The GM's, Coach's, Carousel

Reports: Vikings hiring Ed Donatell as defensive coordinator



The Vikings have to wait a little longer to officially name Kevin O’Connell as their next head coach, but they’re moving ahead with a key member of his staff.

According to multiple reports, the Vikings will hire Ed Donatell as their defensive coordinator. Word on Wednesday was that the team was heading in that direction after interviews with several other candidates.

Donatell spent the last three years as the Broncos defensive coordinator and has spent most of the last three decades as an assistant around the league.

There was word earlier this month that Donatell would join the Seahawks as a senior defensive assistant, but Seattle will now have to look elsewhere to fill out their staff around new defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt.

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Raiders hire Mick Lombardi as offensive coordinator

New Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels is bringing another former Patriots assistant with him to be the offensive coordinator in Las Vegas.

Mick Lombardi will be the Raiders’ offensive coordinator, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.


Lombardi was the Patriots’ wide receivers coach the last two years and their assistant quarterbacks coach for a year before that. He has also spent time with the 49ers and Jets.

Patriots offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo has also been hired by McDaniels to be the Raiders’ offensive line coach.

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Report: Dolphins hiring Frank Smith as offensive coordinator



The Dolphins are hiring Frank Smith as their offensive coordinator, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.

Smith served as the Chargers’ run game coordinator/offensive line coach in 2021.


He previously was the Raiders’ tight ends coach for three seasons from 2018-20. He also coached the Bears tight ends from 2015-17 after getting his start in the league as an assistant with the Saints.

New head coach Mike McDaniel said in his introductory press conference that he plans to call Miami’s offensive plays.

But Smith still will be heavily involved in the game planning.

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Seahawks announce Clint Hurtt’s promotion to defensive coordinator



The Seahawks have made several reported coaching changes after finishing the 2021 season 7-10 — the club’s first losing season since Russell Wilson took over as starting quarterback in 2012.

Now the club has formally announced all of them, including Clint Hurtt’s promotion to defensive coordinator. Seattle fired Ken Norton Jr. from the position after the conclusion of the regular season. Hurtt was previously the Seahawks’ assistant head coach/defensive line coach from 2017-2021.


Sean Desai and Karl Scott have also joined the staff, as associate head coach-defense and defensive passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach, respectively.

“The newness with Clint taking over on defense and working together with an old friend of his in Sean Desai gives us a really exciting outlook for the future,” head coach Pete Carroll said, via John Boyle of the team’s website. “Being able to bring in a guy the caliber of Karl Scott to take over the secondary, we’re very fortunate to have landed him as the passing game coordinator.”

On offense, Andy Dickerson has been promoted to offensive line coach, replacing Mike Solari. Seattle also announced Sanjay Lal has been hired as the team’s receivers coach and offensive pass game coordinator. Lal was with the Seahawks in 2020 as a senior offensive assistant and coached the Jaguars’ receivers in 2021. Nate Carroll — Pete’s son — has been reassigned from receivers coach to senior offensive assistant.

“It’ll be great for us to put Andy in the position of coaching the offensive line, maximizing all that [offensive coordinator] Shane [Waldron] has in his background — those guys work together extremely well — and mixing them with Sanjay will give us good new insight and new juice and fire that we’re excited about,” Carroll said. “We’re excited about it every year at this time, but maybe more than ever in that it just seems like it’s new and fresh and ready to get rolling.”

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Report: Vikings plan to interview Thomas Brown for offensive coordinator

If the Rams are interested in promoting running backs coach Thomas Brown to replace offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, it appears they will have competition.

The Vikings plan to interview Brown for their offensive coordinator job, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.


O’Connell is finalizing a deal to become the Vikings’ head coach and is expected to be introduced at a Thursday news conference. Ed Donatell is set to join the team as defensive coordinator, and Wes Phillips — the son of Wade Phillips — is expected to follow O’Connell from the Rams as offensive coordinator or passing game coordinator.

Brown interviewed for the Dolphins’ head coaching job before Miami hired Mike McDaniel.

