Tag: defensive line coach

Former Saints defensive line coach heading to Oklahoma State Cowboys

A former New Orleans Saints defensive line coach is heading to the Oklahoma State Cowboys to team up with head coach Mike Gundy

Chris Low of ESPN has reported that the Oklahoma State Cowboys and head coach Mike Gundy will be hiring former New Orleans Saints defensive line coach Todd Grantham as their defensive coordinator. Grantham had moved from the defensive line coach position to a senior advisor role in early November after Darren Rizzi took over as the interim head coach. The defensive line for the Saints had been struggling mightily with stopping the run in the early phases of the season, and this ultimately led to the move of Brian Young taking over as defensive line coach.

Grantham will join long-time Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy as he looks to facilitate some staffing changes on his team. Gundy had recently just agreed to a restructured contract to remain with the Oklahoma State Cowboys according to ESPN, which will include the former Saints defensive line coach as a start.

Broncos expected to make Jamar Cain their new DL coach

After losing Marcus Dixon to the Vikings, the Broncos are expected to make Jamar Cain their new defensive line coach.

The Denver Broncos lost two members of their coaching staff this offseason. Both of the positions vacated by those departures have now been filled.

First, the Broncos lost defensive backs coach Christian Parker, who left the club to join the Philadelphia Eagles and reunite with Vic Fangio. Denver replaced Parker with Jim Leonhard, an overqualified DBs coach who might one day become a defensive coordinator.

After losing Parker, the Broncos also lost defensive line coach Marcus Dixon, who left the team in a lateral move to join the Minnesota Vikings. It sounds like Denver will now replace Dixon with an in-house candidate.

The Broncos are expected to promote pass rush specialist Jamar Cain to defensive line coach, according to The Athletic‘s Bruce Feldman. Cain previously coached defensive linemen at four college programs before joining Denver’s staff in 2023.

The Broncos could fill Cain’s old rule with a new pass rush specialist, but they don’t necessarily need to. Denver already has an outside linebackers coach (Michael Wilhoite), so promoting Cain does not leave them without a position coach.

If the Broncos do bring in another assistant in a pass rush role, Rob Ninkovich could be a name to watch after he served as a part-time guest coach last season.

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Broncos lose DL coach Marcus Dixon to Vikings

After losing Christian Parker to the Eagles, the Broncos have now lost Marcus Dixon to the Vikings.

When Sean Payton took over as the Denver Broncos’ new head coach last year, he kept just two coaches from Nathaniel Hackett’s staff: defensive backs coach Christian Parker and defensive line coach Marcus Dixon.

Both coaches are now gone.

Parker left the team earlier this week to join the Philadelphia Eagles, reuniting with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The Broncos could have blocked the lateral move but Payton allowed Parker to go.

Now Dixon is leaving Denver to join the Minnesota Vikings in a lateral move, ESPN’s Dan Graziano first reported on Friday. Dixon will become Minnesota’s new defensive line coach, working under defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

The Broncos will have to find two new coaches for defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s defensive staff, and there are now no coaches remaining from Hackett’s old staff. Parker and Dixon are bright young coaches, but it seems that Payton did not want to block them from opportunities they wanted to pursue.

Denver has not fired any coaches this spring, but they did bring in former New Orleans Saints Pete Carmichael as a senior assistant. At least two more coaches will be added in the coming weeks to replace Parker and Dixon.

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Report: Jaguars expected to hire Brenston Buckner as DL coach

Brentson Buckner was a longtime NFL player and has been a defensive line coach in the league since 2013

New Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson has already added a defensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and it looks like he may be closing in on a defensive line coach hire, as well. According to a report from Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson, the Jaguars plan to hire Brentson Buckner to fill the vacant role which was held by current Oregon Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi in 2021.

Buckner is a longtime former player, registering 12 seasons in the league before beginning his coaching career. He has spent the last two seasons as the defensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals and previously held the same position in Oakland, Tampa Bay, and in a previous stint with Arizona from 2013-17.

Wilson reported earlier that the Jaguars were also considering Phillip Daniels for the position. Daniels worked with Pederson in Philadelphia and was previously an executive in Washington but has been out of coaching since 2019.

This hire makes a lot of sense for Jacksonville, as Buckner is a well-traveled defensive line coach and is well regarded around the league. He could soon find himself as a coordinator candidate, but for now, the Jaguars seem to have landed a stud for the defensive coaching staff.

Report: Jamar Cain changes course, set to join LSU staff

Well, well, well how the turn tables.

It has been a rough week for new USC head coach Lincoln Riley. After hiring Tashard Choice as the running backs coach only to see him flip to the Texas Longhorns, it happened again with his defensive line coach Jamar Cain. According to Pete Thamel, Cain will now join the LSU staff as defensive line coach and run game coordinator.

Cain joined the Oklahoma Sooners staff in January of 2020 and was expected to leave Norman for Southern California. He joins the defensive staff under Matt House. Cain known as a good recruiter should help bring some more quarterback hunters to the Tigers defense.

Cain’s defensive line generated 33 sacks this season and 37 in 2020. According to 247Sports, Cain is credited with bringing three four-star edge players to the Sooners defense led by Clayton Smith of Texas High (Texarkana). He has ties to the West Coast as well.

This feels like a huge get for Kelly and the LSU staff. Lincoln Riley now has two key position coaching roles to fill.

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Report: Dolphins expected to promote internally for DL coach vacancy

Report: Dolphins expected to promote internally for DL coach vacancy

The Miami Dolphins have yet to formally make an announcement regarding the team’s vacancy at the offensive coordinator position, but we learned earlier this offseason that the team is reportedly set to name George Godsey and Eric Studesville as co-offensive coordinators in the wake of Chan Gailey’s departure from the staff in early January. And while all eyes are understandably on the offensive side of the football after the successes of the defensive unit in 2020, the Dolphins do still have a lingering vacancy on that side of the ball as well.

