Tag: linebackers coach

Broncos’ new OLBs coach Michael Wilhoite played 7 years in the NFL

Michael Wilhoite played seven years in the NFL before Sean Payton hired him as an assistant. He will now serve as the Broncos’ OLBs coach.

The Denver Broncos will have a new outside linebackers coach in 2023.

Michael Wilhoite, 36, was hired earlier this month after spending the last four years as an assistant coach in the NFL. Before transitioning to coaching in 2019, Wilhoite played in the NFL from 2011-2017.

Wilhiote’s professional playing career started in the UFL with the Omaha Nighthawks in 2011. After spending one year in Omaha, Wilhoite signed with the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad.

Wilhoite then spent most of the 2012 season on San Francisco’s practice squad before being promoted to the active roster. He played in Super Bowl XLVII and then remained on the active roster from 2013-2016, starting 36 games.

Wilhoite spent his final year as a player with the Seattle Seahawks in 2017 before hanging up his cleats with 298 tackles and four interceptions on his resume. Two years after he retired, Wilhoite was hired by Sean Payton as a special teams assistant in 2019.

After spending two years in New Orleans, Wilhoite spent two years as a linebackers coach with the Los Angeles Chargers from 2021-2022. He will now reunite with Payton as an outside linebackers coach in Denver.

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Broncos’ new ILBs coach is a former defensive coordinator

Greg Manusky, the Broncos’ new inside linebackers coach, has served as a defensive coordinator with four teams in the NFL.

Sean Payton‘s coaching staff will include an assistant head coach helping run special teams, and a positional coach on defense with 20 years of experience coaching defenses in the NFL.

Payton announced several coaching hires earlier this month, including Greg Manusky as the team’s new inside linebackers coach. Manusky, 56, has an impressive resume for a position coach.

Manusky had a 12-year career as a linebacker in the NFL from 1988-1999, playing for Washington, Minnesota and Kansas City. He started his coaching career as a linebackers coach with Washington in 2001.

He later held the same role with San Diego before being hired as a defensive coordinator in San Francisco (2007-2010). Manusky later went on to serve as a DC for San Diego (2011), Indianapolis (2012-2015) and Washington (2017-2019) before joining Kentucky in 2020 as a defensive quality control assistant.

After two years at the college level, Manusky joined the Minnesota Vikings as an inside linebackers coach in 2022, and he now lands in Denver to fill the same role with the Broncos. With 22 years of coaching experience and 32 years of experience in the NFL, Manusky should have Denver’s inside linebackers ready to go this fall.

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Liberty ILB coach Robert Bala joining Alabama’s staff as linebackers coach

Several days after Alabama lost its linebackers coach Austin Armstrong to Florida, the Tide have now hired LIberty linebackers coach Robert Bala to the same role.

Alabama has moved quickly to replace former linebackers coach Austin Armstrong who left for the defensive coordinator opening at Florida several days ago. On Saturday, the team hired Liberty linebackers coach Robert Bala to coach the same role at Alabama, according to a tweet by ESPN’s Chris Low.

Bala began his coaching career as linebackers coach at Snow College in 2009. He has also made stops at Palomar College, Ottawa (AZ), and Southern Utah. He had various different roles on each coaching staff. Bala has primarily served as the linebacker’s coach throughout his career as a coaching assistant.

He will have a talented group of linebackers to work with next season with players like Deontae Lawson, Kendrick Blackshire, Jihaad Campbell, and Justin Jefferson set to play meaningful snaps.

This was a quick turnaround for head coach Nick Saban. Bala was likely already on Alabama’s radar prior to Armstrong’s departure. This position will be one to keep a close eye on heading into spring practices.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama football program.

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Report: Cowboys to announce longtime McCarthy aides as QB coach, LB coach

Scott Tolzien has been with McCarthy as a player and an assistant; Scott McCurley was the Cowboys’ 2020 LB coach. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has turned to two of his own to fill what would appear to be the final openings on the team’s coaching staff for 2023.

And they both already have a parking pass at The Star.

Scott Tolzien is expected to be officially named as the new quarterbacks coach in Dallas, as per Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Tolzien has served as a coaching assistant for the team since 2020; he was brought aboard early in McCarthy’s tenure mainly to work with the team’s passers. Tolzien played under McCarthy in Green Bay for three seasons, getting into six games as Aaron Rodgers’s backup.

