Tag: Coach Search

Saints’ Michael Hodges is a key figure in Patriots DC search

The Patriots interviewed Saints linebackers coach Michael Hodges for their DC opening. Even if he doesn’t get the job, they might have a role for him:

The New Orleans Saints could lose yet another assistant to a promotion elsewhere around the league. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports that linebackers coach Michael Hodges has interviewed for the New England Patriots defensive coordinator opening, along with several other candidates. Head coach Jerod Mayo will likely still call plays defensively, just like Dennis Allen has done, but there’s plenty of room for additions to his staff.

And Hodges is a key figure in the search. An internal option for the job, Patriots defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, is expected to interview soon — but he’s worked with Hodges before. Here’s what Reiss had to say about the connection:

Some close to the situation say Covington, who attended Mayo’s introduction as coach Wednesday, is well-positioned to elevate to a defensive coordinator role. The interview with Hodges, who was co-defensive coordinator with Covington at Eastern Illinois in 2016, could be a tipoff that it might be headed in that direction.

That suggests there could be room for Hodges in New England even if he doesn’t get the job, possibly working with Covington again as co-defensive coordinators. That strategy didn’t work for the Saints in 2022 with Ryan Nielsen and Kris Richard sharing the title, but it’s worked for other teams, and maybe that’s a situation Mayo could navigate more effectively than Allen did. Hodges and Covington doing well together in the past lends credence to the idea.

If Hodges believes this gives him a better path to advancement and calling his own plays than his current role in New Orleans, he owes it to himself to explore it. Former coworkers like Nielsen and Aaron Glenn have found success after leaving the Saints and getting out of Allen’s shadow. We’ll see if anything comes of this interest.

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Common themes emerging in Saints offensive coordinator search

Common themes are emerging in the Saints’ offensive coordinator search — beyond being products of the McVay coaching tree:

We know three of the names in the list of New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator candidates: Dan Pitcher, Zac Robinson, and Shane Waldron. While they all coach for different teams, they do share some commonalities that explain why the Saints are prioritizing them.

And it goes beyond being offshoots of the Sean McVay coaching tree. But that’s the most obvious (and arguably most important) factor, so let’s start there. Pitcher hasn’t worked with McVay directly but he’s been a top assistant for Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, who worked with receivers and quarterbacks under McVay earlier in his career. Taylor’s offense takes a lot of cues from McVay and Pitcher has come up in the same system.

Both Robinson (who is still with the Rams) and Waldron (who was hired away by the division-rival Seattle Seahawks) worked under McVay personally, and his influence on them is clear. In Waldron’s case, the Seahawks used even heavier play action (on 22.9% of their passes) than the Rams did this year (18.8%). Seattle also tried more passes further downfield more often (targeting receivers 20-plus yards downfield on 12.3% of passes) than L.A. (10.4%). For comparison, the Saints averaged deep shots on 12.2% of their attempts and used play action on just 16% of their passes.

What about the run game? All three teams averaged more yards per carry before contact than the Saints: the Rams and Seahawks both gained 2.7 yards before hitting a defender, and the Bengals were just behind at 2.5. The Saints were nearly half a yard worse at 2.3. The New Orleans offensive line was a mess for much of the season, so moving to a McVay-influenced scheme could help them clean the slate.

The Seahawks used zone on 67.9% of their runs, while the Bengals leaned heavier to gap blocking (using zone on 43.7%), as did the Rams (who used zone on just 38.6%). The Saints are more in line with Seattle while using zone on 62.1% of their runs. New Orleans was the only team of the three to not have multiple running backs gain 15-plus yards on multiple carries this season (Alvin Kamara had 6 of them).

So this tells us the Saints want to deploy a more effective running game and a passing attack that relies more heavily on play action and big shots downfield, which lines up with their personnel. Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed are two of the best receivers in the league past the numbers — use them.

Something else to note: the Saints averaged the second-fewest yards after the catch in 2023 as a team, at 4.4. Only the Carolina Panthers (4.1) were worse. All three of these teams they’re looking to poach from ranked top-10: the Bengals and Rams at 5.6, and the Seahawks at 5.4. Some of that is on personnel in stocking up on receivers who can make a play with the ball in their hands, but a lot of it is also on the play design. Getting receivers open with room to work is key, and each of the teams that Waldron, Robinson, and Pitcher come from excel at it. Hopefully the Saints can land one of them, or someone with similar philosophies.

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Ben Johnson is ‘most coveted candidate’ in next NFL head coach hiring cycle

It doesn’t mean Johnson will leave, but it feels certain he’ll have the opportunity in the coming offseason

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is once again anticipated to be a very hot commodity on the NFL head coaching carousel in the coming offseason. In fact, Johnson was listed in a recent feature by NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero as the most coveted candidate by teams who are making coaching changes.

