“A good manager can manage anything.”
– every mediocre manager, ever.
Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak interviewed yesterday with both teams which are still in search of a new head coach: the Raiders and Cardinals. Reports are that he will take the Raiders job after the Super Bowl.
Kubiak is, of course, the son of former Broncos backup quarterback, and later head coach, Gary Kubiak. He will become the Raiders’ fifth permanent head coach since 2021.
The Cardinals’ remaining finalists are Rams OC Mike LaFleur (the brother of the Packers’ Matt LaFleur), Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, and recently-dismissed Falcons HC Raheem Morris.
I’ve lost track, please indulge me.
Which positions are still open?
Only the Raiders and Cardinals.
Edit: with the Kubiak news, it appears that every HC opening has now been filled, as breaking reports are that the Cardinals are going to hire Mike LaFleur.
Thanks.
So in the end Belichick did not even get a look for any position?
Wait, he actually applied for some of them? When did this happen?
There were apparently one or more teams which had some interest in him, including the Ravens and maybe the Giants, but he publicly stated, in the days immediately after the end of the NFL regular season (and when teams started firing coaches and looking for replacements), that his interest was at UNC.
It’s an open question as to whether or not any NFL team did more than “consider” him, and what he stated publicly about staying at UNC may not have reflected any actual interest in coming back to the NFL, but AFAICT, he did not actually interview for any open NFL jobs.
He also said in November: “I have not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies.”
Niners hired Morris for DC
Matt Nagy new OC for the Giants.
A little late for the carousel, but Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia stepped down yesterday, after four seasons in the role.
The team’s announcement was clearly worded to say it was Bisaccia’s choice, but I have to suspect that this decision was reached not by him alone. The Packers had struggled in special teams for the past two seasons, and botched special teams plays directly led to several losses this past season.
The late timing on all of this will likely make it challenging for the Packers to find a replacement, as most coaching staffs have already been finalized, and the most promising candidates have likely already secured new jobs.
I remember Bisaccia as the guy who stepped-in as Raiders HC after the whole Jon Gruden thing.
I do, as well, and the Packers snapped him up after the Raiders decided to not make him the permanent HC, despite leading them to a playoff berth.
In his first couple of years in Green Bay, he made a big (positive) difference on their special teams performance, and they gave him an assistant head coach title, as well, but this past season was a mess on ST, and there’d been lots of speculation that he wouldn’t be back. I’m just surprised that it took this long for a decision to be reached.