NFL Coaching Carousel Spins

NFL Coaching Agents Spend Months Preparing Them For Interviews

January 16, 2025

How NFL Agents Spend Months Scripting Coach Interviews
FOS’ A.J. Perez writes, “Robert Saleh’s Oct. 8 firing five games into his fourth season as head coach of the Jets created the first vacancy in the current hiring cycle. It was around that time agents who represent prospective coaching and front office candidates began to forecast what other openings could come available before and even after last week’s Black Monday.”

FOS also points out that agents of top coaching candidates have spent “months” preparing their clients for the rigorous interview process.
^{Front Office Sports}

⇢ Piggybacking on the lead story, other news outlets have covered the coaching carousel as well (Also, see more in Personnel Moves):

AP News: NFL Teams Are Conducting Long, Extensive Searches For Their Next Head Coaches
AP News/College: Clemson Hires Penn State Defensive Coordinator Tom Allen to Run Dabo Swinney’s Defense

NBA Shuffles Schedule After Game Postponements
The three NBA games postponed last week—two by the wildfires in the L.A. area and one by a winter storm in Atlanta—have "caused a ripple effect in the league's schedule," with nine games involving nine teams being rescheduled.

Lakers-Hornets, originally set for Jan. 9, will now be played at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 19. The Clippers had "four games affected by the scheduling shuffle," with their postponed game against the Hornets on Jan. 11 now to be played at the Intuit Dome on March 16. The Hawks' home game against the Rockets on Jan. 11, postponed because of a winter storm, will now be played in Atlanta on Jan. 28. A new date for the Lakers' Jan. 11 home game against the Spurs was not announced.
^{ESPN via Sports Business Journal}

Celtics to Start Receiving Bids From Buyers Next Week
The Celtics' ownership group will receive "the first round of bids from prospective buyers" on Jan. 23, according to a Tuesday letter from the Grousbeck family to the rest of the Boston Basketball Partners and Boston Championship Basketball stakeholders. The letter states that the investment banks that were retained to manage the sale -- JP Morgan and BDT & MSD -- "have been engaging with prospective buyers for several months," and that the Grousbecks are "pleased with the broad level of interest that has emerged."
^{Boston Globe via Sports Business Journal}

UFC Brings on Verizon’s Total Wireless as Sponsor
SBJ’s Terry Lefton and Adam Stern write, “The UFC continues to attract more mainstream brands as sponsors, now bringing on Verizon’s Total Wireless prepaid cell service as the MMA outfit’s “Official Wireless Provider.” A source with knowledge of the deal described it as one year, plus options.

“Nonetheless, bagging a Verizon sub-brand as the UFC’s first wireless sponsor in around five years continues momentum from when the UFC brought on IBM as ‘Global AI’ and ‘Official Technology’ sponsor in November.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Unrivaled Adds Sprite, BodyArmor as Sponsors Ahead of Launch
The multiyear deals are the 13th and 14th overall partnerships for Unrivaled, with more likely to come. Sprite zeroed in on the league’s midseason 1-on-1 tournament, which includes a $250,000 prize to the winner and will be broadcast as a standalone event on TNT. BodyArmor branding will be integrated onto courtside coolers, squirt bottles and towels during regular season games, while its sports drink and BodyArmor SportWater will be available to players during games, practices and in locker rooms.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Spittin’ Chiclets Crew Buys Stake in ECHL Expansion Team
During Tuesday’s episode of the popular hockey podcast, Paul Bissonnette, Ryan Whitney, Keith Yandle and Mike Grinnell announced they have joined the ownership of the expansion ECHL team in Greensboro, N.C. It’s the end of a lengthy journey for the group, which has previously expressed interest in buying a minor league hockey club, including an attempt to buy a team in Colorado Springs.
^Sportico

Tubi to Stream Super Bowl LIX Live in First for Fox-Owned Platform
THR’s Alex Weprin writes, “The 2025 Super Bowl is set to air on Fox, and will also be available on Fox Deportes, the NFL’s digital properties and on NBC Universal’s Telemundo (thanks to a deal between the companies last year).

