Tag: coaching change

ESPN: Bill Belichick ‘would be interested’ in coaching Cowboys in 2025

From @ToddBrock24f7: The legendary coach won’t be on an NFL sideline this season, but he apparently has a shortlist of clubs for 2025. Dallas is on the list.

The only head coach in NFL history with eight Super Bowl rings couldn’t get a job in the league this offseason and will instead be watching the 2024 campaign from his sofa.

But expect to hear Bill Belichick’s name a lot when the Cowboys come up in conversation over the next nine months.

As part of an ESPN story on Belichick’s failed job hunt, writers Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham, and Jeremy Fowler reveal that the coach, who turned 72 this week, now has a shortlist of teams in his sights for a prospective return to the sidelines in 2025.

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And the Cowboys are on it.

“He is believed to be biding his time until next January for openings on teams he has told confidants he would be interested in coaching: the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. A source who spoke with a longtime friend of Belichick said the friend wonders if the coach will have another opportunity: “I don’t think Bill Belichick will ever be a head coach again in the National Football League,” the friend said. “Unless it’s [for] Jerry Jones.”

It’s worth pointing out, of course, that current Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is entering the final year of his contract, with Jones having decided against giving him an extension beyond 2024, even despite McCarthy leading the team to three consecutive 12-win seasons. McCarthy’s deal will officially expire as soon as the Cowboys play their final game of the season or postseason.

There were whispers that the axe would fall on McCarthy back in January, after the Cowboys’ embarrassing playoff loss to Green Bay, which took place just three days after Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced they were parting ways after 24 seasons.

As the ESPN piece explains:

“On paper, the Cowboys seemed to make sense: Belichick and Jerry Jones are decades-long friends, and both are in win-now mode. Nobody is better than Belichick at converting a talented roster into a championship team. And Belichick told a friend that he liked the idea of sticking it to the Krafts by working for Jones. But Jones, for all his flash, bluster and vows this offseason to go “all-in,” is change-averse when it comes to head coaches. He decided quickly after Dallas’ blowout exit in the wild-card round to let Mike McCarthy coach the final year of his contract.”

But McCarthy is far from the only lame duck at the moment in Dallas. Quarterback Dak Prescott should be in line for a new deal in the neighborhood of $60 million annually but is, rather, staring down the barrel of his own contract year. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is entering his fifth-year option season and waiting for negotiations on a contract that would probably make him the highest-paid receiver in the game. Edge rusher Micah Parsons is eligible for a new deal, too.

The team hasn’t moved on any of those proceedings.

The confluence of all those situations have led many to speculate that Jones is already writing off 2024 and looking at a complete and total reset for 2025. Word that the most decorated head coach in history is waiting by the phone will only throw high-octane fuel on that fire.

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Notes the ESPN story:

“[Belichick] has told confidants he thinks he’ll get at least one interview next year. Dallas could be an option, if Jerry Jones moves on from Mike McCarthy, a lame duck in the final year of his contract. Belichick has a strong relationship with both Jerry and Stephen Jones, dating back years. On the other hand, Jerry Jones has been close with a lot of excellent head coaches whom he has never hired.”

In the meantime, there are seats all around The Star in Frisco that are already getting warm. And there’s a living legend apparently eyeing the throne as he studies game film from his couch.

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Dre Bly, John Fox among the coaches moving on from the Lions

Dre Bly, John Fox among the coaches moving on from the Lions after the 2023 season

In light of the official hiring of three new defensive coaches, the Detroit Lions also had to subtract a few coaches from the team.

A couple of the departures were already known. Defensive line coach John Scott was replaced during Senior Bowl week by new DL coach and run game coordinator Terrell Williams. DBs coach Brian Duker left for the Miami Dolphins last week.

One more positional coach has also been let go. Cornerbacks coach Dre Bly no longer appears on the team’s coaching roster. Like Scott, Bly was brought in from the college ranks for the 2023 season. His group didn’t show a lot of progress, and his departure is not exactly a surprise.

Defensive quality control coach Wayne Blair is also no longer with the team. His contract expired and was not renewed.

Two senior assistant coaches have also moved on. Former NFL head coach John Fox won’t be back in 2024 after one season as a defensive assistant. Longtime NFL coach Jim Hostler is also out after one year as a senior offensive assistant in Detroit.

