 16.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss on his own this past season. Bullen also put together a decent defensive showing to end the season. His debut was a rough 33-15 loss to the Patriots, but after a Week 14 bye, the Giants allowed only 72 points and forced eight turnovers in their last four games.

Kelly also arrived in New York in 2024. He has not gotten much out of the Giants’ tight ends, though both Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger both took a step forward this past season. Kelly’s pre-Giants coaching career is not especially encouraging, either. Harbaugh may have preferred to hire George Godsey, his former tight ends coach in Baltimore, but Godsey already took a job as Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator.

Harbaugh will be bringing other members of his previous staff to New York. The Ravens initially blocked a lateral move for special teams coordinator Chris Horton, but reversed course after hiring Jesse Minter. They are also letting running backs coach Willie Taggart follow Harbaugh, per Ian O’Connor of The Athletic.

Taggart’s role with the Giants is not yet known. He interviewed for the offensive coordinator job, but that is still expected to go to Harbaugh’s most recent OC in Baltimore, Todd Monken. Monken is still a candidate for the Browns’ head coaching job, but if he does not get it, he will immediately join Harbaugh’s staff in New York, according to SNY’s Connor Hughes.

Monken completing the expected Maryland-to-New York trek would only leave Taggart available for a lateral move, which the Ravens would have to permit. Given that Taggart’s hiring was reported before the Giants made their OC hire – and after Minter was hired – Baltimore seems to have allowed him to leave.

The same appears to be true of defensive line coach Dennis Johnson, who is also among Harbaugh’s initial hires, per KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson. He spent the last two years in Baltimore and played a key role in developing Travis Jones, though he could not get enough out of the rest of the unit in 2025 after Nnamdi Madubuike‘s season-ending injury. News of Johnson’s move to New York also came after the Ravens officially brought Minter aboard, indicating that he wanted to go in a different direction at the position.

Harbaugh could also be considering a much bigger reunion with a former Ravens coach: Rex Ryan.

“I’m not ruling anything out,” Harbaugh said on WFAN after being asked about hiring his former defensive coordinator (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio). “A guy like Rex, he’s around the game, he knows the game. He’s going to have to get updated a little bit with some of the scheme stuff, but I’ll tell you, no one calls a better game than Rex Ryan.”

Bringing the former Jets and Bills head coach back to the NFL would be a major swing on Harbaugh’s part, especially if he hired him as the Giants’ defensive coordinator. That job would come with play-calling duties, a tall task after a decade away from coaching.

Still, Ryan has interviewed for jobs in each of the last three hiring cycles. He was a finalist for the Broncos’ DC gig in 2023, interviewed for the same job with the Cowboys in 2024, and managed to insert himself in the Jets’ head coach search last offseason. He no doubt would jump at the opportunity to return to the league, especially under a former longtime colleague like Harbaugh.

2 comments Baltimore Ravens New York Giants

Giants Request OC Interview With Willie Taggart

By | at January 22, 2026 9:06 am

Todd Monken continues to loom as the Giants‘ expected offensive coordinator hire. Other staffers currently in place with the Ravens are receiving a look as well, though.

New York has requested an interview with Willie Taggart, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports. He is one of several coaches with a history of working under Harbaugh who represents a logical target for the Giants. Taggart served as a college head coach with five different programs between 2010 and 2022.

[RELATED: Harbaugh Begins Sweeping Changes On Giants’ Staff]

After a lengthy run in the NCAA ranks, Taggart took his first NFL gig by joining Harbaugh’s Ravens staff. For 2023 and ’24, the 49-year-old held the role of Baltimore’s running backs coach. This past season, Taggart maintained that responsibility while also having assistant head coach added to his title.

The Ravens have consistently been among the NFL’s top rushing teams for several years, and Taggart has played a key role in that success. Over the past two seasons, he has coached a unit led by Derrick Henry, who has amassed over 3,500 rushing yards and scored 32 touchdowns upon transitioning from Tennessee to Baltimore. Other backs such as Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell have found notable roles as well during Taggart’s Ravens tenure.

The Giants saw Cam Skattebo emerge as a productive figure on offense before his rookie campaign came to an abrupt end. New York also has wideout Malik Nabers in place as a productive young roster piece along with quarterback Jaxson Dart, whose presence was among the selling points for Harbaugh to become the team’s new head coach. That decision will soon see a number of Baltimore staffers receive the opportunity to come to New York in the case of interview requests which are not blocked. Taggart would not take on OC duties in the expected event of a Monken hire, but he still represents a candidate for another important role on Harbaugh’s 2026 staff.

3 comments Baltimore Ravens New York Giants

2026 NFL Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker

By | at January 20, 2026 9:00 am

The 2026 head coaching carousel has now seen 10 jobs open since the start of the offseason, as the Bills have fired Sean McDermott. HC firings generally lead to coordinator changes, and several other teams have proceeded with OC or DC moves to start their offseasons. Here are the current OC and DC searches transpiring. As the remaining HC searches conclude, more coordinator searches will be added to this list.

