Tag: Brayden Coombs

Former Lions special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs interviewing with the Jaguars

The man who fired Coombs in Detroit, Darrell Bevell, is the Jaguars offensive coordinator

Brayden Coombs had quite an interesting run as the special teams coordinator for the Detroit Lions. Now the young coach is poised to try and resuscitate his career in Jacksonville.

Coombs will interview with the Jaguars for their special teams coordinator role. The Jaguars are scrambling to fill an unexpected hole after coordinator Brian Schneider stepped away for personal reasons. Coombs has connections to new Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer from Meyer’s days at Ohio State, where Coombs father coached under Meyer.

It’s a move that would create a very odd dynamic for the Jaguars, who seem to embrace those sorts of things. Coombs was fired by the Lions in December for insubordination after calling a fake punt without approval from interim head coach Darrell Bevell. It was a rookie mistake by the young Coombs, who had fared well and earned considerable fan support prior to going rogue and undermining the coaching hierarchy.

Bevell is now the offensive coordinator for the Jaguars under Meyer, the role he held in Detroit before being promoted after Matt Patricia was fired. Hiring Coombs would mean Bevell and Coombs are equals on a staff that already had to replace a tone-deaf strength coach hiring and is already searching for a replacement at ST coordinator before minicamp even begins.

Video: Why the Lions needed to fire special teams coach Brayden Coombs

Jeff Risdon and Chris from Detroit Lions Podcast break down why the Coombs firing had to happen

Special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs was fired by the Detroit Lions on Monday, a day after he undermined interim head coach Darrell Bevell by running a fake punt against the coach’s orders during the team’s 45-26 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The move, orchestrated by Bevell and approved by team president Rod Wood, has caused quite the social media ruckus. In an attempt to cut through the bluster and consternation, I joined with Chris from the Detroit Lions Podcast to record a short (15 minutes) video breakdown of why it was the right move and why the fan vitriol needs to stop.

This video contains no profanity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2vXe08ftbM

Darrell Bevell explains why Brayden Coombs was fired

Darrell Bevell explains why Brayden Coombs was fired

The move to terminate special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs has met with quite the controversy for interim head coach Darrell Bevell and the Detroit Lions. Coombs was a popular young coach seen as a rising star.

Bevell’s press conference on Monday afternoon was dominated by the move and the ins and outs of why it was done.

He termed the fake punt that Coombs called in spite of Bevell’s wishes to punt the ball away “not a correct decision” and reflected upon how he didn’t respect having his authority as the head coach undermined.

Bevell noted, “There are clear lines of communication, there’s basic protocols that we use each and every game. Going into a game we have meetings to determine parameters fo what we want to do in a game.”

Bevell explained that Matthew Stafford getting hit hard on consecutive plays made him want to “flip the field” and work with the defense and the three remaining timeouts to try and win the game.

When asked directly if he told Coombs to go with the punt and Coombs then went with the fake on his own, Bevell affirmed it with a simple, stern “yes”.

He later elaborated on the point,

“I think it’s important that I have a philosophy and I have a belief in things that I’m trying to instill in the team, instill in the coaching staff and instill in the program. When things happen outside that are outside of it then there needs to be something that happens. If something doesn’t happen then really you lose some credibility.”

Bevell continued,

“I tell our coaches all the time ‘we need to do what we say we’re going to do'”, and that was not something he felt happened with Coombs.

Bevell acknowledged he made the decision and it was approved by team president Rod Wood. When asked if new special adviser Chris Spielman had input, he deferred from answering the question.

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Lions fire special teams coach Brayden Coombs after rogue fake punt nobody expected

The Lions have had enough coaching issues this season, and there was another one to deal with after their loss to the Titans.

Sometimes, it just takes one thing to get you fired, which is why it’s always good to keep things in check. Wear pants for that Zoom meeting. Don’t fudge your expenses. And when you’re a special teams coach, make sure the rest of the coaching staff is aware of the fake punt you’re about to call.

Like Otto in “A Fish Called Wanda,” former Lions special teams coach Brayden Coombs forgot about the third thing, which is why he’s now the Lions’ former special teams coach. With 12:09 left in the fourth quarter in Detroit’s eventual 46-25 loss to the Titans, Coombs called a direct snap to C.J. Moore on fourth-and-4 from the Detroit 31-yard line. Moore was unable to convert, and the Titans took over, scoring yet another touchdown on the resulting drive.

Per ESPN’s Michael Rothstein, Coombs didn’t run that idea by anybody else on the staff, and many players were surprised. Whoops.

“He’s not a culture fit,” one source told Rothstein.

