NFL News Updates

Author: nfltalk

  • Pete Carroll out as Seahawks head coach: Top five logical 2024 replacements, including one leading candidate

    Pete Carroll out as Seahawks head coach: Top five logical 2024 replacements, including one leading candidate

    After 14 seasons on the job, Pete Carroll is done as the Seahawks’ head coach, moving off the sidelines and into an advisory role on Wednesday. Carroll had told reporters following the 2023 season he expected to return to his post in 2024, but now the 72-year-old former Super Bowl champion has cleared the way for a successor.

    Seattle experienced sustained success under Carroll’s leadership, making the playoffs in 10 of his 14 years atop the staff, but failed to reach the postseason in two of his last three seasons. Who’s most likely to take over now that he’s hung up the headset? Here are five logical candidates to become the Seahawks’ next head coach:

    5. Ben Johnson

    Current title: Lions offensive coordinator

    If it’s new and innovative designs the Seahawks are seeking by bumping Carroll upstairs, then Johnson, 37, could very well be their guy. Hailed for designing a quarterback-friendly system in Detroit, where he’s a big reason for the Lions hosting their first playoff game in 30 years, Johnson could help usher Seattle into a more forward-thinking era.

    4. Mike Vrabel

    Current title: Former Titans head coach

    All indications are that Vrabel, 48, was ousted in Tennessee not so much for a lacking track record — he led three playoff runs in his first four years on the job — but a misaligned vision with changing team brass. In Seattle, where presumably the goal is to remain in win-now mode with veterans at key positions, he might find a welcome new home. His defensive prowess could also be a perfect addition considering Seattle’s recent struggles on that side.

    3. Shane Waldron

    Current title: Seahawks offensive coordinator

    Carroll staying within the organization could signal an effort to maintain as much continuity as possible, in which case Waldron, 44, makes a world of sense as an in-house promotion. After four years under Sean McVay in Los Angeles, he became Seattle’s OC in 2021, helping the…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • 2024 NFL Draft: Texas WR Adonai Mitchell declares with stock rising after standout season

    2024 NFL Draft: Texas WR Adonai Mitchell declares with stock rising after standout season

    Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell has declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, he announced Tuesday. Mitchell was one of the most impactful transfer portal additions of the 2023 cycle, regardless of position, for the Longhorns after two seasons at Georgia. He immediately grabbed a starting spot despite stepping into a loaded room that included the likes of star Xavier Worthy and veteran Jordan Whittington. 

    Mitchell had plenty of positive things to day about both the Texas and Georgia programs.

    “I’m grateful to Coach Sark and all of the University of Texas community for making me feel like a Longhorn for life in such a short time,” Mitchell’s statement read. “And to all the Bulldog fans, my amazing coaches, my brothers on the field, the legendary 2021 class. We made history together. I love all of y’all.

    Even with that talent around him, Mitchell established himself as Texas’ most reliable big-play threat. He led the Big 12 with 11 touchdowns, and his 15.4 yards per reception were tops among Texas players with at least 10 catches on the year. 

    Mitchell also had a reputation for stepping up in key situations. His 1-yard touchdown catch in Texas’ College Football Playoff semifinal showdown against Washington cut the Huskies’ lead to 34-28 midway through the fourth quarter. That score snapped a 20-minute scoreless streak for the Longhorns and allowed them to hang around in a game that came down to the wire. 

    Mitchell had at least one touchdown catch in all five playoff games he appeared in throughout his career, dating back to his freshman season at Georgia. Two of those catches — one with 54 seconds left in last season’s semifinal against Ohio State, and the other in the fourth quarter of the 2021 national championship against Alabama –…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Chargers complete interview with Kellen Moore

    Chargers complete interview with Kellen Moore

    The Chargers completed an interview Tuesday with their offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore, for their head coaching vacancy, the team announced.

    Moore spent his first season with the Chargers in 2023, taking over the play-calling job in late January.

    It was Moore’s sixth season as an NFL coach, his fifth calling the plays.

    Moore parted ways with the Cowboys last year, and in his first season with the Chargers, they ranked 18th in total offense and 21st in points.

    The Chargers, though, lost receiver Mike Williams and center Corey Linsley the last 14 games of the season. Quarterback Justin Herbert, running back Austin Ekeler and wide receivers Keenan Allen and Joshua Palmer all missed multiple games.

    Herbert threw for 3,134 yards with 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions while also adding 228 rushing yards and three scores in 13 games. He missed the end of the season with a fractured finger on his throwing hand.

    The Chargers are replacing Brandon Staley, who they fired during the season.

