Broncos, Jets, Browns, hire new head coaches
Forget RPOs. John Elway is going with AARP.
Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, 60, on Wednesday accepted Elway’s offer to become the Denver Broncos’ next head coach, according to a source. The Broncos won’t officially announce the hiring until Fangio signs his contract; he’s expected to be introduced as the club’s 17th head coach today.
Fangio replaces Vance Joseph , who was fired on New Year’s Eve after posting the franchise’s first back-to-back losing seasons since the early 1970s.
Fangio and Elway, who turns 59 this summer, will make up one of the oldest coach-GM duos in the NFL in 2019.
Although Fangio, who turns 61 in August, has no NFL head coaching experience, he has been an assistant for 32 years in the NFL and 34 seasons overall, beginning with the Philadelphia Stars of the old USFL in 1984.
Just like former Denver defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, Fangio relates to players less than half his age and commands a deep respect in the locker room.
“You’re talking about one of the best coaches in football,” Bears star edge rusher Khalil Mack said recently, dubbing Fangio “the evil genius himself.”
• The Cleveland Browns didn’t have to go far to find their new coach.
Freddie Kitchens, who had a dazzling eight-week run as the Browns’ interim offensive coordinator, is finalizing a contract to become Cleveland’s ninth coach since the franchise’s 1999 rebirth, said a source.
Kitchens, 44, has no previous head coaching experience, but his work with Cleveland’s offense, most notably QB Baker Mayfield in the season’s second half, vaulted him ahead of the other six candidates interviewed by the Browns, who were looking for the right coach to lead them following a stunning turnaround season. The Browns went 7-8-1 following an 0-16 season in 2017 under Hue Jackson.
Under Kitchens’ leadership, Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, threw 19 of his NFL rookie record 27 touchdown passes while erasing any doubt that he could be the coveted franchise quarterback that has eluded the Browns for decades.
Kitchens is the fourth coach hired by the Haslams since they bought the team in 2012.
Gregg Williams, who went 5-3 as Cleveland’s interim coach and defensive coordinator this season, is no longer with the team, the source added. Williams was the first candidate to interview for the coaching vacancy.
• The New York Jets hired former Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase as their head coach, according to a source.
Gase was 23-26 in three seasons with Miami, including a playoff game in 2016, before being fired last week. It turns out he’ll remain in the AFC East, and face the Dolphins twice every regular season as a rival head coach.
Gase replaces Todd Bowles, who was fired after he went 24-40 in four seasons and no playoff appearances. He’s the Jets’ first hire with previous NFL head coaching experience since Bill Parcells’ threeyear tenure from 1997-99.
The 40-year-old Gase is also the first offensive-focused coach since Rich Kotite in 1996.
REID NOT SINGLED OUT >> The NFL and the NFL Players Association said that outspoken safety Eric Reid was not singled out with excessive drug tests.
A joint statement said an independent administrator found Reid received the “normal” number of drug tests this season and that “there is no evidence of targeting or any other impropriety with respect to his selection for testing.”
The Carolina Panthers safety said in December he had been tested seven times by the NFL, saying the league was targeting him because of the ongoing collusion case against the NFL in which he alleged team owners conspired to keep him out of the league because of his decision to kneel alongside former 49ers teammate Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem to protest racial and social injustice.
However, a source said that Reid was not tested as many times as he said he was. The source did not give the exact number of times Reid was tested. MEBANE BACK ON FIELD >> Former Cal defensive end Brandon Mebane returned to practice with the San Diego Chargers, less than a week after the death of his newborn daughter, Makenna, and plans to play in the AFC playoff game against the Patriots on Sunday.
“No matter where I am I still think about it,” Mebane said after being asked if returning to the team helped clear his mind. “Just happy I’m still able to play this game.”
Makenna was born prematurely on Nov. 12 with trisomy 13, also known as T-13, a genetic disorder that can cause a variety of health problems. Mebane described it as a heart condition.