Brown, 35, spent the past two seasons as the Rams’ running backs coach. Los Angeles added assistant head coach to his duties for 2021.

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Vikings announce Kevin O’Connell as next head coach



The Vikings have announced that Kevin O’Connell is their next head coach.

O’Connell, who was the Rams’ offensive coordinator the last two seasons, was widely expected to be the head coach of the Vikings, and the team said today that it is now official.


“We are ecstatic to add Kevin as our head coach,” Vikings owner Mark Wilf said in a statement. “He is a strong leader, an innovative coach and an excellent communicator. Kevin played the game at all levels, which gives him a unique connection to players, and he is highly respected throughout the league. Vikings fans should be excited for the future of this team under Kevin’s direction.”

The 36-year-old O’Connell had a brief career as an NFL quarterback after the Patriots chose him out of San Diego State in the third round of the 2008 NFL draft. He spent time with the Patriots, Lions, Jets, Dolphins and Chargers before becoming the quarterbacks coach of the Browns in 2015. He has also been on the coaching staffs in San Francisco and Washington.

O’Connell spent a year as Kirk Cousins‘ quarterbacks coach in Washington, and he’ll be tasked with getting more out of the Vikings’ offense than it has shown in Cousins’ four seasons at the helm.

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Zac Taylor signs contract extension through 2026



When the 2021 season began, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor’s name appeared on many lists of likely candidates to be relieved of their duties before the year was out but Taylor’s got a lot more job security now.

After winning six games in his first two seasons on the job, Taylor piloted the Bengals to 10 regular season wins and an AFC North title before becoming the first Bengals head coach to win a postseason game in more than 30 years. Taylor then won two more games to book the Bengals a spot in Super Bowl LVI.


The winning streak ran out against the Rams at SoFi Stadium, but Taylor will have many more chances to finish the job. The Bengals announced on Wednesday that Taylor has signed an extension that runs through the 2026 season.

“Zac has come into the league and worked to develop the foundations for a winning program that can be successful over time,” Bengals owner Mike Brown said in a statement. “The fruits of Zac’s efforts were seen this year, and Zac is well-regarded by our players and coaches. I know the effort and passion Zac brings to the building and to our team, and I am pleased by his approach. And I think the city of Cincinnati sees him the way the players and I do. He’s brought excitement to the town and deserves credit and recognition for that.”

Taylor is the 10th head coach in Bengals history and Wednesday’s announcement means it will be some time before they’re looking for No. 11 in Cincinnati.

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Jaguars announce 2022 coaching staff

As the Jaguars continue to move on from the short-lived Urban Meyer era, they announced on Thursday that they’ve finalized the first coaching staff under new head coach Doug Pederson.

Jacksonville has 22 coaches for 2022. Many of the coaches have been previously reported, including offensive coordinator Press Taylor, defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, and special teams coordinator Heath Farwell.

Taylor — Bengals head coach Zac Taylor’s brother — worked with Pederson from 2016-2020 on the Eagles. He was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Pederson’s final season in Philadelphia.

Caldwell was previously the Buccaneers’ inside linebackers coach. But he and Pederson worked together on Andy Reid’s Eagles staff from 2009-2012.

Pederson has kept six members of the 2021 coaching staff: running backs coach Bernie Parmalee, inside linebackers coach Tony Gilbert, senior defensive assistant Bob Sutton, assistant receivers coach Will Harriger, defensive quality control coach Patrick Reily, and assistant offensive line coach Todd Washington.

On offense, the Jaguars also have Jim Bob Cooter as passing game coordinator, Mike McCoy as quarterbacks coach, Phil Rauscher as offensive line coach, Chris Jackson as receivers coach, Richard Angulo as tight ends coach, Andrew Breiner as assistant QBs coach, and Nick Williams as offensive quality control.

On defense, Jacksonville hired Deshea Townsend as defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach, Brenton Buckner as defensive line coach, Bill Shuey as outside linebackers coach, Cody Grimm as safeties coach, and Rory Segrest as assistant defensive line coach.

Farwell was most recently the Bills special teams coordinator from 2019-2021. The club also hired Luke Thompson as assistant special teams coach.

