OC and DC options

[YtownBacker]

On another front, word is that both Nolan Cromwell and Jim Zorn will be coming to town to interview. Both have Holmgren ties and are WCO guys. Cromwell was with Shurmur last year on the offensive staff of the Rams. He's well traveled and well respected around the NFL. Both are experienced guys that could help Shurmur. Zorn did a nice job as QB coach last year in Balt.

[Brown Warrior]

Zorn actually spent like seven years under Holmgren in Seattle... so if he's worth a call, he'll get one.

[Brown Warrior]

Bill Musgrave getting interviewed today for OC. There are some connections:

Immediately after being released as a player, Musgrave joined the Oakland Raiders as a quarterbacks coach for 1997. 1998 placed him with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was quarterbacks coach under Ray Rhodes, another former 49er assistant. Toward the end of the year, Musgrave was calling plays instead of offensive coordinator Dana Bible. In 1999, Musgrave left to be the quarterbacks coach under George Seifert with the Carolina Panthers, in an arrangement that saw he and Seifert having a heavy hand in calling the plays over offensive coordinator Gil Haskell. Upon Haskell's departure to Seattle, Musgrave was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2000.

Having enjoyed a favorable relationship with Seifert, doing gameplanning, and helping call plays was a major plus for Musgrave, and a reason the team chose him to replace Haskell, who had been a holdover from a previous staff. However, as an inexperienced coordinator, Musgrave had faltered at times, been criticized in the media for choices in playcalling, and was at one point rumored to have been yelled at by Seifert in front of the team. Musgrave resigned from the position after four games.

Musgrave accepted the position of offensive coordinator under Al Groh at the University of Virginia in 2001-2002, tutoring Matt Schaub to school records. Musgrave left to be the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars (2003-04), and was released from that position. Since, Musgrave has held the quarterbacks coach position for the Washington Redskins (2005) and Atlanta Falcons (2006-2009).
In 2010, Bill Musgrave was promoted to Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

[Sez.EJ]

I'd like to have Zorn somewhere on the staff.. regardless of what happened in Washington..that guy's a winner in my book any day.

[DieselPusher]

Josh McDaniels the new OC for St. Louis

Rams hire Josh McDaniels


ESPN.com news services

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams hired former Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator on Tuesday.
McDaniels replaces Pat Shurmur, who was hired by the Cleveland Browns as head coach earlier this month.
NFC West blog

ESPN.com's Mike Sando writes about all things NFC West in his division blog.
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"We are happy to announce that Josh will be a part of our staff," coach Steve Spagnuolo said in a statement. "I've always recognized that he is one of the top offensive minds in the NFL. We think he is a great addition to our organization."
Earlier Tuesday, sources said a significant snag in negotiations between the Rams and McDaniels had led the team to broaden its search to include coaches with the West Coast-system roots in which rookie quarterback Sam Bradford excelled during his rookie season.
The Rams even went through league channels Tuesday morning to request interviews with coaches including Bill Musgrave of the Falcons and Darrell Bevell of the Vikings. Musgrave is the assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach in Atlanta and Bevell has been in limbo as the offensive coordinator in Minnesota.
When Seattle fired offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates on Tuesday, McDaniels' name also surfaced in connection with that opening.
McDaniels parlayed success as an offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots into his first head coaching job and at age 32 was the NFL's youngest coach in 2009. He favors the spread offense, run by Bradford in college.
Bradford, the top pick of the last draft, broke several of Peyton Manning's NFL rookie records last season.
McDaniels was let go by the Broncos on Dec. 6, with four game left in the regular season and in the midst of the franchise's worst slump in four decades. After winning his first six games of his rookie season, the Broncos lost 17 of the last 22, and the team also had several of issues off the field.
McDaniels also was fined $50,000 by the NFL after a videographer violated league rules by videotaping a San Francisco 49ers practice in London in October.
The Rams made a six-victory improvement last year under Spagnuolo, who'll be entering his third season.
McDaniels was with the Patriots from 2001-08, and was a personnel assistant on the '01 team that beat the Rams in the Super Bowl. New England won two more Super Bowls and totaled four AFC championships in his eight seasons with the franchise, the last three as offensive coordinator.
In McDaniels' first season with the Broncos, Kyle Orton set career highs for pass, completions, passing yards, touchdown passes and passer rating while tying his career low for interceptions. Orton's 3,802 yards were the sixth highest for a season in Broncos history.
Last season, the Broncos were seventh in the NFL in passing yards and 13th in total offense.
Information from ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[DieselPusher]

Ravens need a new DC

Greg Mattison returns to Michigan


Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison is leaving to fill the same role on Brady Hoke's new staff at Michigan.
Mattison was also the defensive coordinator for the Wolverines during the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
Big Ten blog

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg writes about all things Big Ten in his conference blog.
• Blog network:
College Football Nation


