The GM's, Coach's, Carousel

The Browns have found Bill Callahan’s replacement as their offensive line coach.

Albert Breer of SI.com reports that the Browns will hire Andy Dickerson for that role on Kevin Stefanski’s staff. Callahan left to join his son Brian’s staff with the Titans.

The Browns also interviewed Dickerson for offensive coordinator before hiring Ken Dorsey to fill that position. The two men will now work together in Cleveland.

Dickerson spent the last three seasons with the Seahawks. He was the run game coordinator in 2021 and coached the offensive line for the last two seasons. He spent nine seasons on the Rams staff before moving on to Seattle.

 

Seahawks Online was ranked #27 in the NFL in 2023.... Browns were ranked 7th and only had Ethan Pocic (15 games), Joel Bitonio (15 games) and Wyatt Teller (16 games).. The next most used lineman had 9 games played... We are going to miss Bill Callahan.

 

Mike Zimmer is back in the NFL.

Two years after the Vikings fired Zimmer as the team’s head coach, Zimmer is expected to return to the Cowboys as defensive coordinator, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media.

The 67-year-old Zimmer connects the Cowboys to their distant past of on-field excellence; he first joined the team in 1994 as a defensive assistant, hired by Barry Switzer. He was promoted to defensive backs coach from 1995 through 1999. He then worked as defensive coordinator from 2000 through 2006.

He then spent 2007 with the Falcons as defensive coordinator before landing in Cincinnati in that same position from 2008 through 2013. The Vikings hired him as head coach 10 years ago.

He was 74–59–1 as the Minnesota head coach, with three playoff appearances in eight seasons.

He returns as head coach Mike McCarthy enters the final year of his contract, putting him on an obvious hot seat as the season approaches.

PFT

 

New Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald appears to have found the director of his defense.

Seattle is planning to hire Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde as its new defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Friday, per a source.

Durde is set to earn his first DC job in the NFL after spending the past three seasons in Dallas. He helped cultivate the strongest facet of the Cowboys' defense, which finished fifth in the league in yards allowed per game (299.7) in 2023.

The tremendous and rapid development of Cowboys star pass rusher Micah Parsons since coming into the league in 2021 is ubiquitous with Durde's presence in Dallas.

NFL.com

 

The Seahawks are hiring University of Washington assistant coach Ryan Grubb as their new offensive coordinator, Curtis Crabtree of FOX 13 reports.

Grubb, 47, spent the past two seasons as the Huskies’ offensive coordinator under head coach Kalen DeBoer. Washington, though, passed over Grubb in its search for a replacement for DeBoer, and Grubb followed DeBoer to Alabama as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator.

Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly were other candidates for the job. Kelly left UCLA to become offensive coordinator at Ohio State on Friday.

The Seahawks have hired Leslie Frazier as assistant head coach, Aden Durde as defensive coordinator and Jay Harbaugh as special teams coordinator since Mike Macdonald replaced Pete Carroll as head coach.

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Saints to finalize deal with Klint Kubiak for offensive coordinator after Super Bowl

The Saints have not hired an offensive coordinator since dismissing Pete Carmichael after the end of the regular season, but that’s expected to change once the Super Bowl is over.

49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak was reported to be their top choice earlier this month and multiple reports indicate that the two sides are set to finalize their deal after Sunday’s game.

Kubiak joined the 49ers in 2023 and held the same title while also coaching quarterbacks for the Broncos in 2022. He was the Vikings’ offensive coordinator in 2021 and worked under his father Gary in Minnesota and Denver before taking that job.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Saints are also expected to hire Andrew Janocko as quarterbacks coach and John Benton as offensive line coach once they officially move forward with Kubiak.

NBC

 

RUMOR...

Former Chiefs and Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is currently looking for work. Soon, he could end up back where he had his greatest success.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Bieniemy could return to the Chiefs for 2024.

His title likely would be something along the lines of “assistant head coach,” with Matt Nagy likely remaining in the position of offensive coordinator. And it would be beneficial to the term, in multiple ways.

During the season, when the Chiefs were struggling, quarterback Patrick Mahomes explained that Bieniemy was the guy who set the standard for accountability. The night before the AFC Championship, Bieniemy met with the Chiefs — prompting Mahomes to say that Bieniemy’s return gave players “chill bumps.”