Broncos hire Lions assistant coach John Morton as their new passing game coordinator

Broncos hire Lions senior offensive assistant coach John Morton as their new passing game coordinator under new head coach Sean Payton

There is another opening of the Detroit Lions coaching staff now that the Denver Broncos have fleshed out new head coach Sean Payton’s initial coaching lineup. The Broncos have hired Lions senior offensive assistant John Morton as the new passing game coordinator in Denver.

Morton, 53, was only in Detroit for one season and primarily worked with the passing offense. Prior to his brief stint with the Lions, Morton was with the Raiders in the same role. He was the New York Jets’ offensive coordinator in 2017 and was the WR coach in New Orleans in 2015-2016, the last year of which he worked with Lions head coach Dan Campbell.

The Broncos passing offense will have a distinct Detroit flavor. Morton will be working directly under new offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, who was the Lions’ OC from 2014-2016 under head coach Jim Caldwell.

Morton’s departure leaves an opening on the offensive staff. The Lions have also yet to replace defensive line coach Todd Wash, who left for the same role with the Carolina Panthers.

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Instant reaction to Duce Staley departing the den

Instant reaction to assistant head coach Duce Staley departing the Lions for the Panthers and what it means for Detroit

A relatively stable coaching situation with the Detroit Lions took a big turn on Wednesday. Assistant head coach and RB coach Duce Staley is leaving Detroit to join the new staff with the Carolina Panthers.

Staley spent the last two seasons serving under Dan Campbell. The longtime NFL RB was known for his blunt, gruff style, something that the Hard Knocks cameras captured well. He coaxed a great season out of Jamaal Williams, who led the NFL in touchdowns in 2022.

The timing is interesting. The Lions brought in Steve Heiden as the new TE coach on Monday, leaving Tanner Engstrand with the sole role of passing game coordinator after Engstrand held both roles in 2022. Staley’s departure leaves the assistant head coach title open to offer as a way to retain a coach like Engstrand who could be in demand by other teams looking to fill out a new staff.

There is no obvious replacement in-house to replace Staley as the RB coach. Special teams assistant Jett Modkins is one potential name to know.

Twitter reaction to Mike Brey announcing retirement

A Notre Dame all-time great!

After the way the 2022-23 season has gone for Notre Dame, it was hardly a surprise when news of Mike Brey’s impending retirement broke on Thursday night.  Notre Dame will play out the stretch for the year and be on the search for a new men’s basketball coach for the first time since the summer of 2000.

We’ll discuss potential replacements in the days and weeks to come but first we’ll look back at Brey’s incredible run at Notre Dame.  Brey won more games as Notre Dame’s head coach than anyone who previously held the post and led the Irish to back-to-back Elite 8 appearances in 2015 and 2016.

News broke of Brey’s plans to step away on Thursday night and understandably a lot of the Notre Dame and college basketball communities shared their reactions on social media.  Here are just a few of the best of those.

Jaguars exec Tony Khan: Team ‘feels very different, in a good way’ under Doug Pederson

It sure doesn’t sound like Jaguars executive Tony Khan misses having Urban Meyer at the helm of the franchise.

Jacksonville Jaguars executive vice president Tony Khan is already excited about the work Doug Pederson has done as the team’s head coach, even though the team hasn’t yet played a regular season game.

In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Khan said excitement is “through the roof” in Jacksonville after watching Pederson lead the team through training camp. And it sure didn’t sound like Khan misses having Urban Meyer at the helm of the franchise.

“You can’t force people to respect someone or like someone or want to work with someone,” Khan told Yahoo. “I think at the end of the day, someone needs to do the job on their own merits and the command Doug has of the whole building, respect he has from everybody and the genuine way he conducts himself has gone a really, really long way with a lot of people, including all the staff, everybody around the office and the players.

“It feels very different, in a good way, and very organized and a lot of that is based on the experience of Doug and his staff and the achievements they have in this business, the playoff wins, championship games and Super Bowl rings.”

Meyer was fired by the Jaguars in December after leading the team to a 2-11 record through 13 games. During his short tenure in Jacksonville, Meyer was the subject of several scandals including an accusation that he kicked the team’s kicker Josh Lambo, and another that he called his assistant coaches “losers.”