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Steelers hire Brian Flores as senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach



Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores may never become an NFL head coach again. However, he’s back in the league.

The Steelers have announced that Flores has been hired to be the team’s senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach.


It’s a stunning move. If any team was going to do it, however, it was the Steelers. The ownership group whose family name appears on the rule that was supposed to improve the hiring of minority head coaches. The team that pivoted from Russ Grimm to Mike Tomlin in 2007, and that has seen Tomlin become one of the best coaches in the NFL.

Good for the Steelers to make the offer. Good for Flores to accept it. He previously has said that, if he gets hired, he won’t be dismissing his case. He shouldn’t. The truth needs to come out, and Flores shouldn’t be shunned or otherwise victimized because of it.

Meanwhile, some of the teams Flores has sued may not be thrilled. Strong statements have been issued about the strong allegations Flores has made. It could make things awkward for team owner Art Rooney II, at times.

But that’s OK. Life is sometimes awkward. Doing the right thing is sometimes clunky. That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t do the right thing. Kudos to the Steelers for doing it.

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Chiefs hire Matt Nagy as senior assistant/quarterbacks coach



Matt Nagy was a Chiefs assistant under Andy Reid before he became the Bears head coach and he’s returning to Kansas City for his first job since being fired by the Bears at the end of the 2021 season.

The Chiefs announced on Friday that they have hired Nagy as a senior assistant and quarterbacks coach. Mike Kafka was their quarterbacks coach for the last two seasons, but he took the Giants offensive coordinator job earlier this year.


Nagy spent two seasons as the Chiefs offensive coordinator before being hired by the Bears in 2018. He was their quarterbacks coach for three seasons before being promoted and spent the previous five seasons on Reid’s staff with the Eagles.

Eric Bieniemy was the running backs coach during Nagy’s previous tenure with the Chiefs and he got bumped up to offensive coordinator after Nagy left and agreed to a new deal to remain in that role this week. Should he move on for a head coaching job or for other reasons after the 2022 season, Nagy could step back into his former role with the AFC West club.

Nagy went 34-31 in the regular season and 0-2 in the playoffs during his four seasons in Chicago.

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Steelers interview three more G.M. candidates

The Steelers’ list of candidates to succeed Kevin Colbert as their General Manager has grown by three names.

The team announced that they have completed interviews with Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz, 49ers director of player personnel Ran Carthon, and Eagles vice president of player personnel Andy Weidl for the position.

Packers co-director of player personnel John Wojciechowski, Colts college scouting director Morocco Brown, Panthers assistant G.M. Dan Morgan, Buccaneers vice president of player personnel John Spytek, Titans vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden, Colts assistant G.M. Ed Dodds and Chargers director of player personnel JoJo Wooden are other outside candidates who have interviewed with the teams. Steelers vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan and pro personnel coordinator Brandon Hunt are also in the mix and there’s been word of an interview with Louis Riddick of ESPN, but no official word from the team of a conversation.

Colbert is set to retire after this year’s draft.

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Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray wants a contract extension, but the team has chosen to move forward on other fronts before turning to Murray.

The team announced that head coach Kliff Kingsbury and General Manager Steve Keim have both agreed to extensions with the team. Both men are now under contract through the 2027 season.


Kingsbury was hired in 2019 and he has gone 24-24-1 over his first three seasons. The 2021 season ended with Arizona’s first playoff berth since 2015, but they lost to the Rams on the road in the wild card round. The Cardinals missed out on a chance to host a playoff game by going 1-4 in the final weeks of the season, including a Week 18 loss to Seattle that gave the Rams the NFC West title.

Keim has been in the G.M. job since 2013 and he’s been in the Cardinals organization since 1999.

“The leadership of both Steve and Kliff have been key factors in the team’s turnaround over the last three seasons,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said in a statement. “We are all looking forward to continuing that progress and recognize these two individuals will be a big part of achieving our long-term goals as an organization.”

It’s not clear what impact the extensions might have on talks with Murray about a new deal, but sticking with the current braintrust doesn’t signal a desire to shake things up in Arizona. Kingsbury’s agent Erik Burkhardt also represents the quarterback, which might be a promising sign for how conversations between the two sides will play out.

