Running back Mike Davis is officially calling it a career.
Davis, whose birthday is on Monday, posted to social media that he’s officially retiring from the NFL.
“As I turn 31 today, I sit back and look on my NFL career and how thankful I am to be [a part] of a brotherhood,” Davis posted. “This game has allowed me to make a lot of friends and memories. I’m grateful for every organization in [the] NFL. With that being said I’m retiring!”
A 49ers fourth-around pick in 2015, Davis rushed for 2,052 yards with 14 touchdowns and caught 171 passes for 1,066 yards with four TDs in 87 career games.
His best season was in 2020, when he accounted for 1,015 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns for the Panthers.
Davis also spent time with the Seahawks, Bears, Falcons, and Ravens.
He was not with a team in 2023.
The NFL’s chronic struggles with racial bias in the hiring of coaches and General Managers has had, in a strange sort of way, an indirect benefit for the league. It has obscured the question of whether the league also has a bias against older coaches.
Most legally-protected characteristics are hard-wired. From race to gender to sexual orientation to disability, people are who they are. For one protected class, we’ll all get there — if we’re lucky.
Federal law, along with the laws of most if not all states, prohibit discrimination against age. The protection begins at the age of 40. But, obviously, the temptation to discriminate can get stronger as 40 dips farther and farther into the rearview mirror.
In the 22-plus years we’ve been operating this specific media outlet, there have been multiple examples of possible ageism. Often, it happens with lower-profile jobs, like scouting. Given the latest hiring cycle for head coaches, it’s fair to ask whether there’s a bias against older head coaches.
Two of the best coaches in league history were available. Bill Belichick, 71, got one interview. Pete Carroll, 72, got none.
The average age of the eight new head coaches (Mike Macdonald, 36; Jerod Mayo, 37; Brian Callahan, 39; Dave Canales, 42; Antonio Pierce, 45; Raheem Morris, 47; Dan Quinn, 53; Jim Harbaugh, 60) is 44.8. (If Washington had landed 37-year-old Ben Johnson instead of the 53-year-old Quinn, the average would have been 42.8.)
During his invitation-only Super Bowl press conference, Commissioner Roger Goodell got a meandering question that seemed to be addressing the issue of age bias, with some seasoned, experienced head coaches in multiple situations relegated to the role of assistant head coach for a much younger head coach — and with others frozen out of work entirely.
“A lot there,” Goodell said in response. “Let me try to make sure I address all that you’ve asked about. I’d start with the fact that the NFL is incredibly competitive, on and off the field. And it’s hard to win in this league. To your point, maybe the greatest coach in NFL history doesn’t — isn’t coaching this year, but I think what our teams are focused on is the future. How do we continue to bring in the most talented coaches, the most talented general managers, the most talented administrators? Everything about our league continues to increase in its quality and its talent, and our clubs are looking for that in every direction, and I think that’s the point about our policies and our processes. The better our processes, the better the outcome. If our clubs continue to go through the process of finding the best people in their positions and understanding that diversity is critical and important for our future and bringing in that best talent, I think we’re going to continue to succeed and there will be younger coaches, maybe older coaches. I’ve had several of the older coaches call me and say, ‘I want to mentor some of these younger coaches.’ I’m a big believer in mentoring. I think all of us need mentoring. I think that’s a positive thing ultimately.”
A lot there. And, as usual, it’s a word salad aimed at running out the clock on a potentially tricky subject and waiting for the next slow-pitch softball.
The better question would have been this: “One of the greatest coaches in NFL history got one interview in the latest cycle. Another Super Bowl-winning coach got no interviews. Both are in their seventies. Coaches like Wade Phillips have said he’s no longer in the NFL because of his age. Does the NFL have an ageism issue?”
Surely, Goodell would have found a way to deny it or to downplay it. But that’s the real question.
It won’t matter until someone sues the NFL for age discrimination. Will that ever happen? Most never thought a race discrimination lawsuit would be filed against the league, given the potential impact of doing so on the plaintiff’s prospects in a small industry. (Brian Flores didn’t get a single head-coaching interview during the latest cycle, and Steve Wilks not only received no interest but also got fired after his defense held the Chiefs to 19 points in 60 minutes of Super Bowl regulation play.)