The 35-year-old Wisconsin product will take over the role after Doug Nussmeier’s move to the Chargers, where he’ll reunite with Kellen Moore.

Scott McCurley will also get a promotion, according to reports, and is set to become the Cowboys’ primary linebackers coach.

It will actually be McCurley’s second stint in the position. Originally hired by McCarthy in 2020 to be linebackers coach, McCurley was more or less demoted after one season. That’s when senior defensive assistant George Edwards took over the linebackers upon the arrival of Dan Quinn as defensive coordinator.

McCurley is a Pennsylvania native and Pitt alum who first served under McCarthy as a Packers coaching intern in 2006. He spent five years as a defensive quality control assistant before McCarthy promoted him to assistant linebackers coach. He had worked his way up to defensive assistant by 2018 and spent 2019 out of football before McCarthy brought him to Dallas.

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Former Texas coach Charlie Strong hired by Miami to coach linebackers

Charlie Strong is back in the college game.

Charlie Strong is back in the college game after spending this past season in Jacksonville on Urban Meyer’s staff.

Now that the Meyer in NFL experiment has officially failed, Strong joins new Miami head coach Mario Cristobal’s staff as the Canes linebackers coach.

Strong brings both head coaching experience and Florida recruiting ties to the Miami coaching staff. He has been the head man at Louisville, Texas and USF. Strong also helped Florida win two national championships as the Gator’s defensive coordinator during his tenure in Gainesville.

Getting a coach with the resume Strong has to coach linebackers is a major win for Cristobal. Miami also hired Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis to lead the offense. Gattis won the 2021 Broyles Award as the best assistant in college football.

Strong put the icing on the cake for Cristobal’s star-studded coaching staff in Miami.

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Broncos hiring UNLV’s defensive coordinator as new LBs coach

UNLV defensive coordinator Peter Hansen worked with ex-Broncos coach Vic Fangio and expected new DC Ejiro Evero in SF from 2011-13.

The Denver Broncos are hiring UNLV defensive coordinator Peter Hansen as their new linebackers coach, according to a report from KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. Hansen will replace ex-LBs coach Reggie Herring, who was let go last week.

Hansen, 42, played college football and basketball at Arizona before going on to play one season of semi-pro football in France and two seasons of professional basketball in Denmark. Hansen transitioned to coaching in 2004, joining Palo Alto High School, his alma mater, as a tight ends/defensive ends coach.

He later joined Stanford, first as a strength and conditioning coach (2008) before becoming a defensive assistant (2009-10). Hansen joined the San Francisco 49ers as a defensive assistant/outside linebackers coach in 2011, working under then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio from 2011-13.

Hansen also overlapped with Los Angeles Rams secondary coach/passing game coordinator Ejiro Evero, who worked in San Francisco from 2011-15. The Broncos are expected to hire Evero as their new defensive coordinator after the Rams play in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday.

After spending three years with the 49ers, Hansen returned to Stanford as an inside linebackers coach in 2014. He coached the Cardinal linebackers for six seasons before being hired by UNLV as defensive coordinator in 2020.

Denver fired Fangio following the 2021 season and replaced him with Nathaniel Hackett. By hiring Evero and Hansen, the Broncos have ensured that elements of Fangio’s successful defensive scheme will remain in Denver.

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LSU HC Brian Kelly targeting Chiefs LB coach Matt House for defensive coordinator gig

Brian Kelly is targeting #Chiefs LB Coach Matt House for the LSU defensive coordinator opening according to a new report.

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The Kansas City Chiefs could lose an assistant coach to the college football ranks after the conclusion of the 2021 NFL postseason.

New LSU HC Brian Kelly is starting to make some progress in his search for coordinators. According to a report from Football Scoop, via our friends at LSUTigersWire, Chiefs LB coach Matt House is on the shortlist of candidates for the defensive coordinator position.

Here is what the report had to say:

“On the defensive side of the ball, Kelly has set his target – per sources — on an up-and-coming NFL assistant coach Matt House, the Kansas City Chiefs’ linebackers coach who spent almost two decades coaching at the collegiate level before he exited the University of Kentucky three years ago for an opportunity with the Chiefs.”

House joined the Chiefs’ coaching staff as linebackers coach in 2019 and has overseen the development of players like Willie Gay Jr. and Nick Bolton. He has a ton of experience at the collegiate level, including experience as a defensive coordinator. He previously filled the position with the University of Pittsburgh, Florida International University and the University of Kentucky. His position with the Wildcats was his most recent collegiate position and his defense was one of the better units in the SEC.

