The GM's, Coach's, Carousel

Report: Bengals to promote Dan Pitcher to offensive coordinator

The Bengals have not wasted any time to find their next offensive coordinator.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Cincinnati will promote quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher to OC after Brian Callahan departed the organization to become Tennessee’s head coach.

Pitcher has been with the Bengals since 2016, starting out as an offensive assistant under former head coach Marvin Lewis. He was retained under Zac Taylor as assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019 and promoted to QBs coach in 2020.

The Patriots, Raiders, and Saints also had interest in Pitcher as an offensive coordinator candidate. But Cincinnati has kept him in the building as the club looks to get back to the postseason in 2024.

 

Browns hiring Duce Staley as running backs coach

Duce Staley is heading to Cleveland.

According to multiple reports, Staley will join the Browns’ staff as running backs coach.

The Browns fired running backs coach Stump Mitchell, tight ends coach T.C. McCartney, and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt after their loss to the Texans in the wild card round.

 

***BREAKING***



Chargers hire Jim Harbaugh as head coach

The Los Angeles Chargers got their man: Jim Harbaugh is their new head coach.

Harbaugh and the Chargers agreed to a deal on Wednesday afternoon.

After winning the national championship at Michigan, Harbaugh has one career goal left, and that’s to win the Super Bowl. With the Chargers, where the franchise quarterback is already in place in Justin Herbert, Harbaugh thinks he can do it.

In his last NFL stop, with the 49ers, Harbaugh came close, but fell just short and lost to his brother John and the Ravens. Now Harbaugh will see if he can turn the Chargers into champions.

It won’t be easy, as the Chargers are coming off an ugly season and are in rough salary cap space. But with Herbert, the most important piece of the puzzle is in place.

Harbaugh leaving Michigan also leaves a vacancy at one of the most attractive spots in college football, and plenty of coaches will be interested in that job. But Harbaugh has decided to move on. He’s now the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

NBC

 

Jimbo is getting a 5 year contract, no figures have been made public at this time.

 

Called this a week ago.

 

Report: Eagles to hire Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator

On Wednesday, the Dolphins announced they had mutually agreed to part ways with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

It didn’t take long for Fangio to find a new job.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Fangio will be the Eagles’ next defensive coordinator. Fangio is traveling to Philadelphia on Thursday morning to sign his contract and make it official.

Fangio was a consultant for the Eagles last season but agreed to join the Dolphins before it was clear former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was going to depart the organization to become the Cardinals head coach. Philadelphia ended up bringing in Sean Desai as defensive coordinator and Matt Patricia as senior defensive assistant.

Head coach Nick Sirianni stripped Desai of the team’s defensive play-calling duties and gave them to Patricia late in the 2023 season. Desai and Patricia will not be back with the organization in 2024.

Fangio has also been a defensive coordinator for Carolina, Indianapolis, Houston, San Francisco, and Chicago. He served as the Broncos head coach from 2019-2021, posting a 19-30 record.

Miami finished No. 10 in yards allowed and No. 22 in points allowed with Fangio as defensive coordinator in 2023. The Eagles were No. 26 in yards allowed and No. 30 in points allowed.

NBC

 

Browns set to interview Brian Johnson for offensive coordinator Thursday

Brian Johnson won’t be the offensive coordinator for the Eagles in 2024, but he could land a job with the Browns.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that Johnson will interview with the Browns for their offensive coordinator job on Thursday. The Browns fired Alex Van Pelt after the end of the regular season.

Johnson was promoted to offensive coordinator in Philadelphia after spending two seasons as the team’s quarterbacks coach. The Eagles finished seventh in points scored and eighth in offensive yards during the regular season, but Johnson was dismissed after a 1-6 close to the season that saw the team get held under 20 points five times.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has called the offensive plays during his time with the team and there’s been no sign that he plans to alter that approach with a new coordinator, but final word on what things will look like in Cleveland will wait until they strike a deal with their new coordinator.

PFT

 

Report: Teryl Austin finalizes two-year deal to stay with Steelers

Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin’s contract expired with the team’s loss to the Bills in the playoffs, but word this week was that he would remain with the organization.

The deal to ensure that happens is reportedly done. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Austin has agreed to a two-year deal to remain in Pittsburgh.

