Thursday August 18, 2016
NFL Officiating Department: Three former assistants will serve as advisors for the league's officiating department this fall. The are longtime special teams coordinator Kevin Spencer (who previously worked with the Cardinals), former Bucs special teams coordinator Kevin O'Dea, and former Raiders defensive coordinator Kevin Bresnahan. In 2015, former Falcons head coach Mike Smith and former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz served as league advisors for officiating.
Cisco College (JC - TX): Per SI, Houston defensive quality control Landren Hines is the new defensive line coach at Cisco College.
Minnesota: The Gophers have announced veteran coach and current special teams quality control assistant Keith Jordan has been promoted to acting linebackers coach as Mike Sherels recovers from surgeries. There is presently no timetable for Sherels' return.
Michigan: Michigan is paying (and insuring) Jim Harbaugh.
Tennessee: AD Dave Hart has announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2017. “As I thought about finishing this job well and how extremely proud I am of what everyone in our department has contributed collectively to get us to where we are today, I decided that this was a good time to set a target to wrap up my career as a Director of Athletics,” Hart said in a statement.
Baldwin Wallace (D-III - OH): Former University of South Carolina graduate Strength and Conditioning coach (basketball and Olympic sports) Brighton Hill has taken the assistant Secondary coach position at Baldwin Wallace University we are told. Hill will also be in charge of their strength and conditioning program.
Offensive line: Best read of the week - The 6 most important life lessons you learn by playing offensive line.
Arizona Cardinals: Bruce Arians is suffering from diverticulitis, which led to his overnight stay at the hospital the other day. He returned to practice yesterday for about 30 minutes before having to leave again. Assistant head coach Tom Moore has been supervising the practices with Arians gone.
How Phil Bennett, Mike Stoops Gauge Success vs. Tempo Offenses: Defending tempo offenses has its own set of challenges, but what about the demands a defensive coordinator places on his unit when his program's offense is just as highly productive? X&O Labs interviewed defensive coordinators that are coordinating behind some of the top offenses in the country—three from the top five in scoring at the FBS level alone—and asked them a range of questions from the protocol they use to measure success, which statistics are now important (considering total defense and scoring defense are no longer relative) and what they are now doing in practice against their own offenses to prepare their units for the rigors of playing behind these tempo teams. Read the report here.
Garden City CC (JC - KS): Luke Meadows (assistant HC / OL), Josh Hager (DC), Keiki Misipeka (RBs) and Numi Lolohea (ILBs) are all new additions to the staff for 2016.