49ers To Interview Tom Coughlin
TUESDAY, 11:23am: The 49ers will meet with Coughlin today, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
MONDAY, 2:36pm: After resigning last week from his job in New York, Tom Coughlin is meeting today with one of the team’s division rivals in Philadelphia, and it appears the Eagles won’t be the only team to interview the former Giants head coach. According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link), the 49ers have been granted permission to speak to Coughlin about their head coaching vacancy. 
[RELATED: Eagles interview Doug Pederson, will meet with Tom Coughlin]
Having stepped down from his head coaching position with the Giants last week, Coughlin was offered the opportunity to remain with the organization in a new role, but suggested at the time that he wasn’t closing the door on continuing to coach. At age 69, if Coughlin is going to get a new head coaching job, it probably makes sense for him to explore new opportunities sooner rather than later, so he didn’t waste much time in lining up interviews with potential suitors.
Coughlin, who previously served as head coach of the Jaguars, led the Giants to a 102-90 record during his 12 seasons with the team. He also added eight victories in 11 postseason contests, with all of those wins coming in two seasons – 2007 and 2011 – during which the Giants won the Super Bowl.
In recent years, however, Coughlin’s Giants struggled, having failed to earn a postseason berth since that 2011 Super Bowl season. After going 9-7 in 2012, New York has had three straight losing years, finishing 6-10 in a weak NFC East in 2015 and sealing Coughlin’s fate — the Giants were expected to make a change if the veteran head coach hadn’t resigned.
The 49ers have interviewed five candidates for their head coaching opening so far — Anthony Lynn (Bills), Chip Kelly (ex-Eagles), Dirk Koetter (49ers), John DeFilippo (Browns), and Hue Jackson (Bengals) have all met with the team, though DeFilippo is believed to be targeted as a potential offensive coordinator rather than a head coach.
Of those candidates, Jackson is viewed as the front-runner, but he is also being pursued by the Browns and Giants, so it appears the Niners are trying to come up with a strong Plan B. Reports have suggested that San Francisco could also double back to candidates that interviewed for the team’s HC position a year ago. Teryl Austin, Doug Marrone, Josh McDaniels, and Mike Shanahan all fall into that category.
[RELATED: Hue Jackson Favorite For 49ers’ Job]
Coughlin’s interview with the Niners hasn’t been formally scheduled yet, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, who tweets that it could happen in Houston this week, with team owners there for Los Angeles meetings. Those relocation discussions could have an impact on a few teams’ coaching searches, with owners focusing their attention for a couple days on the respective futures of the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders.
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Browns To Make “Big Push” For Hue Jackson
TUESDAY, 10:54am: With the 49ers still considering him and the Giants intending to interview him later this week, the Browns continue to pursue Jackson most aggressively, tweets Michael Silver of NFL Media. It wouldn’t be surprising if Cleveland makes a formal offer today to Jackson, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
It’s worth noting that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam isn’t at the NFL’s owners meetings in Houston, with his wife Dee in attendance instead, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). That means the Browns won’t necessarily have to put their search for a new head coach on hold during those L.A. meetings.
MONDAY, 5:02pm: The Browns are set to make a big push to hire Hue Jackson, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Cleveland will look to close things out quickly with Jackson and hire him before he can get scooped up by another NFL team. If the Browns were to hire Jackson, they would be able to give him significant personnel control, Rapoport tweets. That’s something the other interested clubs might not be able to offer. 
[RELATED: Giants Request Permission To Interview Hue Jackson]
Jackson has drawn strong interest from both the 49ers and Browns, interviewing with both organizations on Sunday in Cincinnati. Both meetings reportedly went well, but neither team has made an offer yet. On Monday morning, the Giants formally submitted a request to interview Jackson, so they appear intent on getting into the mix for the Bengals’ offensive coordinator.
Sandwiched around his one-year stint with the Raiders, an 8-8 season in 2011, Jackson’s been an OC for four teams — the Bengals, Raiders, Falcons and Washington — since 2003. Interestingly, Jackson’s only had one of those tenures extend beyond one season. That would be his current position in Cincinnati, where he’s served as the OC since 2014.
