Go beyond the scoreboard
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The 2024 NFL coaching cycle appeared to come to a close Thursday when the Washington Commanders reportedly hired Dan Quinn as their next head coach.
The first coaching vacancy to be filled was the last one to open when the New England Patriots announced last month that Jerod Mayo would be promoted from linebackers coach one day after the team announced Bill Belichick was departing “amicably” following 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles.
Belichick was the eighth head coach to step down either during or shortly after the regular season. Black Monday included firings of the Atlanta Falcons’ Arthur Smith and the Washington Commanders’ Ron Rivera. Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans was fired the next day, and by the end of that week, Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks had parted ways and Belichick had left New England.
Three other head coaches were fired during the season: the Las Vegas Raiders’ Josh McDaniels, the Carolina Panthers’ Frank Reich and the Chargers’ Brandon Staley.
New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said he was ‘a little starstruck’ upon meeting quarterback Justin Herbert for the first time.
By Thursday, all the spots were filled. Four minority head coaches were hired this off-season: Raheem Morris in Atlanta, Mayo in New England, Antonio Pierce in Las Vegas and Dave Canales in Carolina. The NFL enters the 2024 season with nine minority head coaches, the most in league history.
Several first-time coaches are getting chances, while veterans Belichick, Carroll and Vrabel don’t appear headed to an NFL sideline next season.
Two general managers, the Chargers’ Tom Telesco and the Raiders’ Dave Ziegler, were also let go during the season and three more general manager spots later became open, including in New England because Belichick served dual roles.
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HEAD COACH JOBS
CHARGERS: Staley and Telesco were fired in mid-December after the Chargers lost five of six following a 4-4 start to the season. A 63-21 loss to Las Vegas sealed their fate. Staley was 24-24 in two-plus seasons, and won only five of his last 16 games. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh interviewed for the position along with internal candidates Giff Smith (interim head coach) and Kellen Moore (offensive coordinator). Others who interviewed include Patrick Graham (Raiders defensive coordinator), Todd Monken (Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator), Steve Wilks (San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator), Mike Macdonald (Ravens defensive coordinator) and former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator and Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier.
The Chargers do the right thing by hiring Jim Harbaugh, a coach who has won at all levels, in college and the NFL.
FILLED: Less than three weeks after leading Michigan to the national championship, Harbaugh was announced as the Chargers coach on Jan. 24. A former Chargers quarterback, Harbaugh turned around the football programs at the University of San Diego and Stanford before jumping to the NFL for the first time. Harbaugh coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, leading the franchise to three straight NFC championship games and one Super Bowl appearance. He spent the last nine years at his alma mater, Michigan, where he went 89-25 and led the Wolverines to the College Football Playoffs in each of the last three years. He was suspended twice last season because of alleged recruiting violations and a sign-stealing scandal.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Belichick, perhaps the greatest NFL coach of all time, suffered through only his second losing season since 2000 as the Patriots went 4-13. Still, he ranks second in career victories with 333, trailing only Don Shula (347).
FILLED: On Jan. 12, Jerod Mayo, 37, became the youngest head coach in the NFL. He was a two-time All-Pro linebacker with the Patriots and was elected a captain in only his second season. Belichick hired him in 2019 to coach linebackers and he was the de facto defensive coordinator. The Patriots wrote into Mayo’s contract a year ago that he would succeed Belichick and therefore didn’t have to follow the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to conduct in-person interviews with at least two external minority candidates. Mayo becomes New England’s first Black non-interim head coach.
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have parted ways after a 24-year tenure during which he led the franchise to six Super Bowl wins in nine appearances.
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: Pierce went 5-4 as interim coach after the firing of McDaniels and was considered the overwhelming favorite to land the permanent job, unless Harbaugh, Belichick or Carroll wanted it. The Raiders offered an appealing roster with All-Pro receiver Davante Adams (103 receptions) and Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby (14.5 sacks).
FILLED: Pierce had the word “interim” removed from his title on Jan. 19 after Crosby and other Raiders players lobbied on his behalf. The Raiders interviewed Frazier and reportedly also interviewed former New Orleans Saints co-defensive coordinator Kris Richard. During his nine-year career as an NFL linebacker, Pierce won a Super Bowl and made a Pro Bowl, both while playing for the New York Giants. This is his first NFL head coaching job, after leading Long Beach Poly High from 2014 to 2017.
CAROLINA PANTHERS: The Panthers have had six different head coaches in six seasons under owner David Tepper. The latest, Reich, lasted only 11 games before getting fired with a 1-10 record. Four candidates were interviewed over Zoom by Jan. 12: Panthers interim head coach Chris Tabor, Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Monken and Macdonald.
FILLED: Canales, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator, agreed to terms with the Panthers on Jan. 25 to become the seventh head coach in the Tepper era. It’s the first head coaching gig for Canales, who faces the tasks of reviving a franchise and jump-starting the career of second-year quarterback Bryce Young. He’s had success with such quarterbacks as Russell Wilson, Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield in previous stops as an assistant coach or coordinator.
TENNESSEE TITANS: The surprising firing of Vrabel was followed swiftly by Tennessee requesting interviews with several candidates: Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, and Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Macdonald was another candidate.