Here’s what Pelissero wrote about Johnson. Note the final line:

Johnson coached quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends before becoming Detroit’s offensive coordinator in 2022, giving him a good feel for the whole picture. And he should be even more prepared to run his own show after another year as OC. Many league sources consider Johnson the most coveted candidate in this hiring cycle.

Johnson backed away from chances to leave in the last offseason. He was a front-runner for the Carolina Panthers vacancy as well as an early top candidate for the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts. Johnson pulled his name from consideration from Carolina, his hometown team and owners of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

After committing to another year in Detroit, Johnson explained why he came back,

“You know what, there are so many things going on here, so many good people, coaches, players. I love the offensive staff, everyone we have on board there. I love the players. I love coming in to work everyday. Coach Campbell is incredible. So, end of the day, talking with my family, it just made sense. It made sense, don’t ruin a good thing.”

The 37-year-old doesn’t have any head coaching experience, but get ready for the barrage of interest in some NFL team giving it to him — if Johnson chooses to leave. The factors that kept him in Detroit for 2023 have only blossomed even brighter this season.

Sean Payton hasn’t made it to the second round of any head coach interviews

There’s plenty of time for this to change, but so far Sean Payton hasn’t made it to the second round of any head coach interviews. A trade may need to wait until 2024:

Woof. Look, it’s early, and logistically it makes sense. But it sure seems as if Sean Payton has not made the cut to the second round of interviews with several teams that were quick to meet with the former New Orleans Saints head coach.

Payton’s first meeting with the Arizona Cardinals is scheduled for Thursday, but he hasn’t penciled in any follow-up visits with the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, or Denver Broncos at the time of writing. Each of those teams has brought back other candidates for their head coach vacancies, but none of them have scheduled a second interview with Payton.

And NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport isn’t bullish on the odds of Payton getting traded to a new team this offseason. Rapoport’s prognosis is grim: “As of right now, it does not seem like there is a place for Sean Payton. We’ll see. But it does not seem like there is a place (for Payton) in the coaching world right now.”

Payton was previously reported to have plans to meet with Broncos ownership again on Wednesday or Thursday, but those plans fell through and he went to Arizona instead. He could absolutely circle back to them again (which is also the case for the Texans and Panthers), and no team has hired a new head coach yet. We’re all very much on the outside looking in here. That doesn’t make this less concerning, though.

So what’s the deal? Why has the shine come off of Payton so quickly? Has it really, or is this a case of perception not matching reality? There are a couple of factors that could explain teams’ interest going elsewhere. For one thing, and we’re being objective here, Payton only won a single Super Bowl while working with a top-five quarterback for more than a decade. Some ownership groups may be too tightfisted to meet his contract demands (he’s been reported to be seeking a $20 million-plus annual salary). Payton enjoyed unquestioned authority and a ton of organizational control in New Orleans, and some teams may not indulge that.

This could change in a hurry. It only takes one phone call for the narrative to shift wildly and for Payton reemerge as the favorite in one of these coach searches. But at this point it at least feels like Payton is likelier to return to FOX Sports for another year than to settle for less with one of these gigs. And that would be tough to swallow for the Saints, who badly need extra draft capital this offseason to retool their roster. Let’s see how it plays out.

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Lions OC Ben Johnson getting head coaching buzz around the league

Johnson is starting to get a lot of attention as a potential head coaching candidate this coming offseason

Now that we’re almost to December and the final stretch of the season, the proliferation of lists naming potential head coaching candidates really starts firing up. Those lists are sure to include some current Detroit Lions assistant coaches, even though the team is 4-7 after the Week 12 loss to the Bills.

The new hot name from Detroit is young offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. He was the headliner in a recent article from the Washington Post.

As Jason LaCanfora quotes one unnamed league executive in talking about Johnson,

“He’s special,” said another longtime personnel executive, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. “What he’s had to overcome with injuries and from a personnel standpoint, the way they run the football, what he’s done for Goff: Not many coordinators are doing what he’s doing. You look at the film and the way his payers respond to him. That’s how you evaluate a coach. That’s coaching.”

This is Johnson’s first season as a coordinator, and the Lions offense has overachieved relative to personnel and through myriad injuries to key players. Johnson also has an approachable manner with players that earns the 36-year-old respect and attention from around the league. It’s something CBS Sports broadcaster Tony Romo noted during the Thanksgiving broadcast and was also a hot topic on the Sirius XM NFL Radio discussion on Monday.

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6 candidates to replace Sean Payton as Saints head coach

6 candidates to replace Sean Payton as Saints head coach

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The New Orleans Saints are starting with a delayed entry to this year’s NFL head coach hiring cycle, but no team has announced their new coach just yet. So while they’ve got to work quickly to catch up with the best candidates, there is still a wide pool of options to source from.