As PFR’s 2016 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker shows, the Browns have cast a wide net so far in their search. So far, the team has interviewed Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Jaguars offensive line coach Doug Marrone, and Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. Adam Gase was also interviewed before he hooked on with the Dolphins.
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Giants Request Permission To Interview Hue Jackson
MONDAY, 9:58am: The Giants have submitted their request to interview Jackson, sources tell Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
SUNDAY, 6:25pm: Now that Hue Jackson‘s most recent season with the Bengals has concluded, the Cincinnati offensive coordinator continues to draw significant interest for head-coaching openings.
His latest comes from the league’s biggest market, with the Giants requesting permission to talk with Jackson on Monday, according to Michael Silver of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Jackson, however, has drawn strong interest from both the 49ers and Browns, interviewing with both organizations on Sunday in Cincinnati. Silver tweets both meetings went well, but neither team’s made an offer yet.
Silver adds, via Twitter, the 50-year-old Jackson may end up declining the Giants’ request should the Browns or 49ers’ overtures lead to an offer. San Francisco reportedly views the Bengals OC as its preferred choice to succeed Jim Tomsula.
However, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report hears (video link) Jackson regards the New York job as the No. 1 position available and will wait for this interview before deciding on whether to accept any potential Browns or 49ers offer. The Giants will attempt to set up an interview after the owners’ relocation-based meetings in Houston this week.
With the meetings set for Tuesday and Wednesday, the Browns and 49ers could be waiting a bit to fill their jobs, if they’re in fact enamored enough with Jackson to do so.
The Giants and Jackson have yet to make this connection, Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee tweets. But it appears that news will emerge soon. Big Blue’s already interviewed Ben McAdoo, Steve Spagnuolo, Teryl Austin, Doug Marrone and Adam Gase. It plans to meet with Mike Smith on Monday.
The Browns confirmed they interviewed Jackson on Sunday, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com tweets.
Sandwiched around his one-year stint with the Raiders, an 8-8 season in 2011, Jackson’s been an OC for four teams — the Bengals, Raiders, Falcons and Washington — since 2003. Interestingly, Jackson’s only had one of those tenures extend beyond one season. That would be his current position in Cincinnati, where he’s served as the OC since 2014.
Jackson also drew interest from the Dolphins before Gase became their next coach.
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Coaching Rumors: Dolphins, Giants, McDermott
After hiring Adam Gase, the Dolphins are acting quickly to form their new coaching staff.
But few holdovers are expected. According to Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez (on Twitter), only special teams coach Darren Rizzi to be retained. All of the Dolphins’ other assistants, excepting possibly Dan Campbell, will be fired.
Campbell’s status remains uncertain. The interim coach for most of 2015, Campbell reportedly finished second in the race to become the Fins’ next full-time head coach.
A Marvez report Saturday linked Bengals secondary coach Vance Joseph, whom the Fox reporter has set to head to Miami as the team’s defensive coordinator, and a number of position coaches to comprise Gase’s defensive staff.
Here are some more coaching-related items as wild-card weekend concludes.
- Although Hue Jackson has emerged as a candidate late in the process, the frontrunners to become Tom Coughlin‘s successor with the Giants are offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo and Jaguars assistant head coach Doug Marrone, Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News reports. McAdoo’s familiarity with Eli Manning and his helping the quarterback to a career resurgence is driving his candidacy, with the 38-year-old only having two seasons of coordinator experience. With Vacchiano noting the 51-year-old Marrone may not retain McAdoo if he becomes coach, Big Blue avoiding another offensive reboot will factor into its decision.
- Both Vacchiano and the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz report John Mara prefers a candidate with head-coaching experience. Vacchiano points McAdoo in the Eagles’ direction if they are indeed serious about hiring Tom Coughlin. Schwartz believes Mara sees similarities in Mike Smith, who will interview with the team on Monday, and Coughlin. Their ages (Smith is 56; Coughlin was 57 when hired in 2004) and histories as head coaches are similar, and Schwartz notes Smith is one of Coughlin’s top confidants among head coaches.
- The Giants, per Vacchiano, have also discussed requesting permission to interview Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, but since they didn’t do so during the Panthers’ bye week, the Giants must wait until either Carolina’s season concludes or the Panthers’ potential Super Bowl bye week.
