Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Colts are hiring Gus Bradley as their new defensive coordinator. Here’s how Twitter reacted.
The Indianapolis Colts hired their new defensive coordinator in the form of veteran coach Gus Bradley on Friday night.
Now, the Colts will be looking to fill out the rest of the defensive coaching staff under him. But this is the first step in getting closer to preparing for a long offseason.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the news on Friday night:
The Colts are hiring Gus Bradley as the defensive coordinator. Here are four things to know.
The Indianapolis Colts spent less than a week searching for their new defensive coordinator and landed on an extremely experienced candidate in Gus Bradley.
Bradley has a long history as a coach in the NFL that spans all the way back to 2006. His primary scheme as a Cover-3 defense helped develop what turned into the Legion of Boom with the Seattle Seahawks.
Here are seven things to know about the Colts’ new defensive coordinator:
The Colts are hiring Gus Bradley to be their new defensive coordinator.
The Indianapolis Colts are hiring Gus Bradley to be their new defensive coordinator.
Bradley was among six candidates to interview for the vacant role after former defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus took the head coach gig with the Chicago Bears.
The news was first reported by Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star.
The Colts are hiring Gus Bradley as defensive coordinator.
— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) February 4, 2022
More to come…
Gus Bradley is headed to Indy as Colts new Defensive Coordinator
For those who were hoping there was a chance new Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels would keep Gus Bradley on as his defensive coordinator, I have bad news. That ship has now sailed.
Bradley has been hired as the new DC in Indianapolis according to the Indianapolis Star and confirmed by multiple reports.
The Colts are hiring Gus Bradley as defensive coordinator.
— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) February 4, 2022
Bradley had the Raiders defense playing very well late last season when the Raiders went on their playoff run. The surge was led by the pass rush, which is an area that has been a major issue for the Raiders for several years.
Along with being a well-liked and well-respected coordinator, Bradley had several of his former Chargers players join him with the Raiders, including Pro Bowl LB Denzel Perryman and the team’s top outside cornerback, Casey Hayward.
Other former Bradley players to make major contributions included DE Yannick Ngakoue and DT Darius Philon.
Hayward and Philon came on one-year deals, which means they will have to be re-signed if they are to stick around. The question becomes whether they will opt to do so with Bradley out.
Raiders new head coach Josh McDaniels’ top priority is finding a Defensive Coordinator. Here are the Top 5 candidates out there.
Last season, Gus Bradley did some good things with the Raiders defense. But barring any kind of unexpected return with the new staff, Josh McDaniels will be looking to completely revamp the staff with his own guys.
McDaniels is an offensive guy, so the defensive coordinator will be a big hire. You figure McDaniels will control the offense in much the same way Gruden did, which gives the defensive coordinator a lot of autonomy. That will be attractive to some candidates out there. Perhaps more attractive than joining a staff with a defensive-minded head coach.
There are a lot of great candidates out there to choose from. Though unfortunately there are also a lot of teams currently in the market for a new DC, so the Raiders will have competition. Here are five top candidates who would be solid gets for the Raiders.
The Colts will reportedly interview Kris Richard, Gus Bradley and Joe Whitt Jr. for the defensive coordinator vacancy.
The Indianapolis Colts are expected to interview three more candidates for their defensive coordinator vacancy on Monday and Tuesday, per Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star.
Those three new candidates include New Orleans Saints secondary coach Kris Richard, Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and Dallas Cowboys secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr., according to Erickson.
The Colts will interview on Monday and Tuesday for DC:
– Gus Bradley, defensive coordinator, Raiders
– Joe Whitt, Jr., secondary coach, Cowboys
– Kris Richard, DBs coach, Saints— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) January 31, 2022
This brings the total to six candidates thus far for the defensive coordinator vacancy left by Matt Eberflus. The Colts interviewed Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Joe Cullen and Washington defensive backs coach Chris Harris over the weekend.
The Colts have also reportedly interviewed or will interview Tennessee Titans senior assistant Jim Schwartz.
Both Richard and Bradley have experience as defensive coordinators. Richard was a big part of the Legion of Boom with the Seattle Seahawks from 2015-2017 while Bradley has had three separate stints in the role.
Whitt Jr. has bounced around the league over the last few seasons holding the role of defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator in several areas.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this vacant role but this is the first time head coach Frank Reich will be allowed to assemble a defensive staff since he joined the Colts in 2018.
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10 defensive coordinator candidates the #Eagles could target to replace Jonathan #Gannon if he lands a coaching job
Jonathan Gannon is set to be this year’s Nick Sirianni, as the Eagles defensive coordinator has become the hot name on the coaching circuit.
It was initially assumed that Gannon would get an interview and then return to the Eagles for more seasoning and experience, but he’s now interviewed for three vacancies – Denver, Houston, and Minnesota.
