Tag: Head Coach

2 ex-Broncos players fail to advance in Hall of Fame voting

The Broncos will not have any players added to the Hall of Fame in the 2025 class.

Former Denver Broncos defensive linemen Neil Smith and Simeon Rice are not among the 25 modern-era semifinalists for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. So the Broncos will not be represented by any players in next year’s class.

Smith, 58, spent the first nine years of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs before joining the Broncos in 1997. He won back-to-back Super Bowls in Denver and then finished his career with the San Diego Chargers.

Smith totaled 625 tackles, 104.5 sacks, 30 forced fumbles, 12 fumble recoveries and four interceptions during his 13-year career.

Rice, 50, played five years with the Arizona Cardinals and then had a six-year run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning Super Bowl XXXVII with the Bucs. He spent part of his final year in the NFL with the Broncos in 2007.

Rice recorded 483 tackles, 122 sacks, 43 pass breakups, 28 forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries and five interceptions during his 12-year career.

Former coaches Mike Shanahan and the late Dan Reeves were previously named coach semifinalists for the 2025 class in October. The selection committee voted on a coach finalist yesterday, but the result is not expected to be announced until December.

Broncos candidates for Hall of Fame

  1. Coach Mike Shanahan
  2. Coach Dan Reeves

The list of modern-era player semifinalists will be trimmed down to a finalists list later this fall. The 2025 class will be announced before Super Bowl LVIX next year.

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This outlet says Darren Rizzi is making a case to stay long-term

It’s tough to go from interim to permanent head coach, but Bleacher Report feels Darren Rizzi is making a strong case to do just that.

The New Orleans Saints are undefeated since Darren Rizzi assumed head coaching duties from Dennis Allen. After only two games, Bleacher Report’s staff of NFL analysts believes Rizzi is forming a case to be the Saints head coach on a permanent basis.

Interim coaches aren’t typically retained after the season, but a strong ending would likely insert Rizzi into the conversation. The way Rizzi has rejuvenated the building feels similar to how Antonio Pierce impacted the Las Vegas Raiders a year ago. Pierce was retained as the Raiders head coach beyond his interim season.

Some would say winning cures all, and that’s the truth. On the other hand, the energy shift transpired before the Saints ever broke their losing streak. The shift partially had to do with moving on from Allen, but New Orleans picked the right person to close out the season as well.

Making a case or entering into the conversation is far from being the favorite. If Rizzi continues to lead the team in a similar fashion as he’s doing now, he deserves an interview during the search.

Sean Payton gives strong take on Mike Shanahan’s Hall of Fame candidacy

Sean Payton said Mike Shanahan has a better resume than some of the recent coaches that have reached the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is one of nine coach semifinalists for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

Sean Payton, Denver’s current coach, gave Shanahan a strong endorsement during his conference call with Broncos reporters on Monday.

“I’ve had a long friendship with him,” Payton said. “What he’s accomplished though in our game, he has two Super Bowl championships. He’s been behind, I would say, the minds behind so many coaches working right now. I’d say almost a third of the league at one point has been impacted by Mike. Not only the coaching tree, I’m talking about the offensive tree.

“When I got into the league, there were two or three teams that you studied, and Denver was one of them. We’re sitting here in 2024 and we’re looking at a guy — a candidate — who quite honestly has a lot better credentials than maybe some others [who] have gone before him as coaches. He was one of the guys. [He’s] extremely intelligent and then the Super Bowls, the quarterbacks, the success and all those other things. I don’t know when the vote is or how that all unfolds, but his candidacy for someone like myself, it’s easy.

“It’s all there right in front of you. Then go ahead and look back at the last — just take the last six coaches that have gone in. Just use that number and then throw their numbers at Mike and their accomplishments and I think that’s a simple way to look at it and arrive at the right decision.”

This certainly isn’t the first time Payton has backed Shanahan. Denver’s current coach previously noted that elements of Shanahan’s offense are still used in the NFL today, and Payton said last summer that Shanny should already be in the Hall of Fame.

We should find out soon if Shanahan is advancing in the voting process.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid reveals lesson learned from loss to Bills: ‘We’ve got to take care of business’

Kansas City #Chiefs head coach Andy Reid reveals lesson learned from loss to the Buffalo #Bills: ‘We’ve got to take care of business’ | @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs won’t go undefeated this year as they suffered their first loss on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. Head coach Andy Reid spoke with reporters after the game, describing the first loss as a learning experience.

