We’ve already taken a look at the coaching staffs the Los Angeles Rams, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Buffalo Bills are putting together, but there are still three more complete staffs forming before our eyes with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos and the woefully behind San Francisco 49ers.
Not only that, the hires that come with those jobs call shake ups all over the league. Add to that the usual hirings and firings and you start to need a spread sheet and a abacus to track all of it. I’m here to help.
Keeping Doug Marrone as head coach while simultaneously adding Tom Coughlin to the front office was a rare coup for the consistently under-performing franchise. Coughlin led the team during its inception, which also turns out to be its heyday.
With Coughlin’s return comes the logical addition of former Jaguars great Keenan McCardell as wide receivers coach. Former Oakland Raiders running back Tyrone Wheatley has been added as running backs coach. The Jaguars will keep defensive coordinator Todd Wash in that same role. Under Wash the Jags were a Top 10 defense in 2016 so the move makes a lot of sense.
Jags of the Roundtable recaps the rehires of Todd Wash as DC, and Nathaniel Hackett as OC.
📺: https://t.co/gF6K0oeUEH pic.twitter.com/Y5K4fcfgq2
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) January 21, 2017
Nathaniel Hackett was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator last week. Pat Flaherty was brought in from the San Francisco 49ers as the new offensive line coach.
Clemson’s national title got co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Marion Hobby an upgrade to the NFL. Marrone and Coughlin added him to the staff as their new defensive line coach. Perry Fewell will coach the secondary, the same job he held in Washington last year. Fewell was Coughlin’s defensive coordinator in New York during the Giants’ second Super Bowl run with him as head coach. Joe DeCamillis, who served as the Denver Broncos head coach for a single game in 2016 while Gary Kubiak was in the hospital, joins the Jaguars staff as special teams coordinator.
Other than the Rams, no team has gone through more coaching changes than the Broncos. For a successful team just a year removed from a Super Bowl championship, it was logical to think new head coach Vance Joseph wouldn’t rock the boat. And he didn’t. He set it on fire like a viking king’s funeral.
The offense will now be run by former San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy. It’s a job McCoy had back in 2012. Former Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave will be the new quarterbacks coach, Last year’s defensive backs coach under Wade Phillips, Joe Woods, got a promotion too. He’ll now be the defensive coordinator.
Jeff Davidson was highly regarded in lone season with Chargers. Offensive line coach has followed Mike McCoy to Denver in same role.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) January 14, 2017
Brock Olivo, a former Kansas City Chiefs special teams assistant, will be the Broncos’ new special teams coordinator. Jeff Davidson takes over the offensive line after holding the same job under McCoy with the Chargers. Johnnie Lynn was brought in to coach defensive backs after being out of the NFL coaching circuit since 2013. His boss will be Marcus Robinson who coached the Oakland Raiders secondary last year.
San Francisco 49ers
No news is good news? Bad news? Probably a little of both. The 49ers have their sights set on Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan after New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels pulled out of the coaching search, saying he wished to remain in New England. Dave Toub, the Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator, did the same thing and on any other team’s coach list, that would have probably resulted in a giant shrug. But this is the 49ers, a team whose last two head coach hires were Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly. Both guys lasted just one season.
Quinn says if Shanahan meets w/ 49ers it will probably be at end of the week, since players have off Saturday (reports already out there)
— Tiffany Blackmon (@tiffblackmon) January 23, 2017
There are still plenty of ways the 49ers could screw this up. So many, in fact, that I’m pretty much counting on it at this point. First, the York family that runs the team are notoriously shitty and meddlesome owners. This is the crew that ran Jim Harbaugh out of town after three straight NFC Championship appearances and a Super Bowl appearance. With Colin Kaepernick at quarterback, for God’s sake.
Will they try to low-ball Shanahan? Will they pair him with an idiot general manager that they’ve also yet to hire? If the Falcons win the Super Bowl will Shanahan really want to leave that well-oiled machine for the 49ers? Would it not be better to hold out for possible (if not likely) job openings with the New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears or Detroit Lions next season? By waiting a season Shanahan could end up with Andrew Luck or Matthew Stafford… or Marcus Mariota. That looks like a dice roll worth taking to me.
To make a wager on Super Bowl LI, go to the world famous Diamond Sportsbook by clicking here.