Updated 1-28-26 (11:15pm CT)

Offensive Coordinators

Atlanta Falcons (Out: Zac Robinson)

Baltimore Ravens (Out: Todd Monken)

Denver Broncos (Out: Joe Lombardi)

Detroit Lions (Out: John Morton)

Kansas City Chiefs (Out: Matt Nagy)

  • Eric Bieniemy, running backs coach (Bears): Rehired

Los Angeles Chargers (Out: Greg Roman)

Miami Dolphins (Out: Frank Smith)

New York Giants (Out: Mike Kafka)

New York Jets (Out: Tanner Engstrand)

Philadelphia Eagles (Out: Kevin Patullo)

Pittsburgh Steelers (Out: Arthur Smith)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Out: Josh Grizzard)

Tennessee Titans (Out: Nick Holz)

Washington Commanders (Out: Kliff Kingsbury)

Defensive Coordinators

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills (Out: Bobby Babich)

Dallas Cowboys (Out: Matt Eberflus)

Green Bay Packers (Out: Jeff Hafley)

Los Angeles Chargers (Out: Jesse Minter)

Miami Dolphins (Out: Anthony Weaver)

  • Clint Hurtt, defensive line coach (Eagles): Interviewed

New York Giants (Out: Shane Bowen)

New York Jets (Out: Steve Wilks)

Pittsburgh Steelers (Out: Teryl Austin)

Tennessee Titans (Out: Dennard Wilson)

Washington Commanders (Out: Joe Whitt)

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Ravens Finalize 2025 Coaching Staff

By | at February 22, 2025 5:59 pm

The Ravens are one of the latest teams to formally finalize their 2025 coaching staff, announcing their additions and updates yesterday, per team editorial director Ryan Mink. Head coach John Harbaugh has held one of the most consistent positions in the NFL, and his staff will reflect that in 2025.

After fielding the NFL’s No. 3 scoring offense, No. 1 total offense, No. 7 passing offense, and No. 1 rushing offense in 2024, Baltimore didn’t see the need to make any changes on offense. Though offensive coordinator Todd Monken got some head coaching interest this cycle, he remained in Baltimore with an extension. The only update on that side of the ball comes from running backs coach Willie Taggart, who has earned the assistant head coach title left vacant with the departure of last year’s assistant head coach/pass game coordinator Chris Hewitt. There was also a minor update on the offense, where offensive football analyst Prentice Gill was named as a coaching fellow. Joining Gill as coaching fellows are DP Eyman and Ian Kolste.

The defensive side of the ball is where we saw the most change in the coaching staff. We’ve already reported on most of the changes to defensive coordinator Zach Orr‘s staff, which included the hirings of Tyler Santucci as inside linebackers coach, Matt Pees as assistant linebackers coach, Donald D’Alesio as defensive backs coach, and Chuck Pagano as senior defensive assistant/secondary coach. The only other update on the defensive coaching staff saw former assistant defensive line/outside linebackers coach Matt Robinson promoted to outside linebackers coach.

On special teams, we see don’t see any changes up top, but the team has added former safety Anthony Levine as assistant special teams coach following his dismissal from the Titans’ staff. Levine played 10 seasons in Baltimore mainly as a mainstay on special teams. He becomes the second former special teamer to return to the staff after former punter Sam Koch served as a special teams consultant last year. Depending on what happens with the investigation into allegations against kicker Justin Tucker, they may have their work cut out for them.

That does it for the changes to the Ravens’ 2025 coaching staff. Not much change seems to have been needed for the team who won back-to-back AFC North titles. Harbaugh and company will run it back in hopes of improving their postseason outcomes from the past two seasons.

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Chargers, Raiders “Pressing Hard” For Jim Harbaugh; Commanders, Bears Also Interested

By | at January 7, 2024 1:37 pm

1:37pm: Providing a further update to the Raiders connection in particular, Pauline reports Harbaugh would be interested in having quarterback J.J. McCarthy with him in Vegas in the event he took that job. The latter – whom Harbaugh recently termed the greatest QB in Michigan history – is one of several passers in contention to be selected in the first round of this year’s draft, although he is ranked below the likes of Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels.

Entering Week 18, the Raiders were on track to hold the No. 11 pick in April’s draft. Plenty will change in that department over the course of the day’s action, but Vegas could be well positioned to add McCarthy or another QB outside the top options on the board. With Jimmy Garoppolo‘s Raiders tenure widely expected to come to an end shortly, the team will have a need for at least a depth addition under center this offseason regardless of who is installed as head coach.

11:33am: Recent reports have suggested that the Raiders and Chargers are the likeliest landing spots for Jim Harbaugh should Harbaugh choose to leave the University of Michigan and return to the professional ranks. Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda.com adds some more fuel to that fire.

Per Pauline, Las Vegas and Los Angeles are “pressing hard” to hire Harbaugh, and there are rumors that both clubs have made initial proposals to Harbaugh’s camp. While Pauline is unable to substantiate those rumors, he does say that rumors suggesting Harbaugh’s decision to hire agent Don Yee gives the Raiders an upper hand in these sweepstakes are true (Yee was the longtime agent for Tom Brady, who is likely to soon become a minority owner of the Raiders and who is a trusted voice for majority owner Mark Davis).