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Report: Steelers interviewed Louis Riddick for G.M. opening this week



There was word early last month that the Steelers would interview Louis Riddick for their General Manager opening and that conversation has reportedly taken place.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Steelers and Riddick spoke in Indianapolis this week.


Riddick has been part of ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast team for the last couple of years and was an analyst for the network before taking that job. Before moving into broadcasting, Riddick spent more than a decade working in the Washington and Philadelphia personnel departments and his name has come up in conjunction with other G.M. openings in recent years.

The Steelers have interviewed 10 other outside candidates and a couple of in-house options to take over the G.M. job from Kevin Colbert when he steps down after the draft.

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Steelers interviewed Jerry Reese, Rick Spielman, Doug Whaley for G.M. job



Current Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert added some players to the roster in free agency this week and the search for his successor continued with three interviews.

The team announced that they conducted interviews with former Giants General Manager Jerry Reese, former Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman, and former Bills General Manager Doug Whaley.


Reese was in charge of the Giants’ personnel department from 2007 until he was fired late in the 2017 season. Spielman’s 10-year run with the Vikings came to an end when he was fired after the 2021 season and Whaley has spent time working for the XFL since being let go by the Bills after the 2017 draft. Whaley also spent a decade working for the Steelers before going to Buffalo.

Colbert will remain with the Steelers through the draft and the team has interviewed a wide range of candidates in recent weeks.

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I'm curious, is this really a problem in 2022?? I'm not going to go looking at 32 different teams of coaching staffs, but I knew the Browns had minority coaches all over the building, so I did look at them..

The Browns have on staff minorities:

Offense (36.4% of the offensive coaches):
Jonathan Decoster Offensive Assistant
Callie Brownson, Assistant Wide Receivers/Chief of Staff
Ashton Grant, Offensive Quality Control
Stump Mitchell, Run Game Coordinator/Running Backs

Defense (44.5% of the defensive coaches)
Joe Woods, Defensive Coordinator
Jeff Anderson, Defensive Quality Control
Brandon Lynch, Assistant Defensive Backs
Jordan Thomas, Assistant Defensive Line

Special Teams (50% of ST coaches)
Stephen Bravo-Brown Assistant Special Teams

Performance staff (28.6% of performance staff)
Larry Jackson, Director of Strength and Conditioning
Katy Meassick, Director Performance Nutrition

11 out of 30 on the coaching staff or 36.7% of all Browns coaches are minority. Is this low or high? I know this new "mandate" only calls for one minority on the offensive staff, is that really a necessary mandate? Is that really going to make a difference? How about recognizing a team that doesn't have a single minority coach on the offensive coaching staff? I can't believe that is even a thing in this day and age.

 

Every team has minority coaches on their roster. Why would they mandate minority coaches? The only positions teams are hesitating at hiring minorities is head coach and GM.

 

They are trying to create more opportunity for minority offensive coordinators, thus more head coaching opportunities for minorities, as the offensive side of the ball has more of history of HC candidates. The argument now is, it worked on the defensive side since there are quite a few minority DC, but not very many OC... thus leading to lower HC than they would like.

 

The Ravens haven’t had any luck getting quarterback Lamar Jackson to talk about a new contract this offseason, but they were more successful with head coach John Harbaugh.

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti announced that Harbaugh has signed a three-year extension with the team. His contract was set to expire after the 2022 season, but he is now tied to the team through 2025.


Harbaugh was hired in Baltimore ahead of the 2008 season and he has gone 137-88 over his first 14 seasons with the team. The team has advanced to the playoffs after nine of those 14 seasons and Harbaugh has gone 11-8 in the postseason. That record includes a victory over a 49ers team coached by his brother Jim in Super Bowl XLVII.

Harbaugh is the third-longest tenured head coach in the NFL behind Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin. He’s 27th all-time in wins and can move past the likes of Tony Dungy and Marv Levy during the 2022 season.

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Arians moves to FO, Bowles new TB HC