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Falcons Hire Arthur Smith As Head Coach

By | at January 15, 2021 3:49 pm

Arthur Smith accepted the Falcons’ offer to become their head coach. The Falcons announced Friday afternoon they have hired the Titans offensive coordinator.

After two years as Tennessee’s OC, Smith received widespread interest. Every team with a head coaching vacancy reached out to the young coach for an interview. The Falcons landed him and will move forward with the breakout play-caller in charge.

Tennessee’s tight ends coach prior to being promoted in 2019, Smith will become the second straight Titans OC to make the leap to a head coaching job. The Packers hired Matt LaFleur in 2019, but Smith’s Titans work exceeded his predecessor’s. Ryan Tannehill revived his career under Smith, posting a historic 9.6 yards-per-attempt figure in 2019 and finishing with a 33-7 TD-INT ratio this season. Both years ended with Titans playoff berths, and each involved Derrick Henry rushing championships.

Riding their retooled offense, the Titans made a run to the 2019 AFC championship game. Henry became the first player to win back-to-back rushing titles since LaDainian Tomlinson in the 2000s, and the 2020 rushing champ’s 2,027-yard performance ranks fifth all time. After making just one playoff berth between 2009-18, the Titans went 2-for-2 in postseason qualification during Smith’s two seasons as their OC. Smith, 38, began his NFL coaching career as a low-level assistant in Washington in 2007 but was with the Titans since 2011.

This will mark a change for the Falcons, who have used defensive-oriented head coaches throughout Matt Ryan‘s career. Atlanta hired Mike Smith in 2008 and Dan Quinn in 2015. Smith will now oversee the final chapter of Ryan’s Falcons career. After an MVP season under Kyle Shanahan in Atlanta’s 2016 NFC championship season, Ryan has not made a Pro Bowl since.

The Falcons remain in search of a GM, though former GM Rich McKay played a key role in hiring Smith. Both Atlanta power brokers will now turn their attention to bringing in Thomas Dimitroff‘s successor. The Falcons are believed to be favoring Saints GM Terry Fontenot for that job. This new regime will be tasked with restoring the Falcons to contender status. They fell well off the pace late in Quinn’s tenure, starting 1-7 in 2019 and 0-5 this year.

27 comments Atlanta Falcons Newsstand Tennessee Titans Transactions

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/15/21

By | at January 15, 2021 3:06 pm

Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts given out:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

  • QB Kyle Sloter

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

0 comments Baltimore Ravens Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Hunter Thedford Las Vegas Raiders Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans Transactions

2021 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

By | at January 15, 2021 1:24 pm

Exiting the regular season, six teams are searching for new head coaches. That number is up from last season but not quite as high as 2019, though there may well be more vacancies that emerge during the playoffs.

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 1-27-21 (7:05pm CT)

Atlanta Falcons

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

18 comments Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Cincinnati Bengals Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants New York Jets PFR Originals Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tennessee Titans

Falcons Offer Head Coaching Job To Arthur Smith

By | at January 15, 2021 10:40 am

The Falcons have offered their head coaching position to Arthur Smith, according to sources who spoke with ESPN.com’s Dianna Russini (on Twitter). The Titans’ offensive coordinator, who has been tied to every vacancy in the NFL, could be hours away from making it all official. 

Smith was set to chat with the Lions this week, but that meeting has been called off (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). The Texans, Chargers, and Eagles were also intrigued by the 38-year-old, but they’ll have to look elsewhere. The Jaguars and Jets were also tied to Smith, but they’ve since addressed those openings with Urban Meyer and Robert Saleh, respectively.

Smith’s stock has skyrocketed in recent years, especially after guiding Ryan Tannehill‘s remarkable resurgence. He’s only served as an OC for two years, but the Falcons — and plenty of other clubs — believe that he’s ready to run his own show.

11 comments Atlanta Falcons Detroit Lions Tennessee Titans

Six OC Candidates Emerge For Dolphins

By | at January 14, 2021 5:47 pm

The Dolphins are moving quickly on their third offensive coordinator search in three years. They have identified six candidates to succeed Chan Gailey, and some will be interviewing for the position.

Steelers quarterbacks coach Matt Canada interviewed for the post Thursday, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The team has also identified Chargers QBs coach Pep Hamilton and 49ers run-game coordinator Mike McDaniel as OC options, according to ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe, who adds Dolphin position coaches Eric Studesville and George Godsey will be considered as well (Twitter link).

Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott also emerged on Miami’s radar, but veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson reports (via Twitter) the college assistant has opted against making a move to the pros at this time. The Titans also reached out to Elliott about their OC job, which Arthur Smith may well vacate soon given his interview frequency thus far, but Dabo Swinney‘s top offensive assistant will stay put in South Carolina.