Before the season, Mahomes defended Bieniemy against concerns that he was coaching Commanders players too hard.

Bieniemy did not visit with the Chiefs before Super Bowl LVIII, we’re told. That’s largely because he was in serious consideration to become offensive coordinator of the Seahawks. (The job went instead to Ryan Grubb.)

There’s also still a chance that Bieniemy could return to the Chiefs as head coach. If Andy Reid retires after tonight’s game — and at this point no one knows with certainty what he will do — players like Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce will likely make a strong pitch, privately and/or publicly, for Bieniemy.

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49ers fire defensive coordinator Steve Wilks

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said at a Tuesday press conference that he expected all of the team’s coaches, including defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, back for the 2024 season, but Wednesday brought very different news about Wilks’ future with the NFC West club.

At the start of a hastily scheduled conference call on Wednesday afternoon, Shanahan told reporters that Wilks has been dismissed after one year in the job. Wilks was hired after DeMeco Ryans left the team to become the Texans head coach last year.

The 49ers were third in points allowed and eighth in yards allowed during the regular season, but they had less success holding offenses in check in the postseason and Shanahan said that he didn’t feel Wilks was ultimately the right fit for what the team wants to do defensively.

Shanahan said the team will consider in-house and external candidates to take over as the new coordinator in a major shakeup for the NFC champions as they head into the offseason.

NBC

 

I'm a little shocked about this one. At times, the D was dominant and at least consistent. I don't know how much better they get with a new guy.

 

Totally agree. Seemed like a knee jerk reaction.

 

Eric Bieniemy won’t be going back to the Chiefs. He also won’t be going to any other NFL team.

Via Pete Thamel of ESPN, Bieniemy is finalizing a deal to become the offensive coordinator and associate head coach at UCLA.

Bieniemy will be working for new head coach DeShaun Foster, who replaces Chip Kelly. (Kelly left to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.)

The former NFL running back spent five years as offensive coordinator of the Chiefs before taking the same position with the Commanders in 2022. He interviewed for the head-coaching job in Washington. The position went to Dan Quinn.

It’s a clear step down for Bieniemy, who was a perennial NFL head-coaching candidate for several years. His chance never came. He’ll now have to work his way back to the NFL.

 

49ers interview Brandon Staley, Nick Sorensen for defensive coordinator

The last remaining coordinator job in the NFL is close to being filled.

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area that he “should finish it all up this week” in hiring a defensive coordinator.

The 49ers have completed interviews with former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley and 49ers defensive passing game specialist Nick Sorensen, Shanahan told Maiocco.

The 49ers are replacing Steve Wilks, who was fired on Feb. 14 after only one season as defensive coordinator.

49ers defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks also is expected to interview for the position later in the week, and Shanahan told Maiocco that he likely will interview two additional external candidates later this week.

Staley, 41, spent two seasons and 14 games as the Chargers’ head coach before the team fired him during the 2023 season. He went 24-25, including 0-1 in the playoffs. The Chargers hired Staley in 2020 after he spent one season as Sean McVay’s defensive coordinator with the Rams.

Sorensen, 45, joined the 49ers’ staff in 2022 as a defensive assistant before his promotion to to defensive passing game specialist/nickel backs coach last year. He was the Jaguars’ special teams coordinator in 2021.

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One of the coaches who helped the Chiefs beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl is among the candidates to run Kyle Shanahan’s defense in 2024.

Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that Chiefs defensive backs coach David Merritt is interviewing for the opening on Shanahan’s staff. The 49ers fired Steve Wilks after their overtime loss to the Chiefs in Las Vegas.

Former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, 49ers defensive passing game specialist Nick Sorenson, and 49ers defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks are also up for the job.

Merritt has been in his current job since 2019 and also had a long run with the Giants as part of Tom Coughlin’s staff. He has won five Super Bowl rings over his time with the two teams.

 

Nick Sorensen is the 49ers’ new defensive coordinator, and Brandon Staley is the newest member of the coaching staff.

The 49ers have promoted Sorensen to the coordinator role while giving Staley a role on the defensive staff as well, according to ESPN.

Sorensen has been an assistant in San Francisco the last two years. Last year his title was defensive pass game coordinator and nickels coach. He’s being promoted to replace Steve Wilks, who was fired as defensive coordinator after the 49ers lost the Super Bowl.