It’s unclear if House would leave the NFL for the college ranks again, but should he choose to do so the Chiefs will have some in-house options for replacements. Outside linebackers coach Ken Flajole is fully capable of taking over and coaching all of the linebackers in Kansas City. They could also promote Defensive Quality Control Coach Alex Whittingham. Should they venture outside for replacements, it was reported that the Chiefs attempted to lure Antonio Pierce away from Arizona State prior to hiring House. Pierce played in the NFL under Steve Spagnuolo with the New York Giants.

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Report: Mike Stoops will not be hired as Texas’ linebackers coach

According to the Austin American-Statesman, Texas will not be hiring Mike Stoops as the linebackers coach.

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Reports surfaced late Thursday night that Texas was expected to hire former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops as the linebackers coach. A small meltdown occurred within the Longhorns fan base, knowing exactly what Stoops’ defense looked like during his time in Norman.

Well, it must have worked because as of Friday morning, Stoops will not be heading to Austin. According to Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman, Steve Sarkisian has said he will not be hiring Stoops as the linebackers coach.

Instead, Texas will be moving in a different direction. The linebackers coach is the only spot Sarkisian has yet to fill on his staff. According to Davis, somebody else is in mind for the position.

“I’m really excited about who we’re talking to,” Sarkisian told Davis.

Stoops was Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2018. Slowly and surely, the Sooners’ weakness became their defensive scheme. It even became historically bad despite making the College Football Playoff in 2015 and 2017. Stoops was fired after the 2018 Red River Shootout that saw Texas score 48 points, the most the Longhorns have scored in the rivalry.

Stoops has spent the past two seasons working as a defensive analyst on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. It is not known if he will still be joining the Texas staff in a different role.

From a fan’s perspective, seeing a Stoops in burnt orange would have felt awkward. Once his performance on the field and in the recruiting world came into fruition, it would have been even more frustrating.

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USA Today Sports Grades All 130 Teams

The USA TODAY Sports collection of analysts graded out all college football teams but where did they rank the Texas Longhorns?

USA Today Sports spent the year keeping a close eye on all 130 teams in college football. The Texas Longhorns had high expectations coming off their big Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia. After quarterback Sam Ehlinger proclaimed that “Texas was back”, their season unraveled leading to a 8-5 season that saw them take the soon to be National Champion Louisiana State Tigers to the brink and a huge bowl victory to cap off the season.

USA TODAY Sports gave the Longhorns a grade of “C”. Not exactly surprising given the expectation level for Texas. After competing for the Big 12 Championship against rival Oklahoma, the Longhorns were poised for a rematch in 2019 but unfortunately the surprise Baylor Bears snatched that opportunity away from them.

The Dallas Morning News posted an article that claimed that Texas would lose to LSU by a field goal but win 11 games including the Big 12 title. While the Longhorns did lose to the Tigers, they didn’t live up to the rest of the prediction. For 2020, the pressure is on Sam Ehlinger and Tom Herman to get the Longhorns back to the top of the Big 12 and competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Texas Longhorns Officially Announce Coleman Hutzler Joining Staff

The Texas Longhorns officially welcomed Coleman Hutzler to the staff. He will be the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.

Late on Monday evening the rumor mill starting catching wind of the Texas Longhorns adding a new staff member to take over as the linebackers assistant coach opening. As first reported by Anwar Richardson, Coleman Hutzler was the front runner to take that spot. On Tuesday afternoon, the Longhorns made it official that Hutzler would take over linebackers coach and was named co-defensive coordinator.

Hutzler was most recently with the South Carolina Gamecocks serving under former Longhorns’ defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. In 2017, Hutzler was nominated for the Broyles Award that goes to the nation’s best assistant coach.

“Coleman is a coach who came highly recommended by several people I have a great deal of respect for in our business,” Herman said. “When we had a chance to sit down and talk with him, he certainly lived up to everything we had heard. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience, is high energy and has accomplished a great deal while spending much of his career coaching in big-time environments in the SEC. He’ll do a terrific job developing our linebackers and helping us grow on defense. We’re excited to get him on board and to get him around our team and out on the road recruiting for us.” –Tom Herman to TexasSports.com