Of this group, only Hamilton and Godsey have been NFL OCs previously. Hamilton spent three years in that role, serving as Colts OC from 2013-15. Godsey became the Dolphins’ quarterbacks coach during the season, Wolfe tweets. He served as Bill O’Brien‘s OC in Houston from 2015-16 but has been a position coach since. Hamilton is coming off a notable year, with Justin Herbert developing from a player expected to sit behind Tyrod Taylor for a while into an Offensive Rookie of the Year frontrunner.

McDaniel has worked with Kyle Shanahan with multiple teams; the 49ers assistant also popped up on the radar during the Browns’ most recent HC search. Studesville has been with the Dolphins in each of Brian Flores‘ two seasons at the helm. He served as Broncos interim HC in 2010 and was retained by multiple Denver HCs to stay on as running backs coach, a title he currently holds in Miami.

Canada spent more than two decades as a college coach before making the move to the Steelers last year. From 2003-18, Canada served as offensive coordinator at eight colleges — including LSU, Wisconsin and Maryland.

1 comment Miami Dolphins Tennessee Titans

Titans Interview Teryl Austin For DC Job

By | at January 14, 2021 5:12 pm

Teryl Austin is back on the defensive coordinator radar. The Titans have interviewed the veteran assistant for a DC role, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Working with the Steelers the past two years, Austin served as a defensive coordinator from 2014-18 — with the Lions and Bengals. He has coached the Pittsburgh secondary, while helping Mike Tomlin with game management, over the past two seasons.

Although the Titans held the Ravens to 20 points and registered five sacks in Sunday’s loss, they finished as the NFL’s worst third-down defense and recorded just 19 sacks this season. Following Dean Pees‘ retirement, Tennessee went without a true defensive coordinator this year. Outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen called defensive plays. Mike Vrabel referred to Bowen as a de facto defensive coordinator, but the team is interested in more experience on its defensive staff.

Austin’s 2014 Detroit defense fared quite well, ranking third in scoring and second in yards allowed. After Ndamukong Suh‘s Miami move, however, Detroit’s unit fell off in the years that followed. Austin resurfaced in Cincinnati under Marvin Lewis in 2018, but the Bengals fired him prior to that season’s conclusion.

Interestingly, Austin has met with the Titans previously. The team interviewed him for its then-vacant head coaching position, which ended up going to Mike Mularkey, in 2016.

3 comments Pittsburgh Steelers Tennessee Titans

Arthur Smith Has Second Meeting With Falcons

By | at January 13, 2021 9:53 pm

The Falcons conducted a second interview with Arthur Smith on Wednesday, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Of course, they’ll have lots of competition for the Titans’ offensive coordinator, since he’s in the mix for roughly every vacancy in the NFL.

Immediately afterwards, Smith flew to New York to have dinner tonight with Jets officials. Then, on Thursday and Friday, he’ll chat with the Eagles and Lions.

Smith, 38, has seen his stock skyrocket in recent years. After starting his career as a defensive assistant in Washington, he’s spent the last ten years with the Titans. His last two seasons as Tennessee’s OC have garnered the attention of everyone in the league, and he could be on the verge of his first head coaching opportunity.

Ryan Tannehill enjoyed a career resurgence under Smith’s watch. Meanwhile, running back Derrick Henry gave defenses fits when he was at his best. Given Smith’s track record, he could be the Falcons’ No. 1 choice for the job, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.

7 comments Atlanta Falcons Tennessee Titans

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/13/21

By | at January 13, 2021 4:50 pm

Today’s reserve/futures deals:

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

  • WR Manasseh Bailey

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

0 comments Kansas City Chiefs New York Jets Philadelphia Eagles Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans Washington Commanders

2021 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

By | at January 12, 2021 8:02 pm

This year’s NFL GM carousel figures to be more active than usual. The Falcons, Lions, Panthers, Texans, and Jaguars are all on the hunt for a new front office leader. And that’s only the official list. The real tally shows six clubs looking for a GM, since the Washington Football Team is expected to install a GM to work alongside head coach Ron Rivera. By mid-January, we could easily see a couple more jobs opening up — that’d put ~25% of the NFL on the market.

We’ll keep track of the GM candidates for each club here, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make general manager changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here’s the current breakdown:

Updated 1-19-21 (7:02pm CT)

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers 

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Football Team

23 comments Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Chicago Bears Cleveland Browns Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants PFR Originals Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans Washington Commanders

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/11/21

By | at January 11, 2021 4:59 pm

A long list of reserve/futures contracts to pass along:

Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

1 comment Chicago Bears Indianapolis Colts New York Giants Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans Washington Commanders
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