Tag: Chris Smith

James Madison looking to poach Giants assistant OL coach Chris Smith

Holy Cross is looking to hire New York Giants assistant offensive line coach Chris Smith to oversee their OL.

Editor’s note: Art Stapleton of USA TODAY reports that Smith is being hired by James Madison.

If you thought the New York Giants and head coach Brian Daboll had their staff set ahead of the 2024 season, think again.

Matt Zenitz of 247Sports and CBS Sports reports that James Madison is looking to hire Giants assistant offensive line coach Chris Smith to oversee their OL.

Smith had been serving as the Holy Cross offensive coordinator when hired by the Giants last March. It was a position he held for five seasons.

Prior to that, Smith served as their offensive line coach, run game coordinator, and recruiting coordinator.

During his time at Holy Cross, Smith helped develop several offensive linemen who went on to receive All-Patriot League honors. Among them are James Murray, Brett Boddy, Brian Foley, and Nick Olsofka.

Smith was part of a staff that has led the Crusaders to three consecutive Patriot League championships. They also earned an NCAA football championship subdivision berth in 2019, which was the first for the program in 10 years.

In addition to his time with Holy Cross, Smith, who played center for the school before graduation, also had stints with New Haven, Northern Colorado, and Buffalo.

Unfortunately, that success didn’t carry over with the Giants. Smith joined offensive line coach Bobby Johnson and the pair oversaw a unit that surrendered 85 sacks, the second-most in NFL history.

Johnson was fired on Black Monday and replaced by Carmen Bricillo.

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Tom Kennedy among 11 players signed to reserve/future deals by the Lions

The Detroit Lions signed 11 players to reserve/future contracts, including WR Tom Kennedy and OT Connor Galvin

One of the first orders of business for all teams in the offseason is to sign players to reserve/future contracts. With the Lions season not ending until after the NFC Championship game, it took longer than other years.

The Lions added 11 players to reserve/future deals on Tuesday. A reserve/future contract is a commitment by the team to bring the players back with a chance to compete for spots in the coming season. Typically, they are players coming off the practice squad or unsigned street free agents who had some connection to the team.

The biggest name is wide receiver Tom Kennedy, who has been on and off the Lions roster since the 2019 season.

The full list:

  • LB Mitchell Agude
  • WR Maurice Alexander
  • OL Matt Farniok
  • RB Jake Funk
  • OT Connor Galvin
  • CB Craig James
  • S Brandon Joseph
  • WR Tom Kennedy
  • OL Michael Niese
  • DT Chris Smith

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Lions bring back DL to the practice squad

Lions bring back rookie DL Chris Smith to the practice squad

As the Lions nation anxiously awaits word on the fate of EDGE James Houston, the team did make a roster move involving the defense on Wednesday. The team announced it has brought rookie DT Chris Smith back to the practice squad.

It’s the third stint on the practice squad in Detroit for Smith. He joined the team as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Notre Dame. Smith showed some ability as an undersized (he’s 290 pounds) interior rusher during training camp. He never signed with any other NFL team after being released from the Lions practice squad twice during the season.

The Lions had an opening on the practice squad after last weekend’s roster moves. Detroit will determine the fate of Houston on Thursday; the pass rusher’s activation window from injured reserve ends on that day. The Lions must either activate him to the 53-man roster or else Houston’s season is over.

Lions waive freshly activated FB Jason Cabinda in a series of roster moves

Cabinda was activated from I.R. and then waived in a span of 24 hours

It’s been a weird 24 hours with the Detroit Lions on the NFL’s transaction wire. After making some moves on Thursday, primarily activating FB Jason Caibnda from the injured reserve, GM Brad Holmes and the Lions were busy on Friday.

Cabinda was waived on Friday in a surprising maneuver. Waiving Cabinda means he will not be eligible to rejoin the team in time for Saturday night’s game in Dallas.

Taking Cabinda’s spot on the 53-man roster is kicker Michael Badgley. That move was expected, with Badgley facing the final practice squad elevation for 2023 after being elevated the last two weeks. Detroit still has one other opening on the 53-man roster.

Also, the Lions shuffled the practice squad. The team released DL Chris Smith and brought back OL Michael Schofield to the practice squad.