Austin will now head into his third year running the offense after three years as a senior defensive assistant and defensive backs coach. The Steelers finished 10th in points allowed during his first season and improved to sixth on their way to the postseason in 2023.

While Austin is back, there will be at least one change to the defensive staff. Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media reports that assistant defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander will head to Las Vegas to be the Raiders’ safeties coach.

 

Panthers reportedly close in on Dave Canales



Tampa’s loss is Carolina’s gain.

Per multiple reports, the Panthers are closing in on hiring Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales to be the seventh head coach in franchise history — and the third to be hired by owner David Tepper, who bought the team in 2018.

Canales, 42, went from strength coach at USC with Pete Carroll to Seattle receivers coach in 2010. He stayed with the Seahawks through 2022, finishing his stint as quarterbacks coach. He worked as an offensive coordinator for only one year.

His pupils include Russell Wilson, Geno Smith, and most recently Baker Mayfield. The next challenge for Canales will be to turn Bryce Young’s NFL career around.

The news comes on the same day the Panthers were due to interview former Titans coach Mike Vrabel. Something caused them to pivot to Canales.

Regardless, Canales is the guy who’ll be dealing with Tepper. Let’s see if this one lasts more than a year or two.

NBC

 

@Torgo and everybody else.



Falcons to hire Raheem Morris as head coach

Raheem Morris is headed back to Atlanta.

The Falcons plan to hire Morris as their next head coach, according to multiple Thursday reports.

Morris, 47, was with the Falcons from 2015-2020, serving in a variety of assistant roles on offense and defense. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2020 and served as interim head coach after Dan Quinn was fired following a 0-5 start. The Falcons went 4-7 under Morris that year.

This is Morris’ second head coaching job after he was hired to lead the Buccaneers in 2009. He went 17-31 in three seasons with Tampa Bay, with the team going 10-6 in 2010.

Morris has served as Rams defensive coordinator since 2021, winning Super Bowl LVI with the club. He was also a defensive quality control coach for the Buccaneers back in 2002 when Tampa Bay won Super Bowl XXXVII over the Raiders.

The Falcons interviewed 14 candidates for head coach, including Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, and Jim Harbaugh. The club was running interviews up to Thursday, announcing they’d met again with Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.

But in the end, Morris was the choice to lead the franchise going forward.

NBC

 

An interesting theory I saw was that if Reid were to step away from KC Belichick would throw his hat in for the Chiefs job. Big majority of the KC fans dont like this idea but you put Belichick and Mahomes together and they are going to add more Lombardis to the trophy case.

 

Commanders hire 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters as new general manager

Washington's new era will begin with the addition of a highly coveted executive.

The Commanders are working to hire 49ers assistant general manager Adam Peters as the team's new GM, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Friday. The team announced Peters' hiring on Monday.

"The future is bright," Commanders owner Josh Harris said in a statement. "We have a lot of cap space, we have a great ownership group, we're very committed to winning for this city, and look forward to showing you, in addition to telling you, over the next series of years."

Peters arrives in Washington with firsthand knowledge of how to build a winner gained from his time spent working under John Lynch in San Francisco, where Lynch constructed a roster that has contended for division and conference titles on a near-perennial basis. With three years with the Niners under his belt, Peters will head east to attempt to spark the same type of transformation with the Commanders.

Peters began his career in 2003 as a scout with the New England Patriots before moving onto the Broncos to fill a similar role in 2009, eventually earning a promotion to assistant director of college scouting in Denver in 2014. He joined San Francisco as VP of player personnel in 2017 and ascended to assistant GM in 2021, contributing to an executive group that guided the 49ers to three NFC Championship Game appearances, including one conference title and a berth in Super Bowl LIV.

Now, he'll join a Commanders franchise looking to start a new era under new ownership. Washington fired head coach Ron Rivera after finishing 4-13 in 2023, but has yet to make a final decision on the fate of incumbent GM Martin Mayhew.

Peters' hiring suggests Mayhew's role will change, or he could be out of a job in Washington entirely. For now, though, Harris' first big move has come in the front office, where Peters will take the top chair and begin working on hiring a new coach to replace Rivera.

NFL.com
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I missed this one. Lets see who they go after for a HC.

 

Jerrod Johnson will interview for Steelers offensive coordinator Friday

According to multiple reports, Johnson is interviewing with the Steelers about their top offensive assistant role. The Steelers fired Matt Canada during the regular season and had running backs coach Eddie Faulkner and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan split the responsibilities for the rest of the year.

