Tag: Patrick Graham

Eagles have reached out to Wink Martindale about vacant defensive coordinator job

The Philadelphia Eagles have reached to Wink Martindale about interest in their vacant defensive coordinator position after firing Sean Desai

Philadelphia is looking for a new defensive play-caller after head coach Nick Sirianni fired Sean Desai before he met with owner Jeffrey Lurie.

Senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia had his contract expire, and he’ll explore other league opportunities.

According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the Eagles have already reached out to interview former Giants and Ravens assistant coach Wink Martindale for the vacant defensive coordinator job.

The 60-year-old is a free agent and Martindale has been an NFL assistant since 2004, spending the majority of his time with the Baltimore Ravens.

Philadelphia lacks agression on defense and Martindale would be a departure to the passive approaches of Jonathan Gannon and Sean Desai.

Martindale would be the closest thing to the late-great Jim Johnson in regards to philospy and pressure approach.

Martindale called blitzes on 46% of the Giants’ defensive plays last season — double the percentage the Eagles sent extra rushers in the regular season.

His blitz package is unpredictable, and Philadelphia has proof that it’s effective, with Jalen Hurts having faced the Giants multiple times a year over his first four years in the league.

Eagles have reached out to Ryan Nielsen about vacant defensive coordinator job

The Philadelphia Eagles have reached to Ryan Nielsen about interest in their vacant defensive coordinator position after firing Sean Desai

Philadelphia is looking for a new defensive play-caller after head coach Nick Sirianni fired Sean Desai before he met with owner Jeffrey Lurie.

Senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia had his contract expire, and he’ll explore other league opportunities.

According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the Eagles have already reached out to interview former Falcons and Saints assistant coach Ryan Nielsen for the vacant defensive coordinator job.

Nielsen’s defensive schemes focus on his unit stopping the run out of a light box, and his aggressive approach upfront will gel with what Philadelphia has previously done.

The Falcon’s defense jumped to 24th this season in defense-adjusted value over average, which measures the efficiency with the opponent’s strength factored in after being 31st in 2022.

Atlanta’s pass rush went from 32nd in pressure rate in 2022 to 11th under Nielsen in 2023.

Most importantly, the Falcon’s defense under Nielsen ranked 17th in blitz percentage last season compared to the Eagle’s 24th-ranked unit.

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7 realistic defensive coordinator candidates Eagles can target after firing Sean Desai

We’re looking at seven realistic candidates who could replace Sean Desai and Matt Patricia as Defensive Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles

A move that has been speculated on for weeks has happened after Ian Rapoport reported that Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has fired defensive coordinator Sean Desai.

The Eagles finished the season with six losses in their last seven games, with those losses by an average of 15 points, and their only win since Week 12 came against the Giants after they nearly blew a 17-point lead.

Desai was stripped of playcalling duties before Week 15, and the move comes after Philadelphia finished their second-half collapse with a 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Monday night.

With the move now official, we’re looking at seven realistic candidates who could replace Sean Desai and Matt Patricia.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman, HC Nick Sirianni reaching out to coordinator candidates

After finishing their exit meeting, Eagles GM Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni have begun reaching out to potential coordinator candidates

It appears that Nick Sirianni will be safe and keep his job as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles after meeting with owner Jeffrey Lurie and GM Howie Roseman.

The same can’t be said for his assistants on both sides of the football.

Dianna Russini reports that Roseman and Sirianni have contacted potential coordinator candidates on the offensive and defensive sides.

Sirianni gets much credit for the Eagles’ success over the past three seasons.

Still, after a late-season meltdown that saw the Eagles go 1-6 in their final seven games, including the playoffs, the head coach and his assistant coaches expected were on the hot seat.

Philadelphia’s third-year head coach has far exceeded expectations, but it’s clear that Gannon and Steichen played far more prominent roles than we thought.

We previewed potential offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator candidates, and as the process began, the dominoes started to fall.

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10 defensive coordinator candidates the Eagles could target if Sean Desai-Matt Patricia depart

With exit interviews set to begin, we’re looking at ten candidates who could replace Sean Desai and Matt Patricia if they depart. 

Nick Sirianni officially has his coaching tree after the Cardinals hired Jonathan Gannon and the Colts hired Shane Steichen in the 2023 coaching carousel.

Sirianni rightfully gets a lot of credit for the Eagles’ success.

Still, after a late-season meltdown that saw the Eagles go 1-6 in their final seven games, including the playoffs, the head coach and his assistant coaches could be on the hot seat.

Philadelphia’s third-year head coach has far exceeded expectations, but it’s clear that Gannon and Steichen played far more prominent roles than we thought.

With exit interviews set to begin, we’re looking at ten candidates who could replace Sean Desai and Matt Patricia if they depart.

Chargers complete head coach interview with Patrick Graham

Patrick Graham comes with plenty of NFL experience.

The Chargers completed their head coach interview with Patrick Graham, the team announced on Thursday.

This marks the third head coach interview Los Angeles has conducted since the end of the regular season.

Graham comes with 15 years of NFL experience.

Graham finished his second season as the Raiders defensive coordinator, where he engineered a unit that finished ninth in scoring defense in 2023.

Before joining Las Vegas, Graham was a defensive coordinator for the Dolphins (2019) and Giants (2020-21).

Graham spent the 2018 season as the Packers inside linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator. In his first stint with the Giants, Graham coached the defensive line from 2016-17.

Graham began his NFL coaching career with the Patriots, where he spent seven seasons.

He was a coaching assistant in 2009 before being promoted to defensive assistant in 2010 and linebackers coach in 2011. Graham moved to defensive line from 2012-13 before returning to linebackers in 2014-15.

