NFL Coaches: who’s in and who’s out - Part 1
Now that the 2010-2011 National Football League (NFL) season is finally over, teams are doing everything they can to make their teams as good as possible in time for the start of the preseason. But everyone knows that the players are only as good as the staff that coaches them, which is why many teams are hiring and firing as quickly as they can to get ready for offseason training. However, it must be noted that they’re not just randomly choosing people to acquire and release, but whoever they feel is the best for the team.
Let’s start with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Head coach Raheem Morris has added three new assistant coaches to his lineup. The Bucs released a statement saying that they have hired ex-Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Keith Millard and Grady Stretz as defensive line coaches. Both of them will be working together in the same post.
The team has also hired a defensive quality control coach in the form of Tyrone Pettaway, who had been a defensive assistant at the University of Southern California in 2010. Stretz had been at Arizona State University for the past five years as a defensive line coach while Millard had been an assistant coach to the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos. In his NFL career, Millard set an NFL record for the most sacks by a defensive tackle in a season when he had 19 in 1989.
In the same conference but in the NFC East, the Philadelphia Eagles have filled out their vacant coaching positions. Head coach Andy Reid has promoted four coaches from within and hired two outsiders. Well, they’re not outsiders anymore. Just one big, happy Eagles family. Even though the same cannot be said about the fans (yes, they booed and threw snowballs at Santa Claus!), the coaches will do the best that they can to make the team better next year.
Reid has promoted Duce Staley from coaching intern to special teams quality control coach, Doug Pederson from offensive quality control assistant coach to quarterbacks coach, James Urban from quarterbacks coach to assistant offensive coordinator and David Culley from wide receivers coach to senior offensive assistant.
There was a firestorm on Twitter saying that Reid would be leaving the team and replaced by Jon Gruden, former head coach for the Bucs. But the team released a statement saying that it was untrue.
"Early (Monday) morning we have received several inquiries regarding the rumors regarding Andy Reid and Jon Gruden," the statement read. "This was simply a rumor and there is no basis to it at all. It is simply not true."
The franchise has also hired Johnnie Lynn from the San Francisco 49ers and Bobby April Jr. from Nicholls State University in Louisiana. Lynn had been with the Niners for five years as secondary coach before being hired by Philly to be their secondary and cornerbacks coach. April Jr. is the son of Eagles’ special teams coordinator Bobby April and was safeties coach and special teams coordinator at Nicholls State. He has been hired as special teams quality control coach.
Also in the NFC East, the Dallas Cowboys offered Brian Baker an opportunity that he said he couldn’t pass up. The assistant coach at the University of North Carolina had been there for only one month before being offered the position of defensive line coach with the ‘Boys.
The remaining article discussing who else was hired and fired in recent days will be discussed in the next article. Has your favorite coach been fired? Take a look!
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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