FILLED: Callahan was the first of 10 candidates the Titans interviewed and ended up getting the job on Jan. 24. He was a quarterback at UCLA and is the son of Bill Callahan, who took the Raiders to the Super Bowl after the 2002 season. Prior to his four years as the Bengals’ offensive coordinator, Brian Callahan was an assistant coach for the Denver Broncos, Lions and Raiders.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Less than a week after assuring reporters that he’d return, Carroll stepped down after 18 years and one Super Bowl title, saying he’d move into a front office advisory role. Names that surfaced as top candidates included defensive coordinators Morris of the Rams, Quinn of the Cowboys and Macdonald of the Ravens.
FILLED: The Seahawks made Macdonald, 36, the NFL’s youngest head coach when they hired him on Jan. 31. Seattle had conducted a second interview with Johnson of the Lions two days earlier, only to be told later in the day by Johnson that he was staying in Detroit. The Seahawks interviewed Macdonald twice in the following two days before making the hire. In Macdonald’s second season as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator this year, the Ravens were the league’s best defense in points allowed, sacks and takeaways.
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS: With Adam Peters on board as the new general manager, owner Josh Harris and his search committee turned their attention to the sidelines, which had become chaotic under Rivera. The Commanders interviewed their offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and six other candidates: Glenn of the Lions, Macdonald of the Ravens, Morris of the Rams, Quinn of the Cowboys, Baltimore defensive line coach Anthony Weaver and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
FILLED: The Commanders ended this year’s coaching cycle by hiring Quinn, who had been head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2015 to 2020. During that time, the Falcons went 43-42 in the regular season and 3-2 in the playoffs. They reached the Super Bowl after the 2016 season and lost to Tom Brady and the Patriots 34-28 in overtime after leading 28-3 in the third quarter. Quinn had been Dallas’ defensive coordinator since 2021.
After many interviews to become an NFL head coach recently, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris has been hired as coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
ATLANTA FALCONS: How often can a coach finish 7-10 before he loses his job? For Smith of the Falcons, it was three years in a row. Among the 14 candidates interviewed for the job was Belichick, who met with the organization twice.
FILLED: The Falcons are giving Morris his third shot as an NFL head coach and his second in Atlanta. He went 17-31 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011 and 4-7 as the Falcons interim head coach in 2020. He replaced Staley as the Rams defensive coordinator in 2021 and also interviewed with the Chargers, Commanders, Panthers and Seahawks this off-season. His hiring was announced on Jan. 25.
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GENERAL MANAGER JOBS
CHARGERS: Telesco was hired in 2013 and fired the same day as Staley. His teams finished 84-92 in the regular season and made three playoff appearances, winning two postseason games. Giants assistant manager Brandon Brown was interviewed twice for the job. Other candidates included Chargers interim general manager JoJo Wooden, Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, Buffalo Bills assistant director of player personnel Terrance Gray, Saints assistant general manager Jeff Ireland, Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds, Bears co-director of player personnel Jeff Kings and NFL chief administrator of football operations Dawn Aponte.
FILLED: The Chargers announced the hiring of Joe Hortiz on Jan. 30. Hortiz spent the last five years as the Ravens’ director of player personnel, a role which required him to work closely with that team’s coach, John Harbaugh, who is the older brother of new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh.
The Chargers hire Joe Hortiz, who worked with Jim Harbaugh’s brother as the Baltimore Ravens’ director of player personnel, as their new general manager.
PATRIOTS: Belichick filled this role as well as head coach, so his departure leaves two openings. Internal candidates will be given long looks, including player personnel executives Matt Groh and Patrick Stewart and scouting chiefs Eliot Wolf, Camren Williams and Steve Cargile.
RAIDERS: Las Vegas made the GM hire the immediate priority, an indication that person will have a say in who will be the next coach. Raiders interim general manager Champ Kelly was expected to get a hard look, and two external candidates have been interviewed: Cincinnati Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown and Denver Broncos executive director of football operations Kelly Kleine Van Calligan.
FILLED: Telesco landed the job on Jan. 23 after 11 seasons in the same role with the Chargers.
COMMANDERS: The head of football operations search was down to two current assistant general managers. Adam Peters of the 49ers and Cunningham were the remaining candidates following an initial round of interviews.
FILLED: Peters, who was a walk-on defensive end at UCLA in 2001 and 2002, was named general manager on Jan. 12. A veteran of several front offices, Peters won Super Bowls while working in New England and Denver, and has been with the 49ers since 2017. Washington’s search committee also had a UCLA tie, with former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers joining Magic Johnson and billionaire Mitchell Rales as advisors to Harris.
Despite a basketball background as a UCLA player and general manager with the Warriors, Bob Myers is hired by the Commanders as an adviser. He will help Washington search for a new coach after Ron Rivera was fired.
PANTHERS: With the Black Monday firing of Scott Fitterer after three years on the job, the Panthers were seeking a general manager.
FILLED: Dan Morgan was promoted from assistant general manager. A former Panthers linebacker from 2001 to 2007, Morgan was an executive for the Seahawks and Bills before returning to Carolina in 2021. His time in Seattle overlapped for several years with that of Canales, the new Panthers coach.