LSU fires coach Will Wade

Wade was cited for five Level I NCAA violations in the Notice of Allegations.

LSU fired fifth-year men’s basketball coach Will Wade on Saturday following the team’s exit in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, according to multiple reports. The news was first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

Wade finishes his tenure in Baton Rouge with a 105-51 record. His deepest run in the NCAA Tournament came in his second season in 2018-19, when he took the Tigers to the Sweet 16. The school also fired associate head coach Bill Armstrong.

Kevin Nickelberry, who has served as an assistant for the Tigers since 2019, will take over as the interim coach. Nickelberry previously served as the head coach at Hampton (2006-09) and Howard (2010-19), earning a career record of 145-238.

He was also the head coach of the women’s team at Columbia Union College from 1991-94 and for the Libyan men’s national team from 2009-10.

This news comes just days after LSU was hit with a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA regarding the federal investigation into corruption in college basketball that began in 2017.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, Wade was cited with five Level I NCAA violations as well as with obstructing an investigation by concealing evidence and unethical conduct. The NOA also alleges that Wade and LSU engaged in “planned/schemed/purposeful” cheating.

Per an amendment to Wade’s contract that was added in 2019, the school is permitted to fire him for cause if he is cited by the NCAA, which would mean it owes him nothing.

In a joint statement from university president William Tate and athletics director Scott Woodward, LSU emphasized that its decision to terminate Wade was not “an acknowledgment of agreement with any of the allegations.”

LSU began the 2021-22 season 12-0 but finished with a fairly disappointing 22-11 record. The Tigers are projected as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will find out their bracket placement on Sunday. But they will have to make their run in March amid a coaching change.

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Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

Notre Dame staffer to coach linebackers in SEC

Reunited and it feels so good…

Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame are still in search for a defensive coordinator but now have another coaching departure to potentially replace.

Defensive analyst Nick Lezynski, a former Notre Dame player, is leaving that role to join former Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea, who is the head coach at Vanderbilt.  Lezynski worked under Lea with the Irish and will coach the linebackers for the Commodores.

Lezynski had been on Notre Dame’s staff since 2018 and will be replacing John Egorugwu who left Vanderbilt to join the New York Giants coaching staff.

Related:

Super Bowl LVI:  FIW Staff Predictions

Notre Dame’s 2023 recruiting class commitments

Notre Dame coaching staff tracker

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Nick on Twitter: @nickshepkowski

Jerry Jones: ‘Quite a letdown’, but won’t discuss McCarthy’s status as HC

The Cowboys owner said, ‘We needed to make this happen.’ After another early playoff exit for the team, something else may have to happen. | From @ToddBrock24f7

In the end, it was Jerry Jones who perhaps summed it up best.

In the moments following a devastating 23-17 loss to the 49ers that ousted Dallas from the postseason yet again, the the 79-year-old owner described the team’s pathetic performance as just the latest chapter in a book that Cowboys fans have grown all too accustomed to reading along with.

“We had a team that, all year, would basically disappoint to some degree, and then turn around and show,” Jones told reporters at AT&T Stadium Sunday night. “And this was a game that we needed to show. And against a team like San Francisco, as solid a team as they are, no matter how good we looked on paper, we needed to make this happen.”

Jones, though, was unwilling to entertain axing the character most are painting as the bad guy most responsible for that disappointment, head coach Mike McCarthy.

“I don’t even want to discuss anything like that at this particular time. No discussion.”

But like it or not, Jones will have to discuss a coaching change sooner rather than later. With offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn both listed on the slate for multiple head coaching interviews around the league, there is almost assuredly change coming at or very near the top of the Cowboys coaching staff.

The idea that Jones would be able to keep the trio of McCarthy, Moore, and Quinn intact for another season was always a far-fetched one. But that was before the sloppy and undisciplined playoff loss that Cowboys players simply looked unprepared for. Now, it’s doubtful that many around the team even want to keep all three.

“I’m not going to discuss coaching, the preparation, any of those things,” Jones repeated. “That’s not on the table. The game speaks for itself.”

That it does.