The Lions ranked 17th in Football Outsiders’ special teams metrics coming into Week 15, which is another lesson — if you’re going to go off the grid, you’d better be very good at what you do, and your bizarre idea had better succeed.

The Lions fire special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs

It’s a surprising move to can the popular first-year ST coordinator

The Detroit Lions continue to clear out the 2020 coaching staff. On Monday, the team fired first-year special teams coach Brayden Coombs.

The move is a surprising one. Coombs brought energy and competence to a Lions special teams unit that has needed both over the years. He was very popular with Detroit fans and seen by many as a rising coaching star.

His work with first-year punter Jack Fox drew acclaim, as did the Lions ability to block punts. They did have a poor fake punt in Sunday’s loss to the Titans.

No replacement for Coombs has been immediately announced.

10 coaches the Lions should consider for their coaching vacancy

10 coaches the Lions should consider for their coaching vacancy

The Detroit Lions have finally fired coach Matt Patricia and while Darrell Bevell is the interim coach, it’s time to begin looking for the long-term replacement.

Lions Wire editors Jeff Risdon and Erik Schlitt have put their heads together to come up with a Top-10 list of candidates we believe Shelia Hamp Ford should heavily consider for the vacancy.

Those candidates are listed below in alphabetical order.

Watch: Brayden Coombs’ special teams block two punts against Vikings

Entering Week 8, the Lions hadn’t blocked a punt since 2007. Over the last two games, Brayden Coombs’ special teams unit has blocked three.

Entering Week 8, the Lions hadn’t blocked a punt since 2007. Over the last two games, Brayden Coombs’ special teams unit has blocked three.

Early in the season, the hype surrounding Coombs centered around what he has been able to accomplish with Jack Fox, taking an undrafted free agent who was in a punter competition for a roster spot, and turning him into the best punter in the NFL in average yards per punt, net yards per punt, hang time, among other categories — all categories he still leads.

But, over the last two weeks, when he has called for a punt block, the Lions have been getting to the ball. And the part that really drives home that this isn’t just luck, is the fact that each block has come from a player lining up at a different spot.

In Week 8, Miles Killebrew was the player who got the Lions first block in nearly 13 years, but he was assisted by pressures by Jahlani Tavai and Jamie Collins. Tavai blew his guy off the ball and pushed him back into Killebrew’s lane, essentially occupying the assigned blocker, while Collins threatened the edge and forced the blocker wide

“You never know when it’s going to be you, whether the rush is designed for you specifically or not,” Coombs said to the Lions media after Killebrew’s block. “Like we talk about pressure burst pipes. As we’re creating pressure for the opponent, it might be designed to hit on one side of the formation, but the way that it breaks down, it might be somebody totally unexpected that comes free. So that’s why it’s really important that all 11 guys are out there doing their jobs, got the pedal to the metal.”

This week, Austin Bryant, who activated from the PUP list less than 24 hours before the game, lined up on the edge. When the edge blocker went low to cut block him, Bryant’s length and athleticism allowed him to power through the glancing block attempt, keep his feet, then use his length to get to the ball. Check out the full clip below:

Three possessions later, the Lions set a franchise record when Romeo Okwara got his hand on another punt.

Okwara lines up over the A-gap and his first step is too quick for the long snapper, who immediately grabs Okwara by the waist as he bursts by him. Okwara powers through the holding attempt and uses every bit of his length to deflect the ball. Check out the clip below (the replay gives a better perspective of how Okwara accomplished this):

Two games, three blocked punts, by three different players, all lining up at different spots. As Coombs said, if you get all 11 players to do their jobs then eventually the pipe is going to burst somewhere.

It’s fair to say, Coombs has his guys properly motivated, extremely prepared, and working hard for him on every snap. And it’s paying off.

Despite sitting atop most NFL punting categories, Jack Fox and Brayden Coombs want to ‘keep raising the bar’

Despite sitting atop the NFL in most punting categories, Detroit Lions punter Jack Fox and special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs want to “keep raising the bar” moving forward.

Despite sitting atop the NFL in most punting categories, Detroit Lions punter Jack Fox and special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs want to “keep raising the bar” moving forward.

Fox went undrafted out of Rice in 2019 and after a successful preseason in Kansas City, he was signed onto the Chiefs practice squad — an unusual move under the old practice squad rules. He was eventually released and signed to the Lions practice squad when it was clear they would not be bringing back Sam Martin.

During his stint on the Lions practice squad, Fox showed enough that the Lions didn’t feel the need to draft a punter in 2020, instead opting to sign Aaron Siposs as an undrafted free agent. Siposs put up a strong battle in camp for the job, but Fox came away from the competition the winner.

Through the first three weeks of the season, Fox has been nothing short of tremendous.

