Chargers Extend McCoy

Earlier in the week, the San Diego (for now) Chargers decided to retain head coach Mike McCoy as his contract was to expire at the end of the 2016 season.  They’ve since decided to add a year onto his extension.

Here is the brief statement by the Chargers:

McCoy joined the Chargers in 2013 and has led the Bolts to 23 wins, including playoffs. In his first season, McCoy’s team went 9-7 and won four straight games and five of its last six to close out the regular season, including a thrilling season-ending overtime win against Kansas City that vaulted the Chargers into the postseason. During that stretch, the Chargers defeated Kansas City twice, and Denver and Oakland once each to finish 4-2 in the AFC West. McCoy then led the Chargers to a Wild Card Playoff win in Cincinnati for the franchise’s first playoff victory since 2008. The Chargers’ playoff appearance in 2013 marked the organization’s first since 2009, and McCoy joined Sid Gillman (1960), Don Coryell (1979 – Coryell’s first full season), Bobby Ross (1992) and Norv Turner (2007) as the only coaches in team history to lead the team to the playoffs in their first season.

McCoy had his team playing hard each week despite being ravaged by injury and unable to compete talent-wise with most teams on their schedule.  The additional season is an act of good faith by owner Dean Spanos that McCoy is still in their plans and not going to be thrown under the bus if things don’t go well.

Marrone Making The Rounds

Former Buffalo Bills head coach and current Jacksonville Jaguars assistant Doug Marrone is gaining plenty of frequent flyer miles as he is one of the hotter head coaching candidates, somewhat surprisingly.

Many believed that Marrone erred when he decided to opt out of his deal with the Bills after the 2014 season.  Many assumed he would get the New York Jets then vacant head coaching job, but after that was filled by Todd Bowles, Marrone took the best available opportunity and that was with the Jaguars.

When Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley was asked about Marrone’s availability for interviews, he referred to the Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell.

“I don’t know that. That’d be better for [General Manager] Dave [Caldwell to answer] because this morning has just been getting prepared for the team meeting. All of those things, if anything has come through, would go through him.”

After a season in which Jacksonville went 5-11, apparently Marrone is back on the radar.  He interviewed already with the Cleveland Browns, and he has interviews scheduled with the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins for their head coach openings.

The demand of Marrone speaks to a major lack of legitimate head coaching candidates.  The former Bills head coach was less than respected by his former players in Buffalo, and he did nothing special in working with the Jaguars offensive line in 2015, as former second-overall pick Luke Joeckel still looks like a project at best, and was often overwhelmed in his third season.

If Marrone doesn’t get any of the available head coaching jobs, the Jaguars expect him to be back in 2016.

Hue Jackson Frontrunner In San Fran

Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson may be leaving his current post sooner rather than later.

And he may be moving to an area he’s very familiar with.

Jackson received his first head coaching chance in 2011 with the Oakland Raiders and lasted just one season when Oakland was one of the most dysfunctional teams in all of sports under Al Davis.

Four years later, Jackson is the hottest of the “hot candidates” and is rumored to be the frontrunner for the San Francisco 49ers job, as they moved on from former head coach Jim Tomsula just hours after the team’s season ending victory over St. Louis.

NFL source: Hue Jackson is the clear front-runner for the 49ers job, pending his interview on Sunday.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) January 8, 2016

The current Bengals OC has rehabbed his image and showed that he’s one of the brightest offensive minds in football, as he schemes up advantages for his teams week in and week out with plenty of pre-snap motion.

“We’re happy to help Hue,” Lewis told NFL Media’s Mike Silver.  “We know how rough it was for him four years ago, when he basically went through hell, and how hard it was for him to work his way out of that. He has been a great addition to our staff for four years, in ways that people don’t even understand.

“When he came back to coach the secondary, he was able to help Dre Kirkpatrick fight through his rookie year and develop into a player for us … And he helped Adam Jones turn his life around. Now, he’s getting the attention he deserves, and we’re very happy for him. We want to support him in any way we can.”

This will likely be the last playoff “run” the Bengals will have with Jackson, as it appears that he can have his pick of jobs right now.  It’s been a great turnaround for a guy who took a bad job in a no-win situation four years ago.