Tag: Jeff Nixon

Former Husker transfers to Syracuse

Will Nixon will play for his father, Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, next season. 

A former Nebraska running back/wide receiver announced that he will be transferring to Syracuse next season. Will Nixon will play for his father, Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, next season.

Nixon played for Nebraska for the 2020 and 2021 seasons as a wide receiver. He did not play in 2020 due to a season-ending injury. For the 2021 season, he appeared in three games and caught one pass for five yards.

He would then transfer to Washington for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, where he would play running back. Last season he recorded 33 carries for 201 yards and one touchdown.

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Mike Kafka focused on Giants, not other job opportunities

Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka says he’s solely focused on the New York Giants and not the other job opportunities that may await him.

Last offseason, New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was a hot commodity. Several teams lined up to interview him for their vacant head coaching positions, while a few college teams also expressed interest.

Despite a poor offensive campaign here in 2023, Kafka is again expected to receive interest from some college teams over the next few months.

While Kafka may be open to listening to those pitches when the time comes, he’s not thinking about them right now. Rather, he’s focused on the 4-8 Giants and how he can help improve their offense over the final five games.

“That was something that wasn’t on my landscape at the time right now,” Kafka said of the Northwestern job. “Right now, this is what I’m focused on, being here and enjoying the process with the players and the coaches and going through this journey.”

Kafka may be solely focused on the Giants but some of the team’s assistants are also drawing interest from college programs. Running backs Jeff Nixon is among those as he’s being considered for the offensive coordinator job at Syracuse.

“Whichever decision Nix makes, I fully support on the route he wants to go, and I’d be happy for him,” Kafka said. “I think as far as the staffing and stuff, you’d have to ask Dabs about that.”

Whether recent reports about conflict among the Giants’ coaching staff are true or not, the team appears destined for some major turnover in the near future. All three coordinators are reportedly on their way out — something Wink Martindale disputes — and there will be change at the lower levels as well.

Both general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll appear to be safe but Giants fans should brace for a busy offseason.

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Syracuse targeting Giants’ Jeff Nixon as next offensive coordinator

Syracuse is reportedly targeting New York Giants running backs coach Jeff Nixon as their next offensive coordinator.

Just when you thought the New York Giants coaching staff became toxic and unhireable out in the football world, comes the news that running backs coach Jeff Nixon is on the radar up in Syracuse.

Pete Thamel of ESPN reports that the Orange will look to hire Nixon as their new offensive coordinator this offseason (or possibly before).

Nixon is in his first year with Big Blue and has been coaching in the collegiate and pro ranks for the past 26 years, predominantly as a running back coach.

Nixon came to the Giants this past offseason after three seasons with the Carolina Panthers, in which he served as the interim offensive coordinator and assistant offensive head coach.

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Giants’ Thomas McGaughey, Jeff Nixon will attend NFL Coach Accelerator Program

The New York Giants are sending special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey and RB coach Jeff Nixon to the NFL Coach Accelerator Program.

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The NFL will hold its second NFL Coach Accelerator Program in Minneapolis, Minnesota from May 21 through May 23. And, once again, there will be a distinct New York Giants feel to the whole thing.

Among those in attendance will be Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey and running backs coach Jeff Nixon, both of whom also attended in 2022.

Former Giants secondary coach Dave Merritt will also be on hand during the three-day event.

“In the year since its inception, we’ve been encouraged by the positive response to the Accelerator from both club owners and participants,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We look forward to continuing to build on an incredible program that supports diverse talent.”

From the NFL:

The Coach Accelerator aims to increase exposure between owners, executives, and diverse coaching talent, providing ample opportunity to develop and build upon their relationships. In a change to the nomination process this year, clubs were able to nominate those from outside of their organization.

In addition to networking, further development of the participants is a critical component of the accelerator, with curated content sessions scheduled that will further engage each participant on the advancement of their executive leadership skills and business acumen.

Those in attendance are believed to have “high potential to be considered for a head coach position in the future.”

For the Giants, that would mean all three of their coordinators could draw head coaching interest next year.

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Giants hire Stephen Thomas, announce other coaching changes

The New York Giants hire Stephen Thomas as their assistant special teams coach and announce several other coaching changes.

The New York Giants have hired Stephen Thomas to serve as an assistant special teams coach.

Thomas will work under assistant special teams coordinator Anthony Blevins and special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey.

Thomas had spent the previous four seasons with the Detroit Lions as their defensive quality control coach. Prior to that, he served as inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Princeton University for six seasons.

In the middle of his span with Princeton, Thomas spent one season (2015) as an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles. He had also previously interned with the Buffalo Bills and coached at SUNY Cortland.

In addition to Thomas, the Giants also officially announced the hires of running backs coach Jeff Nixon, assistant offensive line coach Chris Smith, and offensive assistant Christian Daboll.

Meanwhile, the team revealed a few title changes and promotions.

Michael Treier, who was the assistant defensive backs coach last season, is now the safeties coach. Christian Jones is the new assistant quarterbacks coach after serving as an offensive assistant in 2022. And, finally, Angela Baker has been promoted from offensive quality control coach to offensive assistant.

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Giants to hire Jeff Nixon as running backs coach

The New York Giants are expected to hire Jeff Nixon, previously of the Carolina Panthers, as their next running backs coach.

The New York Giants lost running backs coach DeAndre Smith to the Indianapolis Colts last week but it didn’t take them long to find a replacement.

Mike Kaye of the Charlotte Observer reports that the Giants are expected to hire Jeff Nixon as their next running backs coach.