Here’s a look at some of the impressive stats he as earned so far:

  • 53.1 average punt yards per attempt — leads the NFL
  • 51.1 net punting yards — leads the NFL
    • “The most in NFL history through a team’s first 3 games of a season (2 punt minimum). It’s also 4.9 yards ahead of the NFL’s next-closest punter.” — Lions PR representative Greg Maiola
  • 4.78 second average hang time — leads the NFL
  • 65-yard punts in consecutive games — first in team history
  • 92.8 grade from PFF — their highest-graded punter
  • Lions have only allowed 6 total punt return yards this season relying on Fox, as well as gunner Tony McRae and a combination of Darryl Roberts/Dee Virgin/Jamal Agnew at the other gunner spot

But Fox and special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs isn’t satisfied resting on their laurels and want to keep pushing for more.

“Me and Jack are kind of on the same page in terms of the more success we have, we’re just going to keep raising the bar,” Coombs told the media on Tuesday. “We’re not really looking back right now and talking about anything that we’ve done. As he continues to go out and do better, then we’re just going to raise the goals higher and try to accomplish more… He knows that I’m very, very confident in him. I just don’t want he, or us, ever to feel satisfied or like we’ve arrived. We’re just going to keep trying to reach higher and higher and see how far we can take it.”

Jack Fox is the NFL’s top-graded punter through two weeks

Fox has also been flawless as a holder

Looking for a silver lining from the Detroit Lions’ dreadful start to the 2020 season? Through the first two weeks, the Lions appear to have found themselves a great punter.

Jack Fox has played quite well in both Detroit losses. Fox, who spent much of the 2019 season on the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad before coming to Detroit’s own practice squad in December, is off to an amazing start as Sam Martin’s replacement.

Fox is the top-graded punter through the first two weeks in Pro Football Focus’ play-by-play grading. And it’s not particularly close either. Not bad for a guy who eked out the job after a summer-long battle with Arryn Siposs to succeed Detroit’s long-time punter, now in Denver.

His position coach, new Lions special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs, is similarly impressed. After a stellar Week 2 under heavy pressure in Green Bay, Fox earned this praise from Coombs in the coach’s press conference,

“Jack, obviously, he’s kicking the crap out of the ball. He’s doing a great job in that phase.”

He’s also been good on kickoffs and flawless in his important duty as holder for Matt Prater’s placekicks.

Lions coordinator Brayden Coombs: C.J. Moore ‘has had an outstanding camp’

Detroit Lions special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs recently said safety C.J. Moore “has had an outstanding camp”.

Getting coaches to comment on a player’s progress during the offseason can often be a chore. So when a coordinator brings up a player unprompted and then praises him, it’s worth taking notice.

That’s exactly what happened on Sunday when Lions special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs virtually met with the Lions media and brought up safety C.J. Moore and his contributions during training camp.

“Hesitate to single anybody out, but I would say, C.J. Moore is a guy who has had an outstanding camp,” Coombs said. “I would say first off, you talk about just a great kid, hard worker, has worked for everything.”

Moore, an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi in 2019, made the Lions roster last season based on his ability to contribute on special teams as a starting gunner. But Coombs has asked Moore to change roles this offseason and he has taken on Tavon Wilson’s old role as Personal Protector (PP).

The “PP” is a massively important role on special teams as he is the last line of defense for the punter, typically setting up five-yards back from the long snapper. The PP is responsible for recognizing the punt rush formation and making blocking adjustments accordingly.

“To be perfectly frank,” Coombs continued, “(Moore) is a guy probably that I underestimated coming in as a new coach and probably I was just wrong on just going off of the tape and my perception of him coming in but has really just kind of took the bull by the horns.

“You know, the guy had multiple tackles as a gunner last year, was a starting gunner and I’m sure you guys have seen – kind of I came in and asked him to move to PP, and not only the PP, but moved him to be the backup PP and he never complained. Never tried to convince me that he was best where he was, just really embraced it, dove in headfirst, wore me and ‘Mule’ (Don Muhlbach) out all offseason just learning the protection aspect of playing that position and did a great job, has really earned everything that he is getting right now in terms of playing time and opportunities.”

As the Lions fifth safety on the depth chart, Moore entered camp firmly on the roster bubble, but his ability to stand out on special teams could earn him another year in the NFL.

“So, that would be a guy (Moore) that I am very, very excited with, excited for, and really proud of,” Coombs continued. “I would say, just the way he handled everything, the way he approaches everything on a daily basis. We have a team of 53 guys like that, we’ll be in great shape. There’s a lot of other guys I could rattle off, but a guy who’s really stood out in camp as one of our best players would be C.J.”

Go ahead and find a spot for him in your 53-man roster projections.