It seems that general managers for all three interviewing organizations believe Gannon’s struggles in Philadelphia were due to a lack of playmakers at key positions, and poor linebacker play.
If Gannon does land one of the coveted vacancies, we’ve ID’d 10 potential targets that could lead the Eagles defense in 2022.
Laying out four bold predictions as the Chargers look to advance to the playoffs.
The Chargers face the Raiders in a win-and-you’re-in matchup on Sunday night.
In a heated divisional bout like this, there’s always bound to be some things that occur that most people would not have forecasted.
With that being said, here are four bold predictions for Week 18’s matchup:
One of the highlights of the Chargers’ Week 4 win over the Raiders was their pass rush. They pressured Carr 22 times and sacked him on four occasions, with Joey Bosa leading the pack with seven pressures and a sack. Since then, Las Vegas moved rookie Alex Leatherwood from right tackle to right guard and Brandon Parker to right tackle. However, the two have combined for 87 pressures and 11 sacks allowed this season. With Bosa lined up over Leatherwood, especially, Los Angeles is set up to live in the backfield.
Carr has thrown an interception in each of his last three games, bringing his total to 14 on the season. You couple that with the Chargers being able to get to him as much as they did last time earlier this season, he will be prone to make some mistakes. James had two almost interceptions last weekend against the Broncos, and Samuel has three passes defended in the past two games. It’s only a matter of time until they actually get their hands on the football, and I think this is where the former Seminoles do so.
In the two team’s first meeting, Ekeler was one of the primary factors to the Chargers’ offensive success. He 145 yards from scrimmage, 117 rushing yards (career-high) on 15 carries (7.8 yards per carry), and two touchdowns. The Raiders are allowing 116.1 rushing yards per game and 38.1 receiving yards per game to opposing running backs this season. Meanwhile, the Chargers have averaged 134 yards on the ground over their last four games. Dominate in the trenches as the offensive line has been, utilize the screen game and get Ekeler matched up one-on-one with Raiders linebackers, and you should anticipate a big day from him.
No, even if the Jaguars beat the Colts, the Chargers and Raiders will not play for a tie. Yes, you can look at the loss to the Texans and point out that Los Angeles is inconsistent. However, the team was down a multitude of starters then, but are proven to compete and beat the best of the best when healthy, which they will be in this game. On the other hand, Las Vegas has looked improved, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but the offense has only topped 23 points dating back to Oct. 25. This has the makings of a shootout, but Justin Herbert will lead the Bolts to their first playoff appearance since 2018.
The New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders square off on Sunday afternoon in Week 9, so here are six things fans should know.
The New York Giants (2-6) host the AFC West-leading Las Vegas Raiders (5-2) at MetLife Stadium this Sunday afternoon.
Below are six things to know about Week 8.
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Jon Gruden resigns: Best candidate to replace Raiders former coach in Week 6
Jon Gruden has resigned as Raiders head coach. His resignation came shortly after a report came out in the New York Times that detailed several instances in which Gruden made homophobic slurs and misogynistic remarks in leaked emails during his time as a Monday Night Football analyst.
This report coming on the heels of a report in the Wall Street Journal of Gruden making racist remarks. Emails that were unearthed in an investigation into the Washington Football Team.
Gruden may be out, but the Raiders 2021 season goes on without him. And that means they need an interim head coach to pick up the playbook and guide this Raiders team the rest of the way.
We’re just five games in, so the interim head coach will be important. He will coach a 3-2 club for at least the next 12 regular-season games.
Here are the top candidates to take over as interim head coach.
Currently the team’s Assistant Head Coach, so stepping up to head coach would make some sense. The longtime Special Teams Coordinator has no head coaching experience, but he is well-respected by his players and has a commanding presence that suggests he could do well as a head coach. His no-nonsense approach could do well to keep this team from unraveling.
Bradley has head coaching experience. He was the head coach of the Jaguars for four seasons from 2013-16. Though he went 14-48 during those four seasons, he is a well-respected coach with 13 years of experience as a defensive coordinator or better.
Cable also has head coaching experience. In fact, he has head coaching experience with the Raiders. He was the Raiders interim head coach in 2008, taking over for Lane Kiffin who was fired after just 20 games. And after that season Cable had the interim tag stripped off and stuck around for two more seasons, going 17-27 as a head coach. From there he served as the Assistant Head Coach/OL coach in Seattle from 2011 to 2017.
Marinelli has been coaching in the NFL ranks since 1996. Mostly as a defensive line coach, but he has ten years experience as a Defensive Coordinator and three years experience as a head coach.
He was the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2006-08 during which he had a record of 10-38. Marinelli was named the Raiders interim Defensive Coordinator late last season after the firing of Paul Guenther.
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