NFL notes

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

BROWNS Gase drops out

CLEVELAND - A person familiar with Cleveland’s coaching search said Denver offensive coordinator Adam Gase has removed his name from consideration for the job.

Gase informed Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on Tuesday that he was withdrawing his name, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the search.

Gase, 35, was the first candidate contacted by the Browns, who fired Rob Chudzinski following one season. Gase declined an initial interview request because he wanted to concentrate on the playoffs. Denver will play Seattle in the Super Bowl on Feb. 2.

Haslam said last week the team is “prepared to wait as long as necessary” to hire a coach.

The Browns have interviewed at least eight known candidates to become their seventh full-time coach since 1999.

LIONS Lombardi hired

ALLEN PARK, Mich. - The Detroit Lions hired Joe Lombardi as offensive coordinator, the team announced Tuesday.

Lombardi, grandson of Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, has been an offensive assistant for New Orleans since 2007. He was hired as quarterbacks coach in 2009, the season the Saints won their only Super Bowl over the Indianapolis Colts, who were then coached by current Lions coach Jim Caldwell. Saints quarterback Drew Brees has passed for more than 5,000 yards in a season three times with Lombardi as his position coach.

Lombardi’s first NFL job was with the Atlanta Falcons as a defensive assistant in 2007. He also coached in the XFL for the New York-New Jersey Hitmen.

Lombardi also worked at Dayton, Virginia Military Institute, Bucknell and Mercyhurst.

BUCCANEERS Licht new GM

PHOENIX - A person familiar with the situation said the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired Arizona Cardinals front-office executive Jason Licht as general manager.

The person asked to remain anonymous because no official announcement had been made.

Licht has been with the Cardinals for the past two seasons, the last one as vice president of player personnel.

He was Arizona General Manager Steve Keim’s right-hand man in the overhaul of the Cardinals’ roster last off season, which resulted in a 10-6 record.

He replaces Mark Dominik, who was fired after the Buccaneers went 4-12.

Licht also has worked for the Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.

DOLPHINS New linebackers coach

MIAMI - Mark Duffner has been hired as the Miami Dolphins’ linebackers coach after eight seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the same position.

Duffner has 39 years of coaching experience, including the past 17 seasons as an NFL assistant. He was also a linebackers coach for Green Bay and Cincinnati. VIKINGS Stadium suit dismissed

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota’s Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the funding plan for a new Vikings football stadium, eliminating a legal obstacle that threatened a last-minute derailment of the project.

Minnesota finance officials had to postpone a $468 million bond sale while the case was pending, and the government authority managing construction said even a short delay in getting money from those bonds could have thrown off timelines and added costs to the project. The new stadium, on the Metrodome site in downtown Minneapolis, has a planned opening of July 2016.

The lawsuit was filed Jan. 10 by Doug Mann, an activist and former Minneapolis mayoral candidate who argued the stadium funding plan was unconstitutional. The state’s highest court disagreed.

NFL Goodell suggests tweeks

Roger Goodell doesn’t want to stand pat with the extra point, and he is suggesting potential changes in the extra point kick.

The NFL commissioner said the extra point kick after touchdowns, which had a success rate of nearly 100 percent in 2013, is too automatic.

So Goodell is questioning whether the league can add excitement by making some major adjustments to the extra point, suggesting perhaps making a touchdown worth seven points with teams having the option to run a play for another point. Failing on that play would cost teams a point.

Sports, Pages 19 on 01/22/2014