“Things you can learn, the main thing is that they’re a good team and, if you have a few mistakes in there, they can capitalize on them, but you keep battling, and normally good things will happen,” said Reid. “They did a nice job on that last drive, so we’ve got to take care of business on those.”

Reid pointed out another miscue on the sidelines from Xavier Worthy, which eliminated a big play from the stat sheet.

“Yeah, he’ll (Worthy) get better at those,” said Reid. “Then we’ll give the ball a little quicker as we go, so I’ve got to see it and look at it on tape and see exactly if, if he was able to drag his foot, if that was possible, if that’s the case, then he can learn from.”

Worthy was the team’s leading receiver on Sunday, so there were positives; however, Reid believes he still should have called more running plays.

“I probably could call some more runs; when it was all said and done, we had opportunities,” said Reid. “We did a pretty nice job with it, with the exception of the short yardage.”

Leading rusher Kareem Hunt had 60 yards on 14 carries, a far less workload than he’s become used to since signing with the team.

Saints WR has a sweet comparison for interim head coach Darren Rizzi

Head coaches have been described in many ways, but Darren Rizzi may be the first to be compared to a Sour Patch Kid:

We’ve heard NFL head coaches be described in a few different ways, but Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s description of Darren Rizzi has to be one of the more unique descriptions in recent memory.

In a sitdown interview with Kay Adams, Valdes-Scantling compared the New Orleans Saints interim head coach to a Sour Patch Kid.Yes, the candy that’s sour then sweet. Instead of being sour and sweet, Rizzi possesses that same duality but in a different way. Valdes-Scantling described it as being “Fiery one second then he’s cool the next second.”

As funny as it is, it’s also a great representation of Rizzi’s personality. This comes from a player who has only been in New Orleans for two weeks. It’s a short time, but the wide receiver says Rizzi has “been the same guy every single day.”

When changing roles from coordinator to head coach, it’s easy to take on a new personality when your amount of power changes. That didn’t happen with Rizzi. He remained genuine the whole time.

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Darren Rizzi could be a full-time Saints head coach candidate

Darren Rizzi earning another year as the full-time head coach of the New Orleans Saints wouldn’t be the worst thing. He’s a legit candidate for the job:

It’s an overreaction to say Darren Rizzi should remain the New Orleans Saints’ head coach after this season just because he beat the Atlanta Falcons. But continued success should mean he gets a real look, and the Saints will have to hire someone for the job. Rizzi turning a lost season around and earning that opportunity wouldn’t be the worst thing.

For one thing, he’s already a popular locker room presence. Special teams coaches like Rizzi are the few coaches who interact with players in every phase of the game. Whether he’s taught quarterbacks to hold a snap, told linemen how deep to set up for a field goal, or instructed safeties on shedding blocks as gunners, he’s worked with everyone, and he commands a lot of respect inside the building and around the league. He interviewed for the job when it opened up last time, too.

For another, the Saints aren’t set up rebuild on the fly. Annual contract restructuring has made it tough to trade off a bunch of veteran players and sign replacements in free agency. They aren’t resting on a stockpile of draft picks, either. That could make it tough to lure a hot up-and-comer in demand like Ben Johnson to town, and veteran coaches who have seen a thing or two like Mike Vrabel may want more resources to work with.

If the Saints are going to be working under tight salary cap constraints in 2025 anyway, the best approach might be to stick with Rizzi. See if he can weather that storm and field a competitive team with the pieces already in the building. If he can, great — he’ll have a clean slate to work with in 2026 after hurdles like the dead money left over from Marshon Lattimore’s trade and Derek Carr’s contract guarantees have been paid out in 2025. If he flounders?

No harm, no foul. More aging players will have bowed out, the salary cap bookkeeping will be in order, and the next coaching cycle will present more options. Maybe someone already being linked to the Saints coaching search like Aaron Glenn or Joe Brady will be ready to take over with more experience, fresh eyes and plenty of tools, cap space, and draft picks to build their own team.