And while there’s a big push from fans to just hand the job to defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, the Saints owe it to themselves and their supporters to make sure they’re hiring the best man for the job. With that in mind, here are six candidates I’d call if I were in charge of the Saints coaching search:

Ravens interviewed Saints secondary coach Kris Richard for DC opening

Ravens interviewed Saints secondary coach Kris Richard for DC opening

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Sean Payton might not be the only one leaving the New Orleans Saints coaching staff this offseason. Secondary coach Kris Richard is drawing attention too, having received an interview request for the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator job — and USA Today’s Josina Anderson reports that he’s also already spoken with the Baltimore Ravens for the same opportunity.

Of course that Ravens interview was held virtually over Zoom, so it’s possible that Baltimore circles back for an in-person meeting to discuss it further. It’s unclear when he’ll interview with Pittsburgh.

But the Saints could very well hold onto Richard by promoting him to defensive coordinator if Dennis Allen ends up the next head coach. And that’s a very real possibility in the wake of Payton stepping away. There are a lot of moving parts involved here and plenty of time to sort it all out, so all fans can do now is watch and wait. Whatever comes next, hopefully the team is better for it.

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Dennis Allen headlines potential Saints losses to 2022 hiring cycle

Which Saints coaches and execs could depart in the 2022 hiring cycle? Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has to top the list, ass does assistant GM Jeff Ireland:

Few coaching staffs were hit harder last year than the New Orleans Saints, who lost a number of key position coaches to other teams around the league — including their former tight ends coach Dan Campbell, who took secondary coach Aaron Glenn with him to go rebuild the Detroit Lions. Longtime quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi and defensive assistant Michael Wilhoite both joined Brandon Staley’s first-year Los Angeles Chargers regime.

Now the cycle is beginning again, and the Saints could experience more upheaval. So which of their coaches and executives could be on the move as jobs open up across the NFL? Whether they’re considered for a head coach position or a bigger role as a coordinator or assistant, the Saints have some attractive candidates on their roster. Let’s dig in, starting with the most obvious possible departure:

Lions announce completed interviews with Ed Dodds and Arthur Smith

The Detroit Lions announced that they had completed two more interviews on Tuesday, bringing their total interview counts up to 12 general manager candidates and six head-coaching candidates.

Ed Dodds, Indianapolis Colts assistant general manager, has officially interviewed for the Lions open general manager position. While Arthur Smith, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, has interviewed for the head coaching position.

The Detroit Lions announced that they had completed two more interviews on Tuesday, bringing their total interview counts up to 12 general manager candidates and six head-coaching candidates.

Ed Dodds, Indianapolis Colts assistant general manager, has officially interviewed for the Lions open general manager position. While Arthur Smith, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, has interviewed for the head coaching position.

After a thorough few weeks of laying the groundwork on initial interviews, the Lions entered this week by bringing in candidates whose teams were in last weekend’s NFL playoffs.

With regards to their coaching search, the Lions brought in Saints’ tight end coach/assistant head coach, Dan Campbell to interview on Monday, Smith completed his interview today, and Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator, is reportedly set to interview at an undisclosed time this week.

At general manager, Dodds was a surprise addition to the Tuesday schedule, as he is notoriously particular about the interviews he accepts, having already withdrawn his name from the Panthers search. He is a highly respected candidate and one that is pursued every cycle.

It’s possible Dodds was the final GM candidate in the initial stages of Lions’ interviews, as it has been reported that the Lions will hold their first second-interview on Wednesday with Rams’ Brad Holmes (director of college scouting).

The general manager search appears to be narrowing down, while the coaching search is still underway and may have a few more candidate names added to the interview list.

Stay tuned to Lions Wire for more updates as they unfold.

Report: Eric Bieniemy interview with Jags set for Wednesday

Earlier on Tuesday, we relayed Josina Anderson’s report about the Jacksonville Jaguars looking to interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy – and it appears they got it. Per Anderson’s latest update, the interview will take …

Earlier on Tuesday, we relayed Josina Anderson’s report about the Jacksonville Jaguars looking to interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy — and it appears they got it. Per Anderson’s latest update, the interview will take place on Wednesday.

Bieniemy is arguably the most popular name amongst fans when it comes to coaching candidates. Of course, the reason for that is because of what the Chiefs have built offensively with former league MVP Patrick Mahomes and company, who finished the regular season first in passing (312.8 YPG) and total offense (415.8 YPG).

With the draft capital the Jags have (including the No. 1 pick), a projected amount of $74.4 million in cap space (the most in the NFL), and patient ownership, Bieniemy and the Jags could be a good fit. If the Jags could get Trevor Lawrence in the 2020 NFL Draft, Bieniemy would especially be a good fit to be paired with the star signal-caller.