Sorensen is becoming a defensive coordinator for the first time. He has previously been special teams coordinator in Jacksonville and a defensive backs coach in Seattle. He also played defensive back in the NFL for 10 years, spending time with the Dolphins, Rams, Jaguars and Browns.

Staley was fired as head coach of the Chargers in 2023, after two and a half seasons on the job. He has previously been a defensive coordinator for one season, with the Rams in 2020.

NBC

 

If you can’t beat ‘em, hire ‘em.

Apparently, that’s what the 49ers considered after firing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

Via Taylor Wirth of NBC Sports Bay Area, ESPN’s Dan Graziano recently reported that the 49ers explored luring Steve Spagnuolo away from the Chiefs.

Spagnuolo’s contract was expiring. He could have gone anywhere. He signed an extension with the Chiefs.

The Chiefs, with Spagnuolo running the defense, have beaten the 49ers in two of the last five Super Bowls, LIV and LVIII.

Coach Kyle Shanahan seemingly wanted to stick with the Seattle/Cover 3 defense. He apparently would have made an exception if he could have gotten Spagnuolo away from the Chiefs.

Spagnuolo has authored some of the greatest defensive game plans in Super Bowl history. He would have been a potent weapon for the 49ers, if they should cross paths again with the Chiefs in the NFL Championship game.

He’s been the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator since 2019; if anyone knows how to come up with a game plan to slow down quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Spagnuolo does.

Out of football in 2018 after finishing his second run with the Giants, Spagnuolo replaced Bob Sutton in 2019. He has won three Super Bowl rings, to go along with the one he won in 2007, when the Giants kept the Patriots from going 19-0 with an upset in Super Bowl XLII.

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I wonder if Nick Sorenson feels like a cheap pawn piece?

 

The Raiders have decided to move on from their offensive coordinator.

Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Las Vegas fired Luke Getsy on Sunday night.

Getsy, 40, joined the Raiders as offensive coordinator during the offseason after Antonio Pierce was hired as the team’s full-time head coach. He was previously the Bears offensive coordinator from 2022-2023 but was fired at the end of last season.

Las Vegas, now 2-7 after Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, has struggled mightily on offense all season. The club entered Week 9 ranked at No. 26 in points and No. 28 in yards. After five consecutive games of 20 points or fewer, the Raiders were able to put up 24 points on Sunday. but seven of those points came from a pick six in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew was once again benched in Cincinnati, this time for the recently acquired Desmond Ridder.

Now the Raiders will go forward with a new play-caller after just nine games.

Pelissero reports passing game coordinator and former Washington offensive coordinator Scott Turner is a candidate to replace Getsy as offensive play-caller.

PFT

 

Bears fire Shane Waldron, promote Thomas Brown to offensive coordinator

Shane Waldron is out after just nine games as the Bears’ offensive coordinator.

The Bears have fired Waldron and are replacing him with Thomas Brown, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Brown previously had the title of offensive passing game coordinator, but now he’ll take over Waldron’s responsibilities and call the Bears’ offensive plays.

Something had to change in Chicago, where Caleb Williams has been disappointing as a rookie first overall pick. He played perhaps his worst game yet in Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, totaling just 120 yards on 16-of-30 passing, and losing 51 yards on nine sacks. That’s an average of just 1.8 yards on his 39 dropbacks, an unacceptable number for any NFL offense.

Whether Brown can get Williams back on track remains to be seen, but head coach Matt Eberflus obviously knows that if he doesn’t show progress with Williams this year, someone else is going to be coaching Williams and the Bears next year. Chicago has eight more games and probably needs to win at least five of them to save Eberflus’s job.

PFT

 

“Today, I informed Joe Douglas he will no longer serve as the General Manager of the New York Jets,” Johnson said. “I want to thank Joe for his commitment to the Jets over the last six years and wish him and his family the best moving forward.

“Phil Savage will be the Interim General Manager for the remainder of the season. We will begin the process to identify a new General Manager immediately.”
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I bet Aaron Rodgers wont play next year either. If their smart, they'll blow that whole org up.

 

Im wondering if anybody wants to work for Woody Johnson. Cap hell, possibly no starting QB and a few young stars wanting new contracts... good luck to whoever they call upon.