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Where did Notre Dame finished ranked in final 2023 US LBM Coaches Poll

    Where did Notre Dame finished ranked in final 2023 US LBM Coaches Poll

    College football season came to an end Monday night as Michigan defeated Washington to win the national championship for the first time since splitting the title with Nebraska in 1997.

    Notre Dame concluded its season back on December 29 as they dominated an undermanned Oregon State team 40-8 in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.

    We all know Michigan finished first and Washington second but did a non-playoff team make it into the top-three?

    And where did Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish finish after winning 10 games for the first time under the second-year head coach?

    The US LBM Coaches Poll was released on following the College Football Playoff national championship game and is listed from 25-1 below.

    West Virginia

    Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

    Record: 9-4

    Points: 117

    SMU

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 11-3

    Points: 119

    Kansas

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 9-4

    Points: 158

    Iowa

    Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

    Record: 10-4

    Points: 249

    Visit Hawkeyes Wire

    North Carolina State

    David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

    Record: 9-4

    Points: 271

    Clemson

    Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports

    Record: 9-4

    Points: 334

    Visit Clemson Wire

    Kansas State

    Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

    Record: 9-4

    Points: 386

    Louisville

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 10-4

    Points: 460

    Tennessee

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 9-4

    Points: 529

    Visit Vols Wire

    Oklahoma State

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 10-4

    Points: 575

    Oklahoma

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 10-3

    Points: 691

    Visit Sooners Wire

    Notre Dame

    Record: 10-3

    Points: 772

    Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

    Record: 10-3

    Points: 772

    Penn State

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 10-3

    Points: 811

    Visit Nittany Lions Wire

    LSU

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 10-3

    Points: 890

    Visit LSU Tigers Wire

    Arizona

    Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports

    Record: 10-3

    Points: 898

    Ohio State

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 11-2

    Points: 1,014

    Visit Buckeyes Wire

    Ole Miss

    Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

    Record: 11-2

    Points: 1,082

    Missouri

    USA TODAY SPORTS

    Record: 11-2

    Points:…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Ranking C.J. Stroud’s 2023 among best rookie QB seasons since 2010: Where Texans star fits after huge season

    Ranking C.J. Stroud’s 2023 among best rookie QB seasons since 2010: Where Texans star fits after huge season

    En route to winning the AFC South, C.J. Stroud was one of nine quarterbacks to eclipse 4,000 yards passing, did so with the third-best yards-per-attempt average a 8.2 and tossed 23 interceptions to just five picks. Quite easily, he just completed one of the finest rookie quarterback seasons we’ve ever seen. 

    Where does his rookie season rank among the best recent rookie quarterback campaigns? 

    We’ll go back to 2010 for stylistic similarity as to how the quarterback position is now played. And I’ve only ranked the top 8 full rookie quarterback seasons for a reason. They’re really the only ones worth ranking. Let’s dive in. (NOTE: This is an update from November, and I had to change Robert Griffin III and Baker Mayfield. Had those wrong to begin with.) 

    Murray won the Rookie of the Year in 2019 but his first year in the NFL doesn’t quite stack up to the rest of those on this list. His big-time throw rate of 4.0% was very respectable, as was his 2.7% turnover-worthy play rate. His yards-per-attempt average of 6.9, not so much. While good for the vast majority of rookies, it’s just not amazing here, and his aDOT was just 7.6 in Kliff Kingsbury’s Air Raid offense that also featured a plethora of screens and quick underneath throws. Murray did run for 544 yards at a 5.8 yards-per-carry clip and looked like Mario on most of those scampers. 

    Not that it was Prescott’s fault, but he landed in the coziest environment of any quarterback on this list. In 2016, the Cowboys had an elite offensive line and a dynamic rookie power back in Ezekiel Elliott. Out wide, Prescott had in-his-prime Dez Bryant, in-his-prime Cole Beasley, and Jason Witten at his disposal. Prescott didn’t just ride the coattails of his teammates. He orchestrated the offense calmly for the entire duration of his rookie campaign with 11 of his 16 games featuring a quarterback rating over 100. 

    In young Kyle Shanahan’s…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Will Jim Harbaugh return to NFL? Michigan coach faces decision after national championship win

    Will Jim Harbaugh return to NFL? Michigan coach faces decision after national championship win

    Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s flirtations with the NFL are a staple of college football’s offseason news cycle. Now that the athletic calendar turns to the 2024 season following Michigan’s 34-13 win against Washington in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship, those talks are sure to heat up once again. 

    In fact, they’ve already started. Multiple teams have been making calls over the past few weeks to gather information about Harbaugh, according to NFL.com, who has updated potential staff lists while conducting evaluations of different openings.