Miami’s prior defensive line coach, Marion Hobby, left the team this offseason and landed in Cincinnati to take on the same position — a move that raised some eyebrows amid the rest of the turnover and attrition to Brian Flores’ coaching staff. And here we are, several weeks later, and there has been no formal announcement of a hiring to fill the void left by Hobby.

It isn’t as though the Dolphins are above announcing coaching agreements. The team announced the hiring of QB coach Charlie Frye earlier this offseason.

So one can fairly assume the gig is yet to be filled. But ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe has a beat on how the Dolphins will proceed from here. And it is reportedly the same path the team took with the offensive coordinator role: they’re promoting from within.

Miami’s reported trend of promoting within the established pecking order of their existing coaches is one that seems to covet the continuity in messaging that Brian Flores can only really achieve by keeping his young assistants in place. There has been some turnover in each of the first two seasons of the Flores era in Miami — but by promoting coaches that already know the lingo, already understand the messaging and have already illustrated the desired coaching style Flores desires for his staff, he’s able to still keep the consistent voice to his players that will be helpful as this young roster continues to mature.

Wisconsin promotes Ross Kolodziej to defensive line coach

The Wisconsin football program filled their opening at defensive line coach yesterday when they promoted head strength coach Ross Kolodziej

The Wisconsin football program filled their opening at defensive line coach yesterday when they promoted head strength coach Ross Kolodziej to the position that was filled by now-Vanderbilt defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield.

Kolodziej was a 45-game starter on the Badger defensive line back in the late 1990s and early 2000s before he became a 7th round pick of the New York Giants during the 2001 NFL Draft.

He played on three teams during his six-year NFL career before joining the United Football League for four seasons and then getting into coaching.

Aug 18, 2007; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Ross Kolodziej (96) against the Houston Texans at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2007 Mark J. Rebilas

Related: The Badgers’ projected 2021 depth chart on offense, defense

The former Badger has now been the head strength and conditioning coach under Paul Chryst for seven years, six of those at Wisconsin, and will now take over a young defensive line unit heading into the 2021 season.

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Report: Cowboys to hire Aden Durde as DL coach

The Dallas Cowboys continue to round out their coaching staff for the 2021 season, and it continues to be men who coached under Dan Quinn with the Atlanta Falcons. This time, outside linebackers coach Aden Durde is the hire, but in a different …

The Dallas Cowboys continue to round out their coaching staff for the 2021 season, and it continues to be men who coached under Dan Quinn with the Atlanta Falcons. This time, outside linebackers coach Aden Durde is the hire, but in a different capacity than how he served in Georgia.

Durde is being named the defensive line coach, a position that was vacated when Jim Tomsula was fired along with Mike Nolan earlier in the month.

The Cowboys’ interest in Durde was first reported by Brianna Dix (@DixBrianna) of D210 Sports.

From Cowboys Wire’s report by Asa Henry:

Durde was born in Middlesex, England, where he would go on to play for the London Olympians in the British American Football Association. Durde would win a championship in London, before moving to a more respected league, NFL Europe, where he played linebacker for the Scottish Claymores.

Durde’s European success would lead him to two different NFL practice squad stints, first with the Panthers in 2005, and then with the Chiefs in 2008.

His playing career would end shortly after his time with the Chiefs, but Durde returned to London and immediately became the defensive coordinator for six seasons with his hometown London Warriors.

Durde’s next step in coaching was sparked by a moment of chance, or fate perhaps. Jason Butt of Atlanta Journal-Constitution details what happened whenever Durde visited America in 2014,

“After taking some international players to a workout in Dallas, he happened to bump into a coaching contact he knew, who helped set him up with an interview with the Cowboys. Not long after, Durde became a coaching intern for the Cowboys.”

So this week’s meeting wasn’t the first time the former linebacker has dealt with Dallas, as he was on the staff as an intern roughly five years ago.

Following that internship opportunity, Durde became the head of football development for NFL UK, where he helped lead the International Pathway Program, which links talented european football players with NFL squads.

In 2016, Durde was gifted the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship by Dan Quinn and the Atlanta Falcons. After two seasons with Atlanta, Durde was hired to be the Falcons Defensive Quality Control Coach, making him officially the first ever British NFL coach. That lead Durde to becoming the Falcons linebackers coach this past offseason.

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Former Texas defensive line coach expected to join Sarkisian’s staff in same role

Steve Sarkisian is expected to hire former Texas defensive line coach Bo Davis, who spent time under Mack Brown from 2011-2013.

It’s been less than a week since Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian was named the new head coach at the University of Texas. Continue reading “Former Texas defensive line coach expected to join Sarkisian’s staff in same role”

4 studs and 2 duds in Seahawks 23-17 win over Eagles on MNF

Here are the four studs and the two duds from the Seattle Seahawks 23-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night in Week 12.

The Seattle Seahawks cemented their position atop the NFC West and improved to the No. 2 Seed in the conference with a 23-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on “Monday Night Football.”

The City of Brotherly Love has certainly shown the Seahawks plenty of love over the years. Seattle has now won seven-straight games in Philadelphia and hasn’t suffered a loss since 1989. Quarterback Russell Wilson has also improved to a blemish-free 6-0 record versus the Eagles in his career.

It wasn’t the flashiest performance from the high-flying Seahawks offense, but they did just enough to take advantage of easily the best performance all year from Seattle’s defense who suffocated the Birds all night long.

Monday night remains Seattle’s night, as the team with the best winning percentage on Monday night in NFL history notched another W under their belts. Here are 4 studs and only 2 duds from Seattle’s victory.