Five-of-14 on third downs. Just 77 rushing yards. A mind-numbing 14 penalties. Five sacks allowed. Only one drive with snaps inside the opponent’s red zone… and that was after the defense’s lone takeaway set up the offense eight yards away. A 53% completion rate from the $40 million-dollar quarterback. A special-teams unit that pulled off a fake punt, but couldn’t get the ball snapped on the ensuing first down without being called for delay of game. An offense that couldn’t execute a hurry-up spike as the clock ticked to zero.

“It’s quite a letdown,” Jones muttered in the stadium tunnel. “Quite a letdown.”

Time ran out on the Cowboys. And now time could be running out on Jones’s chances to bring a sixth Lombardi Trophy to Dallas.

“When you get this combination of players together, you need to have success, because we all know how it goes in the NFL,” Jones said. “The whole thing is set up to take away from the best and add to the ones that need improvement. And personnel-wise, I think we have one of the best.”

While Jones may still believe in the guys actually wearing helmets and pads on Sundays, the focus will, now, inevitably, turn to the guys with the headsets and whistles.

“This is one of the best group of players that I’ve been around.”

Jones himself emphasized the one key word in that sentence.

He knows changes are coming to the coaching staff. Which coordinators get lured away may be out of his control. But whether he elects to retain McCarthy- now 10-9 all-time in the postseason as a head coach- is for him and him alone to decide.

No matter how good we looked on paper, we needed to make this happen.

Those were Jones’s own words. Cowboys Nation waits to see what he will make happen before the 2022 edition.

We had a team that, all year, would basically disappoint to some degree, and then turn around and show.

They disappointed mightily on Sunday. Now it’s up to Jones to turn around and show… something.

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Josh Allen lobbies for Joe Cullen to return as defensive coordinator

Allen said he wants Cullen to stick around so the defense can build on the system that was put in place in 2021.

Urban Meyer’s decision to hire Joe Cullen as defensive coordinator was certainly a bit of a questionable one. Cullen had no experience as a defensive play-caller, which made him a bit of a head-scratching choice for a coach that had no experience at the NFL level himself. However, the former Baltimore Ravens defensive line coach asserted himself as one of the most competent assistant coaches on the staff.

Despite still battling talent discrepancies, the Jaguars’ defense improved consistently throughout the season, especially rookie cornerback Tyson Campbell. Cullen got the most out of a unit that still needs to add more contributors, and for that reason, it’s been speculated that he could return under the new coach.

He has at least one supporter in the locker room in edge rusher Josh Allen, who said he wants to see Cullen retained by the new head coach.

“I would love to see [Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Joe] Cullen [come back],” he said. “I feel like [it’s] just another thing that I feel like would be best for us. I know we might get the new coach or whatever, but with Coach Cullen, I feel like it’s the consistency. We have the team and majority of the defense is under contract to come back another year. So, it’s like if we have the same group, we have the same plays, we know the same philosophy.”

Allen said that the unit’s improvement throughout the year was a result of building on the systems that Cullen put into place, and he feels like the group could be set to take a big leap forward in 2022 if kept within the same scheme. He said he’d like to see several other defensive assistants return as well.

“Now we had that year to work at it, especially with all the younger guys, we know all the work so now we can improve just how we can play the game and install what Joe Cullen has already taught us in this system,” Allen said. “I feel like we can take that next step in becoming a way better defense. We can become the defense that you saw yesterday [against Indianapolis] every week, so I would love to see Coach Cullen back, I would love to see [Outside Linebackers Coach] Zach Orr, I would love to see [Assistant Defensive Line Coach] Sterling Lucas back. I wish [Defensive Line Coach] Tosh [Lupoi] nothing but the best in his journey, but I would love to see those guys come back and see how far we can grow.”

Coordinator retentions aren’t exactly common during coach changes, but if the Jaguars decided to hire an offensive head coach (which comprises the majority of the candidate pool), it would be more likely that Cullen sticks around. If they choose to go with a defensive coordinator like Indianapolis’ Matt Eberflus, that coach may want to make their own defensive coordinator hire.

Cullen’s unit was far from great in 2021, but it showed steady signs of progress, which is more than can be said for the offensive unit that was more or less a disaster throughout the entire season. The Jags could do worse than to give him another year to build off of those improvements.