Nixon did an impressive job a season ago after the Carolina Panthers traded away Christian McCaffrey. He guided D’Onta Foreman to a breakout season and also helped raise the game of backup Chuba Hubbard.

The 48-year-old Nixon is also no stranger to Giants head coach Brian Daboll. Back in 2011, when Daboll was serving as offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, he hired Nixon to be his running backs coach.

In addition to his stints with the Panthers and Dolphins, Nixon has also held staff roles for the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as a multitude of college programs.

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Report: Former Panthers assistant coach Jeff Nixon hired by Giants

Jeff Nixon—former Panthers RB coach, interim OC and assistant HC—is headed to the New York Giants.

Another former Carolina Panthers assistant has found a new home.

According to numerous reports from Thursday evening, Jeff Nixon is set to join the New York Giants as their running backs coach. Nixon assumed a number of roles for the Panthers over the past three seasons.

The Penn State grad was brought along by Matt Rhule in 2020, after serving as the co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach for Baylor University from 2017 to 2019. He began, of course, as a running backs coach in Carolina.

Nixon had a bit more added to his plate midway through the 2021 campaign, after offensive coordinator Joe Brady was dismissed during the team’s Week 13 bye. Rhule then appointed Nixon to interim offensive coordinator duties to finish out the season.

In 2022, he added another job to his résumé—as the assistant head coach—while still contributing to the offense.

The 48-year-old, before ultimately landing in New York, also interviewed with the Dallas Cowboys for their offensive coordinator position a few weeks ago.

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Report: Cowboys to interview Panthers RB coach for OC opening

Former Baylor assistant Jeff Nixon has play-calling experience and past history with staffs in Philadelphia, Miami, and San Francisco. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Panthers were interested in Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore for their head coaching job. Now that Moore is bound for Los Angeles instead, the Cowboys may be looking at a Carolina staffer to fill Moore’s old spot.

Dallas will interview Panthers assistant head coach and running backs coach Jeff Nixon for their OC vacancy, as reported Tuesday morning by Joe Person of The Athletic.

Nixon’s name may be familiar to some Cowboys fans after his time spent at Baylor. The Bears’ co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach under head coach Matt Rhule, Nixon produced top-20 offenses in two of his three years in Waco.

Rhule brought Nixon with him to Charlotte in 2020 when he took the team’s head coaching position.

After the Panthers fired offensive coordinator Joe Brady during the 2021 season, it was Nixon who took over play-calling duties for the team’s final five games. With the added title of assistant head coach, Nixon returned to coaching running backs this past year; he survived losing superstar Christian McCaffrey in a midseason trade yet still guided the Panthers backfield to a top-10 finish in rushing yards.

Nixon has plenty of NFL experience, having also served on the offensive staffs of Philadelphia, Miami, and San Francisco from 2007 to 2016.

He is reportedly set to meet with Dallas on Wednesday.

While it is believed that Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy will call offensive plays in Dallas next season, the team still needs to fill its OC role and may elect to do so with someone who can grow into a full-time play-calling capacity while also fulfilling other roles.

Nixon’s experience as both a running backs coach and assistant head coach might help him check several boxes the Cowboys currently have open; the team parted ways with RB coach Skip Peete and assistant HC Rob Davis last week.

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Panthers RB coach Jeff Nixon to interview for Cowboys’ OC job

Per Joe Person of The Athletic, Panthers RB coach Jeff Nixon will be interviewing for the Cowboys’ OC vacancy on Wednesday.

The Carolina Panthers didn’t end up hiring former Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore as their new head coach. But, in a bit of twist, they could have his replacement.

As reported by Joe Person of The Athletic on Tuesday morning, Panthers running backs coach Jeff Nixon is set to interview with the Cowboys for their offensive coordinator vacancy. Dallas will now be looking to fill that void left behind by the departure of Moore, who has quickly moved into the same role for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Before joining the Panthers staff in 2020, Nixon spent three years at Baylor University as their co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach. He was carried over to Carolina by former head coach Matt Rhule, who’d begin by putting him in charge of the team’s backfield.

The following season, Rhule and the Panthers dismissed offensive coordinator Joe Brady through 12 games—leaving the play-calling duties to Nixon for the final five outings of the 2021 campaign. He’d then play a role in an impressive 2022 for Carolina’s running backs—as the team, even after the trade of star Christian McCaffrey, finished 10th in rushing offense (130.0 yards per game).

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Panthers promote Al Holcomb, Jeff Nixon to assistant HC posts

The Panthers continued to fortify their staff on Wednesday, promoting both Al Holcomb and Jeff Nixon to assistant head coaching roles.

The Carolina Panthers had a bit of leakage on their coaching staff from the 2021 campaign. So now that everything is seemingly in its place, they decided to fortify the ship on Wednesday afternoon.

As first reported by Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, the team promoted Al Holcomb to assistant head coach of the defense. Holcomb has served as the run game coordinator for the past two seasons.

The 51-year-old is currently in his second stint for Carolina, with the first coming back during the Panthers’ most sustained run of success in franchise history. That happened when the Ron Rivera and Cam Newton-led squad ripped off three straight NFC South titles and a Super Bowl 50 appearance between 2013 and 2017, where Holcomb was the linebackers coach under defensive coordinators Sean McDermott and Steve Wilks.

Holcomb was joined in his promotion by Jeff Nixon—who, according to The Charlotte Observer‘s Jonathan M. Alexander, was bumped up to assistant head coach of the offense. Nixon, after being brought on as the running backs coach in 2020, took over as offensive coordinator this past season following the dismissal of Joe Brady.

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