Tag: Head Coach

Browns new coach Stefanski praises Mayfield, says goal is to make QB’s life easier (Brownswire)

The Browns formally introduced Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach Tuesday and the new leader in Cleveland had nothing but great things to say about the sometimes polarizing quarterback he’ll soon be working with.

The Browns formally introduced Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach Tuesday and the new leader in Cleveland had nothing but great things to say about the sometimes polarizing quarterback he’ll soon be working with.

Will Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson help Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan reach Hall of Fame?

If Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan do, too.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame will have a special 20-member class in 2020 in celebration of the NFL’s 100 years. The expanded class will include 15 “Centennial Slate” inductees, two of which are coaches.

Former Broncos coach Dan Reeves was among the finalists for the “Centennial Slate” but the voters choose former Steelers coach Bill Cowher and former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson instead.

Many fans and pundits on Twitter were perplexed about Johnson and Cowher reaching the Hall of Fame over Reeves and another former Broncos coach, Mike Shanahan.

It’s debatable if Reeves and Shanahan were more deserving but one could make a strong case that they are at least as deserving.

Shanahan was a brilliant offensive mind that won two Super Bowls as a head coach and three overall. His style of offense is still seen around the NFL thanks to his impressive coaching tree that includes Gary Kubiak, Kyle Shanahan (his son), Sean McVay and Matt LaFleur.

If voters believe that Johnson and Cowher belong in the Hall of Fame, surely they must believe Reeves and Shanahan do as well, right? Unfortunately, that might not be the case, in part because of the voting process for the 2020 class.

Johnson and Cowher were selected by a special “blue-ribbon panel,” not the usual selection committee. That panel’s view on what’s deserving of Hall of Fame recognition might not line up with the selection committee’s view, so even if Shanahan and Reeves are just as deserving as Johnson and Cowher, Denver’s two former coaches might still face an uphill battle to Canton. Classes will go back to being selected by the usual committee in 2021.

While the Broncos won’t have a coach enter the Hall of Fame this year, the team does have three finalists: modern-era safeties Steve Atwater and John Lynch and linebacker Randy Gradishar, a Centennial Slate candidate.

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WATCH: Joe Judge almost missed Giants interview after getting off at the wrong train station

Joe Judge has already learned his first big lesson as an NFL coach: There are multiple Penn Stations!

Joe Judge has already learned his first big lesson as an NFL coach: There are multiple Penn Stations!

As he tells NBC Sports’ Peter King, Judge figured that out the hard way on the morning of his interview with the New York Giants. There are Penn Stations in Newark, Manhattan, and Baltimore, but he was unaware of that fact until he got off at the wrong station en route to what we can assume was the biggest interview of his life.

Judge says he was supposed to meet a Giants representative at the Newark station but got off the train in Manhattan. After figuring out what went wrong, Judge got in an Uber and made it to Giants HQ with 15 minutes to spare.

Nothing like a good freakout moment before a life-changing interview!

Vic Fangio comments on Broncos firing Rich Scangarello

“Rich is a bright coach with a great future ahead of him,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said of former offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.

The Denver Broncos fired offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello on Sunday evening. Scangarello spent just one season in Denver.

The decision to fire the coordinator was made by head coach Vic Fangio, who is entering his second year in charge of the team.

“After a lot of consideration and discussion after the season, I determined that a change at offensive coordinator ultimately would be best for our team,” Fangio said in a statement. “We need to do everything we can to get better — in all areas — as we start working toward next year.

“Rich is a bright coach with a great future ahead of him. I appreciate all of his hard work and thank him for his contributions to the Broncos.”

With Scangarello no longer running the offense, the Broncos are expected to hire former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur as their new offensive coordinator. To read more about Shurmur, click here.

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Divisional round preview and prediction: Seahawks at Packers

Will the Seahawks finally shake their Lambeau Blues? Tune in Sunday as Seattle squares off against the Packers in the divisional round.

The Seattle Seahawks have advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season and will travel to Green Bay to face a particularly challenging foe in the Packers.