But we’re really putting the cart before the horse here. Rizzi passed his first test by beating the dirty birds. Now he needs to win back-to-back games and knock out the Cleveland Browns next Sunday. That would do a lot to keep the season alive in a still-weak NFC South. At this stage all we can do (and all Rizzi and the Saints can do) is take things one day and one week at a time.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid on the game-winning blocked field goal: ‘I get to see that every day’

Kansas City #Chiefs head coach Andy Reid on the game-winning blocked field goal: ‘I get to see that every day’ | @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs have found unique ways to win games lately, with Sunday’s victory over the Denver Broncos ranking high on the unlikely scale.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid addressed the media immediately following the game, giving insight into the incredible blocked field goal that sealed the victory.

“I get to see that every day, we work that block and that last final shot there.” said Reid. “We did, but it’s also something that we work on like crazy, so – it normally doesn’t work quite like that, but that one, we had a couple of different guys. George (Karlaftis) was in there, too, I believe. I haven’t had a chance to look at the replay but it looked like we had a couple different guys in there.”

Special teams coordinator Dave Toub has worked with Reid for years and has practiced these scenarios in the past, so it wasn’t foreign to the league’s oldest head coach. Reid praised linebacker Leo Chenal, who got his hands on the kick, and credited his overall work since being drafted by the Chiefs.

“He’s (Leo Chenal) a great athlete, big strong kid, plays a hundred miles an hour, he does it in practice, he does it during games, plays anywhere and everywhere and never says anything,” said Reid. “(He) comes from a family – he’s got like 40 brothers and sisters, so he’s used to sharing, so he doesn’t really care about who gets the credit and doesn’t get the credit, he just goes.”

The victory does have its low moments, as the Chiefs were moments away from a loss, so the long-time head coach promised to work on more things during the week.

How does Darren Rizzi’s new position impact his future in New Orleans?

Becoming Saints interim head coach could lead to Darren Rizzi leaving New Orleans in 2025. Their next coach may want his own special teams coordinator:

History suggests Darren Rizzi will either be the New Orleans Saints head coach or not be on the staff at all in 2025.

There have been 23 interim head coaches in the last 10 years. Antonio Pierce, Doug Marrone and Mike Mularkey are the only three to be retained as full-time head coach. Other than those three, none of the other interim head coaches were on the staff the next year.

Losing Rizzi would be big loss for the team. He’s one of the league’s leaders in special teams. This is evident my his efforts, and success, to change the kickoff rules. Rizzi spearheaded that.

On top of his schematic contributions on the field, he’s has displayed great leadership. Rizzi is the type of coach you’d want to remain from the previous regime.

However, Rizzi may feel slighted if he didn’t get the job and not want to return to his previous position. The incoming coach also may not want last year’s interim still on the staff. Both are reasonable reasons why Rizzi could move on in this situation.

Darren Rizzi is changing the Saints locker room layout

The Saints locker room used to be grouped by position groups until 2020 shook it up. Darren Rizzi is bringing it back as interim head coach:

Darren Rizzi’s first public move as New Orleans Saints interim head coach is to change the setup of the locker room back to how things used to be. Instead of being grouped by positions, players were just randomly placed at lockers throughout the locker room. You could have an offensive lineman next to a safety and wide receiver.

This began in 2020 due to the league’s COVID protocol. The thought process behind the alteration was logical. They didn’t want one player to pass it to the entire position group. Dennis Allen kept this going when he became head coach.

As time passed, this became the standard locker room layout and just never changed back until this week. The Saints locker room is once again sectioned by position groups in hopes of building more togetherness. We’ll see if it makes a difference.

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Mike Tomlin impressed by Commanders’ offense ahead of Week 10 matchup

During media availability on Tuesday, Mike Tomlin spoke highly of the team’s Week 11 opponent, the Commanders, and their offensive success.

It’s safe to say the 6-2 Pittsburgh Steelers have their work cut out for them in an extremely difficult Week 10 matchup against the 7-2 Washington Commanders.

While some coaches shudder at the idea of solving the difficult puzzle that is Washington’s offensive prowess, Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin welcomes the opportunity.

Tomlin spoke during media availability on Tuesday and praised what the Steelers’ Week 10 opponents are doing right on offense.

“They lead the NFL in rushing touchdowns,” Tomlin stated. “His [Jayden Daniels’] quarterback mobility is a component of that. They’re eleven of eleven on fourth-down conversions.” He continued to highlight what the Commanders do well, including their impressive ball security, noting that the team has only turned the ball over three times, which Tomlin called “a record of some description through nine games in the NFL.”

While Tomlin seems in awe of Washington’s offensive capabilities, make no mistake—his game planning and preparation will be exactly what the Steelers need to win in Week 10.

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