“In a first, however, the Big Game will also stream for free on Tubi, Fox’s ad-supported video service. Fox last had the game in 2023, and while it streamed for free without pay-TV authentication on the Fox Sports app and website, Tubi was not included.”
^{The Hollywood Reporter}

Rangers Set to Join Victory+ For 2025 Season
The Texas Rangers are "expected to announce, as soon as Wednesday," an agreement with streaming service Victory+ for a direct-to-consumer model for the 2025 season. While Victory+ will continue to carry Stars games for free, the Rangers' portion "would carry an annual subscription fee." The agreement "could be the first step in a multi-phase process to widen access for Rangers fans."
^{Sports Business Journal}

ESPN Extends Front Office Insider Bobby Marks
Bobby Marks, whose role at ESPN has expanded since Adrian Wojnarowski exited the network in September, has reached a multiyear contract extension to remain a studio analyst and front office insider. A former executive with the Brookly Nets, Marks said over the past three months he has broken “more news than I have in my whole [seven-year] tenure with ESPN’’— including the Karl-Anthony Towns trade from the T-Wolves to the Knicks.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Jets Interview Packers Executive Jon-Eric Sullivan and Bills Assistant GM Brian Gaine for GM Vacancy
AP News’ Dennis Waszak Jr. reports: “The New York Jets interviewed Green Bay Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan and Miami Dolphins assistant general manager Brian Gaine on Tuesday for their general manager vacancy. The meetings brought the number of candidates to whom the Jets have spoken to 15 as New York has cast a wide net in its search to replace Joe Douglas, who was fired in November.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Cowboys Set to Interview Former Jets Coach Robert Saleh for Head-Coaching Job
SI’s Mike McDaniels reports: “This is the first known formal interview request for Dallas, aside with team owner Jerry Jones speaking to Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders.

“The Cowboys are moving quickly with their coaching search, but some of the hottest coaching candidates this cycle, like Detroit's Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, cannot be interviewed until the bye week before the Super Bowl.”
^{Sports Illustrated}

LIV Golf Officially Names Scott O'Neil as its CEO
LIV Golf today made official that Scott O'Neil had been made its CEO, effective immediately. SBJ first reported O'Neil's expected hire in November, and O'Neil has been working at the league since the early part of this month, sources said. As SBJ also first reported, LIV is expected to announce a broadcast rights deal with Fox in the coming days. 
^{Sports Business Journal}

Indianapolis Colts Will Host NFL's First Regular-Season Game in Berlin During 2025 Season
This news comes just a few days after the NFL announced the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets will be the host teams for the NFL's yearly games in London. There will also be a 2025 regular-season game played in Madrid, Spain, for the first time.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

NCAA President Says Transfer Portal for Football Still Must Fit Academic Calendars
“Everybody’s still going to college. One percent maybe will play pro,” Baker said. “It’s really important that we not lose sight of that. I get the fact that it’s a challenging calendar as it is, and I fully expect that that’ll get thoroughly vetted as it should, by the appropriate committees.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

And now, a story that will surely come to Netflix at some point…👇🏼

Win AD Co-Founder Dies While Other Is ‘On the Run’
Sportico’s Daniel Libit writes, “Win AD, a subscription software service that charges schools up to $14,000 per year, provides a suite of searchable databases extracted from over 150,000 public records, including athletic department employee contracts and various third-party agreements. It enables quick comparisons of, for example, coaching and administrative salaries across college sports programs. Launched in 2009, the product quickly became a must-have negotiation tool for college athletic directors and is believed to have reached nearly 80% market penetration among D-I schools.

“Meanwhile, Ben Moore, Winthrop Intelligence’s other co-founder and Drue’s cousin, is facing an active bench warrant for his arrest after he was inadvertently released from jail last summer while serving time for a contempt-of-court charge stemming from the divorce proceedings with his ex-wife, Amy Elizabeth.”
^Sportico

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