The San Francisco 49ers are one of six teams re-building their coaching staffs, with numerous other teams looking to fill out roles for fired or departed assistants. The Jacksonville Jaguars have the jump on the other five teams with a new coach, and some intriguing names are coming available.
On Tuesday, reports came out that the Raiders are not going to renew the contract of offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, according to multiple reports. They are expected to promote quarterbacks coach Todd Downing into the role. Musgrave had been the Raiders OC the past two seasons, and his contract expires this offseason.
Football Outsiders ranked the Raiders offense No. 30 in 2014, No. 18 in 2015, and then No. 7 this year. The Raiders drafted quarterback Derek Carr in 2014, and he has been starting from day one. This year, the Raiders made the leap to Super Bowl contender, only to see their season short-circuited when Carr went down with a broken leg. The Raiders head into the offseason with a lot of positive momentum, and will enter next year as one of the favorites in the AFC.
It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of opportunities Musgrave gets moving forward. After an off-and-on playing career that included four seasons as a backup quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers (1991-1994), he has been in the NFL coaching ranks since 1997. I don’t know his reputation with head coaches, but I would be curious if other teams view him as a product of Carr, or if he gets any credit for Carr’s success. Downing seems to be getting the credit from the Raiders, but with Musgrave a free agent, maybe he thinks he can cash in bigger elsewhere. It could also be some combination of these, but with plenty of openings now and soon around the league, there are going to be potential options for him.