- The Browns did interview the 41-year-old McDermott on Sunday, Andrew Gribble of ClevelandBrowns.com reports. A defensive coordinator since 2009, with the Eagles and Panthers, respectively, McDermott also interviewed with the Buccaneers.
- Jackson spoke with the Browns for 3 1/2 hours and talked with the 49ers for five hours Sunday in Cincinnati, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports. Cleveland’s now interviewed seven candidates. The 49ers have met with five, according to Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News.
- The Colts offered 49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster the same position in Indianapolis, Marvez reports (on Twitter). The Dolphins offensive coordinator in 2004, Foerster’s been an offensive line coach with the Ravens, Washington and the 49ers since 2005. He’s served multiple stints in San Francisco, presiding over the 49ers’ line from 2008-09 and returning to the Bay Area in 2015 after five seasons in Washington.
49ers To Name Head Coach Soon?
Although the 49ers aren’t likely to name a new head coach today, their search does appear to be wrapping up, and a new hire could be named “fairly soon,” sources tell Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson (whose interview is now complete, a source tells Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee on Twitter) still looks like the favorite for the job, and Maiocco reports that today’s meeting between Jackson and San Francisco management was “productive.”
[RELATED: 49ers fire Jim Tomsula]
As our head coaching search tracker shows, Jackson is the fifth candidate to interview with the 49ers, joining Anthony Lynn, Chip Kelly, Dirk Koetter, and John DeFillipo (the latter’s meeting may have been geared toward’s San Francisco’s offensive coordinator position). Additionally, Mike Shanahan is expected to interview at some point, while Mike Shula and Mike Holmgren have also been mentioned as candidates.
The Niners’ hunt for a new coach appears to be decidedly offensive in nature, as every coach mentioned above has a history on the offensive side of the ball. Jackson definitely fits that bill, but he also has other options, as he’s expected to meet with the Browns today as well. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported earlier today (Twitter link) that if Jackson’s interview went well, he could be named San Francisco’s head coach by the end of today. While it doesn’t look like that announcement will come today, there’s no denying the strong link between Jackson and the 49ers.
One last interesting note: As Raiders head coach, Jackson was apparently a big fan of Colin Kaepernick when the quarterback was entering the 2011 draft, according to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link), and pushed for Oakland to draft the Nevada QB. If that’s the case, maybe the appeal of salvaging Kaepernick’s career could be alluring to Jackson.
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Sunday Roundup: Wood, Burfict, Koetter
As the Vikings and Seahawks do battle in frigid Minneapolis, let’s take a look at some links from around the league:
- New Lions president Rod Wood admits to not having any football experience, but no one was especially concerned about that, as Wood is expected to handle the business side of the club while new GM Bob Quinn will handle the football side. But as Kyle Meinke of MLive.com writes, Detroit’s press release announcing Quinn’s hire noted that Quinn would report to team ownership and to Wood, which suggests that Wood could be wielding more power than initially believed.
- Unsurprisingly, Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict is facing a suspension for his hit on Antonio Brown last night, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
- ESPN’s Ed Werder believes it is “unlikely” that the Bengals will part ways with head coach Marvin Lewis (Twitter link), and Mark Maske of the Washington Post lays out the reasons for his belief that Lewis should stay.
- Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel believes the Packers‘ efforts this season have been hampered by GM Ted Thompson‘s lack of in-season roster moves to address the team’s weaknesses. Since 2010, Green Bay has been awarded just two players on waivers, and Thompson has gone to the practice squad 70% of the time to fill vacancies on the 53-man roster.
- Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune tweets that Dirk Koetter is still the leading candidate for the Buccaneers‘ head coaching job, though Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that Koetter “really impressed” the 49ers during his interview with San Francisco yesterday. Tampa Bay also interviewed Panthers DC Sean McDermott yesterday.
- Gus Bradley is taking his time with the Jaguars‘ search for a new defensive coordinator and has yet to establish a deadline for the decision, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida-Times Union.
- Texans unrestricted free agents Ben Jones and Jared Crick both expressed their desire to remain in Houston, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
- Meanwhile, two notable players have declared that they will enter the NFL draft: Arkansas RB Alex Collins (Twitter link via ESPN’s Joe Schad) and Utah State LB Nick Vigil (Twitter link via Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net).