"Greg loves Michigan, loves recruiting and is excited about coming back to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan," Hoke said in a statement. "Greg is one of the top defensive coordinators in football, and his defensive units have always prided themselves on stopping the run. He will be a great asset to our program and an excellent addition to our staff."
Hoke has also hired seven other members of his staff a week after he was hired as Michigan's 19th football coach.
Offensive coordinator Al Borges, special teams coordinator Dan Ferrigno, offensive line coach Darrell Funk, wide receivers coach Jeff Hecklinski, linebackers coach Mark Smith and strength and conditioning coach Aaron Wellman are coming with Hoke from his previous staff at San Diego State.
Longtime Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson has been rehired to the same position.
Mattison was a co-defensive coordinator at Florida for three seasons from 2005-07. He then joined the Ravens as their linebackers coach in 2008 before serving as Baltimore's defensive coordinator the last two seasons.

[Sez.EJ]

not to worry.. Ravens will be looking for a 3-4 guy..we are not.

[Brown Warrior]

Musgrave sounds like he'd be a get. Needs a better pic. Looks like a pedophile on a three-day meth run.

Cleveland Browns interview Falcons QB coach Bill Musgrave for offensive coordinator | cleveland.com

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Originally Posted by DieselPusher

Josh McDaniels the new OC for St. Louis

Lucky Bastards.

[PlaygroundLegend]

St. louis might be a underdog playoff contender next year, baby hoodie wants his throne back, and bradford will have his wideouts off injury

bad news for steven jackson though

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by PlaygroundLegend

St. louis might be a underdog playoff contender next year, baby hoodie wants his throne back, and bradford will have his wideouts off injury

bad news for steven jackson though

I'm sure he'll like it if there's not 8-9 men in the box awaiting the next handoff. Jackson has had a lot of wear and tear that a good passing game with healthy receivers can can help. In the same light, I'm sure Hillis will like getting a WR or 2 here that can remove 1 or 2 of the DBs from that 8-9 men in the box thing. He was banged up at the end of the year. The IDEAL setup is what UNDRAFTED Arian Foster had down in Houston. Massive attention to Andre Johnson in the passing game rarely had him facing 8-9 men in the box.

See how much personnel matters more than scheme? The first time we got spoiled with WCO from the Policy & Clark we were treated to a 5-27 record. I'd prefer an open mind right now that looks at what we have and then caters an offense or defense to it. Does anyone actually know NE did NOT begin with a 3-4 when BB was there? They started with a 4-3 with Ted Johnson as their MLB. I read an article a couple years ago when BB corrected someone when they said he brought the 3-4 to NE. He said he actually brought a 4-3 there; but injuries caused him to return to the 3-4. The compatibility and success of it is why it's still there. Then again, their post season magic looks like it may beg for a change. I don't see NE's defense forcing passers to unload the football before they want to any more.

I look at the NY Jets using Brian Schottenheimer's (or his tutor's) offense. Last year, their big play guy in the passing offense was TE Dustin Keller so they were limited in how far that passing game could go PLUS there was a rookie QB. Didn't Phil Simms state they still have to scale back playbook for Sanchez. They were considering benching Sanchez prior to Schottenheimer deciding to get him less complicated routes in order to get rid of the football quicker.

Let's not forget, NY added Santonio Holmes this year to draw attention of #1 corners and Braylon got some favorable matchups on #2 corners; while LT is a better receiver out of the backfield than Shonn Greene. Consequently, Keller moved much further down the goto guy chain than he was just 1 calendar year ago.

Just get me a playmaker or 2 in the passing game and I don't care what label they need to slap on the offense. A WCO without the right people = 5-27 here regardless of excuse volumes. That's about as exciting as a 3-4 defense that plays rope a dope absorb for 60 minutes because it doesn't have the right people to attack with.

The DC search looks like it's turning into the lesser of all evils. I'm not sure why anyone is gaa gaa over Jim Mora Jr. He was their wonderful DC the last time they were 4-12; but he's a holmgren guy so he walks on water all of a sudden. Jauron did a nice job in Jax under a fiery HC like Coughlin but there doesn't appear to be the charisma and ability to handle momentum shifts the defense will need to respond to. Wannestedt became a very impressive DC when Dallas had about 4 good drafts in the house. We have 1 good draft for him to work with.

Just playing devil's advocate about all the excitement because there's at least 1 golf course full of holes we need to fill. This IS 1999 so please excuse my lack of excitement for Jim Mora and Jim Zorn candidates. I care MORE about what Heckert does so ANY of the schemes can matter.

[golfer704u]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

They both fit what Holmgren seems to be looking for, a DC with a ton of experience with the D and some head coaching experience... but maybe too much age to think he'll steal the job from under Shurmur.

Honestly, I don't know much about the 4-3s as run by Jauron or Wannstedt... but for some reason my gut would want the latter.

Agreed of those two names my gut says Wannstedt would be the better choice.

While he may not be thinking about stealing the head coach job, I think he would be more hungry to still show he has it.

Jauron scares me as a guy just collecting a paycheck now.