We heard at the end of December that Las Vegas interim head coach Antonio Pierce may stand a good chance of having the interim label removed and becoming the club’s full-time head HC. Subsequent reports, however, suggested that Davis may decide to take another “big swing” as he did with his hires of Jon Gruden and Josh McDaniels, and that Davis wants his Sin City outfit to be led by a high-profile coach.

Harbaugh certainly qualifies as a high-profile big swing, as does Bill Belichick, who has also been connected to the Raiders’ post. Harbaugh, whose Wolverines will appear in tomorrow’s CFP National Championship game, may yet elect to remain in Ann Arbor, and he reportedly has multiple extension offers on the table from Michigan (Yee’s hiring, aside from what it might mean for Harbaugh’s NFL hopes, obviously would also assist him in his negotiations with his alma mater). The looming presence of the Wolverines, along with Pauline’s report — which conflicts with earlier reports pegging the Chargers as the frontrunners for Harbaugh’s services — make this race a very difficult one to handicap.

Pauline muddies the waters even further by noting that the Bears and Commanders have also shown signficiant interest in Harbaugh. Just two days ago, Albert Breer of SI.com reported that Harbaugh is an unlikely candidate for Washington, though Pauline points to the team’s five top-100 picks in the 2024 draft and signifciant amount of cap space (roughly $80MM) as factors that sources close to Harbaugh say could draw the former 49ers HC to the nation’s capital. And while Chicago’s recent stretch of quality play has led to the belief that its current head coach, Matt Eberflus, has done enough to keep his job for at least one more season, Pauline says that could change if the Bears believe they have a chance to nab Harbaugh.

Should Harbaugh land an NFL gig in 2024, Pauline names Greg Roman and Willie Taggart as potential key coaching hires. Roman worked under Harbaugh’s brother, John Harbaugh, with the Ravens from 2017-22, including a four-year stretch as offensive coordinator from 2019-22. Taggart is currently on Baltimore’s staff as the team’s running backs coach and has a close relationship with both Harbaughs.

Of course, Roman also worked as Jim Harbaugh’s associate head coach at Stanford from 2009-10 and then as his OC with the Niners from 2011-14.

15 comments Chicago Bears Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Washington Commanders

Ravens Rumors: Taggart, Martin, Lynn

By | at February 22, 2023 10:03 pm

The Ravens announced a flurry of moves today as they continue to remake their staff this offseason. The biggest new name in Baltimore is former college head coach Willie Taggart, who will take over as the Ravens new running backs coach.

This will be Taggart’s first NFL job. To start his extensive college coaching career, Taggart coached quarterbacks, wide receivers, and served as a co-offensive coordinator over eight years with the Hilltoppers. After a three-year stint as Jim Harbaugh‘s running backs coach at Stanford, Taggart returned to Western Kentucky for his first head coaching gig.

He quickly elevated through college head coaching jobs. After three years at Western Kentucky, Taggart accepted a head coaching position at South Florida. Four years with the Bulls and Taggart was offered the head coach job at Oregon. After only one year with the Ducks, Taggart left Eugene to become head coach at Florida State. After a rough first season and disappointing start to his second year at the helm, Taggart was fired mid-season and replaced Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic the following year. Taggart was let go last November after an overtime loss to his alma mater and former team, Western Kentucky. While the results were ultimately mixed, Taggart is notable for being the first African-American head coach at all five universities.

Taggart played for Jack Harbaugh when he was a quarterback at Western Kentucky in the late 1990s, he coached under Jim in the late 2000’s at Stanford, and he will now have an opportunity to play under John Harbaugh in Baltimore. Running back Gus Edwards may be in danger as a potential cap casualty next season, but if he’s still around in 2023, Taggart will have a strong 1-2 punch in J.K. Dobbins and Edwards to work with. He’ll have four-time Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard in the room, as well.

Here is a breakdown of the other moves made to the Ravens’ staff today:

  • With former quarterbacks coach James Urban reportedly not returning in the same role, the Ravens have elected to move wide receivers coach Tee Martin to quarterbacks coach. The former college offensive and passing game coordinator will now be in charge of the continued development of MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. Martin’s extensive experience coaching the passing game should help as the Ravens move on from former offensive coordinator Greg Roman‘s run-heavy attack.
  • The Ravens will be losing a position coach in all the commotion. According to Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports, safeties coach D’Anton Lynn will be leaving Baltimore for the defensive coordinator position at UCLA. Lynn was in his second year on the job with the Ravens after earning his first position coaching gig in Houston. The coordinator job is an enticing opportunity as Lynn continues to climb the coaching ladder.
  • Lastly, Harbaugh announced that the organization is parting ways with head strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders. Saunders was previously suspended back in 2020 due to his role in a brutal COVID-19 outbreak within the team midseason. Saunders will be replaced by Scott Elliott who has been with the team for four seasons. Along with Elliott, strength and conditioning coaches Anthony Watson, Ron Shrift, and Kaelyn Buskey will all be retained.
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