Lambeau Field has become a house of horrors for the Seahawks in the 21st Century, as Seattle has lost its last eight games on the frozen tundra. In fact, the last time the Seahawks managed to beat the Packers in Green Bay was November of 1999.

To give that some perspective, in 1999 Mike Holmgren was coaching his first year in Seattle, Matt Hasselbeck was still Brett Favre’s backup in Green Bay, and Russell Wilson was only 10 years old.

Since then the Seahawks have only known misery when traveling to Green Bay, not just in the regular season, but in the playoffs as well. Seattle was blown out 42-20 in the 2007 playoffs, and suffered one of the franchises’ most embarrassing moments during a 2003 wild-card game.

Tied at 27-27, the Seahawks won the coin toss in overtime. Then-quarterback Matt Hasselbeck proudly exclaimed “we want the ball and we’re gonna score.” The Packers then proceeded to pick off Hasselbeck on the first play of overtime and return it for a game-winning touchdown.

Fast forward to the Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll era, the poor luck has continued. In three career trips to Lambeau, Wilson has only led the Seahawks offense to 17, 10, and nine points, respectively. He also only has three touchdowns against six total interceptions, including a disastrous five-pick game in 2016. The last trip to Green Bay Wilson was unable to even find the end zone.

For whatever reason, the Packers always seem to have Wilson and Seattle’s number.

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WATCH: NBA on TNT analysts defend John Beilein, say Cavs are ‘soft’

Cavaliers first-year head coach John Beilein is getting support from a couple respected former NBA greats.

Cavaliers first-year head coach John Beilein is getting support from a couple respected former NBA greats.

The Cleveland coach issued individual apologies to his players this week and a sweeping apology to the team after using the word “thugs,” in reference to the team’s playing style during a film review session Wednesday, all according to ESPN.

But Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t think Beilein is the problem. On Inside the NBA on TNT, the Hall of Fame hooper and analyst said late Thursday, “If you have to be apologized to for your coach calling you a thug, you ain’t gonna never win, you’re soft, ok…. They’re not playing like thugs, so I believe him when he said they’re playing like slugs…. Stop being so sensitive. Listen, I grew up in the ’80s I got called worse than ‘slug,’ trust me.”

Beilein’s apology insisted that his critique used the wrong word, that he was going for ‘slugs.’ Either way, Charles Barkley is also backing Beilein, saying that the Cavs need to focus on the court instead of picking apart a coach who is trying to help a struggling franchise win.

“To be complaining about a coach who’s coming in, trying to make y’all work on fundamentals when y’all stink, make y’all watch film, make y’all practice hard,” Barkley said. “This is starting to be a joke.”

O’Neal added that he believes the controversy was a move by someone in the locker room to have Beilein removed, asking how the information got out and asking what happened to the old code of ‘What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room?.”

To Shaq’s point, The Athletic reported in December that the players were unhappy with the way the new coach is running things.

But the Cavs are sticking with Beilein with the team just a couple spots above the last place in the Eastern Conference standings.

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WATCH: Kyle Shanahan compares home-field advantage to global warming

This was a strange comparison.

Heading into the mid-day Saturday playoff game, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is comparing home-field advantage to global warming ahead of San Francisco (12-3) hosting the Minnesota Vikings (11-6) Saturday.

NFL teams were good on the road during the 2019 regular season. Then, three of four road teams during Wild Card weekend won, leaving home teams watching from home heading into this weekend’s Divisional Round.

So, a reporter asked Shanahan Thursday about his perspective on that and if he still believes home-field advantage exists.

“It definitely exists and it’s just random,” Shanahan said according to NBC Sports Bay Area. “It’s global warming. There’s a home-field advantage. It’s harder to play when you can’t hear. That doesn’t mean you’re going to lose. That’s just a fact. It’s harder to play on the road.”

San Francisco suffered its first loss of the season at home, and two of the team’s three total 2019 losses took place at Levi’s Stadium. A third home loss this weekend would obviously end the Niners’ season, so Shanahan is likely hoping that the effects of home-field advantage show up at kickoff.

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