All it takes is one person who is able to find a lawyer with experience in such matters and who is willing to file the lawsuit. The discovery process could yield plenty of circumstantial evidence to support the idea that owners (most of whom are deep into the protected class) have a habit of going younger, in part because going young means going cheaper.
It will be for the courts to figure it all out, if a lawsuit is ever filed. For now, it’s at least a curiosity. In time, it could become another major problem that the league will eventually have to deal with, one billable hour at a time.
The Panthers have announced the hiring of five more coaches, including one that was previously reported and another with a familiar last name.
Carolina has named Will Harriger quarterbacks coach, Nathan Carroll — Pete Carroll’s son — as pass game coordinator, Pat McPherson tight ends coach, Keli’i Kekuewa assistant offensive line coach, and Daren Bates special teams assistant coach.
Harriger, Carroll, McPherson, and Kekuewa all coached alongside new Panthers head coach Dave Canales with the Seahawks.
Bates was also previously on the Seahawks’ staff, but did not join the club until 2023. By that time, Canales had moved on to be the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator.
Additionally, the Panthers announced they’ve hired Scott Cooper as the director of coaching development.
The Seahawks have hired Devin Fitzsimmons as assistant special teams coach, new special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh told reporters Thursday, via Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle.
Fitzsimmons held the same role with the Panthers last season, but new coach Dave Canales didn’t retain him for 2024.
Fitzsimmons previously was with the Cardinals as assistant special teams coach in 2021-22 and with the Lions as assistant special teams coach from 2014-18.
He also has extensive college experience, having spent time coaching special teams at Shaw University (2005), Bucknell (2006), Kansas State (2007-08), Virginia (2009), Richmond (2010), Rutgers (2012) and Delaware (2013). He was the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach for Vanderbilt from 2019-20.
Steve Wilks has had a weird six years.
In 2018, he got his chance to be a head coach. And he landed with the Cardinals, one of the most dysfunctional organizations in football.
He faced the reality of not having a G.M. available during training camp and the preseason, because Steve Keim had been suspended after pleading guilty to a charge of extreme DUI. Then, Wilks and others allegedly/actually were compelled to use burner phones to communicate with Keim when no communication was permitted.
When the season ended, Keim stayed and Wilks was fired. Which made little sense, and in turn fueled Wilks’s eventual discrimination claim against the team.
Wilks then landed with the Browns as defensive coordinator. After the disastrous Freddie Kitchens experiment, Wilks was among the coaches who left after one year.
Out of football in 2020, Wilks was the defensive coordinator in Missouri for the 2021 season. He was hired to be the defensive coordinator with the Panthers in 2022. He took over early in the year as the interim head coach, after Matt Rhule was fired. Wilks did very well, and he should have gotten a chance to be the permanent head coach.
He landed with the 49ers as the successor to DeMeco Ryans, now the head coach of the Texans. It looked like a great fit for both Wilks and the team. Now, after one year that ended with a Super Bowl that concluded deep in the first overtime period, coach Kyle Shanahan has declared it was not a good fit.
While we aren’t and likely won’t be privy to whatever happened behind the scenes, it looked like a good fit. The 49ers went to the Super Bowl, for crying out loud. They held the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes under 20 points in 60 minutes of action.
They didn’t lose the game because of their defense. Their offense was sluggish and largely ineffective in the Super Bowl. The defense gave the offense multiple opportunities to emerge from the first half with more than a seven-point lead.
But the offensive coordinator can’t be fired by the head coach, because the offensive coordinator is the head coach.
Yes, there were moments that were uncharacteristic to the 49ers’ defense of recent years. Remember the foolish cover zero blitz before halftime of the Monday night loss against the Vikings? Wilks called that. And Wilks was responsible for a defense that had issues with pursuit and effort in the NFC Championship.
Regardless, Wilks and the defense held the Chiefs to 19 points in regulation — 12 fewer than the Chiefs scored when Robert Saleh was the defensive coordinator four years earlier.
It just seems like an overreaction. And it’s possibly a reflection of the mounting pressure on Shanahan to win a championship. Presumably, Shanahan already knows who will take over the defense. It will look like a much different move if Shanahan hires Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, or Mike Vrabel to take over.
Regardless, the timing stinks for Wilks. Yes, he has time left on his contract. He’ll get paid if he doesn’t find a landing spot in 2024. Which is good, because it’s too late to find a solid landing spot.
His best bet would be to consider offers to become an assistant head coach, for a team with a young head coach.