East Notes: Dolphins, M. Smith, Coughlin
In a fascinating post from Armando Salguero this morning, the Miami Herald scribe dives into the Dolphins‘ front office drama that the team hopes will come to an end in the Adam Gase era. In 2013, Salguero writes that the relationship between then-Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin and then-GM Jeff Ireland was on the rocks, and owner Stephen Ross ultimately chose to fire Ireland. Ross also debated firing then-offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, and in order to save his assistant and friend, Philbin privately blamed the team’s offensive struggles on quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Although Philbin continued to toe the company line publicly, reaffirming his faith in Tannehill on numerous occasions–with one or two notable exceptions–his internal discussions had a much different tone. Philbin urged the team to draft Derek Carr in the first round of the 2014 draft, and even after Tannehill enjoyed a relatively successful 2014 campaign, Philbin continued to take out his frustrations on Tannehill, a trend that continued into the team’s difficult start to the 2015 season. Ultimately, that situation was one of the factors that led the Dolphins to hire Gase, who they expect to forge a relationship with the quarterback they’ve committed to and to make him the best player he can be.
Now let’s dive into a few more notes from the league’s east divisions, beginning with more out of South Beach.
- James Walker of ESPN.com affirms that Dan Campbell‘s future with the Dolphins will be determined by Gase, but Walker does add that Ross would like to keep Campbell on the team’s coaching staff. In a separate piece, Walker writes that Gase will be calling the team’s offensive plays.
- Mike Smith will interview with the Giants for their head coaching vacancy tomorrow, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
- Mike Garafolo of FOXSports tweets that there were “rumblings” that the Giants would interview Hue Jackson for their head coaching job, but they may not get that chance, as there are multiple reports suggesting that the 49ers could hire Jackson as early as today.
- Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer says former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin will meet with the Eagles tomorrow to discuss their head coaching vacancy. Interestingly, Berman calls the meeting an “interview,” and not a “feeling-out” as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggested yesterday.
- Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News compiles an offseason to-d0 list for the Bills, a list topped by an extension for GM Doug Whaley and a release of Mario Williams.
- David Moore of the Dallas Morning News looks into why the Cowboys have been unable to land an adequate backup quarterback for Tony Romo, and Moore says head coach Jason Garrett should bear as much responsibility for that failing as owner Jerry Jones.
Extra Points: Dolphins, H. Jackson, Bucs, Texans
Before hiring Adam Gase as their head coach Saturday, the Dolphins considered several other candidates. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald passes along some interesting information on a handful of those names.
The Dolphins interviewed ex-Falcons head coach Mike Smith, but they felt he lacked “some of the gravitas” for the position. In Mike Shanahan‘s case, Miami’s bigwigs were worried that too many of the two-time Super Bowl winner’s potential assistants had jobs elsewhere, which would’ve negatively affected his ability to assemble a staff. They also had concern about whether Shanahan would be prone to complacency. The Dolphins discussed the idea of pursuing another two-time champion, Tom Coughlin, but they decided the soon-to-be 70-year-old was too advanced in age to factor into their long-term plans. Dan Campbell, the Dolphins’ interim head coach for most of the 2015-16 campaign, was the runner-up to Gase. The team simply didn’t think he was ready for the full-time job. Doug Marrone came in third place, largely because his plan for quarterback Ryan Tannehill wasn’t as enticing as Gase’s.
Tannehill didn’t have the belief of ex-head coach Joe Philbin, Salguero offers, but the Dolphins are confident the relationship between him and Gase will bear more fruit.
“We’re convinced you’ll see a different Ryan Tannehill next year,” a team source told Salguero. “That’s how much Adam will affect things around here.”
More from around the NFL:
- Although a report Friday stated that Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is in the lead for the 49ers’ head coaching job, they’ll have serious competition for his services from the Browns, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Jackson will enter his Sunday interview with the Browns viewing them and the 49ers on a level playing field, per Cabot, who notes that other teams with head coaching vacancies could join them in trying to land the 50-year-old. As our head coaching search tracker shows, the only other current opening that Jackson has been connected to is the Giants’, though they haven’t requested a meeting with him at this time.