    It’s no surprise that professional teams would covet Harbaugh’s services. He has steadily built Michigan back into a powerhouse program with a 40-3 record over the past three years. The Wolverines haven’t lost a regular-season game since 2021, powering their way to three straight Big Ten titles while qualifying for each of the past three College Football Playoffs. 

    He’s already a proven winner at the NFL level, too, setting himself apart from other college football coaches that might want to test the professional waters and even most NFL assistants that could get a look. As coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14, Harbaugh compiled a 44-19 record with two NFC West titles and an appearance in Super Bowl 47. 

    But after leading Michigan to the top of the mountain for the first time since the BCS era began, would Harbaugh actually leave now? Here’s a breakdown of the key factors at play in a pending decision. 

    Contract extension on the table

    Michigan is already working hard to retain Harbaugh’s services. The university has reportedly presented Harbaugh with a contract extension that would make him the highest-paid coach in the sport, promising a $125 million salary spread…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • 10 reasons for 2023 Eagles’ epic collapse

    10 reasons for 2023 Eagles’ epic collapse

    10 reasons for 2023 Eagles’ epic collapse originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

    How?

    We’ll be asking ourselves that for years.

    How did a 10-1 team coming off a Super Bowl season and steamrolling its way to another No. 1 seed suddenly became the worst team in football?

    How did the Eagles not just begin losing but losing in spectacular fashion, blowing three double-digit leads over the last six weeks of the regular season, losing to two of the NFL’s cellar dwellers, getting shredded by backup quarterbacks.

    How was nobody in the organization – the Super Bowl coach, the all-pro veteran leaders, the inspirational quarterback – able to turn it around?

    As always with difficult questions, there’s more than one answer.

    We came up with 10 contributing factors and we probably could have come up with 100.

    Nick had no answers: His first two years here, every time his team faced adversity, Nick Sirianni’s message got through. Whether he spoke about connecting, core values, accountability or plants growing underground, he always had the right story to tell, the right allegory to share, the right video to show. And keeping 53 guys pointed in the same direction is just as important as the right play call or the right personnel change. Maybe his players heard the same stories or the same messages so many times the message stopped getting through. But it’s clear that all the motivational techniques that worked so well in 2021 and 2022 and even the first few months of 2023 have stopped working. Whether Sirianni can regain that touch remains to be seen, but if he can’t get through to his team this week, it’s fair to wonder about his future here.

    The wrong coordinators: Brian Johnson and Sean Desai were just the wrong hires and the deeper into the season the Eagles got, the more their shortcomings became apparent and the more opposing teams were able to take advantage. Shane Steichen is a play-calling genius and Jonathan Gannon – like him or not – is a shrewd…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More

  • Washington’s Kalen DeBoer draws on mentor’s letter as he leads Huskies to CFP title game

    Washington’s Kalen DeBoer draws on mentor’s letter as he leads Huskies to CFP title game

    Kalen DeBoer was a high school football player in Milbank, South Dakota when he received his first recruiting letter. It has accompanied him on each of his seven coaching stops, including to Seattle about two years ago when he took over as head coach at the University of Washington.

    “This letter … sits behind my desk in a drawer usually that I check often and just think about why I do what I do,” DeBoer, 49, said earlier this year.

    On Monday, he will lead the Washington Huskies against Michigan Wolverines in the national championship game – not unlike the author of the recruiting letter once led DeBoer.

    The man was Bob Young, former football coach at the University of Sioux Falls, the Baptist-affiliated NAIA school in eastern South Dakota.  It’s where DeBoer became an All-America wide receiver, a fast-rising coach and a protégé of Young, who shared his love for football, his deep spiritual faith and, as reflected in the handwritten recruiting letter, attention to detail.

    “It’s just perfectly handwritten,” DeBoer said. “There’s no blemishes.”

    DeBoer’s remarks about the letter were part of his taped comments played in June at a Celebration of Life for Young, who died almost a year ago. After Washington beat Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game last month, he received a congratulatory text from Young’s son, Steve.

    Replied DeBoer, “We learned from the best.”

    Washington coach Kalen DeBoer visits with running back Cameron Davis (22) during warm ups before a game in 2022 against Oregon at Autzen Stadium.

    Difficult times for DeBoer’s family

    In her mind’s eye, DeBoer’s mother said, she sees little Kalen mowing the vacant farmland near where they lived. He did it so there was a place to play football with his two younger siblings and cousins.

    It’s a warm memory from a difficult time, said Phylis Waterfall.

    She…

    ..

    [ad_2]

    Read More