Chargers head coach, general manager interview tracker

Here is a running list of the head coaching and GM candidates the Chargers have requested to interview or have interviewed.

After parting ways with Brandon Staley during the 2023 regular season, Chargers owner Dean Spanos is in search of the new head coach.

Additionally, Spanos will be looking to fill the general manager void left by Tom Telesco, who was relieved of his duties after ten years in the role.

To keep you up to date with who they will be interviewing for the head coaching and general manager positions, we have created this tracker.

11 defensive coordinator candidates Giants could consider

The New York Giants are on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator and these are 11 potential candidates they could consider.

Wink Martindale resigned as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator on Monday after just two seasons with the team. It was a rather unceremonious end that was handled poorly by both sides.

The departure of Martindale now thrusts the Giants into a defensive coordinator search for the second time in three years.

General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll are expected to get to work immediately but before they do, here’s a look at 11 potential candidates.

Note: Some of these candidates may currently be employed with other teams and would require termination (or resignation) before joining the Giants.

Chargers request interviews with 6 head coach candidates

The Chargers wasted no time getting to business on Day 1 of the offseason as they requested interviews with six head coaching candidates.

The Chargers wasted no time getting to business on Day 1 of the offseason as they requested interviews with six head coaching candidates.

The early list includes Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

Johnson appears to be the hottest offensive coordinator candidate of the cycle, as he appears at the top of several teams’ odds lists. So far, he’s the only interview request candidate whose name has appeared on Chargers’ HC futures in sportsbooks. Johnson has been one of the engines in the Lions’ red-hot resurgence with Jared Goff. Playmakers like Sam LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Amon-Ra St. Brown have broken out under his watch in Detroit.

Glenn has been the defensive coordinator of the Lions for three seasons while boasting nearly a decade of coaching on his resume. He also has 15 seasons worth of NFL playing experience as a cornerback.

Wilks has head coaching experience with the Cardinals and an interim stint with Carolina. He has nearly 30 years of coaching experience between college and the NFL stints. He was the Chargers’ defensive backs coach from 2009 to 2011 before joining Ron Rivera’s staff in Carolina.

Graham has overseen the defenses of the Dolphins, Giants and Raiders. In 2023, Las Vegas finished eighth in points allowed and 11th in passing yards allowed.

Of note with Wilks, Glenn and Graham: They would fulfill the Rooney Rule requirement of interviewing external minority candidates.

After taking the Falcons to the Super Bowl as their head coach in 2016, Quinn became the defensive coordinator of the Cowboys in 2021 and quickly transformed their defense into one of the best units in the league.

Monken has revitalized the Ravens’ offense in his return to the pros behind an MVP campaign from Lamar Jackson. The two-time CFP national champion at Georgia also has offensive coordinator stops with Tampa Bay and Cleveland in the pros.

This list will presumably grow over the coming days, but these four names represent a start. Being that he’s not NFL personnel, Jim Harbaugh would not require a formal interview request.

The Chargers will also likely have a handful of names for general managers they’d like to interview. Considering the reported interest in Harbaugh, Colts’ assistant general manager Ed Dodds may make sense for an interview request.

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 7 loss to Bears

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 7 loss to Bears

One of the tougher tasks I have occasionally had in the 16 years I’ve been doing this series is finding anything positive in a seemingly complete collapse. This was one of those times.

The hapless Bears jumped to a 14-0 lead in this game and never looked back. The Raiders couldn’t stop the Chicago offense led by undrafted rookie QB Tyson Bagent. Mostly because they couldn’t stop the ground game and found themselves on their heels all game long.

It was so bad that even the final score didn’t accurately reflect the disparity. The final six points was a garbage time score after they were down 30-6. And honestly we all knew once the Raiders went down 21-3 in the third quarter, that was the clincher. After all, the Raiders offense hadn’t broken the 20-point barrier all season, and they were clearly not going to do it on this day.

But, as we typically do, let’s start with the glimmer of good before we go to the myriad of bad.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby

The best all-around edge rusher in the NFL is often the exception for the Raiders. Nearly every week he is not just a Baller, but the Top Baller. Even if that isn’t all that difficult to do on this team.

The defense didn’t hold up well most of the game, but every time they did, Crosby was the reason why.

The day began on a high note. The Bears won the toss and made the rare decision to start on offense. Then the Raiders forced a three-and-out, which immediately put them at an advantage. That advantage was created because on second down, Crosby got pressure to set up Bilal Nichols to make a tackle for loss and the Bears couldn’t dig out of it.

Down 7-0 to begin the second quarter, the Bears began driving again, picking up a couple first downs. Then Crosby burst into the backfield, forcing a holding penalty on his man and the Bears once again could not overcome it and punted.

Down 14-3 late in the second quarter, the Bears were threatening again. They moved into Vegas territory at the 47 and would get no further. Crosby flew in for the sack to put them back in their own territory with seconds left and that ended that.

That was as close as the Raiders would get. Still within two scores. Unfortunately Crosby can’t do it all by himself and the Bears were able to extend their lead, while the offense not only couldn’t close the gap, but actually made it worse with a late pick-six to turn this one into a laugher.

WR Jakobi Meyers

The Raiders had three scoring drives in the game. The first one featured a heavy dose of Meyers. He caught four consecutive passes for a combined 34 yards to put the Raiders in scoring range.

The second scoring drive featured a catch my Meyers to convert on third-and-three and a four-yard catch on second-and-goal from the ten.

He would later catch the Raiders only touchdown in the game. Even if it was a meaningless one in garbage time.

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