Johnson just wrapped up his first year with the Texans. His work with C.J. Stroud helped the team advance to the divisional round of the playoffs and it raised his profile in the coaching ranks.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that the team will be hiring an outside candidate to take over the role on a full-time basis. They have interviewed Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown and they requested an interview with Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson.

 

Brian Callahan will call the offensive plays for Titans

Titans head coach Brian Callahan laid out some of the plans for his first year with the team at a press conference on Thursday, including the process of calling plays on offense.

Callahan was the offensive coordinator for the Bengals, but head coach Zac Taylor handled the play calls in Cincinnati. Callahan said that he will be taking that responsibility with the Titans and said that he doesn’t feel it is “a big adjustment” because he was part of a collaborative approach with the Bengals as well.

“As far as my role, I’m going to take it every day as it comes, and I’m going to learn a lot as we go,” Callahan said, via Nick Suss of the Tennessean. “But I feel really confident in my ability to handle all the different parts that are asked of me on a day-to-day basis, as a play caller, as a head coach, as an offensive head coach overseeing a defense. And so, I’m incredibly confident in my ability to do that. So, that’s probably the best way I can say it.”

Callahan said he’s excited to work with quarterback Will Levis and Levis’ development will be a major factor in how well Callahan’s tenure as both the head coach and the play caller plays out in Nashville.

PFT

 

Bears hire Eric Washington as defensive coordinator

The Bears have their new defensive coordinator: Eric Washington.

Washington is heading to Chicago to take the vacant defensive coordinator job, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

The 54-year-old Washington was previously assistant head coach and defensive line coach of the Bills. He’s been in Buffalo the last four years and before that spent two years as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator. His other coaching jobs include three years as an assistant in Chicago from 2008 to 2010.

The Bears have been without a defensive coordinator since September, when Alan Williams resigned for “personal reasons” that have still not been explained. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus handled most of the coordinator duties himself for the rest of last season but will now turn the defensive coordinator title over to Washington.

 

Patriots expected to hire DeMarcus Covington as their next defensive coordinator

The New England Patriots are keeping it in-house for their defensive coordinator job.

The Patriots are expected to hire defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington as their next defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Saturday, per sources.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer first reported the news.

Covington, 34, becomes new head coach Jerod Mayo's first staff hire.

 

@Torgo

New Falcons coach Raheem Morris has made his first significant hire.

Former Rams passing-game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson will serve as the offensive coordinator in Atlanta, via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.

Robinson, 37, joined the Rams as assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019, six years after his playing career ended. He was a seventh-round pick of the Patriots in 2010, and he spent time with the Seahawks, Lions, and Bengals during his four-year career.

He moved to assistant receivers coach in 2020 before going back to assistant quarterbacks coach in 2021. He was promoted to his most recent role with the Rams in 2022.

Robinson and Morris worked together for three years in L.A.

The biggest order of business for the Atlanta offense in 2024 will be figuring out the quarterback position. Desmond Ridder’s failure to develop into a high-end starter helped grease the skids for the vacancy Morris has filled.

The Falcons otherwise have plenty of talented players on that side of the ball, including running back Bijan Robinson, receiver Drake London, tight end Kyle Pitts, running back Tyler Allgeier. Jack of all trades Cordarrelle Patterson is slated to become a free agent in March.

 

Reports: Eagles to hire Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator

Kellen Moore spent five seasons with the Cowboys. After one season with the Chargers, Moore is headed to one of the Cowboys’ biggest rivals.

The Eagles are hiring Moore as their new offensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.

The Chargers interviewed Moore for their head coaching job and blocked him from interviewing for offensive coordinator jobs elsewhere until they hired Jim Harbaugh. Moore ended up interviewing with the Browns, Eagles and Bucs.

The Chargers ranked 18th in total offense and 21st in scoring offense last season. In Moore’s four seasons as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and play caller, Dallas was sixth, 17th, first and fourth in scoring offense from 2019-22.

The Cowboys fired Moore over “philosophical differences” after the 2022 season.

He spent three seasons as a backup quarterback for the Cowboys before retiring in 2018 and immediately joined the team’s coaching staff.

After helping Dak Prescott in Dallas, Moore now gets a chance to help Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia.

NBC