Waiving Cabinda could be a move designed to protect other players at the bottom of the roster whom the Lions wish to keep. It’s unlikely any other team will claim Cabinda for a couple of reasons. First, few teams utilize a straight fullback like Cabinda; most already have their FB or use a hybrid TE or extra OL in the role, if needed. Secondly, Cabinda is coming off an injury and has bene sight unseen for any team that might be interested.

Arkansas football announces plans to honor Chris Smith, Ryan Mallett and Alex Collins

Hunter Yurachek shared how Arkansas plans to honor Chris Smith, Ryan Mallett and Alex Collins this season.

After the tragic passings of Chris Smith, Ryan Mallett and Alex Collins over the summer, Arkansas fans have shared numerous tributes for the three legendary players.

Fans have also offered countless ideas for how the football team could honor each this season. Today, Hunter Yurachek shared one way the school plans to remember Mallett and Collins, and how Smith will be honored later this year.

In a tweet, Yurachek shared that Collins and Mallett’s initials will be painted on the sidelines for every home game this year. The initials “AC” will be featured on the 3-yard line at each end of the field and the initials “RM” will be on the 15-yard line. The yard line coinciding with the jersey number that each player wore while at Arkansas.

Following the tweet, many fans asked what the school planned to do to honor Chris Smith. Yurachek announced shortly after that Smith’s family will serve as honorary captains later this November when the Razorbacks host Auburn in Fayetteville.

Saturday will mark Arkansas’ first true home game of the season. The Razorbacks will kickoff against Kent State at 3:00 p.m. and it will be televised on SEC Network.

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Detroit Lions practice squad tracker

The Lions are signing players to the practice squad to start the season. Here’s who has signed in Detroit.

With the 53-man active roster established, the Detroit Lions are now forming the 16-player practice squad for the start of the 2023 season.

All players who are not signed to another team are eligible for the practice squad, though there are limits on how many vested veterans can be on any practice squad.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell extolled the virtue and importance of the practice squad in his final press conference before the roster cutdowns.

“I understand it is, it’s a 53-man roster, but it’s really not. It’s a 60-man team. It’s a 69-man team is what it is, and that’s kind of how we view it. These guys are all on the same team. We all help each other out and every one of those guys, there’s a good chance they’re going to play for us,” Campbell said of the practice squad.

Knowing that context, here is who has signed with the Lions 16-man practice squad.

Predicting the 22 remaining Detroit Lions roster cutdowns

The Detroit Lions have 75 players on the active roster as of noon Monday and have to be down to 53 by 4 p.m. Tuesday

It’s almost time for the Detroit Lions initial 53-man roster to be set for the 2023 regular season. The team has already trimmed several players from the 90-man preseason limit, but there are more cutdowns to be made.

As of 12 p.m. ET on Monday, the Lions have 75 players still on the active roster. That leaves 22 more players to be removed from the active roster before 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Note that CB Emmanuel Moseley and QB Hendon Hooker are not currently on the active roster, so they don’t factor in. WR Jameson Williams begins serving his suspension after the cutdowns, so he’s not involved either. 

50 days until Browns season opener: 5 players to wear 50 in Cleveland

The countdown has reached the last of the 50’s with just 50 days remaining

The Cleveland Browns have traveled to the Greenbrier in West Virginia for training camp to begin with 50 days remaining before the start of the season. In team history, there have been a total of 29 different players to wear the number 50. The first to wear it was John Yonakor who wore it from 1946 until the end of the 1949 season. The number is currently worn by linebacker Jacob Phillips who has worn it for the last three seasons since he was drafted in the third round.

It will be interesting to see if Phillips can make the 53-man roster after a really bad season in 2022 before injury cut the season short.

Seahawks announce 4 roster moves ahead of latest OTAs practice

The Seattle Seahawks announced a few roster moves before today’s practice started at the VMAC in Renton.

The Seattle Seahawks announced a few roster moves before today’s practice started at the VMAC in Renton.

Here’s a quick review of the team’s transactions.

Lions OTA notebook: June 1st observations on Gibbs, Goff, Jamo, kickers and more

Here are some quick notes and observations from the Detroit Lions June 1st OTA session

The Lions held the second session of OTAs open to the media on a sunny, hot Thursday afternoon to kick off June. It’s still non-contact and voluntary, so drawing any conclusions from what we saw is way too hasty, but there were a few interesting developments from the practice fields in Allen Park.

Here are some quick notes and observations from the unpadded practice session that leads into next week’s mandatory minicamp.