- Dirk Koetter isn’t the prohibitive favorite to land the Buccaneers’ head coaching job, and they didn’t fire Lovie Smith because they were worried about losing Koetter, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The Bucs canned Smith because their ownership was fed up with his ability (or lack thereof) to build a quality coaching staff, his struggles with repairing their defense, and his uninspiring work when it came to putting together the 53-man roster. General manager Jason Licht believes the team will find a capable replacement for Smith. “It’s an excellent situation,” he said. “I’ve already been shown from the interest we’ve received that people want to come to Tampa and coach.”
- After quarterback Brian Hoyer‘s five-turnover performance in the Texans’ 30-0 wild-card round loss to Kansas City on Saturday, Houston could look for a better option under center this offseason. With that in mind, Mike Sando of ESPN.com examined which roads the Texans might take in the coming months (Insider required). Draft-bound Penn State signal caller Christian Hackenberg, whom Texans coach Bill O’Brien recruited when he was at the helm of the Nittany Lions, is an obvious option. Otherwise, Sando lists Colin Kaepernick and free agent-to-be Sam Bradford as possible fits for the Texans.
49ers Meeting With John DeFilippo
SATURDAY, 7:38pm: The 49ers did interview DeFilippo, but they view him as a candidate for their offensive coordinator job more than their vacant head coaching position, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reports (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 10:18am: After having interviewed former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and Bills assistant HC Anthony Lynn, the 49ers are meeting today with Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), today’s sit-down between the DeFilippo and the Niners is more of an “informational” meeting, rather than a formal interview.
[RELATED: 49ers meet with Chip Kelly, Anthony Lynn]
DeFilippo, in his first year as the Browns’ offensive coordinator, has also drawn interest from the Rams for St. Louis’ OC position, even though he didn’t exactly work miracles in Cleveland. The Browns’ offense finishing 25th in the NFL in yards per game (331.9) and 30th in points per game (17.4).
Still, given the players he had to work with, it may have taken a miracle for DeFilippo to produce above-average results. The Browns started three different quarterbacks – Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, and Austin Davis – and saw free agent signee Dwayne Bowe, who received a $9MM guarantee, catch just five balls. The team was also missing top wideout Josh Gordon, who was suspended for the year.
As for the 49ers, Rapoport describes their mutual interest with Kelly as “very real” (Twitter link), while Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link) hears that Kelly is a big fan of Colin Kaepernick. That may work in Kelly’s favor as the Niners consider their head coaching options, but as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes, several other candidates for the job would be excited about working with Kaepernick, or have had interest in him in the past.
Be sure to check out PFR’s head coaching search tracker for the latest on San Francisco’s hunt for Jim Tomsula‘s replacement, as well as updates on the other six openings around the NFL.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Browns, 49ers Coaching Vacancies
The Browns and 49ers progressed in their searches for new head coaches, interviewing new candidates Saturday.
Matt Patricia interviewed with the Browns, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, and Dirk Koetter met with the 49ers, according to Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News.
The 41-year-old Patricia’s only been connected to two teams, and the other, the Dolphins, decided on a coach today.
A Patriots assistant since 2004, Patricia’s been the defensive coordinator in New England since 2012, leading a series of imposing units. As Ulrich points out, Patricia would gel with the Browns’ new analytics-geared approach. An engineering major who spent time in that field before 
breaking into coaching, Patricia helped modernize the Patriots’ film study.
Before Patricia, the Browns interviewed Adam Gase, Teryl Austin, Doug Marrone and Cowboys secondary coach Jerome Henderson. Cleveland would need to wait out the Patriots’ playoff campaign before hiring Patricia.
Considered a strong candidate to fill Lovie Smith‘s spot, the 56-year-old Koetter aided the Buccaneers’ offense after guiding the Falcons’ and Jaguars’ units the previous eight seasons. Prior to running the Atlanta attack, Koetter served as current 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert‘s first offensive coordinator in Jacksonville in 2011.
Architect of the Bucs’ fifth-ranked offense this season, Koetter interviewed for the 49ers’ job in Tampa, Inman reports. Koetter’s also been mentioned as a candidate for the Eagles’ top sideline opening.
He last served as a head coach for Arizona State, running the Sun Devils’ operation from 2001-06. The 49ers have already interviewed Chip Kelly, Anthony Lynn and John DeFilippo, and will meet with
Hue Jackson on Sunday.
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